Men of Courage
Matthew 5:13-16
Someone has come up with a Men’s Thesaurus. This Thesaurus is helpful for women to better understand men.
When a man says: “It would take too long to explain.”
He means: “I have no idea how it works.”
When a man says: “Take a break, honey, you are working too hard.” He means: “I can’t hear the game over the vacuum cleaner.”
When a man says: “That’s interesting dear.”
He means: “Are you still talking?”
When a man says: “It’s a guy thing.”
He means: “There is no rational thought pattern connected with this, and you have no chance at all of making it logical.”
When a man says: “Uh huh, sure honey,” or “yes, dear.”
He means: Absolutely nothing - It’s a conditional response.
When a man says: “I can’t find it.”
He means: “It didn’t fall into my outstretched hand, so I’m completely clueless.”
The Bible teaches that marriage is a sacred covenant and commitment between a man and a woman. “Two become one” means both have common goals and expectations. The expectations prior to marriage often get couples in trouble.
#Liz was sure her boyfriend Martin would make a great husband, especially when she met Martin’s parents. “They’re so nice to each other,” Liz remarked. “It’s great how your dad brings your mom coffee in bed every morning.”
Eventually, Martin and Liz got married. As they were heading for their honeymoon destination, Liz spoke of the loving home they would have, and mentioned once again Martin’s father’s habit of bringing his wife coffee in bed each morning. Liz asked jokingly, “And does this trait run in the family.”
“It sure does,” answered Martin, “and I take after my mom.”
#Darwin was entering his third month of marriage when he ran across a bachelor friend of his. “How’s married life treating you?” the friend inquired.
“It’s the best, man,” Darwin replied. “I think everyone should be married. I’m living a great life. Every day, I come home to a hot meal and a clean house. My slippers are right in front of the easy chair, and dinner is brought to me while I watch television. I’m really getting spoiled. Of course, we’re still living with my mother.”
In Matthew 5:13-16 Jesus has a challenge for everyone, but this morning I want to apply the teaching especially to men. Jesus delivers His historic teaching from the side of a mountain. The first part of chapter five Jesus tells how to be blessed and how God’s blessing is on people who live Godly lives.
Then in verses 13-16 Jesus says in effect that since you have been blessed of God, now you are to bless others as salt and light in the world. This morning I want to challenge men to be salt and light to your family and to the world. It takes men of courage to be salt and light.
Men of courage who are salt and light -
I. Give Spiritual Leadership in the Home
Ephesians 6:1-4 NLT
Fathers give special attention to verse 4, “And now a word to you fathers. Don’t make your children angry by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction approved by the Lord.”
God has ordained that husbands are to be the spiritual leaders of their families by their words and actions. Failure by the husband to show genuine love to his wife and children makes it difficult for the husband to grow in his own Christian life. Listen to what the Apostle Peter says, “You husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat her with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. If you don’t treat her as you should, your prayers will not be heard.” I Peter 3:7 NLT
The Biblical teaching is clear that fathers are to give spiritual leadership in the home. Listen carefully to I Timothy 5:8, “If any man provide not for his relatives and especially for his own family, he is worse than an unbeliever.” The primary provision Paul is talking about is providing spiritual instruction for the family.
God instructed Moses and Moses instructed parents, “And you must commit yourselves wholehearted to these commands I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children.” Deuteronomy 6:6-7
It takes courage to follow the commands of Jesus give spiritual leadership to your family. Jesus gives the call to men and women who are His followers: “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:26-28
The New Testament word – “doulos,” slave, describes a person who has lost all his freedom, all power, all prestige, and sometimes evens his name. A slave is owned entirely by his master.
Jesus put Himself in the same class as a slave. As Christ-followers fathers are to give leadership in the home not as high and mighty leaders, but as leaders under the authority of Jesus Christ. The husband honors Christ by serving his wife and children. He looks for solutions to family tension and problems. If helping out in the home means getting his hands clean by washing dishes or getting his hands dirty by taking out the trash, so be it.
Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth…” Salt is made up of sodium and chloride and is used as a cleanser, for food flavoring and in the past as a medium of trade. As flavoring salt is an agent of change. Salt changes a bland dish into a tasty delight.
Jesus also said you are to be the “Light of the world.’ Light radically transforms darkness into light. Light shines forth and penetrates the darkness, changing it from dark to light.
Both salt and light are change agents. As men of courage you are to be a change agent in your family. You are called by God to be a spiritual leader in your home.
Men of courage also
II. Demonstrate Love in their Home
I Corinthians 16:13-14 “Be on guard. Stand true to what you believe. Be courageous. Be strong. And everything you do must be done with love.” NLT
Fathers are to be on guard and protect their children from false teachings. Fathers need to know what they believe and why they believe what they believe. Fathers are to stand true to their convictions. True convictions are based upon God’s Word and not upon the views of others.
You demonstrate love in your home when you reflect a positive attitude. Philippians 4:8 describes the attitude we are to have in our home: “And now dear friends, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
There are three simple steps to having a fun-filled home life: attitude, attitude and attitude.
Build on your strengths and not your weaknesses. Make it a practice to not to look for weak areas in each other, but to look for strengths. Practicing Christian love means being patient with each others weaknesses.
Why is it that some men find it hard to tell their wife or children that they are love? Do you find it hard to say, “I love you.”
The following is a letter to Dear Abby: “I enlisted shortly after Pearl Harbor. Thirty-six days later, I was on my way to the Philippines. En route, the Philippines fell to the Japanese, and we were routed to Australia. Eleven days after we landed, I met the most beautiful girl in the world.
On our first date, I told her I was going to marry her. I did, 18 months later, while on a 10-day R-and-R leave from New Guinea.
After more than 57 years of marriage and two children, my beloved "Mary" died five days before Christmas. Although we agreed that our ashes were to be scattered over the mountains, I found I could not part with hers.
While Mary was alive, she would frequently say, "You don’t know how much I love you." I’d reply, "Likewise." I never said, "I love you." Now her ashes are on my dresser, where I tell her several times a day how much I love her, but it’s too late. Although I wrote poetry to her, I could not bring myself to say the three words I knew she wanted most to hear.
As my dearest was dying and we thought she was comatose, I told her, "There aren’t enough words to tell you how much I love you." A few hours later, she whispered, "Not enough words" and died.
The reason I’m writing is to urge men to express their feelings while their loved ones are alive. I don’t know why, but many men are reluctant to express the depth of their feelings. – Missing Mary in Colorado.
I know that my own mother was much better at showing love and affection than my father. In many homes the wives and mothers often have to take the lead in verbalizing love and affection.
# A seminary student was legalistic about everything he did. He felt he was on solid ground if he could quote Bible chapter and verse to his actions.
He was okay until he fell in love with a beautiful girl and wanted ever so much to kiss her good night, but he couldn’t find a scripture verse to okay it. So he would walk her to the dormitory each night and lovingly say, “Good night.”
This went on for several weeks and all the time he was searching the Bible, trying to find some scripture to okay kissing her good night. He finally came across the passage in Romans 16:16, “Great each other with a holy kiss.” At last he thought he had scriptural authority for kissing her good night.
But to be sure, he went to his hermeneutics professor to check it out. After talking with the professor he realized that the passage dealt more with a church setting than with a dating situation. So once again he simple didn’t have a passage of scripture to okay kissing his girl good night.
That evening he walked her to the dormitory and once again started to bid her “good night.” But as he did, she grabbed him, pulled him toward her, and planted a kiss on his lips.
At the end of the kiss, the Seminary student gasped for air, and stammered, “Bible verse, Bible verse.” The girl grabbed him a second time and just before kissing him said, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
The young lady seminary student seemed to know the Bible better than her gentleman freind.
When demonstrating love in your home, have a “can do” attitude. An attitude of “Whatever it takes,” is better than “I don’t do that kind of work at home, that’s woman’s work.”
#A businessman was driving on a lonely road one summer day. He saw a car with a flat tire over on the shoulder of the road. Beside the car stood a woman, looking down in dismay at the flat tire. The man decided to pull over and be a Good Samaritan. He grew hot and sweaty and dirty in the hot sun as he changed the tire. The woman was watching him and just as he finished she said, “Be sure and let the jack down easily now, because my husband is sleeping in the back seat of the car!”
Husbands demonstrate love in the home by seeking ways to meet their wife’s needs and sacrificing their personal preferences for hers. Let your family know you love them by being sensitive to their needs and making sure you have time to do things as a family. Genuine love is freeing and not controlling.
Men of courage – Give spiritual leadership in the home
Demonstrate love in the home -- And
III. Declare their Faith by Word and Action
Matthew 5:13-16 Jesus taught that salt was useless if it lost its flavor and light is for shining and to hide under a basket. Let your light shine so everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
Salt is used as both a preservative and to penetrate. A little salt will penetrate and flavor an entire meal when it is used in the right proportions. Salt by itself has little value. It must make contact to make a difference.
Jesus is saying to His followers - get out of the salt shaker. Make contact with a world lacking the flavor or joy, peace, and significance. Add spiritual vitality and seasoning to a fermenting world.
Just as salt does not exist for itself the Christian does not exist for personal gratification.
For every parent your first mission field is our children and family. The mission field for all of us regardless of our family situation, married, single, divorced or looking forward to getting married, is the world around us.
It takes courage to get out of the box and make contact with people who are spiritually lost.
Lost people do matter to God. John 3:16 and Romans 5:8 declare just how much people matter to God. The question is, “Do they matter to me?” If lost people do matter to me, then what difference will it make in how I live my life?
To be light we must shine out and reach out in love with the love of Jesus to lost and broken people.
Being salt and lighte is a way of life. Everyday you live, you write another page into the diary of your life. Francis of Assisi knew the importance of declaring your faith by both word and deed when he said, “Preach the gospel all the time, if necessary use words.” Whether you realize it or not people are watching you. You may be the only Gospel that some people see.
The Apostle Paul challenges Christians to be sweet perfume to others wherever they go. “Now wherever we go he uses us to tell others about the Lord and to speak the Good News like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a fragrance presented by Christ to God.” 2 Corinthians 2:14-15
To your family and to others you are the aroma and fragrance of Christ. My prayer is that every father is a sweet smelling fragrance to his children, his wife, and extended family.
Men of courage give spiritual leadership in the home,
Men of courage demonstrate love in their home
Men of courage declare their faith by word and action.
Let me pray.
