Rev. David Holwick R
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
June 7, 2015
1 Samuel 5:1-3,6-12
|
I. It makes sense but we don’t do it.
A. The Disney song every little girl knows.
(see how many “little girls” know it in the congregation)
Let it go, let it go
Can’t hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn my back and slam the door
And here I stand
And here I’ll stay
Let it go, let it go
The cold never bothered me anyway [1]
B. This sermon was not inspired by the song.
1) It actually came about because a member requested a sermon
on how Christians don’t let go of things.
a) I thought the song would make a nice lead-in.
2) We are free in Christ, but sometimes we act like we would
rather be chained and depressed.
C. What does it take to live a liberated Christian life?
1) Are you living one now?
2) If you are not, do you think it would be possible?
3) Are you a “hang on” kind of person, or a “let it go” one?
II. Christians hang on to a lot of things.
A. We hang on to anger.
1) Paul’s marriage advice in Ephesians - don’t let the
sun go down on your anger. Eph 4:26
a) A lot of couples do it anyway.
b) You let it fester and it ends up infecting every part
of your relationship.
2) Unforgiveness is often a component of anger.
a) It seems unjust to us to let people off the hook.
1> Our anger is always justified - they deserve it.
2> Christians should have a strong sense of right and
wrong.
A> We are moral people, and resent those who break
the rules, especially when it affects us.
b) But Jesus says unforgiveness hurts us more than them.
1> So he says we should work things out with people,
reconcile with them.
2> He says we should do it quickly, too.
3> We are moral people, but we also need to be people
of grace, just like God.
3) Another Bible image for this is the root of bitterness.
a) Hebrews 12:15 says:
“See to it that no one misses the grace of God and
that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble
and defile many.”
1> You can have grace or bitterness - it’s your choice.
2> If you choose bitterness, your love will be choked,
both for God and for people.
B. We hang on to sins.
1) The book of Job talks about what happens when we don’t deal
with our sin.
Job 20:12-14 says:
“Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under
his tongue, though he cannot bear to let it go and keeps
it in his mouth,
yet his food will turn sour in his stomach; it will become
the venom of serpents within him.”
2) That seems to be a poetic description of the corrosive
power of guilt.
a) Even when we don’t feel guilty (subjective guilt), we
still ARE guilty (objective guilt).
b) Unrepented sin will eat away at us.
1> It hardens our spirit and pushes us from God.
2> Sometimes we justify our sin, and sometimes
we just feel it is too hard to turn from it.
3> In time, it always catches up with us.
C. We hang on to an unchangeable past.
1) We are defeated by events beyond our control.
a) Few things are more devastating than the death of
a loved one.
b) It can seem obscene to forget them and move on, so
instead we withdraw into depression and isolation.
2) Breaking up with a boyfriend, losing a job, getting a
divorce - all of these can paralyze people.
a) Sometimes it is things that happen to us.
b) At other times it is things we are responsible for.
c) Many people can move on from disasters in the past,
but some cannot let go.
1> How can we change this?
III. Even pagans can figure it out.
A. The Philistine experiment. 1 Samuel 5
1) In a great victory, they acquired the Ark of the Covenant.
a) The Jews had brought it into battle as a lucky charm.
b) It didn’t do them any good - God is not a rabbit’s
foot.
c) The Jews were soundly defeated and the Ark ended up
as booty.
1> The Philistines put it into one of their temples.
2) Then the bad stuff started to happen.
a) The idol in the temple fell on his face, repeatedly.
b) Then the people were afflicted with tumors.
1> Since rats were associated with this, perhaps
God used bubonic plague.
c) They moved the Ark to a different city but got the
same results.
d) The third city had a new suggestion - let it go. 5:11
1> They put it on a cart drawn by cows who were
new mothers.
2> The Philistines figured if the cows returned to
their babies, the disasters were a fluke.
3> If they headed for Israel, God was behind it.
A> The cows went straight to Israel.
B> And the Philistines were delivered from their
problems.
B. Learn to release your problems to God.
1) Deal with your anger.
a) Should you spew it out?
b) The idea that we have to vent every emotion is popular
with some therapists but the Bible encourages us
to be slow when it comes to anger.
1> Deal with it in a calm, spiritual way.
2> Don’t let it fester but don’t let it explode either.
c) Advice from James Dobson.
1> Pray about the irritation.
2> Explain your negative feelings to a mature and
understanding third party who can advise you.
3> Going to the person you are angry with and show a
spirit of love and forgiveness.
4> Understand that God often permits the most
frustrating and agitating events to occur so as
to teach us patience and help us grow.
5> Realize that no offense by another person could
possibly equal our guilt before God, yet He has
forgiven us.
Shouldn’t you show the same mercy to others? [2]
2) Forgive even when it is hard.
In 1993, when Oshea Israel was 16 years old, he was
involved with gangs and drugs.
One night at a party, he got into a fight with 20 year old
Laramium Byrd, and shot and killed him.
When Oshea was serving his term in Stillwater Prison,
Laramium’s mom Mary Johnson requested a face-to-face
meeting.
Oshea put her off for a long time but he finally agreed
to see her.
Mary wanted to talk about her son, to let him know that
her son was real.
Oshea listened.
By end of that meeting, Mary was overcome with emotion
and fell apart.
Oshea, not knowing what to do, simply held her and hugged
her.
When she left and was by herself, the thought came to her
that she had just hugged the man who had murdered her son.
And instantly she knew that all that anger and animosity
that had filled her heart for 12 years was over.
She knew she had totally forgiven him.
But then she did something amazing.
When Oshea was released from prison in 2010, Mary saw to it
that he moved next door to her.
She said to Oshea, “I didn’t see my natural son graduate.
Now, you are going to college.
I’ll have the opportunity to see you graduate and hopefully
one day, to see you get married.”
Oshea told Mary, “Sometimes, I still don’t know how to take
it, because I haven’t totally forgiven myself.
It’s something that I’m learning from you.”
Mary let go of all the pain and anger and opened up to a new
way of relating to her son’s murderer.
Oshea is also learning to let go of his past.
Both of them now have a chance at a new life.
So much of forgiving is about letting go.
Unless we let go of our anger and hurt by forgiving those
who have wronged us, we will be stuck.
What pain, anger, and wounds are you holding on to?
Who do you need to let go, to experience the power of true
forgiveness?
#64849
IV. Even our accomplishments can get in the way of fulfillment.
A. Paul was a proud man who ended up changing the world.
1) He came from a noted Jewish family and could brag about
how dedicated he was to God.
2) But in Philippians 3:7 he says whatever advantages he
had were meaningless.
a) They actually got in the way of his walk with God.
b) The only thing that matters in the end is knowing
Jesus as his Lord.
B. What bragging rights do you need to let go of?
1) Are you proud of your success, your salary, your beautiful
family?
2) None of this matters to God.
a) It can get in the way of a humble walk with him.
V. What you should never let go.
A. Turn your focus to what really matters.
1) Hebrews 12:1-3 says:
“Throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so
easily entangles, ...
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus...
Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men,
so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
2) Do you try to think about the kind of things Jesus was
concerned about?
B. A heavenly focus puts life in a better perspective.
1) Life will always have its frustrations and failures.
2) Just remember you are forgiven, empowered, and loved by
God.
=========================================================================
SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] “Let It Go” was written by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez,
© Walt Disney Music Publishing Company.
[2] “How Do You Deal With Anger?” by Dr. James Dobson,
<http://www.drjamesdobson.org/articles/impacting-famillies/how-do-you-deal-with-anger>.
#64849 “She Hugged Her Son’s Murderer,” Rev. Yena Hwang, Kerux Sermon
#64842, adapted from <http://storycorps.org/listen/mary-johnson-and-oshea-israel/>.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
=========================================================================
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
Created with the Freeware Edition of HelpNDoc: Create HTML Help, DOC, PDF and print manuals from 1 single source