Our text for this morning is Ephesians 5:1-10.
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2 and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But fornication and impurity of any kind, or greed, must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Entirely out of place is obscene, silly, and vulgar talk; but instead, let there be thanksgiving. 5 Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be associated with them. 8 For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light-- 9 for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. 10 Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord.
I hope you have all seen the movie that won the Oscar for best picture way back in 1986, Chariots of Fire. It had a wonderful moment of profound Christian theology in it.
The movie told the story of Eric LIDdell, a Scottish missionary to China about 90 years ago, a man who was totally dedicated to his God. His time came for a year of furlough back in Scotland. As missionaries do, he used that time to preach in different churches and raise financial support and prayer support for his work in China. But he also was very involved in foot races at events like county fairs. He was an outstanding runner. In fact he won a spot on the British national Olympic team as a runner and won a gold medal in the 400 meters at the 1924 Olympics in Paris. But at one point, early on in the movie, someone criticized him, saying that a missionary shouldn’t waste time in trivial pursuits like running in foot races. And Eric LIDdell gave the most beautiful answer. He said, "God made me fast. And when I run I feel his pleasure."
Have you had moments when you felt your life brought pleasure to God? Have you been able to feel God's pleasure?
That may be difficult for some of us. God has installed a conscience in each one of us. Its job is to give us feedback on how we are doing, like the warning lights and gauges on our cars. When we do wrong, it’s our conscience’s job to accuse us, to warn us. We all need that.
And when we do right our conscience’s job is to affirm us, to give us that good feeling that we are right where we are supposed to be.
But some of us have consciences stuck on the accuse side. We just keep assuming what we do is inadequate, flawed, not good enough. And when our conscience is stuck like that, it can feel like God is stuck, too, that God is stuck in accusing mode and just can never accept us.
Some people have gotten a picture of God as a grumpy old book keeper who writes down every mistake we make, never losing an entry, never forgetting, never forgiving, and never showing any love for us.
But that’s not the God of the Bible. The Bible describes God as loving and joyful and good hearted. The Old Testament prophet, Zephaniah, wrote about God's pleasure in his people, Israel. In chapter 3, verse 17, Zephaniah wrote: "The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." That's a big hearted God isn't it? I can love a God like that.
And Eric LIDdell had experienced God's pleasure. In fact our text from Ephesians for this morning, tells us all to work at that. In Ephesians 5:10, it tells us to "Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord." That's a simple and straightforward command isn't it? No complicated theology here, just a very simple research project. "Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord."
In Paul's First letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 4, verse 1, it looks like he had specifically instructed the church in Thessalonica in how to please God. He wrote, "Finally, brothers and sisters, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that, as you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God (as, in fact, you are doing), you should do so more and more." So this morning, if there is one thing I want you to take away with you, it is that we can learn to bring pleasure to God's heart.
Maybe that's the most important thing you can do with your life. Is there anyone greater to whom we could dedicate our lives? There is so much on earth that brings pain to God. He sees the pain of every neglected child, every horror of every war, every life destroyed by alcoholism or drug abuse. It was recently in the news that Syria has reached the point where a full million children are displaced from their homes. Many of them are living with whole families in one tent in the Middle Eastern sun. Most of them are getting zero schooling, so their future is destroyed. Many of them have seen acts of violence that no adult should see, let alone children. Many of them have lost family members.
God worked really hard to give us a beautiful creation and a plan for us to live together in love. And our text warns us not to speak in ways that demean that creation, obscene talk, silly talk, vulgar talk. Can you imagine all the garbage that God hears and how it must break his heart.
Imagine being the one who sees everything that happens on this earth and caring about it. But we can bring him pleasure. You can bring pleasure to God.
How can we do that? Let's look at some of the Bible passages that talk about things that are pleasing to God. I’ve been collecting them.
In Proverbs 11:1 we read a business concept. "A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but an accurate weight is his delight." The image is someone doing business, perhaps weighing out flour for a housewife. Some shopkeepers ran honest scales and gave people their money's worth. Some cheated. In our business dealings we have all sorts of decisions about fairness and honesty. Some of us may be in situations where it feels like being fully honest just isn't worth it. Well, remember, "an accurate weight is his delight." Maybe your boss pressures you to cheat.
I had a member in my last church who was once the head of the maintenance department for a large auto dealership. His boss kept pressuring him to pad the bills and cheat the customers to get more money. But Bill Murrow wouldn’t do it. And he got fired because he refused to cheat the customers by padding their bills. I can almost hear the angels cheering for him up in heaven.
Maybe you are tempted. But remember that it brings pleasure to God when we do our business honestly. Let that be all you need to decide to do your business honestly.
God is pleased when his people live in unity. In Psalm 133 we read: “How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity! 2 It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down over the collar of his robes. 3 It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion. For there the LORD ordained his blessing, life forevermore.
Think of the feeling that you get when the whole family is together around the table for Thanksgiving dinner. Even with the noise of grandchildren, and with the bickering that happens in some families, it just feels good to have the family together. You are getting a taste of God’s heart when he sees his people together, loving each other. We’re his family and it warms his heart when we get together.
Today’s pulpit exchange expresses our unity as United Methodist brothers and sisters in Carroll County.
In Hebrews 13:16 we read, "Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God." Doing good is pleasing to God. You know, from time to time people drop in at churches saying, "I'm out of money, I've tried everything I can think of, but I need help. Can you help me with some gas money to get to work, or food for my kids, or emergency shelter?" Sometimes I’ll go two months without even one of those requests for emergency help. But some years ago there was a week when I had people drop in like that 6 times, in one week. That's a record for me. And sometimes it’s a pain. It never comes at a convenient time. Because it’s not always easy to spot the alcoholics and drug addicts, I am very cautious about just giving someone cash. It takes time to listen to them, ask questions, check out their story, pray with them, and take them over to the gas station to make sure the money goes where it’s intended. And I was getting pretty overwhelmed and found myself praying, "Lord, what am I doing wrong, that I'm so swamped this week?" And I just sensed the Lord saying I was doing exactly what I should. And then here is this verse, the Lord is pleased when we do good and share what we have, and he understands that often that is a sacrifice.
I don't know how many of us in this church do voluntary works of mercy, maybe visiting shut-ins or those in nursing homes, helping at the food pantry or resale shop, or tutoring children at school and so on. Those of you who do such things, as you do them, I hope that you can say with Eric LIDdell, I can feel his pleasure. God loves it when we do good works and share. Enjoy his pleasure.
In Proverbs 15:8, we read, “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is his delight." "The prayer of the upright is his delight." Do you ever feel like your prayers are a waste of time? or that they are boring to God? Or that they don’t even rise any higher than the ceiling? Well, the Bible says that the prayer of the upright is God's delight." He’s listening right now, hoping we’ll speak to him directly as we worship together.
Can we say a quick prayer to bless God together right now? Let’s all say together, “Good morning Lord, we love you.”
Those of you who have children who have grown up and launched out on their own, how do you feel when they call home after not hearing from them for a while? Maybe there isn't all that much news, but it just feels good to reconnect with someone you love, to know they still care for you. When God's people pray, he loves it. In fact, "The prayer of the upright is his delight." Feel his pleasure when you pray. He's glad to hear from you. And maybe it doesn’t always have to be prayer business and formality. I believe God is just happy to talk to his children sometimes.
Then, in Micah 7:18, we read, “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of your possession? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in showing clemency." Do you ever feel like you've messed up and God is mad at you? Well, he might be mad at you if you've messed up. Sin is a serious thing. That’s his job to be mad when we do wrong.
But who of us hasn't been mad at someone we love before? That doesn't have to be the end of the story. You can love someone and be mad at them at the same time. The Bible says that God "delights in showing clemency," or, we could say mercy. Give him half a chance to show you mercy. Maybe you did something long ago that you still feel terrible about. Maybe you have a habit that you just can’t beat. Know that God does not want you wallowing in rejection for your whole life. He wants to lift you up out of it. Apologize for what you did wrong. Take whatever steps you can to make it right. Pour your heart out to him. And feel his pleasure.
He is a loving father. He’s the father of the prodigal son, who watches broken-hearted as his son wanders away. And when the day comes that the son comes to his senses and returns, he’s the father who is watching the road and runs out and hugs his son and celebrates that he has come to his senses. He delights to show mercy.
In Philippians 4:18, the Apostle Paul is saying thank-you to the church in Philippi for their financial contribution to him. He wrote, "I have been paid in full and have more than enough; I am fully satisfied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God."
Sometimes giving to God's work can feel like a pain. But don't let it be. It brings pleasure to God. He loves it. It's like the scent of sweet incense to him. Feel God's pleasure when you give. When we take the offering each Sunday it is more than a matter of paying the bills. It is a way that we can bring joy to our God’s heart. He loves a cheerful giver. He loves it!
We raised 4 kids and we got them all through college. We weren’t able to just pay all the expenses. They all worked. They all took loans. But we lived frugally and we saved up for years in advance and we were able to help them out a lot. And it felt really good to write the last tuition check and know that we had completed that challenge. But there was something in me that found deep joy and satisfaction every time I wrote a college tuition check because it was an investment in one of my kids and a tangible way I showed my love for them.
When we give to God it is a tangible way of expressing our thankfulness, love and appreciation. And it’s an investment in the great task of building the Kingdom of God.
And I want to be very clear here. Sometimes people talk like God is getting senile or something and just smiles at us no matter what we do. We make excuses for hurtful words or dishonest dealings or neglect of God. Well, God is no dummy. He knows exactly what is going on. He cares very deeply when something is wrong. It hurts his heart. As the judge of the universe, he has to deal with our sins, that's it, and he will.
But when he deals with our sin, he’s always reaching out to teach us better ways to do it next time; he’s always wanting to leave us with hope for the future. He’s always rooting for us to come through it stronger and wiser.
But he also is very responsive, joyful when things are right. And how much better it is to focus on those things.
I have a question those of us here who are parents or grandparents. Imagine a time when your young child or grandchild drew a picture for you. It wasn't a great work of art. The apples in the apple tree were really way too big, and lumpy. The sun was a very unusual shade of orange. The children who were playing in the picture had no knees in their legs. The corners of the paper had gotten wrinkled somewhere in the process. It was not a great work of art. But did you just push that picture away? Did you despise it? No way! You loved that picture. You probably put it up on your refrigerator or bulletin board. And why? Because you love that little child, and any offering of love they bring to you is more precious than gold.
When you bring your gifts to God, your prayers, your giving, your helping of others, they may feel inadequate, they may feel clumsy. But he loves you. Feel the pleasure that is in his heart. AMEN
