I do not easily cry. As I sat in church listening to a well-known Southern
Baptist preacher, I did not expect to shed a tear. It wasn’t that he
preached an emotional sermon. His antidotes were not tear-jerkers.
The reason I cried in church last week is because OS Hawkins clearly and
unashamedly spoke God’s truth about our culture and trough one simple verse, showed
us God’s answer to our culture in chaos. It wasn’t a perfect
sermon. I don’t think he made it clear enough that Baby Boomers are part
of the crowd that wants something for nothing. The facts are: sinners are
sinners no matter what decade you are born. Another point I recognized as
unhelpful was his jibe at transgender folks by his offhanded comment: When you wake up in the morning and after
you shave or put your make-up on, or in this culture maybe both. I
laughed at the time but can’t recommend his sermon without acknowledging that
it didn’t need to be said. I have a
friend who does wake up in the morning and shaves then put on his make-up.
He is a human being created in the image of God, and I’m sure he would have felt
rejected if he were sitting beside me in church. His insistence that he
be accepted for wearing women’s clothes, though clearly a male, is one of the
main reasons he does not attend church. This reminds me why speaking the truth
in love is commanded by God. So with these points made, I want to tell
you the truth that made me shed a tear.
It may sound
intolerant to speak the truth that recognizing gender is foundational to our
freedom, but it is. A culture in chaos needs to understand this, but we
must be careful not to alienate people so they can hear the truth spoken in
love. I’m not usually political in Tea
Time for Your Soul, but I have been amazed by gender differences since my
graduate work and believe recognizing our uniqueness as male or female is
essential to our understanding of who God made us. I wrote my
dissertation on Genesis 3:16, which is God’s words to women after the
fall. In my opinion, it is not a minor issue that our culture is in chaos
regarding gender. The de-sexing of America will lead us further away from
understanding who we are in relation to God. It also has the potential to
politically sever the bonds of family and the responsibility of parents for
children. Psalm 2:2-6 offers a forceful
look at the harsh reality of rejecting our gender and rejecting the bonds that
God has established. The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers conspire together against the Lord and His Anointed One: Let
us tear off their chains and free ourselves from their
restraints. The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord ridicules them. Then He speaks to
them in His anger and terrifies them in His wrath:
I have consecrated My King on Zion, My holy
mountain. We
can conspire together to sever any God-designed bonds and chains all we like,
but this Psalm records two truths. 1. Our sin of seeing God’s restraints as
chains is futile, and we will have to answer to the wrath of God. 2. God protects us through sending His Son to
make all things right.
The meat of OS Hawkins’ sermon was this
sentiment exactly. He boldly and
truthfully proclaimed that all the answers for our Culture in Chaos are found
in the short passage Ephesians 1:7: We
have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of His grace. Here is the summary:
Our Chaotic Culture
is:
Ephesians 1:7 answers
Desperate for meaningful relationship—In Him—He is the relationship we are looking for.
Desperate for meaningful relationship—In Him—He is the relationship we are looking for.
Desperate for immediate
gratification—We have redemption—You can decide right now; there is no waiting
period before you can receive redemption if you chose it.
Desperate for
entitlements—Through His blood—You are entitled as a human being. You cannot deserve or attain redemption
except through Christ’s blood.
Desperate for freedom
from guilt—the forgiveness of
sins—It’s the only way to
truly be without guilt.
Desperate for prosperity
that seems unattainable—according to the
riches of His grace—There is enough grace for
everyone to be rich in grace because it is limitless.
Amen
and Amen. A culture in chaos is a
harvest field for discovering the everlasting truth of God when delivered in
love.
Copyright © 2016. Deborah R. Newman teatimeforyoursoul.com All Rights Reserved.
Thanks for sharing the sermon, and your reflections on it. I have grown more and more amazed at the 'de-sexing' issue - never heard it described this way, but I think it's an apt description. It does go back to our core sense of identity, doesn't it? The transgender issue is so deeply puzzling and troubling, and yet, it is at the core, identity dysphoria. I probably empathize with those folks more than I'd want to admit, and it is an incredibly painful place to live. You're so right about our need to find a way to stay in love - without love, anything of truth we want to share is nothing more than clanging cymbals. When I am at the end of understanding the chaos, I remember my good friend from Africa, who would always say to me, "Susie, God knows the end from the beginning." And Sayu was so right about that! When I remind myself that He knows the end from the beginning, I don't have to understand it all...and I certainly don't understand it all!
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