Sunday, April 19, 2015

Who shall we listen to?

    I had the opportunity to preach at a local church this weekend and it is always a good experience.  I chose I Samuel 8:1-20 as my passage and the theme of my message is who do we really listen too.  Who we listen to and who we give authority in our lives is important.  Here is the text of my sermon for those of want to continue on.

  
    The first person or voice that we can give authority is ourselves.  When we listen to ourselves, we tend to elevate ourselves to king or queen like status. Taking a look at one of the kings roles in the Old Testament is that they were charged to go out and conquer. The mentality is that they were either going to be conquered by a neighboring people, or one can go out and conquer them. Being conquered means one of two things, the first one is death and the second one is slavery and forced labor. Given the options, the first choice just might be the better choice. When we have the conquer or be conquered mentality, it gives us several personality traits that just are not healthy or Godly.

      The first attitude is the attitude of greed. One of the unhealthy attitudes of greed is that it is all about what I want and fulfilling those compulsive needs. Often one of the reasons kings went out and conquered, is because someone else had something they wanted and there was nothing that was going to stop them until they obtained it. It could of been for land, gold, animals, or people to perform manual labor and to lord over them. Greed makes our rational thinking go out the window. Take a look at King David and Bathsheba. Instead of being content with what he had and walking away from the situation, he got Bathsheba pregnant and her husband killed. We are not much different today. There are things that we want and we are willing to tell lies, fudge numbers, and make things look better than they really are. Here is the thing about greed, we are never content with what we have or who God is and our life is often based on deception.

      The second attitude that comes with listening to ourselves is an attitude of self reliance and perseverance. This make take several forms, but one of the most common attitudes is the one of needing to pull ourselves up by our own boat straps. Another way we can discern if we are depending on an attitude of self reliance is that we tend to want to control things, whether it is relationships, events or even what or how other people think. When we have the attitude of self reliance, the world often revolves around us and we often do not do things unless we can some how benefit from it now or in the future. People are nothing more than pawns in the game of life and we move them around to serve our needs, wants and desires. It is seeing people as slaves or objects instead of people created in the image of God. If we are all honest with ourselves, there is that one person that is in our life because of what they can do for us, and we take from them without giving much or nothing back and we all have pretty good self justifications for it to.

       The third attitude that we develop when we listen to ourselves is that we do it to protect ourselves. We want to be the king of our own lives because we have been hurt before. Any time we enter into a relationship with someone else, it gets messy and there is a really good chance that our feelings will get hurt and we will be wrong some how. Instead of taking chances, learning how to forgive, and to be forgiven, we become an island of self preservation. When we become the king of our own castle, we often keep people at arms length so that no one will get hurt. Another scary attitude of this that I don’t want anything expected of me so I am not going to expect anything of anyone else. This really leads to an attitude of distrust and everyone lies.

Just as scary as it is to be the king of our own castle and to be the center of our won universe, there is another person or voice we can listen to is over valuing the voice of others. This attitude is the attitude of relying on what others think. In the first section, we could really care less of what others think, and now we are overly sensitive to what others think to the point of where it runs our lives. The first way we do this is through self image. Our culture has a lot to say about self image and how we look. Whether it is Meghan Trainor and her hit song All About the Bass to the opposite end of the spectrum when we look at the different magazines at the check out line. I know there has been a push culturally that is designed to help people to have more healthy body image and how they view themselves. I hear it every day at Wal Mart, because there is a make up ad that plays over and over stating that you are beautiful for who you are. I know the issues of self image, especially of body image is a whole topic unto itself, but here is my question for you, do you get your self image and worth from other people or from God. Cause if we get our self image and worth from others, it can be one of two extremes. The first one is that we are elevated to god like status or we are scum of the earth. Neither perspectives are healthy so why do we listen to them.

    A second attitude we develop when we care too much of what others think is that we don’t ever have an opinion of our own. We stick others on such a high pedestal that they become a god like figure in our life where our actions, and attitudes are aimed to please them. In essence, we become a professional suck up. We are always running to different people to find out what to do and how to life our lives. One of the great dangers of being a professional suck up is that we often ask for advice and not take any of it. As the book of James puts it, we become double minded. We hear and say one thing, but we are doing something completely different. We often runs to what makes us feel good until we are challenged or it gets hard, we quit, and find something else that fills our needs until it doesn't.

    The third thing is not so much an attitude, but a consequence is that when we live a life base on what other people think is that we still have to face consequences for our actions. No matter what we do or whose advice we don’t take or don’t take is that we are still accountable for our won actions. So not matter how good the idea seems at the time, we still have to face the music when the consequences come, no matter if they are good or bad consequences.

     The fourth attitude is that we tend to live our lives in bondage to someone or something. In essence we are a slave to someone or something. Those people or things are ruling over us and control are every impulse. In essence they are living rent free in our head. Every thought, action are done or not done because of what we think of how they will care about it. We are always seeking someone’s approval and we can never do enough to obtain it because there is something else that we could always be doing to be better. When we seek out peoples approval, we end up getting burned out because it is never enough.

    So what are the consequences of when our king is no long God Himself. This may sound a little more on the extreme side, but one of those consequences is death. Yes there is a physical death, but here is the thing, we all are going to die at some point unless Jesus comes back to take us home. There is a death that is scarier than a physical death and that is a spiritual death. When Samuel went to God pleading to Him and with some hurt feelings, God put it back into perspective. He told Samuel that it was him that the nation of Israel was overthrowing, it was God Himself. God realized He was being replaced, so He gave the crowd what they wanted and that was a king. To die spiritually essentially is that we are turning our back on God. We would rather either do our own thing, or more the more dangerous idea of looking like the world so we don’t go noticed. When we do this, we are making compromises that are not Godly. What we are saying is that we value what others think is not more important than what God thinks. It also means that we think that God has no power in our lives to guide us through whatever we face.

    Another possible consequence of listening to our own voice or to the voices of others is that we can get some really questionable advice and life direction. Why would we take marriage advice from someone whose marriage is failing, or career advice from someone who can not keep a job. I feel we would rather take advice from Jerry Springer or Dr Phil than God Himself. If we take questionable advice from people whose lives arent the best, then the best we can hope for is questionable results in our lives. I am not saying we shouldn’t seek out others for Godly counsel, because God can and does speak through His people for our lives. There are people with the gifting of discernment that we can and should ask for advice. Are these people constantly in Gods word, do they practice what they preach, in essence do these people live a life of humility and Godliness. So are we listening to the advice of the magazines at the grocery check out lines, or are we turning to God along with His Word and the people He dwells in.

     So, how do we put more of an effort to listen to God, especially since the voices of the world are so loud and in our face. The first idea that we choose to hear and follow God on a daily basis. Just as Joshua proclaimed to the Nation of Israel in Joshua 24, choose this day whom you will follow. God doesn’t like or take people who do things half heartedly. With God, it is all or nothing. Are we willing to draw a line in the sand to say I will not only follow God, He is the Lord of my life.

     The second concept that we should put into place is that God often speaks in the still small voice. Just as the prophet Elijah asked for God to speak, and that God did not come in the storm, fire or any other grand spectacle, but it was in the quiet and calmness. So often we want God to speak through fireworks, email, Facebook post or billboards, but God doesn't always speak this way. Are we willing to slow down, turn off our electronic devices and just wait for God. Are we willing to spend time in prayer, meditation, Scripture reading and even silence to hear God. Within the Quaker tradition of church, they often don’t have music or even a sermon planned, but when they gather, they sit together, waiting for the leading of the Holy Spirit before something is said or done. Are we willing to sit in silence and wait for God to move.

    The third big idea is are we putting into practice what God has revealed to us already. It doesn’t do much good if we ask God what He wants us to do when we aren't doing when we know what we should be doing. When we are faithful in what God has already commanded us to do, such as loving Him with everything we have and loving our neighbor as ourselves, God will reveal Himself to us when we are obedient in the simple things. Why should God trust us with something new if we can not handle what we already know.

     The fourth idea is do we have people that can speak truth into our lives. We still make listening to God our number one priority, but God often confirms our time with Him through our relationship with other people. God created us to be relational people, and are we allowing Godly people to speak into our lives. We don’t let just anybody speak into our lives, but are they people who are growing in Gods grace and who has our best interest in mind no matter the situation.

    So who are you listening to. Are you seeking the advice and direction that puts you on the throne and that eventually diminishes God to nothing. Are we really rejecting God so that we lead our own lives, and have it end up as a pile of rubble, or are we seeking God with everything we have and allowing Him to speak into and lead our lives. The prophet Isaiah tells us that not only can we seek God, but we can find Him and know Him. To top it off we can be His people and He our God.