Imitating Christ

February 21, 2016 Psalm 27 Philippians 3:17-4:1 Imitating Christ Second Sunday of Lent Year C In honor of black history month I want to start out our sermon time with a little time of testimony. I don’t want to take a long time, but a little time to ask who in your life do you model your life after? Who as a child did you say – I want to be just like him or her as a child. I have had a lot of mentors in my life, but the person I strive to be – is my grandmother. And the thing that I most admired about her was what I called her cool abiding. Now my mother, had a temper and would tell you what she thought of you at the drop of a hat. But my grandmother would just look at you. She never got mad, never corrected me, She would just get real quiet and not say anything. She would let me figure it out for myself. there are lessons that I am learning about today, that I look back and realize that my grandmother taught me in her silence. I can only imagine what she was thinking in her head – but she kept her cool and never said anything. The thing I want most in life is her patience to let others learn from their own lives and to correct themselves. What about you? Who in your life do you want to imitate? I could never be as bold as Paul in Philippians and tell you to imitate me. Some say that he is encouraging his congregation to compete with one another in imitating me. I would never try to be an example. Because I don’t know for sure what stands out the most – the human part of me or the divine part. They don’t teach cursive writing anymore, but remember when the teacher would write something on the board and tell you to write just like her. The first line was an imitation of what she wrote. The second line was an imitation of an imitation and the third line was an imitation of the second line. And by the end of the page you were imitating so many mistakes that you could not tell what the words were really were supposed to look like. I would not tell anyone to imitate me, because I would be afraid that you would be imitating my mistake, my humanness. But some have said that instead of encouraging people to compete in imitate him, to work together in imitating Christ. That is what it is all about – imitating Christ. All of us being able to say – when I am fully mature in spirit – I want to be just like Jesus. I want people to know who Jesus is – Just by looking at my life. February is black history month. But we are also going through another important time in the life of our country – electing a president. There is one very important duty that we have to fulfill as citizens of this country – and that is vote. Our ancestors that we admire so much also fought for our right to fulfill our duties as citizens – and that is to vote. Paul was a Roman citizen, so he took his civc duty very seriously. Even though he travelled all over the world – he never forgot his duties as a citizen. As a matter of fact, Paul believed that there were only 2 types of people in the world. And for Paul those two types were not democrat and republican. He believed that there were citizens of this world and there were citizens of heaven. Those who were imitators of Christ were citizens of this world. It is what separated the two that might surprise you. It was not so much those in the church and those outside of the church. And it was not those who believed in this world and those who looked forward to the next. Paul’s biggest message to citizens of heaven, is that we all have duel citizenship. We are a part of this world and we are a part of heaven. There are some who believe that you are to go to church and pray, but it is not necessary to vote. And there are some who believe that if you vote you don’t have to pray. But citizens of heaven have to do both – vote and pray. We are a part of both worlds. Paul says that there are two types of citizens. There are those who imitate Christ and there are enemies of the cross. Both types go to church. Both types claim to be Christians. It is just that one type of citizens is caught up in the world and the world circumstances. And one type can see beyond the world and can rise above and transcend circumstances. One has hope in what Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton can do to save the world and the other has hope in what Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton can do, and yet prays to Jesus to have to ultimate say in what will happen. What makes us imitators of Christ? Hope in the Resurrection. Hope in what Christ can do for the world. A willingness to participate in making the world a better place, but a recognition that when Christ comes he will make everything new. Those who are imitators of Christ know what it mean to wait upon the Lord. They trust that God will make any scene better. They are obedient to the Word of God. Paul says that enemies of the cross worship their bellies and their shame. They are slaves to their own thoughts and desires. Here is how St. Paul describes citizens of the world. FIRST OF ALL, HE SAYS THEIR DESTINY IS DESTRUCTION. Recent wire reports carried the story of a motorist who stole $9 worth of gasoline and died in a fiery wreck while making his getaway. The speeding car exploded when it hit a tree. Police said the unidentified motorist had filled up at a gas station without paying. Station manager Gary Adams, 35, drove after him, honking, waving his arms and yelling as the cars raced through a residential area. After the crash, the driver struggled to pull himself out a window of the burning car. The station manager tried to rescue him. "He tried to pull him out. It got too hot. He gave up," said Corporal John McLain. "He died a very painful death for $9 of gas," said Vince Sullivan, a witness who tried to douse the flames with a fire extinguisher. How very, very sad. Rarely when we do wrong do we see what the end result can be. Life is different for those who are able to wait upon the Lord and do something different. Psalm 27 has a beautiful lesson for us – put all of our hope, trust, desire into the hands of God. The Hebrew word for waiting on the Lord is qavar. That is the difference between citizens of heaven and citizens of the world. Have you noticed that the world encourages us to have everything right now, no waiting. When we are hungry – we want to go to a restaurant and eat now. When young people are in a relationship they want everything to work out now. When we are in a bind, we want to answer right now. Paul says it, that enemies of the cross are slaves to their belly and their shame. And yet imitators of Christ are able to wait on the Lord because their hope is in the Lord. Psalm 27 says I have asked the Lord one thing, it is all that I seek. To live in the Lord’s house all of the days of my life. seeing the Lords beauty and constantly adoring his temple. In other words – I will be a citizen of heaven. The psalm ends by saying But I have faith that I will experience the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living. Hope in the Lord! Be strong! Let your heart take courage! Hope in the Lord. It seems that when Paul was writing to the Philippians, he had this concept of qavar – waiting on the Lord in mind. Paul loved the Philippians congregation. And when they wrote to him, he wanted to do everything he could to encourage them. He encouraged them to live in Jesus Christ. His last words of this scripture is to stand firm in the Lord. As he continues to talk to the people that he calls his crown he gives them three great commands of life in the Lord – Stand firm in the Lord, agree in the Lord and to rejoice in the Lord always. There are two kinds of people in this world – those who will vote for Donald Trump and those who won’t. Just kidding, kind of. There are citizens of this world and citizens of heaven. There are those who imitate Christ and live in Jesus and there are enemies of the cross? Which one are you? Two kinds of people. Citizens of the world, citizens of heaven. You and I have a choice to make, don't we? D. L. Moody told a story about two men who, under the influence of liquor, found their way to the dock where their boat was tied. The two men wanted to return home, so they got in the boat and began to row. Though they rowed hard all night, they did not reach the other side of the bay. When the gray dawn of the morning broke, they were in exactly the same spot from which they started. They had neglected to loosen the mooring-line and raise the anchor! Mr. Moody used this story as an analogy of the way in which many people are thwarted in their striving for heaven because they are tied to this world. "Cut the cord! Cut the cord!" he would admonish. "Set yourself free from the clogging weight of earthly things, and you will be headed toward heaven." (5) Let us pray……. Children’s sermon…….. Props: A flower Lesson: Good morning. Before you show the flower you might ask if anyone knows what is means to worry. I have something today that is very pretty. Would you like to see it? What do you think it might be? (Responses) Well, let’s see. (Hold flower up for everyone to see) Do you like it? It’s pretty, isn’t it. This kind of flower is called (substitute name of flower). I want to talk a little bit about this flower. How do you suppose that it became a flower? What happened before this could be a flower? (A seed was planted) Yes, a seed was planted. Then what happened? Did the seed have to work real hard every day? Did the flower have to worry about getting enough to eat or drink? Did it become pretty because it took care of itself? (Responses) No! Of course not! Who took care of this flower and made it beautiful? (response) Yes, God did. Application: One time in the Bible Jesus reminded the people that God would take care of them even more than God takes care of the flowers. And so the Apostle Paul said this, “Do not worry about anything, but by prayer let your requests be known to God.” In other words, if God takes care of the flowers, and makes them beautiful without them really doing any work, then he will care for you even more. So there’s no need to worry about life, because God will hear us when we pray and will see to our needs. So the next time you see a flower, remember to say a prayer and know that God will take care of you. Exegetical Aim: To demonstrate God’s provision for those he loves. Let us Pray: Thank you God for taking care of us, and for letting us know that we do not need to worry about anything. In Jesus’ name. Amen. by Brett Blair Other illustrations……. How Can I Be Sure? In the Russian novel, The Brothers Karamazov, a woman has come to talk with a holy man about her problems with faith. "What if I've been believing all my life, and when I come to die there is nothing but burdocks growing over my grave? . . . How can I prove it? How can I convince myself?" The holy man's answer is: "By the experience of active love. Insofar as you advance in active love, you will grow surer of the reality of God and of the immortality of the soul." Robert C. Shannon, editor, 1000 Windows: A Speaker’s Sourcebook of Illustrations, Standard Publishing Company, 1984. It is somewhat like the story of a very wealthy young man who had all that a person could want ” materially. However, he was born with a deformity which left him with a very ugly face. Because of this one flaw he would stay in his house and walk around in his garden, which was closed in by a high wall. However, in the evening he would leave his walled-in garden and walk down by the seashore. One night he heard beautiful music. He hid himself in the shadows, and there he saw a young girl playing a violin. Each night he would leave his house, walk down to the seashore and listen to the young lady play the beautiful music. However, because of his ugliness he would hide in the shadows, hoping not to be seen. Later, the young man told his servant, "Take this money and give it to the lady with the violin, in order that she may go to the best school of music in Europe and master the beautiful music." After years of study, she returned home and was taken to the house of the man who paid for her education. He was standing in his garden. The gate was opened for her and she came up behind him, threw her arms around his waist and cried, "I love you! I love you!" He said, "No, it's impossible for you to love me." All the more she cried, "I love you." The young man turned around and said, "How can you love me when you see much ugliness in my face?" She replied, "You see, sir, I'm blind." So it is with those of us who are citizens of heaven. We are not perfect people, but because of what Christ has done in our behalf, God, too, is blind to the ugliness of our sin. (4) Perhaps that is Christ's word to some of us this morning. Cut the cord! Get rid of any encumbrance that might slow your progress toward heaven.