08-19-18
Sunday
Morning Sermon
Ephesians
5:15-20
I
have to admit,
·
One of my most favorite cartoons
o
While I was growing up
o
And Even after being Grown Up
·
Is the “The Road Runner Cartoon”.
·
With all of those unusual stunts that Wile E. Coyote would come
up with,
o
It just amazes me.
It
seems that No matter how hard he tries,
·
he never caught that Road Runner,
·
That is except for one episode.
o
That is the ONLY one,
o
The ONLY Time when
§
Wile E. actually caught the Road Runner.
§
And with the Road Runner IN HAND
§
Wile E. looks at the screen and then says, “Now what?”
§
He Had No Clue!
And
Maybe, - Now just maybe,
·
It was because of Mr. Wile E. Coyote
·
And of - HOW he used the products which he always purchases from
the Acme Company
·
Or maybe it was just on how the products reacted
·
To the way Mr. Wile E. used those products within his plots to
catch the Road Runner.
·
Yes, I believe this all contributed to the thought
o
That companies who make our products,
§
They all decided it may be worthy to Place warning labels upon
their products so they would be covered for any type of loss or death.
As
we know
·
Warning Labels always points to the dangers within life.
And
Most warning labels make Good Sense but there are some of them which are just
downright ridiculous.
They
are so ridiculous that it cannot help
o
But make you wonder the “WHY”
o
‘WHY’ does ‘this company’ have to put such a warning label upon
their product.
I
have found a few websites that are devoted to nothing but finding the ridiculous
warning labels.
Let
me share just a few with you today.
·
"Do not put in mouth."
o
On a box of bottle rockets.
·
"Not dishwasher safe."
o
On a remote control for a TV.
·
"Do not attempt to stop the blade with your hand."
o
In the instruction manual for a Swedish chainsaw.
·
"Warning: May contain nuts."
o
On a package of peanuts.
·
"Caution: The contents of this bottle should NOT be fed to
fish."
o
On a bottle of shampoo for dogs.
·
"Do not use in the shower."
o
That was on a hair dryer.
·
"Warning: May contain small parts."
o
This was written on a frisbee.
·
"Not suitable for children aged 36 months or less."
o
This was written on a birthday card for a 1 year old.
o Not suitable for under
36 months which is 3 years but it is a card for a 1 year old.
·
"For use by trained personnel only."
o
That was on a can of air freshener.
·
"Fragile. Do not drop."
o
Posted on a Boeing 757.
·
"Caution: Remove infant
before folding for storage."
o
On a portable stroller.
And
I promise, this is my last one:
·
"May be harmful if
swallowed."
o
On a shipment of hammers.
OK
– Is it just me
·
Or do you wonder this also:
·
Are we all related to Mr.Wile E. Coyote?
I
know there are some of us who aren't the sharpest knife in the drawer;
·
And I have even found myself from time to time in that very situation.
·
But as a whole
o
Are we all just dumber than a bowl of pudding?
·
Apparently the Warning Label people have a reason to think so.
But
- Let's face it,
Life
can be dangerous.
And Sometimes,
o
It can seem to be nothing more
§
Than a never ending obstacle course.
o
And maybe it is even better defined as even a total mine field.
·
You know, like when you never know
o
When something is just waiting to blow up in your face.
·
Or like just when you get done with one Huge – Big Problem,
o
And you turn around and
§
There are several more urgent problems just waiting for you.
But
St Paul is here to help us.
Around
61 A.D., Paul was in prison in Rome
·
And it was at this time when he wrote the letter to the
Ephesians.
o
But I truly believe,
o
God was guiding Paul to write a warning label for all of the
Christians.
·
Now it isn’t a funny one
o
But rather the opposite,
o
It is a very serious one.
Ephesians
5:15-20 (ESV) reads
[15] So be careful how you live.
[15] So be careful how you live.
Don’t live like fools,
But like those who are wise.
[16] Make the most of
every opportunity in
these evil days.
[17] Don’t act
thoughtlessly,
But understand what the Lords wants you to do.
[18] Don’t be drunk with
wine,
(And maybe our today’s
message should read
Don’t be drunk with Whiskey
or Beer) Because that will ruin
your life.
Instead be filled with the Holy Spirit,
[19] Singing Psalms and
Hymns and Spiritual
Songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.
[20] And give thanks for
everything to
God the Father
In the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Paul’s
– or rather God’s Message to us gives us our outline for us to live our lives.
·
But this morning, we are just going to
o
Modernized the language some
o
Or summarize the thought that:
o
"Life Is Not a Series of - “I Gotchas”
o
But rather we should understand that "Within Living a Life of
Faith,
§
It will most certainly attract its pitfalls”.
However,
there is help.
There
is some
Pre - Preparedness-Training
That we must go through
So we are ready for our
Trials and our Tests.
·
Although this training is not physical, so don’t worry about
getting dirty.
·
But it is mental.
·
But sometimes,
o
Sometimes it is easier to do things which are extremely
difficult physically.
o
When it is physically hard on our bodies.
o
Sometimes, that is easier than doing things which are more
mental.
o
Things that when done correctly will
§
Change us on who we are
§
And how we think.
But
God is here to help.
Let's
look at what it means to “Live Carefully.”
Paul
says we should:
1.
Be Prepared,
2.
Read the Manual,
3.
Stay Connected,
4.
Keep Your Focus,
5.
And Live Gratefully.
I. Be Prepared
·
The first thing Paul tells us is to
BE PREPARED.
·
In verses 15 & 16 Paul says,
"So be careful how you live.
Don’t live like fools,
But like those who are wise.
o
Be careful then on how you live.
o
Don’t live like the unwise people
o
But as wise people,
o
Making the most of the time,
o
Because the days are evil."
What
I understand that to mean is to:
BE
PREPARED.
As
I look back upon my life, I have always tried
–
now I haven’t always succeeded
But
I have always tried to be prepared.
Life
most certainly has its own way of
·
Teaching us of what things are the important things to know
·
And to be prepared for.
But
there are those time,
o
When we are caught off guard
o
And we get a crash course of learning.
·
And when that happens,
o
It helps us to remember,
o
That life isn’t standing still
o
And it isn’t always fair
o
Nor is it always kind.
So
"Always Be Ready."
In
our Daily Walk with Christ,
·
We are called to be just that,
o
Always ready.
·
We're called to BE PREPARED.
·
Why is this?
·
It is because we will never know when
o
Our faith will be tested.
·
Or when we'll have the opportunity
o
To share the Good News with someone else.
·
Which, of course, is what Paul is saying: "Making the most of the time".
BE
PREPARED
II. Read the Manual
The
Second Instruction from Paul is:
READ THE MANUAL.
·
Actually what he says in verse 17 is, "Don’t act thoughtlessly, but UNDERSTAND what the LORDS
WANT YOU TO DO.”
Can
you tell me of a better place to start than within the
·
Book that contains the Word
of God.
·
A Book that describes the Will
of God
·
Describing it through the Relationships
·
And through the History
of God's people.
Missionary
Stuart Sacks was serving in Paraguay (Pair-a-gwA) when
·
Rafael, a Maka Indian,
·
Came to sit on his porch.
·
Stuart stepped outside and asked Rafael what he wanted,
·
The Rafael replied, "Ham, henek met." This meant
"I don't want anything;
I have just
come near."
·
The missionary understood the simple meaning:
·
Rafael didn't want anything from the American.
·
He just wanted to sit on his porch because he simply enjoyed
being near the missionary.
James
4:8 "Come close to God, and God will come
close to you." ESV.
When
we draw nearer to the God each day
·
Through the reading and study of Scripture,
o
God draws nearer to us
o
And we begin to learn
o
What is God's-will for our lives.
·
It's all in the manual.
·
All we have to do is
o
READ THE MANUAL.
III. Stay Connected
The
Third step Paul says is to:
STAY CONNECTED:
[18] Don’t be drunk with wine because that will ruin your life.
Instead be filled with the Holy Spirit,
We
STAY CONNECTED through Prayer
and through worship.
·
You see, being FILLED with the Spirit
·
And seeking the ongoing presence and
·
Outpouring the Holy Spirit
·
Is Essential to the
Christian Life
This
is Because there are so many temptations out there,
o
Like the wine Paul wrote about.
o
That is just one example which he gave.
o
These temptations pester us
o
And they nibble at us
o
And try to distract
us from our relationship with God.
o
They try to overload the
power grid of our faith.
o
They literally – Drain Us DRY!
o
So what do we do?
A
little boy and his father were hiking in the woods.
·
And we have all seen this
·
Just like they saw a spotted a hawk circling above them.
Suddenly,
several black birds flew up, pestering the hawk.
·
"Dad, why doesn't the hawk fight them off?" asked the
boy.
·
Motioning his son to be quiet,
o
They watched the bird of prey
·
He Spread his wings way out
·
And he began to soar higher and higher into the sky,
·
Just leaving the other birds far behind in his dust.
The
father explained,
·
"When a hawk is being pestered,
·
All it needs to do is catch the up currents
·
And rise above,
o
Up until he is out of the reach of the pests."
Isaiah
40:31 says:
"But those who TRUST
in the Lord will find New Strength.
(Here
is another “NEW” Strength.)
They will soar high on
wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow
weary.
They will walk and not
faint.”
In
other words, if we STAY CONNECTED
·
Through Our Prayer
o
And Through Our Worship
·
And We don't forget to
o
READ THE MANUAL,
·
We will be able to soar like the Eagles
·
And rise above all of the
o
Temptations of Life.
But that is only Possible
If we STAY
CONNECTED.
IV. Keep Your Focus
Fourth,
Paul says KEEP YOUR FOCUS.
Paul
writes in verse [19] “Singing psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.”
Why
should you and I do this?
Why
should we keep our focus?
Why
is it important to keep
Our minds on
the Prize?
And
if we do this, just how difficult can it be at times to keep our focus?
Just
as towns and cities all over
·
Enjoy to capture some of the fame
·
From the Great People who grew up within their community,
·
Abilene does nothing short of this.
Abilene Kansas celebrates it is the town
where President Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower grew up.
As
you travel through the town, you can’t BUT see all of the sights dedicated to
it.
This
same thing has occurred in French
Lick, Indiana where it celebrates that it is the location where the
legendary Larry Bird grew up.
They
have even renamed the street which he grew up on and they have named it in
Bird’s honor, “Larry Bird Boulevard”.
Now
as tourist do, people gather close to the New Basketball Shaped Street sign so
they can get their selfies taken for their scrap books.
In
fact, there was a couple who was so focused on getting the prefect snapshot
selfie of themselves, that they didn’t even notice when the Legend Mr. Bird Himself
jogged right on by them.
They
got him in their picture as he jogged away, but what would it have been like if
they would have had the chance to even meet him, not even thinking of their
selfie with Mr. Bird in it with them.
Sometimes
we are too focused,
·
Like Tunnel Vision
·
Zooming in on the unimportant stuff of life
·
And we miss out on what is real and what is so important.
Paul
tells us to stay focused on
·
Our relationship with God
·
By singing the Psalms, the hymns and the spiritual songs.
Let's
face it, if the words and the tunes of God message through the sound of
o
Christian music are running through our heads and our hearts
Isn’t
that much better than hearing:
o
All of the constant banging
o
Of chimes of the problems of the world
o
Hearing of ways we have been wronged or hurt,
Wouldn’t
that make our lives better and wouldn’t we be more open and more flexible?
Paul
wrote to the church in Philippi and said in Philippians 4:8: "And Now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix
your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely,
and admirable.
Think about things that
are excellent and worthy of praise."
If
you do this, then you'll be able to KEEP
YOUR FOCUS.
V. Live Gratefully
The
last thing Paul tells us within this passage is to LIVE
GRATEFULLY.
He
says: [20] And give thanks for
Everything to God the
Father in the
Name of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Gratitude
is one of the greatest gifts
·
And one of the greatest responses to God's gifts
o
Within our lives that we can give.
According
to an old Guideposts story,
·
On Christmas Eve for a Christmas present one year,
·
Phyllis’s husband gave her a gold lapel pin.
Phyllis
said she only took a second that evening to
·
Thank her husband for his gift.
However,
a week later,
·
As she put on the lapel pin,
·
She reflected on her husband's thoughtfulness.
o
With much more sincerity,
§
She thanked him again.
Her
husband then explained that the pin
o
Had belonged to his grandmother,
o
So it was very special to him.
Phyllis
noted that if she had not offered
·
That second "Thank You,"
·
She might have never learned the significance of that pin.
·
It was only when she took the extra
o
Time to reflect upon the gift
o
And offer a more sincere "Thank You"
o
That was when she really learned to appreciate her husband's
gesture.
Just
how often do we offer God
·
A quick "Thank You"
·
For our so many blessings,
·
And then we go on
o
And forget about them?
Or
how often do we just take
·
The blessings of Our God,
·
And NEVER Even say "Thank You!"
In
1st Thessalonians 5:18 Paul says:
"Be thankful in all
circumstances,
For this is God’s Will for
you,
You who belong to Christ
Jesus.”
In
other words: LIVE GRATEFULLY.
In
Conclusion
1.
Be Prepared,
2.
Read the Manual,
3.
Stay Connected,
4.
Keep Your Focus,
5.
And Live Gratefully.
These
are all designed to help us LIVE CAREFULLY.
In
1995,
·
10-year-old Ashley Danielle Oubré
·
Gave a speech at the Washington, D.C.'s Mayoral Prayer
Breakfast.
In
that speech, she reminded the listeners of
·
Jesus' Words in Matthew 18
o
That they must become
o
Like little children in
order to enter the kingdom of God.
And she encouraged the
adults
·
In the audience
·
To learn from their children
1.
On how to get along
together,
2.
How to trust one another,
3.
And how to trust God.
She
ended by saying,
·
"You teach us that
when we have a problem,
·
We should talk it out with
others and with Jesus.
·
You say that Jesus can
solve all our problems,
·
Both the big and the small.
·
But we notice when people
get older and have problems,
·
They are embarrassed to
talk like that among themselves.
·
We wonder if you really
mean it,
·
Or is Jesus only for kids?
·
I am still young enough to
believe that Jesus knows how to solve my problems,
o
The problems of the city,
o
And of the world."
I
think Ashley hit the nail on the head.
·
Some of us would say I'm naive
·
But I agree with Ashley.
·
I still "believe that Jesus knows how to solve ‘My’
problems,
o
The problems of the city,
o
And of the world."
But
with all the attack from all the various forms of media,
·
I have to remember
·
And then remind myself of that fact all of the time.
I
have to "LIVE CAREFULLY" as Paul put it
·
Because when we look out at the world
o
"It is Not a Series of “I Gotchas”,
§
But . . ." it is dangerous.
LIVE CAREFULLY,
·
Put Christ first
·
And use this passage
not only as a warning label
·
But as a guide to Living.
