Sermon
January 17, 2021 – David Simpson
Lanier Christian Church
Have We Met the Enemy?
Colossians 3:12
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
Troublesome times are surrounding each one of us right now. There are two main issues that have a grip on us as we reach the mid-way point of the month of January: Pandemic and Politics. Both issues have divided us. There are strong feelings about the virus and there are strong feelings about our political divide. Sadly, neither of these matters have unified us.
What is happening right now is a divide in our land like I’ve never seen before. It is best described in Walt Kelly’s famous cartoon strip, Pogo. In the cartoon panel, Porkypine and Pogo take a journey into the forest and as they approach the wetlands, they begin to step on cans and bottles and debris of every kind recklessly thrown into the water and woods. Porkypine has a hard time walking on all the trash and says, “It is hard walkin’ on this stuff.” Then Pogo responds, “Yep, son, we have met the enemy and he is us.”
I think that pretty much describes our situation right now with these two divisive issues. The enemy is us. We SHOULD be united as Americans, even if our political views are different. We live in the greatest country on earth with more opportunities and freedoms than can be found anywhere else on the globe. The blessings around us as a nation should unite us. However, there are voices around us seeking to tear us apart rather than pull us together.
We SHOULD be united against this pandemic. This virus is a true enemy. In fact, it took the life of a dear minister friend last week, Phil Kouns, who led our Thursday Bible Study group on a tour of Christian City a few years ago. Most recently minister of Stockbridge Christian Church. He was one of the good guys, a loyal servant of the kingdom. A man of prayer and devotion to Jesus. The virus shows no favoritism. As of today, 11,000 have lost their lives here in Georgia due to the virus. So, thank you for wearing a mask. Next to prayer, it’s the least we can do to slow this virus. Yet, there are voices around us that are dividing us over this virus, too. We can’t even unite against a common enemy that doesn’t care what color you are, what language you speak, what politics you support, or what age you are. This should not be.
It seems at times like the enemy really is us…each other.
So, what should we do? As Christians gathered here on this January Sunday, what should we do in light of all of these challenges that surround us?
I have some suggestions: First, take some time and evaluate yourself.
And to do this, you and I need to spend some time in prayer and repentance. I dare say that all of us in this room today can improve in some area that would move us away from divisive behavior and more toward Christ. And I think one area we should all focus on is humility. We each should show some humility and consider others above yourself. Philippians 2:3-4 says:
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
Selfish ambition and vain conceit are enemies of unity and harmony. Paul is contrasting the greedy behavior of self against the virtue of humility that places others needs before your own. First century stoic philosophers around at the time of the New Testament saw humility as a weakness. However, in New Testament teaching, humility is always seen as positive. Here Paul uses it to refer to a sacrificial willingness to give up one’s rights and work for the good of others. The supreme example of this was Jesus, who “humbled himself” in obedience to God and suffered death by crucifixion. (these 2 sentences: Zondervan Illus Commentary)
Humility has taken a back seat in our culture. Just look at words that are part of our lingo now: selfie, Myspace, meTV, (one of my favorite channels because it carries The Andy Griffith show), etc. Ask yourself a question this very moment. What did you reach for first today? Your Bible or your phone? What was your first intentional act today? Prayer or Facebook? Social media has played a big part in where we are today in our cultural divide. Our smartphones will now tell us how much time we spend on our phones and various apps. Most of us don’t look at that because we don’t want to know.
Maybe we really have met the enemy and he is us! Yet, others surround us every day that need our humble service and compassion.
So ask yourself the questions I’ve asked myself:
Did you perform some act of service or compassion for someone else last week?
Did you call someone else just to show you care?
Again, Maybe we really have met the enemy and he is us!
I have another suggestion…and that is… that we turn down the temperature.
I was inspired to write this point because I have an electric heater at my home office that was warming my legs while I was typing this. But, it got too hot, so I turned down the temperature to cool things down a bit! So, what do I mean by this?
Instead of offering your opinion, offer an encouraging word instead. God knows we need it. Instead of lighting a fire of actions or words that hurt, offer encouragement and help instead. Quit adding to the divide and start offering healing words and deeds. Call someone and rather than talk about politics or pandemic, talk about praiseworthy things.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 challenges us to:
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
This is the same chapter that talks about being prepared for the return of Christ…that he would come like a “thief in the night.”
It’s the same chapter that says in v. 5: “You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.” It’s the same chapter that says in verse 8: “But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
My friend, faith and love and hope is the foundation of who we are as believers. It’s time we started acting like it and turn away from the things of darkness. This world is a challenging place that calls for every Christian to live out these virtues and because the darkness wants to pull us in…Paul says, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
Well, the Thessalonican church was actually encouraging each other! They were doing it! If Christ were to return today, would he find each of us doing the same thing?
Yet, encouragement is rarely heard these days, even among many believers. Let’s turn the tide. May we as Christians take on the responsibility of encouraging others and building them up, not demeaning them and tearing them down.
Which brings me to another suggestion. If we are going to practice humility and turn down the temperature, then we also need to put feet to our humble encouragement and…
Show some kindness.
One of the best ways to get out of our moaning and complaining is to show kindness to someone else. In doing so, you are showing humility and encouragement. Colossians 3:12 gives a great summary of the calling we have as believers:
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
Just as you put on your clothes every day, do the same thing spiritual, “clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Why should we do this: because we are holy and dearly loved. That means we are uniquely set apart by God to be different from the world – belonging to Him - that’s holy. And we are loved because of the loving sacrifice of our Savior. And that love and mercy and grace covers us every day – so why not show our appreciation by living out kindness and compassion every day as well!
A few years ago I preached a sermon on kindness and played the song by Glen Campbell. Not all songs have a powerful message, but this one does:
The last verse and chorus goes like this:
Don't walk around the down and out
Lend a helping hand instead of doubt
And the kindness that you show every day
Will help someone along their way
You got to try a little kindness
Yes, show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness
Then you'll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets
If we don’t show kindness in this world that is so divided right now, who will? We can start breaking down the walls of division by showing kindness.
And my last suggestion for today is we need to pursue the goal of being united in love.
Paul shared these words with the Colossian Christians:
My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ…Colossians 2:2
Encouraged in heart and united in love. That’s it. That’s the goal. It doesn’t come easily. It’s takes dedicated effort through prayer and seeking the Lord’s will above all. It takes dependence on Almighty God – through mountaintops and valleys. It takes all of us working together for the cause of Christ – not our own agendas. And, it takes all of us humbling ourselves before the throne of God to realize that He loved us first, therefore we should love one another. In fact 1 John 4:11 says:
“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
So, let’s never forget how critically important that is for our unity…to love one another.
Look at that Colossians 2:2 verse again: Encouraged in heart and united in love.
The Colossian people were being bombarded with false teaching. Paul called it hollow and deceptive philosophy in 2:8. That was a warning to the first century church, but it still rings true today.
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.” (Colossians 2:8)
Note the phrase “spiritual forces of this world, rather than on Christ.”
Don’t let anything hold you captive during this stormy season. Don’t let the devil sway you away from your faith. Your focus and mine must be on our unity in Christ. We must be “encouraged in heart and united in love” as Paul said in Colossians 2:2
I want to encourage you today. We WILL make it through this difficult season. Jesus is still the same. His power and guiding wisdom are still available to us. The devil is the author of discouragement, losing heart and disunity. Therefore, we cannot take our eyes off of the prize of the high calling of Christ. He will lead us across the finish line, so to speak, because we are all in this together!
For our nation, for the church, for our own congregation, we must have one overriding goal: to encourage and to love.
In fact, Jesus said to his disciples, just hours before he went to the cross:
John 13:34-35
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
The truth is that love unites not divides. For our nation, I pray for the same unity that I saw a few weeks ago… cutting up and removing a giant oak tree that had fallen across our subdivision road and into our front yard.
Men and women, young and old, every background, every color, every person of every opinion came together for one common cause: to cut up a tree that affected all of us. We came together to help each other through the storm. That’s what we need to do as a nation… To help each other through the storm. As we are guided by the mighty hand of our Savior, and as we encourage and love each other…we too will make it through the storm of this pandemic and other challenges.
Our Lord will strengthen and guide us through this storm as long as we reflect his image in our daily lives. Practice humility, offer encouragement, display kindness, and be united in love. Only then will the enemy stop being us!
