Sunday Sermons

I Observe

Mark Dunagan
09/15/02 - Gospel Meeting

“I Observe”

The above quote comes from Acts 17:22 where Paul comments upon the culture that he observed in Athens. In this lesson I want to make some observations concerning our recent trip to the East Coast.

It is Difficult to Hide from God

David noted in Psalm 139 that he could never, no matter how far he traveled, get away from God’s presence (Psalm 139:7 “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?). In addition to God’s omnipresence, the Scriptures reveal that the evidence for God’s very existence and His power is demonstrated everyday in the Creation that surrounds us(Psalm 19:1-3; Romans 1:20). In his speech in Athens, Paul noted that even secular and pagan poets had perceived the existence of the true God “for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children’” (Acts 17:28). “The precise expression is found in the writings of Aratus (270 B.C.) who was from Tarsus, as was Paul; and though not the exact words, still the idea is found in the writings of Cleanthes (300-220 B.C.). This quotation of the heathen poets would at once quicken the attention of the hearers. This was not an illiterate Jew, but a man of culture, acquainted with the thoughts of their own great poets” (Reese p. 632). As we traveled on the East Coast, I was impressed that we were constantly confronted with one inscription after another that mentioned God. One cannot visit the nation’s capital and observe the monuments to Lincoln, Jefferson or Washington without reading one quotation after another referring to God’s mercy or justice. For example consider the following inscription that is found in the Lincoln Memorial that is from his second inaugural address: Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes his aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered--that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has his own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh."

If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through his appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to him? Fondly do we hope--fervently do we pray--that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn by the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." Even Lincoln understood that there are times when God will punish a nation for its iniquity (Jeremiah 18:7-10; Psalm 9:17; Isaiah 1:15-17; Proverbs 14:34 “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people”). The following quotation is found inscribed on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial: Taken from A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, 1777. The last sentence is taken from a letter to James Madison, August 28, 1789. “God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever. Commerce between master and slave is despotism. Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than these people are to be free. Establish the law for educating the common people. This it is the business of the state to effect and on a general plan”.

Great Men are Different

There is the temptation in our culture to blend in with the rest of humanity and conform to the values and ideas of this world(Romans 12:1-2). On our trip I was impressed that no monuments exist for people who did not want to get involved, who simply wanted to hang out, chill, and play. There is no memorial for the person who was “just like everyone else”. At times a Christian might be tempted to resent God’s expectations of him or her to be different (1 Peter 2:9-10), and to strive for a moral and ethical standard that is far above what most people demand of themselves (Matthew 5:3-12; 44-48), yet the history of our nation and the history revealed in the Scriptures teach us the lesson that great things are accomplished by men and women who strive for excellence (Hebrews 11:40). The person who does not want to get involved, the person who is afraid to be different and stand up and be counted, is the person who is forgotten.

The Power of Culture

Christians are warned about being influenced by the society that surrounds them (1 John 2:15-17), and in the Old Testament we often find that the nation of Israel began to conform to the cultures that surrounded her and even started to envy the ways of her neighbors (1 Samuel 8:5 “Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations”). Many have noted that in the Revelation letter, some of the seven churches of Asia had begun to resemble and take on the qualities of the town in which they existed. For example, both the city of Sardis and the congregation in Sardis were living on a reputation that no longer was true(Revelation 3:1). The congregation in Laodicea that had become lukewarm and self-satisfied (Revelation 3:15-17), had partaken of the attitude that permeated that city. Hendriksen notes that history records that the people in Laodicea were wealthy, and they knew it. The entire city had the same self-sufficient, proud and conceited attitude. As we traveled I observed that the culture in New York City was definitely different from the culture in Washington D.C. It made me think, what are the negative elements in our Northwest culture that this congregation needs to avoid? Are we allowing ourselves to be influenced in a spiritually harmful way by the culture that surrounds this congregation? Are we becoming too self-sufficient? Someone noted that the West and the East Coast are similar in the sense that both coasts have a very independent spirit, but the downside is that often it is an attitude of independence from God. Are we becoming too busy with things that do not matter?(Mark 4:19). Are we too focused on the economy?

Lessons I learned about Wealth

· I observed that often the poor and the very rich are together in this life. The taxi driver and the executive, the CEO and the elevator operator, the media star and the security guard. Solomon also noted that in death the rich and the poor are also together, for death is the great leveler of all men (Ecclesiastes 2:14-15).

· Wealth can deprive a person of personal freedoms. The famous person cannot simply go to the grocery store or run all sorts of simple errands as we do. The wealthy who own homes on Martha’s Vineyard, have to built their homes down a dirt road in some secluded compound. Their lives are greatly restricted. Wealth can actually become a cage(Ecclesiastes 5:11 “When goods increase, those who consume them increase”).

· People do take advantage of the rich. While touring the Newport Mansions that were built during the 1890’s, it was revealed that the storeowners in Newport RI, when they learned that someone was shopping for one of the wealthy families in the area, the grocery bill would suddenly double.

· Wealth does not deliver: “Riches do not profit in the day of wrath” (Proverbs 11:4); “For wealth certainly makes itself wings like an eagle that flies toward the heavens” (Proverbs 23:4-5); see also Luke 12:15-21. We were listening to one of the interviews of people who had survived the events of September 11^th. The woman noted that she was seeking to get out of the one of the Twin Towers and she saw her boss, and even though he made far more money that she did, at that moment, he was just as scared as she was and that his wealth could not help him. It dawned on me that the true riches are basically available to everyone, no matter what their economic condition. A relationship with God, family, marriage, and friends are available to anyone.

· In touring the Newport Mansions, I was reminded that wealth, or even opulence, cannot bring happiness. The Vanderbilt’s, who constructed Marble House in the 1890’s at the cost of 11 million, only lived spent three summers there and divorced thereafter. In reading the autobiography of their daughter, she noted that she hated spending her summers in the Newport Mansion. In fact, her fondest memories seem to have been doing things that ordinary children get to do: “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income” (Ecclesiastes 5:10).

The Importance of Sacrifice

Freedom is not free. Someone commented that it seems we are living in a time when no one wants to sacrifice anymore. We tend to forget that the country in which we live was founded upon tremendous sacrifices. Those who crossed over on the Mayflower, sacrificed! The millions who came to Ellis Island, sacrificed. Washington is filled with memorials, Arlington National Cemetery, the Vietnam Memorial, the Korean Memorial, and so on, to those who paid the ultimate price so that future generations could be free.

For some reason, the words “sacrifice” and “self-denial” have become very negative words in our culture, yet everything we presently have that is worth anything and that is lasting, is the result of sacrifice. Our present relationship with God is founded upon the greatest act of self-denial that this world has ever seen, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10); “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). Sacrifice is good, sacrifice is healthy, and congregations in which Christians are making sacrifices are congregations that are healthy and growing. Christians who are sacrificing are Christians who are growing (Matthew 16:24-25). Families in which the members are looking out for one another and marriages in which both partners are there to serve the other are relationships that are growing, enjoyable, and fulfilling (Ephesians 5:25-26). David understood the above principle, when he noted, “For I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing” (2 Samuel 24:24). A true relationship with God has a definite price (Luke 14:26ff). But one of the great lessons in life is that all worthwhile things and relationships are not cheap and there are no bargains or discounts when it comes to being right with God. A faith that does not demand anything of us, is not worth anything.