Love The Lord You God With All Your: Soul

Boats

When I was a young Cub Scout, I remember my trip to a port to see the big ships. Until then, the largest boat I had ever seen was the Proud Mary, a river boat that trolled Lake Raystown in Huntingdon County, PA. Alongside the Susquehanna River, we got to see some ships that made me feel incredibly tiny. All shapes and sizes.

Boats and ships are fun things. When I lead a youth camp in the summer, I had my campers participate in an activity to build their own boats, out of cardboard. They were free to choose the shape of their boat, the only musts were material could only be cardboard and duct tape.

The number one issue, I saw with all of the boats our campers made came from the fact that the sides were nowhere near high enough to keep the water out when they got in.

The Outer Banks of North Carolina is often card the “Grave Yard of the Atlantic. It is made up of miles and miles of floating sandbars. Almost 3000 ship wrecks going back to the first English settlements in America. The ships and boats run aground. Their hulls become damaged and then the boat sinks. Light houses are utilized to assist in guiding the ships and boats to shore safely.

The main structural part of the boat is the hull and its purpose is simple to give structure and stability to the craft and to hold and keep dry components and cargo. It is this analogy that will help us understand soul as we continue in our sermon series Love The Lord with All Your: Soul. Last week I spoke about the heart and that the heart is the seat of affections for the things in our lives. It acts as our compass and points us toward the direction we need to go. We can either face toward God or away from God. That our desires, our affections are to be for God with all that we are. That we can’t let a temporary feeling bring us to a destructive decision.

Today we focus on Love The Lord Your God With All Your Soul.

Nephesh when translated as soul: Is the entire container that holds all that you are. It is life in totality. Pastor Matt defines it as one’s existence. Like the hull of a boat that gives structure to the craft and holds all things in their proper place, the soul is not separated from body. Western philosophy has taken off with the notion that the body and soul are separate. Do not worry. This is not going to be sermon that brings back painful memories of Philosophy 101 or Existentialism. Those are focused more on the conscious and the how we exist. I am focusing on what our existence is for.

Our soul is body and spirit together. You are not a machine with a ghostly presence. You are the divine finger print.

We are created in God’s image as body and spirit together. We are spiritual-physical beings. In the beginning God said “Let us make Humankind in our image” Gen. 1:26. God stooped in the mud and created then God breathed into the body giving animation and consciousness. Aliveness comes from both together. Gen. 2

Your soul is the totality of your existence in the ability to experience God’s grace in creation and to express God’s image in you to creation.

The Soul is the deepest part of you. It is the seat of all devotional activity in your life.

What are you devoted to this morning?

The soul or imago dei is for devotion. Properly translated, our existence is for devotion. But because of sin, that devotion has become misdirected. Devotion is defined in scripture as “as what we live our lives for.” What we venerate and show unwavering loyalty toward. What we passionately live for.

That Imago Dei has been effected by sin. Like a worn penny it lacks its original lustre.

Not only do we deal with original sin. (Psalm 51:5)

Psalm 51:5 NRSV

Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.

Original sin is the diseased condition of the soul in light of existence in a broken and fallen world. But we also deal as John Wesley highlights with infirmities. These day to day sins that reveal the direction of our lives. Rom 7:15-20

Romans 7:15–20 NRSV

I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.

The New Creation

2 Corinthians 5:17 NRSV

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!

Our souls are freed from the slavery we had to sinfulness. Christ paid the atoning sacrifice, became the offering for us, and is the promise fulfilled. Once we were only devoted to this world but now we are able to live fully devoted lives because of the work of Jesus on the cross. We have been justified and sanctified.

Sanctified to Perfection

When we understand that Jesus calls us to love God with all that we are called as Jesus says in Matthew 5:48

Matthew 5:48 NRSV

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

1 Peter 1:15–16 NRSV

Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

As the Hull of the boat holds all things together and gives structure so our souls are set to the same role. It is our responsibility to keep in away from dangers that could damage it.

“With a well kept heart the soul is properly ordered”- Dallas Willard

How can we understand the soul then?

If we understand the heart as the direction we face for our affections (toward God or away from God) our soul is the intention that leads to action.

Just as a boat needs a navigation device like a compass so it needs a shape to fit its purpose. Our souls are to be purposed for devotion to God and God’s intention for creation. All of us abides in the soul and the soul is to abide in Christ.

Soul Care

Look for the light houses!!! Cape Hatteras Light House in Avon N. C. (Moved in 1999)

What can we do to be sure our souls are cared for?

Participate in the Means of Grace

Prayer, Study, Worship, Sacrament, Generosity, and Service.

Closing:

We are called to love God with all of our souls. At one time we were without the knowledge of God and offered our devotion to the things of this world. Sin afflicted us and held us captive to something outside of God’s intended purpose for our lives. But God through Christ has defeated sin and paid the penalty so that we are freed to live in complete devotion to God. We receive God’s grace and experience God’s creation from which we express our devotion to God’s amazing glory! When the soul is well kept, everything is in order. We float just fine. Amen.