Where Are We Headed

Sermon: Where are we headed?

A More Worthy Walk…in 2005

Scripture: John 2 vss. 1-11

Good Morning…

Here we are in the New Year and we’re all probably still trying to remember to write 2005 on our checks. And as this New Year begins, it reminds us that time marches on. As we turned the page of our calendars to January, it seemed that we all might have been stimulated to think that it’s time for making changes in our lives…it’s time to make some resolutions.

The topic for this sermon today came to my mind after hearing a song on the radio. The lyrics to this song spoke to me about becoming more worthy in the sight of those around us and also being more worthy in the sight of our Lord. You might have heard this song by Billy Currington…the words go like this…

I remember looking up to look up to him

An’ I remember most the time he wasn’t there

I’d be waiting at the door, when he got home at night

He’d pass me by to go pass out in his chair

And I’d sing

Walk a little straighter Daddy your swayin’ side to side

Your footsteps make me dizzy an’ no matter how hard I try

I keep trippin’ and stumbling, if you’d look down here you’d see

Walk a little straighter Daddy, you’re leading me.

He stumbled in the gym on graduation day

And I couldn’t help but feel so ashamed

An’ I wasn’t surprised a bit when he didn’t stay,

He stumbled out before they called my name

And I thought,

Walk a little straighter daddy your swayin’ side to side,

It’s not just me whose watching you’ve caught everybody’s eye

And you’re trippin’ and stumbling and even though I’ve turned 18

Walk a little straighter daddy, you’re still leading me.

The old man’s still like he always was, but I love him anyway

If I’ve learned one thing from him its my kids will never have to sing

Walk a little straighter daddy, you’re swayin’ side to side

Your footsteps make me dizzy and no matter how hard I try,

I keep trippin’ and stumbling, if you’d look down here you’d see

Walk a little straighter daddy, you’re leading me

Yea walk a little straighter daddy, you’re leading me.

This song reminded me that we all need to ‘walk a little straighter’…we all need to know that “everybody’s watchin’…we all need to know that no matter who we are, we might be ‘leading’ someone.

And that’s why I titled this sermon, ‘A More Worthy Walk In 2005’. Do we need to think about some changes in our lives…some changes that might help us ‘walk a little straighter’?

This last week I read an article by a Mr. Daryl Wingerd. His article was written about making resolutions and was entitled, “A Few Thoughts About Personal Resolutions”. I would like to share today some of what Mr. Wingerd had to say, as he writes about how we as Christians need to understand how to walk a more worthy walk…a walk that is straighter…a walk that will glorify our Lord and Savior.

We all know that the traditional time for making resolutions in January 1st. It might mean that we resolve to stop smoking, or over-eating, or watching so much TV. It might be the day that someone resolves to start walking, running, or lifting weights. For the Christian, it might be the day to increase Bible reading, to begin to pray regularly, or to begin the regular practice of family worship. Many of these are noble pursuits, but do these New Year’s resolutions really work? Do we find that we are frequently successful in making significant and lasting changes by means of this annual form of sincere commitment?

I had to admit that I could not think of even one significant or lasting change in my life that had come as the result of such calendar-driven resolutions. I couldn’t even think of a person that I knew who had made a significant change in their lives from a new year’s resolution. It seems that these New Year’s resolutions are almost universally unsuccessful. I’ve heard that the health club memberships soar at the beginning of each new year, but by February, attendance has always dropped significantly. Statistically, the batting average for success would be near zero!

As Christians, such a poor ratio of success should cause us to examine the whole concept of the New Year’s resolution from a biblical perspective. As we do this, we find some obvious problems. Let’s take a look and see what these problems are.

First, for the Christian to be motivated toward personal change by the turning of a calendar page seems a little superstitious. The Romans are the ones who established our current calendar, and they were considered a pagan nation, worshipping pagan gods.