I Resolve

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on the first Sunday after Epiphany, the 9th of January, 2022, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Today's service also included the observance of Holy Communion.  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

2021 was sort of a strange year.  It opened with a ray of hope, the sun shining through dark clouds.  2020 and the year of the pandemic was behind us and we seemed on the brink of normalcy.

And then the Delta variant started wreaking havoc, and more mask and vaccine mandates went into effect.  Our people became even more divided as the masked and the unmasked went at each other, as the vaccine supporters faced off against the vaccine opponents, with each side accusing the other of doing more harm than good.  We were judging each other more than ever before.  What began with so much promise ended with a whimper and a new threat: the Omicron variant.

The thing is, we have been warned of all of this in our Bibles.  We have been told that as the end of the age nears, nation with rise up against nation, family against family, brother against brother.  And like most wars, we start out with verbal jabbing, with one side accusing the other of some misdeed or wrongful behavior.  So we end up judging each other, even though in the same Bible that gave us this warning, our Lord Jesus tells us to “Judge not, that you be not judged.”

The Apostle Paul often emphasized this critical message from Jesus.  Please listen and follow along to what Paul wrote in the 14th chapter of his letter to the church in Rome, and I’ll be reading from the New Revised Standard Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. 2 Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. 3 Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

5 Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. 6 Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.

7 We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. 8 If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me,

and every tongue shall give praise to God.”

12 So then, each of us will be accountable to God.

13 Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 If your brother or sister is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let your good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 The one who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and has human approval. 19 Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. 20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for you to make others fall by what you eat; 21 it is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that makes your brother or sister stumble. 22 The faith that you have, have as your own conviction before God. Blessed are those who have no reason to condemn themselves because of what they approve. 23 But those who have doubts are condemned if they eat, because they do not act from faith; for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

--Romans 14 (NRSV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for giving us a new year, another year to live for Jesus.  Thank You for giving us new life, another chance to get things right.  Please help us to keep this “newness” in our spirit by truly following Jesus and serving only Him.  And please, Father, protect us from all of Satan’s evil work in this world.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and purpose in our love and worship, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Stop us when we begin to judge another because of what they do or say, reminding us that we too will be judged just as critically as we judge others.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

In his book, Christian Theology in Plain Language, Bruce Shelley states:

Our lives are fields that primarily contain weeds. We cannot produce strawberries. We can mow the weeds, but that effort alone will never produce acceptable fruit. If we really want that fruit we will have to go deeper. We must plow up the whole field and start again with new plants.

I think the beauty of this little homily is that it is speaking directly to each of us as individuals.  It isn’t talking about someone else, blaming the other guy for his failings, judging others while leaving me blameless and clean.  No, it is pointing its finger directly at me!  My life is a field of weeds.  The only way I can ever make anything of it is to dig it all up and start over again.

And that is exactly what we do when we truly accept Jesus as our Lord and obey His voice.  We’re given a fresh start, a new life, a chance to begin all over again.  But we have to be very careful not to let the weeds come up again.  We need to watch ourselves and do as Jesus says.  For some day we will be judged, all of us, and not by our peers, but by the Creator of all there is and ever was, by the Almighty God.

In a nutshell, this is what Paul is telling us.  We shouldn’t pass judgment on one another.  It’s not our job, it’s above our pay scale.  We are all – each and every one of us – accountable to God, our ultimate Judge.  So we need to resolve to stop judging others.  We need to stop putting stumbling blocks or any other hindrances in their way.  We need to stop causing them injury and harm by our words or actions or even our thoughts.

Paul gives an example of eating meat or drinking wine around someone who in their own heart finds that to be wrong or hurtful.  He warns that this could cause that person to stumble, perhaps upsetting the work of God in that person, even causing the ruin of one for whom Christ died, as Paul puts it.

Let me give you a little more timely example, and one that I am terribly guilty of myself.  When I am around someone who thinks mask wearing is essential to our health and safety as a people, then I should be willing to wear a mask in their presence.  Otherwise, I may be guilty of upsetting the work of God in that person, of causing the ruin of one for whom Christ died.

Family, we may think that there is little we can do to make this world better.  We don’t have the answers to life’s many problems.  We don’t even seem to have full control of our own lives any more, much less how someone else may fare.

With all the warnings and all the mandates, with vaccines and tests available, people are still getting sick from COVID-19 and its variants, even those who are vaccinated and wear masks.  If the experts are struggling to find the silver bullet, what chance do I have?  I’m just one person, and a rather simple person at that.

Again I’d like to turn to what Paul has already told us, this time to his 1st letter to the Corinthians, chapter 1 verse 26 through chapter 2 verse 5…

1:26 Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, 29 so that no one might boast in the presence of God. 30 He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

2:1 When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. 4 My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.

--1 Corinthians 1:26-2:5 (NSRV)

Our faith should not rest on human knowledge or wisdom, but on the power of God.  God’s power is clearly demonstrated throughout our Bible.  His strength is shown in that His words, recorded so long ago, warn us of what is happening today.  Our faith must rest solely on God’s power, and God’s word.

Let us resolve to trust in the Lord, who created the heavens and the earth.  And let us resolve not to upset His great work by placing a stumbling block in the path of another.  Let’s keep the weeds out of our fields.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the one true Son of God.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for all the information You have provided us in our Bible.  In Your word, we can see what is going on around us, and through its writers, You instruct us on how to react.  Thank You, Father, for the warnings and instruction You give.  But Father, sometimes we fail to follow Your instruction.  Sometimes we simply can’t help ourselves and we do things that cause harm and hurt.  We just can’t seem to stop judging others when we really need to pay more attention to our own lives.  Please help us be more obedient to Your word.  Help us be better servants, to You and to our fellow man.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be better, more faithful servants, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You died to free us of our sins.  And then You were given new life so that we too could enjoy new life.  You dug up our fields so that we could produce good fruit.  Please, Lord, help us keep the weeds out.  May we do as our Father wills us.  Help us resolve to stop putting stumbling blocks in the way of other people.  Forgive us, Jesus, when we judge others while ignoring our own flaws.  Forgive us when we can’t release our hatreds and pride, our anger and greed, our distrust for those not like us.  Help us let go of our worldly thoughts so that people can see Your love through our love and service.  And Jesus, please strengthen us through these very difficult times.  Heal those hurts that separate and divide us, even within Your church family.  Help us remain true and obedient no matter what we go through.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on what this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.