Living Wisely As Canadian Christians

Living Wisely as Canadian Christians

Eccl. 8:2-6 and Romans 13:1-10 (NLT)

Happy 134th birthday Canada! All across the land today many impressive speakers with impressive speaking ability will try to pump up the sometimes not so hot Canadian patriotism. Fireworks, great performers doing their stuff to fuel the red and white fervor. Maybe some where on some stage in Canada, Joe Canada will appear with the “I am Canadian” message made famous by a beer commercial. And we should be more than a little proud of our country. For where would the world be without paint rollers, green garbage bags, zippers ,Zambonis, toboggans, five-pin bowling, electric organ, electric car-heater or multiplex movie theatres and ginger ale? Did you know that these were Canadian inventions? The world would be a much poorer place if it were not for some contributions from our countrymen. Furthermore, it is arguably the most ethnically diverse country in the world. Just look around us, we have Koreans, Germans, Chinese, Portuguese Brazilians, sitting together, worshipping, enjoying God together.

Comedian Rick Mercer feel great about being a Canadian:

’’I just always feel. . . that we won the Lotto and anyone who was born in Canada or has come to Canada, you won the Lotto,’’ says the star of CBC’s hit comedies Made in Canada and This Hour Has 22 Minutes. We are not going through major problems, some may want to argue with since we are having transit strike, nurses threatening to leave Canada for the US, that will burst your bubble but hey, at least it is not bullets, missiles flying around your head. Also, this is my first Canada day as a Canadian. Proud to be a part of that wonderful, at times weird country we call home, it is no.1 in my books, best country in world to live in.

Text this morning … Obey the king? What for? esp. if you have followed the thought throughout this book where the writer declares that “everything is meaningless”. Yup, that is the premise of this book, the guiding thought, that says all we do is chasing after the wind. It is a futile exercise. Who can grab the wind? So why expend energy in even thinking about life, about Canada? In our country and context, we should ask - why should we obey the laws of this land? We might as well forget about contributing to the well being of Canada when everything is meaningless. Let’s rebel, that’ll be more fun, let’s break the laws. Gay pride parades are almost everywhere now, abortion, drugs, no more photo radar - there is an obvious decline in the moral fabric of our society. What’s the use?

1. PRACTICE OBEDIENCE

Yet Eccl.8:2-6 tells us in the context of book where it is a given that “everything is meaningless”, it is a wise thing to practice obedience. That’s my first point. Today as we contemplate this passage of Scripture let us hear what God is saying through this writer of Eccl. Can you imagine…what if no one obeys the laws, it’ll be chaotic. Can you imagine a place where you are living, where every moment you feel in danger, get mugged, killed, sexually assaulted, your kids get abducted? Surely, we do not want this to happen. Yet we see lots of disobedience of the law esp. in our living rooms. Disobedience is cool… revenge theme in Chinese tv serials movies, mercy killing such as the Latimer case, sexual exploitation ala Ally McBeal, you can’t get what u want beat up somebody such as Jet Li, Jacky Chan, with the instant gratification message

Not long ago the presidents of NBC & CBS & ABC met with congressional leaders in the US to discuss the increasing incidence of violence shown on TV, & to try to determine whether or not this had any impact on society. Of course, they argued that TV really doesn’t have any effect on what people think or do.

But aren’t these the same executives who charge advertisers hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars for each TV commercial with the argument that TV advertising, if repeated often enough, really produces results?

Well, I was amazed when one of the TV executives, trying to shift the blame, was quoted as saying, "Can it be that there is some sinister force at work in our country that has nothing at all to do with the media?"

I wanted to say, "Yes, sir, there is a sinister force at work. And one of his main tools is the media." If our kids are constantly immersed in that kind of environment, their eyes seeing violence & immorality being shown over & over again, then can we expect anything else in their everyday behavior? You think they will be model citizens??