Sermon Tone Analysis
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I. Me and We
Last week I talked a little bit about why is it so easy to start bad habits but so hard to break them.
That’s the question I was wondering about last week.
Last Sunday I brought up the four stage model of habit formation; noticing, wanting, doing, and liking.
Mid way through the week I realized, hey…I pretty much like bad habits from the git go.
Cake…Pie…eating things that are bad for me are…well…enjoyable....for a while at least.
As I continue to gorge on cake and pie, if I keep it up, at some point I may have a problem.
My health might suffer.
So, the bad habit that feels so good, in the end, isn’t so good.
I can stay up and watch late night TV and it is enjoyable.
I like it from the very beginning…but if I continue to gorge on late night TV I might have a bad morning…or…over time…what have I given up for that time?
I mean, if I read a book instead of watching some rerun…would my life be better off?
Perhaps it depends on the book, but generally, I would say, reading would have far greater good than watching some rerun.
In fact…this is me several years ago…believe me…I know what life is like eating MMs, cakes, pies, and watching late night TV.
Good habits, however, aren’t always enjoyable…at first.
Learning to play an instrument, eating healthy food, learning a new skill, exercising, or reading, may not be all that enjoyable.
We might not like those things.
However…as time goes on those activites are the ones that open us up to new adventures…new opportunites, and much growth.
When I have my yearly checkup, I am so glad that I spend my mornings riding my exercise bike.
Do I enjoy it…well…no I don’t.
Some mornings I want to skip it, however, I know if I skip it, over time, all the good that exercise brought would fade away.
We understand this right?
If we start only eating junk food, over time our health would suffer.
If we stopped exercising, over time, we would lose whatever gains we had.
If we stop practicing or playing an instrument, over time, we would lose that skill
Use it or Lose it They Say!
So, what happens in our spiritual life when we do not practice good habits?
What happens when we neglect spending time with God? Neglect worshiping together?
Neglect spending time in God’s word? or other spiritaul practices?
Just like with exercise at first we don’t notice it.
I would say, we might not notice it at all!
I remember seeing a picture of myself and I thought MY GOODNESS!!!
I LOOK LIKE THAT!
I had no idea.
It was a wake up call.
Bad can happen by accident.
Good habits happen by intention.
What happens when I stop good practices
Here’s the other side…when I stop good practices, or habits, I might not see much difference for a while.
The changes are subtle.
Over time I end up sliding back into bad habits and the world doesn’t cave in on me.
However, if I watch closely, little by little I ended up right where I was.
I find the same thing with spiritual habits....sometimes we call these spiritual disciplines.
I believe they are good habits that transform our lives.
Just like other habits, we might not see the benefit day by day.
Yet, consistency over time is a powerful combination.
Over time we find our lives shifting.
THings that use to cause us to freak out, don’t.
We are finding more confidence, more joy, more peace, etc.
Integrating God’s word into our lives transforms us.
II.
God
A. Scripture as a Core Formative practice
I have grown to love and appreciate this verse.
The psalmist views God’s word, not as something to memorize, not as something that contains facts and dates, but a lamp and light that guides his way.
We must not expect to drift by accident into devotion to the word!
The psalmist desires life according to God’s word.
There are other approaches to life.
We can allow culture to be a light and a lamp.
We can allow our family to be a light and a lamp.
The psalmist wanted scripture to serve that purpose and bring him life.
The rejoicing heart must be linked with the ‘directed heart’ (112) lit.
‘I have inclined/directed my heart to do your decrees’.
Joy without obedience is frivolity; obedience without joy is moralism.
The psalmist says he has sworn an oath and confirmed it…to observe God’s righteous ordiances.
His heart rejoices in God’s law…we may say something simliar…we may say that God’s way is true, is right, is good.
We may say that God leads us to places of blessing, however, our heart that rejoices at God’s word, will, and way, must be directed IN that way.
We can stand and say we love the bible, but, if we are not directed by God’s word, it will not have a transformative effect on us.
This does not happen by accident.
The psalmist intentionally formed his life around God’s word.
Good health doesn’t happen by accident, we must commit to it.
Good families do not happen by accident.
Perhaps the biggest lie we believe is that things happen by accident.
We look at others and believe their success just happened.
However, if we take time to undertand those folks a little better, we will probably learn,there was alot of intentionality behind their action.
They have a great family life…then you discover that they take time out to spend as a family.
They have great health, then you learn that they have intentional practices.
Perhaps more than any other John Wesley serves as an example of someone who was fixated on God’s word.
Even thought he was one of the most well-read individuals of his day.
Yet, he considered himself a man of one book.
Wesley was one whose rejoicing heart was connected to a ‘directed heart.’
(see ver 112 in note above!)
I want to know one thing,—the way to heaven; how to land safe on that happy shore.
God himself has condescended to teach the way: For this very end he came from heaven.
He hath written it down in a book.
O give me that book!
At any price, give me the book of God!
Wesley, John.
Sermons, on Several Occasions.
Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1999.
Print.
I want to know one thing,—the way to heaven; how to land safe on that happy shore.
God himself has condescended to teach the way: For this very end he came from heaven.
He hath written it down in a book.
O give me that book!
At any price, give me the book of God!
I have it: Here is knowledge enough for me.
Let me be homo unius libri.
[A man of one book.]
Here then I am, far from the busy ways of men.
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