Counter-Cultural
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Counter-cultural
Counter-cultural
I cry out to You;
Save me, and I will keep Your testimonies.
I rise before the dawning of the morning,
And cry for help;
I hope in Your word.
Let my cry come before You, O Lord;
Give me understanding according to Your word.
Let my supplication come before You;
Deliver me according to Your word.
My lips shall utter praise,
For You teach me Your statutes.
My tongue shall speak of Your word,
For all Your commandments are righteousness.
Let Your hand become my help,
For I have chosen Your precepts.
I long for Your salvation, O Lord,
And Your law is my delight.
Let my soul live, and it shall praise You;
And let Your judgments help me.
I have gone astray like a lost sheep;
Seek Your servant,
For I do not forget Your commandments.
Psalm 119:146-147
Psalm 119:169-176
Well, back to school, back to routine. Isn’t it amazing how quickly we can get back to routine. Routine by the way isn’t right or wrong, it is amoral. What I want you to consider this morning is simply this: does my routine have time for God?
Does my routing honor God would be a step higher
Does my routine revolve around God’s will and plan for my life, even better
I can see it though: we stay up to late watching shows that entertain us but aren’t morally pure. We have a snack that isn’t going to do us good, we sleep until the last possible minute. Alarm goes off and we hit snooze. When we do get up we immediately go to the technology of our choice, check news feeds, text messages, Facebook and Instagram to see what we missed.
Shower, I hope, throw on our unprepared clothes, wrinkled from the laundry basket, pour a cup of something that motivates us or carbs that give us a short boost probably filled or coated with sugar and we’re out the door trying not to be late.
And help us Lord if we have kids in the path of this unrighteousness.
When this is our routine, we are being cultural.
What I am going to ask you to do from here on out, is be countercultural.
It does not require a hell fire and brimstone sermon for you to take a few minutes and jot down your best possible morning scenario. You know what it would take to not only be on time, but to me prepared to be at work, early, enthusiastic, as unto the Lord.
If I have to leave the house by 7:30, and you need a 1/2 hour to get ready, we can begin to subtract. I should eat well, 10 minutes, prep something nutritious if it wasn’t completed the night before another 10 minutes: consumption. We might iron our clothes, prepare, have coffee, and most importantly spend time with the Lord, subtract that time, then, I need an additional 1/2 hour to slow it all down, I should set my clock for 5:45. If i need 8 hours sleep to perform at my best, I should be in bed around 9:45.
I think today this is very countercultural. What was a taught/disciplined practice has gone out the window. I’m not sure i would have the discipline t this routine accept SFC Lindert of Ft. Sill Oklahoma gave me personal lessons, mentoring if you will, in the basics of shower, shave, make you bed, shine your shoes, and if he didnt like the manner in which it was completed or the way the finished product came out, you could do it all over again.
As an employer, I see trends that drive me crazy.
Show up 1-3 minutes late for work, and in my book that is 20 minutes late.
Bring breakfast with you and eat at your desk after you clock in
Open news and Facebook immediately ignore those around you, “I’m just not a morning person.”
30 minutes after clock in, We’re ready to work for my employer
I. Our routine should be in context with God’s Word
I. Our routine should be in context with God’s Word
This is not our Christian witness. This does not please God. This is not a life of the fruit of the Spirit.
We are a whole person of mind, soul and spirit, and we belong to God as a single being. We are not secular or sacred, work or church, homemaker or player. We are one.
Paul conveys this about Jesus, in 1-11 and the Shema, conveys this about God and our relationship to Him
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Deut
Paul writes to the Philippians about this:
Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
Paul wrote to the Thessalonians
For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.
2 Th 3:10
For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies.
But self interest is where it is today. The personal pronouns that begin sentences, begin our day, begin our conversations are overwhelming.
Me, myself and I have taken over, and we no longer work as unto the Lord
And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.
But self interest is where it is today. The personal pronouns that begin sentences, begin our day, begin our conversations are overwhelming.
The Psalmist knew it. The Psalmist had a right perspective.
The Psalmist knew it. The Psalmist had a right perspective.
God gave Solomon perspective in and following
Context: Ark has been reunited with the temple. The new temple. The Shechinah glory returned to the temple
1 Kings 8:
so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.
If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.
says in part: the glory of the Spirit of the Lord rests on you. The Shechinah ...
Do you not know you are the temple fo the Holy Spirit
God says to Solomon
If you walk before me…I will
If you fail to walk before me…I will
This is heavy, I know. Sorry. We were simply talking about routines...
We were simply talking about routines...
We were just having small talk about your routine...
Thou shall have no other gods before me....phone, ipad, tv,
What I want you to hear clearly today is this: God has a plan for you and a path for you and your routine may be interfering with that because you haven’t left any time for HIM. You cut Him out.
What crisis would need to come into your life before you put Him first? Called on Him first, gave Him first place? Waited on Him?
One thing I witnessed from Chris and Michelle was this. Routine changes. It changed for them as they fought. It could change with a diagnosis, it could change with a treatment, but it always included the Lord.
God has poured grace into our lives and loves us and that isn’t a license to ignore Him, place Him on a shelf, walk without Him or put other gods before Him.
By what means of Grace are you communicating back to Him? Are you being reciprocal?
A partial list of returning grace might be; Bible study, daily prayer even if read or recited, scriptural meditation, congregational worship, communion, small group Bible study, fellowship, journaling, mentoring, sabbath rest, personal worship...
We sang with the Katy and Kelley last week a beautiful song, and one of the lyrics said
O the overwhelming never ending reckless love of God. Chases me down fights till I’m found leaves the 99, I didn’t earn it, I don’t deserve it, still you give yourself away
Are we giving back?
It’s true
Have you even given Him a thumbs up?
II. Our Routine should prepare us for both the best and worst scenarios a day can throw at us
II. Our Routine should prepare us for both the best and worst scenarios a day can throw at us
Babies are some what routine. Our church has been blessed this week. The Critchnau’s and the Robinson’s have been blessed
Babies in some cases have become scheduled events, weeks in advance, easier on the Doctors, nurses, insurance companies...
That doesn’t mean I didn’t take time to come to this altar in the morning and pray for them by name.
Why, because I’m well aware that no matter how well we prepare, the unknown is unknown and presents itself at the worst of times. Don’t allow yourself to be far from God when you need Him the most.
My heart sank for Sarah when the baby had to receive breathing treatments. It takes the beauty, the majesty, the praise, out of the moment and we inhale and hold our breath, and I don’t what that moment, a surprise moment, to be the first moment I consider God’s grace and goodness, God’s reckless love for me, because frankly if His words aren’t on my lips often, they probably wont be when we need Him most.
I have gone astray like a lost sheep;
Seek Your servant,
For I do not forget Your commandments.
Psalm 119:
III. My routine should remind me I am here to serve, not to be served
III. My routine should remind me I am here to serve, not to be served
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus
…who made Himself of no reputation, taking on the form of a servant
Counter-cultural
Living under the Lordship of Jesus means always bowing our will to His will-counter cultural
John Wesley got it right when he prayed:
I am no longer my own, but yours
Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
To your pleasure and disposal
Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
Paul captured this
according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
These thoughts remind us to reorganize our priorities, reorganize our lives, according to the mission and will of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Such humble attitudes of discipleship draw attention to our daily routine and adds substance to the familiar line we pray in the Lord’s prayer, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
Let my supplication come before You;
Deliver me according to Your word.
My lips shall utter praise,
For You teach me Your statutes.
My tongue shall speak of Your word,
For all Your commandments are righteousness.
Let Your hand become my help,
For I have chosen Your precepts.
Psalm 119:170-173
Closing Prayer
What is our total received toward our building goal