TITLE: B Joyful
TEXT: Ephesians 5:18-19
A woman brought her daughter a really nice Baby Grand Piano for her birthday.
A
few weeks later, she was asked how her daughter was doing.
“Oh,” she said, “I persuaded her to switch to a clarinet.”
“How come?”
asked the friend.
“Well,” – she paused - “with
a clarinet, she can’t sing.”
APPLY: Now, I know that when it comes to the issue of singing in worship…
… there are usually two kinds
of people.
There
are people who just love to sing and they’ll sing all day long in worship (like I do)
And then there are others that don’t want to sing at
all
(if
came right down to it – they’d rather play the clarinet)
When we get to Scripture, we find that God commands His people to sing and make music
Here in Ephesians 5 we find that one of the ways we prepare our heart for the Spirit of God
is
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, Eph
5:19
God
has always wanted His people to sing. Ps 32:11 declares:
Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous;
sing, all you who are upright in heart!
Psalm 105:1-4 proclaims:
Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known
among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in
his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.
And Psalm 149:1-5 commands us:
Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints.
Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King.
Let
them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp.
For
the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation.
Let the saints
rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds.
Now why should we sing?
Well just from those three passages out
of the Psalms we find that..
… God’s people sing because we are filled with joy and gladness
We sing for joy
We sing His praises
We sing to rejoice in the blessings God has given us
We sing, we sing, we sing we sing.
And we
sing because we serve a God who gives makes us joyful.
One of the most famous singers in Scripture was a shepherd boy named David
He grew
up to be the King of Israel and is celebrated as the “Man After God’s Own Heart”
He could sing, and he could play a harp
And all of his music glorified God
and rejoiced in His blessings.
David was
a man after God’s own heart.
And he cemented his relationship to God through his singing and playing music
Singing was the way David declared his joy in God.
He sang because he had a song.
ILLUS:
Donald Hustead once wrote: “Somehow about 40% of churchgoers seem to have picked up
the idea that ‘singing in church is for singers.’
The truth is that ‘singing is for
believers.’
The relevant question is not, ‘Do you have a voice?’
but “Do you have a song?’”
David sang because he had a song… and so should we… and so:
God never says – IF you
can sing, sing
God says – SING = sing your joy.
One person once put it this way:
Be more
like a child today, for children sing whether they sound good or not."
Or as one
little 3 year old girl sang: “I love you Lord and I life my NOISE”
God loves it when we sing to Him…
…because when we sing… we’re praising Him for how much joy He’s
given us.
But
there’s another reason why should we sing
Music transforms us
Singing isn’t just a
declaration of our joy… it has the power to MAKE us joyful.
ILLUS: Back in 1998, researchers found that music stimulates the auditory nerves…
…and creates
brain messages that ripple through the body, influencing muscle tone…
…equilibrium and joint flexibility.
The human heartbeat is especially attuned to sound – as music changes in tempo and volume, it acts as
a natural pacemaker. Our breathing slows down or speeds up along with the music.
In addtion, they found that music has a direct effect on the function
of the brain.
It can slow down and equalize brain waves to create a meditative state…
…
or it can energize brain waves, quickening the thinking process & enhancing creativity
Don
Campbell, founder of Institute for Music, Health and Education - Bottom Line –Tomorrow Sept 1998 p. 9
ILLUS: Then in 2001, scientists were amazed to find that music
is able to help heal the body.
- Burn victims, encouraged to sing while having their dressing
changed, experienced less pain.
- Cancer patients who listened to - and practiced with - musical instruments, saw their levels of stress hormones drop
and their immune systems get stronger.
Professor Richard Fratianne observed:
"By helping patients relax, music eases pain and may even speed
recovery," Peter Jaret R.Digest 9/01
So, just on a physical level, music has the power to sooth the savage beast of our lives.
But on a spiritual level songs can do even more than that for
us…
… because Christian music has words… and those words focus on God’s power and love
That’s one of the reasons that Paul tells the church
at Ephesus
SPEAK TO ONE ANOTHER with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs… Eph 5:19
Focus on the words of those songs
Because the words we sing on Sunday
morning lift us up… they don’t drag us down
If you listen to the popular music of our
day…
…
you’ll find a vast number of songs that communicate:
Hopelessness
Immorality
Anger and rage
Selfishness and self-centeredness
ILLUS: The University of Pittsburgh did a study a couple of years ago…
… where
they examined 279 of the top songs on the radio in 2005.
They ONLY looked at references to drugs and alcohol…
… but what they found is instructive.
Gangster rapsters – spoke favorably of these items in
80% of their songs
Country music had 37% of its music praising the wonders of alcohol.
Rhythm and
Blues followed with 20%
Rock had 14% of its songs praising drugs and alcohol
And Pop music had 7%
And
that’s just the references in popular music praising drugs and alcohol.
Those scholars didn’t examine the songs that told of sexual
immorality, vengeance and greed
And they didn’t consider the vast # of songs = filled with hopelessness & despair.
Many of the songs that are popular on radio don’t lift people up…
… they drag them down & encourage lifestyles & attitudes that rob people of joy
God wants us to sing a new song
Ps 96:1 is perhaps the most famous
Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Ps. 33:3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.
Ps 144:9 I will sing a new song to you, O God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you,
Ps 149:1 Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints.
CLOSE: A man named Jack Hinton was
on a short-term missions trip to the island of Tobago. He was leading worship at the leper colony there and there was time
for one more song, so he asked if anyone had a request.
A woman who had been facing away from the
pulpit turned around.
“It was the most hideous face I had ever seen,”
Hinton said. “The woman’s nose and ears were entirely gone. The disease
had destroyed her lips as well. She lifted a fingerless hand in the air and asked, ‘Can we sing Count
Your Many Blessings?’”
Overcome with emotion, Hinton left the service.
He was
followed by another team member who said, “Jack, I guess you’ll never be able
to sing that song again.”
“Yes
I will,” he replied, “but I’ll never sing the same way.”
TITLE: B Imitators TEXT: Ephesians 5:1-17
OPEN:
Lily Tomlin is a famous woman comedian. And once she said,
"I always wanted to
be somebody, but I should have been more specific."
APPLY: A lot of people would
like to be somebody.
And at Halloween there are kids who dress up to be “somebody”.
Now, some kids will dress up in funny costumes, and other will put on scary outfits.
But
a lot of kids will dress like somebody they admire.
Girls will dress up as princesses or queens
Boys will dress up like Spiderman or a Ninja warrior.
And they often choose those costumes
because they’d like to be like that hero/heroine
Now, when I was a kid, my hero was Zorro.
I’d put on a black cape, pretend I was riding a black horse and I’d swing around a fake sword
And even after I’d entered my teens, I still had that admiration for that fictitious hero
I took up fencing for a while, and hired on at a local horse barn to lead trails.
I wanted to be somebody… I wanted to imitate my hero.
Now, I realize how silly that sounds… but
to some degree…
… many people have had heroes that they tried to imitate as a child…
… and that hero may even have influenced how they look at life today.
Now Paul tells us that
one of the greatest heroes we can have – is God
“Be imitators of God.”
I recently read about a child who told
his mother he wanted to dress up like God for Halloween.
“Like God?” She said “how would you dress to look like
Him?”
“Oh”
he said “I’d put on a white robe, a wig and long beard… and I’d wear flip flops.”
ILLUS: In fact, back
in 2000 I read of a man who did just that.
His name was Carl J. Joseph, and the Washington Post explained…
… that Mr. Joseph had
spent 9 yrs wandering through 13 countries and 47 states.
He usually walked bare footed dressed in a long robe…
… and his resemblance to
Jesus was so striking that people…
… often flooded into churches just to see him.
So… is that what Paul meant when
he said we should imitate God?
Should we all start going barefoot and wearing robes?
(pause) I don’t think so.
Imitating God has less to do with our wardrobe than with our hearts.
Besides, we already bear
a resemblance to God
Back in Genesis 1:26 “God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our
likeness…’"
We bear a strong resemblance to our Father…
… but sin has marred that image… and so we need to relearn…
… what once
was natural for Adam and Eve.
Imitating God goes deeper than wearing a wig, beard and flip flops.
The Greek Word here in Ephesians for “imitate” is “mimetes” and
It comes from the Greek family of words from which we get
our English “mime” and “mimic”.
So Paul is telling us to mimic God…
…to imitate how God behaves…
not how He dresses
So, how can we imitate God?
Well, first Paul tells us we need to imitate God’s love.
Look again
at Ephesians 5:1-2
Be imitators of God, therefore,
as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant
offering and sacrifice to God.
God has set us an example of how to love.
1 John 4:10 This
is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning
sacrifice for our sins.
The next vs. says Dear friends, since God so loved
us, we also ought to love one another. 4:11
In fact, 1 John 4:8 declares Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
…but, oddly enough, we can have a hard time
loving others
It’s such a difficult issue for us mortals = the Bible spends a great deal of time telling us to
do it
One poem described the problem this way
To
dwell above with saints we love,
That would be grace and glory.
But
to live below with saints we know;
Well, that's quite a different story!
???Now, WHY do we have such a hard time loving others?
Because
sin has deformed our souls to the point where we think of ourselves as gods.
Think about it.
Why
do we get mad at others?
Because they’ve offended who????
= US (we’ve become god)
They’ve either hurt us/ or someone we love/
… they’ve transgressed
some moral principle we think is critical
ILLUS On the eve of her wedding, a bride’s mother gave her some advice regarding husbands.
"Always stick up for him," she said. "Don't
discuss important matters before dinner, and lastly, never tell me about your arguments."
"Why shouldn't I tell you about our arguments?" the daughter asked.
"Because you may forgive him," she said solemnly, "but I never will." Reader’s Digest 11/94 p. 143
What that mother realized was that she could easily stand in judgment of her son-in-law
She could become god
in her desire NOT to forgive him.
It’s a weakness in our soul…
…our own sinfulness can deceive us into believing we can stand in
the place of God.
James 4:11-12 warns us: “…Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him
speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.
There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you— who are you to judge your neighbor?”
Who are you? Well… you’re a god
… or at least, that’s what you and I turn into when we verbally
attack others…
… either to their face or
behind their back.
Look with me at Ephesians 4:29-32
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according
to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
And do not grieve
the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling
and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ
God forgave you.”
In the very next verse Paul writes “Be
imitators of God…and live a life of love”
Imitating God means that we get rid of bitterness and anger and slander
and malice
Imitating God means we become kind and compassionate to one other/ forgiving…
… just as in Christ, God forgave you and I.
** Loving others doesn’t
mean we don’t confront brothers and sisters who live lives of sin…
…it
just means that (when we do) we don’t do it because we have the right to stand in judgment
… but because we love them and we don’t want them to face judgment.
Why would they face judgment?
Because they failed to imitate God’s holiness.
In
Leviticus 11:44 God declares "Be holy, because I am holy."
And Ephesians 5
tells us to imitate God’s holiness
LOOK AGAIN AT EPHESIANS 5:3-6
But among you
there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for
God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather
thanksgiving.
For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or
greedy person— such a man is an idolater— has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one
deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes
on those who are disobedient.
http://www.barna.org,
The Concept of Holiness Baffles most Americans, 2/20/2006 |
Back in 2006, Barna Researchers found that only 1 in 4 believers thought they were holy.
But no matter what they believe – if they are truly Christians = they are holy
Once they were baptized into Christ, the Holy Spirit came to live inside them.
That made them holy
To be holy simply means to be ‘set apart’ (EXPAND)
What Ephesians 5 is telling us is this: Once God has made you holy (set apart)…
… now you and I need to reflect that “set apartness” in how we live.
We need to live differently.
We may have sinned in the past, but we accept that it was a bad idea…
We make no excuses… we ask forgiveness and move on…
ILLUS: Back in 1980 New York City Mayor
Ed Koch appeared on a local news program in the middle of the city’s financial crisis. Koch had spent over a quarter
of a million dollars to put up bike lanes in Manhattan, and they turned out to be a disaster. Cars were driving in
the bike lanes, pedestrians were walking in the them, and bikers were getting crowded out. It was a mess and many
people in New York were irate about it.
Koch was coming up for re-election, so a handful of journalists cornered him on this show, planning
to tear him to pieces for spending money foolishly when the city was nearly broke. One reporter said, "Mayor, in light of the financial difficulties New York City is facing, how could you possibly justify wasting $300,000
on bike lanes?"
The stage was set for a half-hour confrontation. Instead, Koch said, "It was a terrible idea. I thought it would work, but it didn’t. It was one of the worst mistakes I ever made."
Then he stopped. None of the other journalists knew what to say or do. They were expecting him to squirm and make excuses,
but he didn’t even try.
The next journalist stammered and said, "But Mayor Koch, how could
you do this?"
Koch said, "I already told you. It was a stupid idea.
It didn’t work." Then he stopped.
There was still 26 minutes left to go on the news
show, and the reporters had to find something else to talk about.
Because he was willing to accept
that it was wrong… he won both Democ. & Repub. support.
… and we determine not to live like that anymore then we get God’s support…
… because we’ve determined to live HOLY lives = set apart with no excuses.
It is
written: "Be holy, because (God is) holy." 1 Peter 1:16
So, we’re called to imitate God in His Love and His Holiness…
… but there is one more thing we need to imitate, or we’re fall into a trap.
We need to imitate God’s thinking.
Ephesians 5:17 says = Therefore do not be foolish,
but understand what the Lord’s will is.
We need to start thinking like God thinks… because if we don’t
we’ll start faking our faith.
Christians are often called hypocrites (WHY?)
Because they try to imitate Christ without actually becoming like Him.
Hypocrisy comes from the idea of putting on a mask/ false face
ILLUS: It’s like the child with a Halloween mask.
You know they’re
not Sarah Palin/ Bill Clinton, Darth Vader.
They might manage to “sound” like the person on their mask…
…
but the mask is a fake
That’s what makes Christians “hypocrites”
They may sound like a child of God… but everybody knows they’re
wearing a mask.
Why does this happen?
It happens because Christians can wear the faith as a badge…
… it’s on the outside, but it never really reaches their hearts.
So
how can I think like God thinks? (pause) Ephesians 5:18 lets us in on the secret
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
How do I know if someone is drunk? (act/ speak/ walk)
So how will I know if I’m filled with the Spirit? (act speak talk)
And I train my heart to be filled with God’s Spirit by DOING three things:
- Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your
heart to the Lord. Ephesians 5:19
I surround myself with Christians music –
I read the Psalms/ I sing the old hymns/ and I sing the new songs
- I “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20
I make it a habit to spend at least part of each day counting my blessings
I refuse to dwell on my problems
I focus on what
I have rather than what I don’t
- Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Eph 5:21
I find ways to serve people around me.
I find ways to
honor my parents/ love my wife/ respect my husband/ serve my boss-employee
CLOSE: You & I have been saved so that
we might imitate what God is really like to those around us.
We do it by how we love/ live/ think
Our lives should be so dedicated to this imitation of Christ…
… that people should be able to read God’s beauty in our lives and be
ILLUS: Back
in the 1500s, people didn’t have a Bible they could read.
The Catholic church controlled the translating of Scripture and only offered
it in Latin.
But
when Martin Luther rebelled against the abuses of the Church of his day…
… he worked hard to make a translation available in German (the language of his people).
The daughter of the printer Luther used was cleaning in her dad’s shop…
…
and she picked up a piece of paper off the floor.
It read, “For God so loved that He gave...” and that was all.
The rest of the verse was not printed yet, but what she saw was enough to move her
The thought that God would give her anything moved her.
Her mother noticed a change in her and asked her why
she seemed so happy.
The girl pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of her pocket and showed it to her mother.
The mother read it and asked, "What did He give?"
The girl
said,
“I
don’t know but if God loved us enough to give us anything we should not be afraid of Him.”
That thought changed how she looked
at God.
And
our lives can change how others look at our God as well.
One man has wisely said: “We may
be the only Bible anyone ever reads.”
But that will be true ONLY if we learn to imitate the God we say we love.
