Let It Be

Let It Be

Scriptures: Philippians 2:3, 5-8; 4:6; Ephesians 4:25, 29; 1 John 4:7

The title of my message this morning is “Let It Be.” Two weeks ago I asked all of us to make a choice, a choice to be all in for Christ in 2019. Making this choice requires each of us to change how we think and how we respond to the world around us. It requires us to make a transition. Whenever a decision is made, actions must take place to bring the decision made into reality. For example, if someone makes the decision to lose weight, they must follow up that decision with action. They will not be able to see the results of their decision coming to past without there being some action on their part to change how they eat and/or exercise. So in conjunction with the decision to lose weight comes the decision to eat differently and possibly exercise more. That decision begins to fulfill the requirements needed to make the decision to lose weight a reality. Previously I asked you to make the choice to be all in and this week I want to share with you some of the supplemental decisions (action steps) that will be a requirement in order to bring that decision into reality. In order to bring any decision into reality we must have and execute on a plan that will dictate our actions and this morning I want to share with you how we can bring our decision to be all in for Christ in 2019 into reality. It starts with our understanding to “let it be.” What do I mean by this?

In 1970 the Beatles published a song that became one of my favorites at the time even though I did not know they were singing it. It would come on the radio and I would listen as the words spoke to me. The song was written by Paul McCartney. According to published documents, supposedly in 1970 Paul McCartney felt isolated from the group during a time when the group was having difficulties. He was also the lone member of the group who was not married. Because of the problems the group was experiencing and his loneliness, he was spending a lot of his time partying and drinking. One night after a wild night of partying, he had a dream in which his mother Mary appeared to him and told him to let things be; that things would work out. The next day he wrote the song “Let It Be.” When I first heard the song at the age of nine, I actually thought it was a gospel song as it spoke to me just as other gospel songs did. It was years later that I discovered who wrote and sung the song and that it was not a gospel song. (For those of you laughing, remember when I was nine all we had was the TV, radio and library for learning information. There was no internet to make Google inquiries.) The song spoke to me because of the first sentence: “When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be.” Like many I thought he was referencing the mother of Jesus but he was actually talking his own mother. The song gave me a sense of peace that sometimes you just have to let things be. In my mind as a child I linked this song to what Jesus said it John 14:1, “Let not your hearts be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.”

As we dedicate ourselves to being all in for Christ, I do not want you thinking that all we need to do is “let things be.” No, what I will be sharing with you is all about taking actions to “let it be.” Let’s take a minute and talk about what those three words, “let”, “it” and “be” means. I am simplifying these meanings as they can be confusing.

• LET is a transitive verb. We use this word every day but I’m not sure we understand and appreciate how truly significant it is. As a transitive verb, “let” is relationship oriented and has two characteristics. First, it is an action verb, expressing a doable activity like kick, want, paint, write, eat, etc. Second, it must have a direct object for its actions; something or someone who receives the action. The word “let” gives cause to. It can be used to introduce a request or proposal or be used to express a warning. This morning the actions we’re going to focus on are the actions that support our decision to go all in for Christ. “Let” is a simple word but it contains a lot of power! When we “let” we are deciding to allow something to happen. When we don’t “let” we are deciding not to allow something to happen. Are you with me? Now let’s look at “it.” (Did you see it? Based on my statement “let’s look at it” you are in action mode to examine the next word – so let’s do just that.”)