Flying just isn’t fun anymore. If I had any doubts about that – well, my trip to Detroit last week certainly cleared it all up.
Going through the security checkout with Rachel and Jonathan in tow, we had to tell Rachel – you have to take off your shoes, just like the guards tell you. And, just as the kids are about to patted down and passed through the metal detector, Susan remembered that my shaving cream and her expensive cosmetics were all in our carry-on luggage, because I just don’t check anything if I can avoid it.
Well – you may remember that right now you cannot carry on more than 3.4 ounces of any liquid. And – if you have a 6 oz bottle that is clearly only ¼ full, it doesn’t count. The guards’ job is take away any container larger than 3.4 fluid ounces. Now, on my part that meant getting out of line, going back to the counter to check a bag – only to find that I was 10 minutes too late to check bags. Thankfully, United held on to Susan’s bottle, and I was able to make it to the plane less than a minute after they closed the door. Running at top-speed, waiting impatiently for those infernal busses to get me to the plane – well, let’s just say that’s not how I wanted to begin my “vacation.” Wouldn’t you know, I got to the gate just in time to see them close the door! Jonathan, and Rachel were headed to Detroit, and it was just Susan there to take care of them.
Well, God be praised, when I said, “Please don’t take me away from my family,” the attendant called ahead. When I got to the bottom of the jet-way, the stewardess just asked, “You’re the husband, right?” My suspicion is that everyone understood that two screaming children without their father weren’t going to make anybody on that plane happy!
It’s amazing what can take away our happiness. But you know what? In the midst of it all, God be praised, I never lost my joy. Sitting there on the plane, panting, out of breath, and not sure whether I was more annoyed with the TSA or myself, I realized that none of that really mattered. I knew that God was in charge and that was all I needed. Looking around on the plane, I knew too many people didn’t have that. And that makes me sad.
You see, rules and regulations can take away pleasures. The terrorists that caused all this in the first place can take away a false sense security. But no guard on earth has the power to demand our joy. It’s only something we choose to give up in the midst of everything else.
This morning, I’m talking to you about joy, because the last our seven deadly sins is sloth. Now, you might be wondering about the connection between sloth and joy. After all, normally when you think about sloth, you think about people being lazy, and the preacher pulling out Proverbs 6:6 – you know “Go to the ant, thou sluggard.”
Well, I need to teach you some definitions, because frankly our language has actually taken away the original meaning. About 1500 years ago, when those monks came up with that list of the Seven Deadly Sins – they used a Latin word accedia. In French, they’d probably use the word ennui to describe what they were getting at. You see, accedia or ennui really means something very different from laziness – it actually means having no joy. Think of it as being jaded or bored with life. No zest, no joi d’vivre (And no, I don’t know why the French seem to be so much better with this!) Losing your joy – having it taken away – that was the sin!
Now, you can probably see how that word would have evolved. If you don’t have joy, you get depressed. And, if you’re depressed, you really don’t want to do much. But the idleness isn’t the issue with sloth – it’s the lack of joy.
So, why do you suppose that a bunch of good theologians would have thought it a sin to lose your joy? Well, remember that anything that falls short of the glory of God is sin. And what could fall short of God’s glory more than no longer being able to recognize God’s glory, to experience his joy?
We began this series in Romans 1:23 – For though they knew God, they glorified him not as God, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
That’s sin, my friends. Losing your joy – consciously exchanging joy for any mere pleasure - something less than the joy of the Lord – is fool’s bargain. When you lose your capacity for the joy of the Lord, even simple pleasures no longer amuse.
I want to read you a diary entry of a famous person, but I’m not going to tell you his name today. The sad truth is, this man is engenders a lot of emotion on both sides of the aisle, and I want you to hear his heart before passing any judgment on who he is. I will tell you he was a scientist who came to believe that his science was better than his faith. And that’s sad.
This topic is so important to me, that I’m going to actually be talking about this for probably three Sundays. Next week is Pentecost, Memorial Day, and Communion, so we may have a few things to talk about next week, but I promise you that in two weeks, when I pick this topic back up, I’ll fill you in. The contrast between his lack of joy and his wife who found it is amazing. But, for today, I need you need to hear what it’s like to lose your joy – and he describes it so well.
When this mean was young, he travelled the world, seeing all sorts of amazing creatures. He was in the Brazilian rainforest, when he wrote that the experience “had suffused {me} with feelings of wonder, admiration, and devotion.” But then, he lost his joy.
In his diary, he confided, “Now the grandest scenes would not cause any such convictions and feelings to rise in my mind. It may be truly said that I am like a man who has become color-blind.”
He wrote to a friend, “I am glad you were at the ‘Messiah,’ it is the one thing I should like to hear again, but I dare say I should find my soul too dried up to appreciate it as in old days; and then I should feel very flat, for it is a horrid bore to feel as I constantly do, that I am a withered leaf for every subject except ....” and I’ll tell you what that subject was later.
[[Os Guinness, Long Journey Home - p 15. The diary is that of Charles Darwin - in 2 weeks I’ll be contrasting his lack of joy with his wife who found it. Stay tuned!!!]]
Color-blind. Tone-deaf. Unable to enjoy the music that once raptured his soul. This man had lost his joy.
I’m going to tell you it was a very subtle thing too. I can boil it down to this – he lost his faith in a Creator, and then found himself unable to enjoy the Creation. But then again, most sin is subtle.
These subtle things are the real dangers. Going through that checkout, Susan and I got so frustrated, because we knew that the real terrorists’ plans weren’t going to be foiled because they actually needed 3.5 fluid ounces of something. The only things that the terrorists took away from us on 9/11 were three office buildings, three thousand lives, and a false sense of security that nobody else in the world ever had. Everything else was stuff we gave up. We’re the ones that chose to give up our joy.
And do you know why the terrorists hate us? They look at how we entertain ourselves and they wonder how we can call ourselves Christian. The Islamic world sees our MTV, our Playboy TV, Baywatch, Paris Hilton, and they wonder what type of an insane God this Jesus is, whose followers exalt the flesh and the feel-good lifestyle that goes with it.
Now, I’m not saying that killing people is a good way to make them honor God. And, this country doesn’t even claim to be a Christian country anymore – but in their minds, we who claim to honor Christ have some pretty poor ways of showing it. But we in the Church do. What kind of a witness are we?
Tonight, we are going to be blessed with a concert. For some people, it’s going to be entertainment – and I’m glad that people will enjoy themselves. But I hope for us that it’s a whole lot more. Ideally tonight is a night in which we will honor God. I feel sad for the tribulations that this little 5 year old boy is suffering through. But you know what? It gives me joy that I’m in a group of believers who wants to act as Christ would towards this family.
But if we’re not careful, it will be far too easy get complacent. It’s really easy to confuse doing good with honoring Christ. It’s really easy to let pleasure take our joy.
It’s worth asking yourself, are we doing this concert for a little boy, to make ourselves feel good, or because we know how much Christ loves us? Do we realize that we are all under a terminal disease called sin, that only Jesus can heal? I can’t answer that question for anybody, but it is my prayer that we would each ask it.
I’m not saying that these are mutually exclusive goals; We just need to always remember that we are a church. We are not the Lion’s club, we are not a social club. Every organization has a great goal and a great purpose behind it. But we are church, and our joy is seeing that our God honored.
If you come tonight, and I hope you do, don’t think that it’s all about the entertainment. It’s not. Amusements come and go; tastes wax and wane; some acts will stir our feelings and others will leave us flat. The only joy will be if our intent is to honor God in what we do tonight.
When you come here, I hope you are somewhat entertained, but make no mistake. I’d rather preach a boring sermon that honors God than bringing 1000 dancing elephants that taught you nothing. Our purpose here is to honor God. Don’t forget that. The fellowship is great, Sunday school study has been stimulating, but we are here to honor God. If we lose sight that, please, fire me and just have book club more often!
I want you to have joy. I don’t want to be running hoping you might catch some plane to glory – I want you love Christ. I don’t want you beating yourself because you think you’re not doing enough – that you’re “lazy,” because you’re not. This church does good things. I just pray that we won’t settle for pleasure, when our joy could be complete.
Would you pray with me?
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You know, the Puritans always get this bad. People think Puritans were joyless people who as George H.W. Bush once said lived in the fear that someone somewhere might be having fun. The truth is about as far from that as you can believe. If you read their diaries, you will see that they were passionate people who lived every ounce of life to the fullest. It was a passion for adventure that brought them to America. It was with joy that reveled in new experiments like democracy. They invented most of the kid’s games that many of us played when we were children. They were a fun bunch!
But they knew that some entertainments could be dangerous, subtle snares that became ends to themselves. Whenever pleasure overtakes joy, bad things can happen. In 1658, they actually did cancel Christmas. But you know why? Because they were concerned that it had turned too commercial and people were missing out on the real meaning of Christmas – Christ. Such a radical thought, I know.
Now, I’ll tell you where we’ll be picking this up in two weeks – we’ll be reading a simple little story in Nehemiah 8:9-12. There’s a line in the middle that I had heard for years, but knowing the whole context really made it hit home for me. I suspect you’ve heard the phrase, “the joy of the Lord is my strength.” Well, that strength is what we’re after. Where that strength comes from is spelled out in this Word. We’ll be spending more time looking at the whys and the how of accomplishing that. But for now, I’d like you just to spend some time this week and next reading the passage and seeing what is said.
We seek the strength to soar, we seek joy, but we get our strength in the Joy of the Lord. We only get that by honoring him. It’s my prayer for this church that we continue to do that. Let’s ask him now for the guidance to catch that plane.
Entertainment – Puritans and the Decadent Us… (Why the terrorists hate us! The obvious the rare assault)
How to keep it? I’ll give you a hint. It’s going to boil down to this. Beginning in June, well be in Nehemiah 8:9-12. I’d like you to begin looking at it. The Joy of the Lord is my strength…
RR
- Romans 1:23
- Luke 12:39-43
- Nehemiah 8:9-12
1. Making the Plane / Taking away our joy
2. Definitions
a. Joy - pleasure not dictated by circumstance
b. Sloth– The lack of that joy
3. Why the connection
a. The Mistranslation
b. Depression leads to inactivity – or lots of activity without purpose
c. Vicious cycle so that you really don’t know where its coming from
4. What it’s like without joy (Darwin’s diary)
5. Why it’s bad to not have joy (denies Christ / gift)
6. Why our joy gets taken away
a. It’s never from the expected angle
i. Security kinda useless –they’ll just use something else
ii. Gross sin – too frontal
iii. So, we caught up in work instead of joy, motions instead of church
b. Entertainment vs. Joy
i. Pleasures of sin for a season (opposite of joy)
ii. Shopping quote?
iii. Tonight’s concert
7. What we need to do –
a. Reconnect with Christ
i. – The Joy of the Lord is My Strength!
ii. Reconnecting with my family – made me happy. Still tired, but happy! Imagine how much more with our heavenly Father.
b. Honor Christ & his Word in all things (Where we’re going with this in future Sermons)
This little boy will die at some point. My prayer is that he will not die until he is very old. But if lives to be 6 or 60 or 106, he will still die. But as long as he is alive, we can tell him, “Jesus loves you.” With his mother, with his friends, with his whole community we can say, “Jesus loves you.”
This world is messed up. Bad things happen. God didn’t want things to be this way. But he is faithful. Where I would have just tossed up my hands and said, “It’s useless,” God said, “No. It’s never useless. I love the least of these.” To the extent that God is honored, there is still joy to share.
IN CHRIST ALONE my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone! - who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied –
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine –
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand!
Keith Getty & Stuart Townend Copyright © 2001 Thankyou Music
Long Branch Baptist Church
Halfway, Virginia; est. 1786
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Enter to Worship
Prelude David Witt
Meditation “In Christ Alone” Stuart Townend / Keith Getty
Invocation Michael Hollinger
Welcome & Announcements
Special Recognition
Morning Prayer [See Right]
*Praise Time
“Create in Me a Clean Heart” [See Right]
“Sanctuary” #655
“The Joy of the Lord is My Strength” #541
Offertory Mr. Witt
*Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow / Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise him above, ye heavenly host / Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.
*Scripture Psalm 51:12
Sermon
“Taking Away Our Joy”
Invitation Hymn #415
“We Are Called to Be God’s People”
*Benediction
*Congregational Response
May the grace of Christ our Savior / And the Father’s boundless love
With the Holy Spirit’s favor / Rest upon us from above. Amen.
* Congregation, please stand.
Depart To Serve
SONG: CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a right Spirit within me.
Create in me a clean heart, O God.
And renew a right Spirit within me,
Cast me not away, from Thy Presence, O Lord.
Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me, the joy of Thy salvation,
And renew a right spirit within me.
SCRIPTURE
Nehemiah the governor and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:9-12
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Romans 1:21-23
Restore unto me the joy of your salvation, and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:12
PRAYER LIST
Marjorie Taylor; Debbie Grigsby; Warren Lee; Corey Keely;
Susan Schulz; Jim Schulz; Martha Puryear;
Irene Griffith; Cindy & Lee Thomas;
Bruce, Zane, Steve, and Jeff – Serving in Central Asia;
Long Branch Church
