This past week I received an e-mail entitled “Living in 2005” which said, “You know you’re living in 2005 when...
1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave. 2. You haven’t played solitaire with real cards in years. 3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3. 4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you. 5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that
they don’t have e-mail addresses.
6. You go home after a long day at work and you still answer the phone in a business manner. 7. You make phone calls from home, and you accidentally dial "9" to get an outside line. 8. You’ve sat at the same desk for four years and worked for three different companies. 10. You learn about your redundancy on the 11 o’clock news.
11. Your boss doesn’t have the ability to do your job. 12. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if
anyone is home. 13. Every commercial on television has a website at the bottom of the
screen. 14. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn’t have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
15. You get up in the morning and go online before getting your coffee. 16. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. :) 17. You’re reading this and nodding and laughing. 18. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message. 19. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list. 20. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn’t a #9 on this list. AND NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.”
This past week I also heard an interesting statistic revealed by Rebecca Hagelin, mother of three, social commentator, and author of the new book "Home Invasion: Protecting Your Family in a Culture that’s Gone Stark Raving Mad.". In an interview this past Tuesday morning (April 12, 2005) on the “Fox and Friends” morning news program on the Fox News Channel, she indicated that a high percentage of both Republicans and Democrats believe that our nation’s culture has gotten out of control. (Hum… that’s interesting.)
I also heard this past week an elementary school parent tell about an e-mail her 5th grade son got from a girl that was quite disturbing. I asked her if it had come to his e-mail address and she said, “No, it had come to mine.”
This past fall, a survey was conducted in all three school districts of our county of 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th graders regarding drug and alcohol usage, factors which put these students at risk, factors that protect students, and expressions of anti-social behaviors, by a community initiative through Drug-Free Noble County called, “Communities That Care.” It is an interesting and, in places, a troubling report.
(A copy of the report is available and I encourage parents to review it.)
Let me share a couple of items from the survey:
The survey asked the students a series of questions regarding factors (or situations) that could create a higher risk to them to engage in what are called at-risk behaviors such as drug and alcohol usage as well as a variety of anti-social behaviors.
The risk factor that scored the highest (and risk factors with higher scores indicate a higher potential for problem behaviors) was called Community Disorganization. What this factor measured was the perception (and I emphasize perception) of the students’ “communities’ appearance and other external attributes” and also asked them to respond to the statement “I feel safe in my neighborhood.” 60% of those surveyed stated their belief that their communities are disorganized and are concerned about their safety. Regarding anti-social behaviors, nearly 13% of those surveyed indicated that they had “attacked some with the idea of seriously hurting them” at least once in the past 12 months.
Now there is some good news as well behind all of this disturbing news. Across our county, there was a strong belief in a moral order at 63% and in community opportunities for pro-social (or positive) involvement at 62%.
My point in sharing all of these things is this: Insecurity is very much a part of our lives today. There is a strong desire and need to feel secure because there are many things that challenge our sense of security. There are also many things that we “use” to gain the security of happiness and acceptance.
Things such as drugs and alcohol, believing media messages about body image and what a good body image is and isn’t, and a need to be loved that causes us to seek such love in places such as internet chat rooms and in other ways.
However, I urge us to seriously consider and accept another important truth of the Resurrection this morning that really matters and can truly help us find love, joy, peace, and acceptance – the truth that we are secure in Christ as we allow the power of Risen Christ to enter our lives.
Three verses of scripture this morning help us understand the security we have in Christ. We need to memorize these verses and reflect on the truth and power behind these verses, as they are the best sources for living securely in our world.
The first verse is our main text, Philippians 1:6 “And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again.”
I recently read an article by Ben Patterson who is the campus pastor at Westmont College in Southern California in which he has wondered from time to time “Have I become useless?” (That was the title of the article). In it, he ponders his ministry to college students as a man in his 50’s when he thinks that he should have done that in his 20’s believing that he would have been more effective.
Then he realizes two things. The first has to do with the need for trust that the college generation is looking for. He writes, “Whatever else this generation wants, it wants to know there is such a thing as older people who are reliable, available, and willing to tell the truth. It wants to be able to trust someone the age of their parents and grandparents. The students I know are looking for mentors.”
The second thing he says relates to the experiences that the Lord has brought him through as he has aged. “I’ve lived long enough to see some happy endings: bodies cured, broken families restored, marriages healed, sinners saved, youths brought home from the far county. Then he says this: “My hope in the power of God and the efficacy of prayer is firmer now than ever. I am more relaxed and focused in crisis.”
I believe that Patterson restates Philippians 1:6 when he says, “My hope in the power of God and the efficacy of prayer is firmer now than ever.” We hear the same confidence that we hear in Paul’s words – “I am sure.”
And what is both Ben Patterson and St Paul sure of? That God will complete the work that He started in our lives.
Now we need to cooperate with the Lord. We need to obey the Lord and live lives according to what scripture commands. But our confidence and our security must be based on God and not us or our culture. For when we base our security on anything but Jesus Christ, the Risen Jesus Christ, we are basing it on unstable things that shift from one thing to another.
As the hymn says, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness/ I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. / On Christ the solid rock I stand/all other ground is sinking sand/all other ground is sinking sand.”
If we want to experience the power and truth of the Resurrection; if we want the Easter story to be true; if we even want it to be true, then we need to find not only our acceptance in Christ (as we heard last week) we also need to find our security in Him as well.
One of the important truths behind this verse is that Paul’s confidence in the Lord and His ability to complete the “good work” is based on the character of God. And the character of God is one of consistency. God is the same today as He was 5, 10, 40 years ago. He is still here, ready and willing and able to continue the “good work” of salvation and transformation in our lives.
Our second verse this morning bases our security in Christ on the Spirit of God and it is 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
Paul is writing to one of the younger leaders in the church, Timothy, and in this passage reminds him of his faith heritage and legacy that is passed onto him by his mother and grandmother. He encourages Timothy to remember that heritage and to “fan into flames” the spiritual gift he has been given by God to use.
Anxiety and fear are two major characteristics of our time. We fear job loss. We get anxious about our children. We worry about our finances.
But Paul says to Timothy (and the Lord says to us) “That is not the Spirit of God operating in you! The Spirit of God gives us a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline.”
Now frankly we like the first two in the list. We like the sound of power and of love. They are desirable. It is the third one that we have some trouble with.
Self-discipline is a very important gift from the Spirit. We need to remember that it appears (as self-control) at the end of the list, we call the “Fruits of the Spirit.”
Have you ever considered that self-discipline/self-control comes at the end of both lists, this one in 2 Timothy 1:7 and the one in Galatians 5:22 and 23 for a reason? If we look at the Fruit of the Spirit passage all of those things that are listed prior to self-control are necessary ingredients for self-control.
Think about a person who is loving, gentle, kind, patient- self-control just seems to flow out of such a person. “But Jim, I struggle with self-control, and I want to be more self-controled, but it is so hard!” “Yes, it is.”
Let me suggest that if we struggle to be self-controlled and to incorporate the Fruits of the Spirit into our lives, that the very act of struggle indicates that we are alive and kicking! Because if there is a noticeable lack of struggle-then we must assume that something is – dead.
This past Thursday I read an article at USA Today.com entitled “Prying Eyes Are Everywhere.” It presented the issues surrounding the increased spying that people like you and I are doing because the technology is there and less expensive. However, as the article makes clear, “it is a two-edged sword.”
It told the story of a man who had installed spy software on his computer to find out where his son, nieces, and nephews were going on the Internet. And the reason that he did so was that his computer “was so clogged with pop-up ads, spam and other cyberjunk.” He got more than he bargained for, however, because he found out that his wife was “seeing” another man on the Internet.
Now divorced, he was asked about future relationships and whether the software would come off the computer. "With people, especially in an intimate relationship, there has to be a trust factor," he says. “Still, "I would like to know if something is going on that shouldn’t be."
“Before the Net,” the article also says, “everyday citizens rarely were faced with such dilemmas.”
Self-control/self-discipline is a problem these days and it seems easier to give in than to give up because there are so many things available to us that allow us to break.
But the Bible tells us to not give up nor give in. We are to resist the Devil and we are to yield to the Holy Spirit.
The power of the Holy Spirit, as we let Him into our lives, is a power that brings peace and stability as we allow Him to develop our character through the development of the Fruits of the Spirit in our lives. To try to deal with our insecurity without allowing the Holy Spirit into our lives to do His deep and important work sets us up for even greater insecurity and the host of other feelings and attitudes that go with it: anxiety, hostility, fear, jealousy, etc.
It is God’s will that the truth of the Resurrection liberate us through the power and work of the Holy Spirit to have a spirit not of fear but of love, power, and self-discipline. One other seemingly contradictory thing about the struggle in this area: If you struggle, it means you’re alive, but it also means that you must, you must, surrender to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to help you cultivate the right kind of spirit.
The final verse of scripture we look at this morning is a verse that basis our security in Christ on the availability of God’s ability to help us overcome and move forward! It is Hebrews 4:16, but we begin with verse 15.
“This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same temptations we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it.”
When Jesus said in Matthew 5:48 to His disciples “But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect,” He meant it!
God expects perfection from those who claim to be Christians. There is no getting around it!
He expects our attitudes and our lifestyles to be Godly and perfect. No exceptions.
He expects us to live holy (purer or cleaner) lives than the rest of the world. No excuses.
God expects us to be perfect followers! “Ah come on Jim! We all flub up! We all have moments when we fudge at little, who doesn’t it?”
God expects perfection. Period!
But. But. BUT! He also knew that the Father would give the disciples (and us as well) Holy Spirit power when we needed it to move toward perfection!
This final passage of scripture clearly says, “He did not sin.” Jesus was (and still is) perfect. He never sinned…at… all!
However, we also read Jesus, (our High Priest), “understands our weaknesses.” He walked this earth in another time and place of human history but they had the same issues and sins that we do. He understands what it means to be tempted and because He did not yield, it makes it possible for Him to help us say “NO!” to temptation.
This Resurrection truth is based on the grace and mercy of God that is rooted in His compassion. The Psalmist said it well in Psalm 103 starting with verse 8: “The Lord is merciful and gracious; he is slow to get angry and full of unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us nor remain angry forever.”
Think about this, “If God had followed through on His decision to wipe out Israel while they were headed toward the promise land, or if God had decided to completely turn His back on the remnant that was exiled to ancient Babylonia and not move to bring them back to Israel, or if Jesus had decided to come off the cross and whip the Roman Empire, then…would there have been a Resurrection?” NO!
Because of His love, His Mercy, His grace, we have the Resurrection. God wanted us back and He sacrificed His only Son, Jesus Christ on the cross for you and me.
Love gives the Resurrection its power! And because God loves us, He has the mercy and grace to help us when we need it. And when we ask for it, we experience the power and the truth of the Resurrection because we do not have to live in fear of God’s wrath and righteous judgment. That’s security.
Now one day all of us will face the final judgment. We will stand before God and give an accounting of our lives. He wants us to pass the test!
Last night as I fine-tuned this message, I thought about how I wanted to close.
I like this message! It thrills me to know that I can live (and you can to) in the power and truth of the Resurrection in spite of all of the things that can create insecurity within us.
I wanted to make clear what security in Christ means at the end of this long message. So hear goes…
It is only God who can give us security. Any other person, place, possession, or power cannot give us the security for which we have been created by God to possess. And until we possess this security through the acceptance of God’s salvation through Jesus Christ we will always be searching for it and we will always be miserable. Period. End of discussion. Amen.
(Date of USA Today.com article was April 14, 2005. Ben Patterson’s article is located at ChristianityToday.com. Communities That Care is a copy written trademark)
