Behavior And FocusDr. James Mayfield August 29, 2004 Text: Hebrews 13:1-6 It is not unusual to hear people say they are not involved in the church because of what they see some church members doing Monday through Saturday. There is a part of me that winces because it hurts to hear the truth spoken. Too much of the time, too many of us fail to behave as followers of Christ. But there is also a part of me that wants to laugh because to complain there are sinners in the church is about like complaining there are sick people in the hospital. The church is, among other things, a rehabilitation center for sinners. It has always been that way. Throughout the Bible the community of faith is revealed to be a collection of sinners seeking forgiveness and striving to grow in grace and faith but who continue to mess up and continue to need God's tough love the Bible calls judgment and God's tender love the Bible calls mercy. Just read any of the letters in the New Testament. In each of them, part of the letter is speaking to the sinful behavior of some of the church members. This is true of the passage we read today. What is both amazing and disappointing is what the writer said to the congregation then is relevant for any congregation I know of today. So, let's look at this passage a little more closely. Here is the way I would paraphrase what that writer was trying to communicate. Keep on loving one another the way brothers and sisters are supposed to love one another. This means you do not gossip about one another; you do not take advantage of one another; you are sensitive to each other's need; you do what you can to help one another. Keep on loving one another the way sisters and brothers are supposed to love one another. And do not think only of yourselves. Reach out beyond yourselves. Be concerned about the needs of others -- those beyond your own little group. Reach out – not just to friends but even to strangers. Who knows? You may be serving angels, special messengers from God without ever knowing you did so. Maybe this is what the people from this congregation are doing when they feed the homeless, or work with children in school or repair the home someone in need or participate some other outreach ministry. It is not unusual for members of this church to tell me that it was when they were involved in doing deeds of compassion that they felt closest to Christ. Could it be they have been serving incognito emissaries of Christ? God's grace works in strange ways to bless us; and often that blessing comes as an unexpected byproduct of giving of ourselves for the good of others. The writer goes on to urge us to remember those in prison as though we were in prison with them. We in the United States have more people in prison than any nation I know of. This is not a sign of a healthy society; it is a symptom of a society with deep, complex problems. There is an illness in our society and for us to become the healthy society we should be, it is going to take more than merely locking up the social failures with other social failures. “Do not forget those in prison,” the writer of Hebrews tells us. They need our visits. But even more than our visits; they need us to become involved in addressing the causes and factors at work in our society that seduce people -- especially young people -- to anti social behavior. We need to do more than build more prisons, that are little more than temporary warehouses for criminals. “Remember those in prison as though you are in prison with them.” They need us to work for programs that will reclaim lives and reduce repeat offenders. Remember all those who are suffering and mistreated. Abuse is not limited to what happens in some prisons. Family abuse is a major problem in our society. It is one of the more hidden problems, covered in silence, camouflaged with smiles and masked with cosmetics and covered in clothes that hide the bruises. And the abuse that distorts lives is not only physical; it can also be emotional abuse. Remember those who are abused in life; and do more than merely be aware; do what you can to free them from their torture. Remember those who are abused in life. Marriage should be honored by all. The foundation of society is healthy homes. And the foundation of a healthy home is the quality of the relationship between husband and wife, wife and husband. Marriage is more than living together. Marriage is marriage . It is two people becoming one unit and making total commitment to one another for facing life and dealing with all that is to come. Marriage should be honored by all -- not just by those who are married to one another but by all. Therefore, the marriage bed should not be defiled. Sexuality is a major part of our being human. It is a wonderful gift from God, but like all good gifts, one that is too often abused in our society. Too much of the time sexuality is trivialized, and given tantalizing but trivial treatment that fosters and even blesses promiscuity. And yet, sexual relations are one of the primary expressions and symbols of fidelity that binds husband and wife together. When sexuality is trivialized and intercourse treated almost as casually as a coffee break, adultery is trivialized and marriage relationships are undermined. The writer of Hebrews declares that God will judge all fornicators and adulterers. Whatever else this means, it means that there are serious and destructive consequences when we misuse and abuse the amazingly wonderful gift of our sexuality. As if this was not meddling enough, the writer of Hebrews really moves beyond preaching and into meddling with the next guideline. “Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have.” Interestingly, the writer does not declare greed as the primary cause of our love for money or our discontent with what we have. Nor does he list the desire for power or prestige as the basic motivation behind our pursuit of wealth and the cause of our discontent with what we have. He identifies the cause behind our love of money and discontent with what we have as being fear. We love our money because we are afraid of facing the future without what we have. We are discontent with what we have because we are afraid that if we do not have the same kind of toys, gadgets, clothes and club memberships our neighbors have we are missing something really important. Focused more on our standing with our peers than our relationship with God, we become discontent with what we have and we look for more money as the way to contentment. The fact that the writer of the passage we read felt the need to write what he wrote reveals, church members then had many of the same problems we have today. So what are we to do? The writer of Hebrews gave us the key earlier in his letter. …let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. In other words, the more clearly and constantly we keep our focus on Christ, the more Christ-like we become in our living. This writer knew that the key to living as God has created us to live is focus. On what are we focused? What is the central organizing factor guiding our parenting, our behavior at work, our behavior at play? What is the central focus? …let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus. But how do we do that? This is what today is really all about. We are being reminded to make an intentional decision of the importance of being present -- present in public and private worship so we are better able to be present to one another. Worship is consciously, intentionally focusing on God in gratitude for gifts of grace and in humble admission of need. For us to worship we have to show up; This means more than being physical present and going through the motion. When we are truly present we are engaged, focused and connected. Both our public worship and our private worship in prayer and Bible study require us to be present, fully present, not half-heartedly going through the motions with our mind and heart focused elsewhere. And the more present we are, that is the more we are truly focused on Christ, the more we are present to one another. Last week the comments of Malinda Patterson poignantly revealed the impact some members of this congregation have had on her. They were really present to her and because they were, God's grace flowed through them. Being present to Christ leads us to be present to one another. The way we are able to live as God intends us to live is for us to keep our focus on Christ. In order to keep our focus on Christ, we have to be present, truly present in our public and private worship. And when are, we live focused on Christ. and being focused on Christ leads us to be present to those around us -- especially those in need. God, enable us to be present, really present in worship so that we will be focused on Christ and our living shaped by him. Amen. Pastoral prayer: God, as we make commitments to be present to you and to others protect us from allowing merely good things to crowd out the truly important things. Protect us from being so busy we drift away from you. Rescue us from saying yes to so much we find ourselves over committed, exhausted, edgy, defensive, frustrated and worshipping you only when there is some leftover energy. Enable us to make peace with the fact that we cannot do it all. Help us come to terms with the need to make choices. As we fill our schedules for the fall, keep us from forgetting to set aside time to focus on our relationship with you. Rescue us from filling our schedules so full that our only prayers are petitions thrown in your general direction as we rush to our next appointment, and our only worship is when there is nothing else claims our time. Motivate us to set aside time to worship regularly so that we stay focused on Christ and are able to make the best use of our limited energies and time. Help us live as Jesus was teaching us to live when he taught us to pray: “Our Father ….”
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