Religion From A Safe Distance
Preaching
Shaking Wolves Out Of Cherry Trees
And 149 Other Sermon Ideas
Purpose Statement: A sermon attacking our efforts at trying to be a Christian with minimum effort.
Have some of us been able to make a commitment to Christ, become a church member, and consider ourselves a Christian, and still been able to avoid the difficult parts of the faith: discipline, sacrifice, struggle, change, challenge, etc.?
a. We know the challenge of Christianity. Romans 12:1-3 makes the commitment to Christ sound very rigid and difficult. Words like "living sacrifice to God" sound very ominous. It means becoming a new and different person. It means sacrificing things we desire and enjoy. We must give up this world's ways and accept a disciplined lifestyle. There may also be times when the going will get tough. Although Christians seldom experience anything that could be called persecution today, it is not out of the question. The disciples fled when Jesus was arrested. Two followed at a "safe distance," but either denied knowing Jesus or simply did not speak up.
b. We avoid and postpone commitment. Some persons are not ready to make the kind of commitment they believe being a Christian requires. They refuse to join a church or avoid attending to escape responsibility. The hen said to the pig, "Let's surprise our farmer owner with a nice breakfast of ham and eggs." The pig replied, "That's easy for you to say. For you it is an offering; for me it's total commitment."
c. Finally we find an easy way of doing it. Some Christians are able to find the secret of "partial commitment" or, as I like to call it, "making their peace with Jesus." They have discovered ways of being a Christian while avoiding real commitment. It's much like a student in class who raises his or her hand for all the easy questions so as not to be called on for the hard ones. Or a committee member who will volunteer quickly for two or three easy tasks knowing it will reduce the chance of later being asked for the rough jobs. It is analogous to the circus elephant that fell off her stool during a performance. It unsettled her and the trainer found it impossible to get her to do the trick of sitting on the stool again until one day she started doing her trick with no hesitation. The sudden change puzzled the trainer until one day he noticed the elephant was not actually sitting on the stool, but only crouching over it. Have we found some "easy way outs" for serving Christ?
Have some of us been able to make a commitment to Christ, become a church member, and consider ourselves a Christian, and still been able to avoid the difficult parts of the faith: discipline, sacrifice, struggle, change, challenge, etc.?
a. We know the challenge of Christianity. Romans 12:1-3 makes the commitment to Christ sound very rigid and difficult. Words like "living sacrifice to God" sound very ominous. It means becoming a new and different person. It means sacrificing things we desire and enjoy. We must give up this world's ways and accept a disciplined lifestyle. There may also be times when the going will get tough. Although Christians seldom experience anything that could be called persecution today, it is not out of the question. The disciples fled when Jesus was arrested. Two followed at a "safe distance," but either denied knowing Jesus or simply did not speak up.
b. We avoid and postpone commitment. Some persons are not ready to make the kind of commitment they believe being a Christian requires. They refuse to join a church or avoid attending to escape responsibility. The hen said to the pig, "Let's surprise our farmer owner with a nice breakfast of ham and eggs." The pig replied, "That's easy for you to say. For you it is an offering; for me it's total commitment."
c. Finally we find an easy way of doing it. Some Christians are able to find the secret of "partial commitment" or, as I like to call it, "making their peace with Jesus." They have discovered ways of being a Christian while avoiding real commitment. It's much like a student in class who raises his or her hand for all the easy questions so as not to be called on for the hard ones. Or a committee member who will volunteer quickly for two or three easy tasks knowing it will reduce the chance of later being asked for the rough jobs. It is analogous to the circus elephant that fell off her stool during a performance. It unsettled her and the trainer found it impossible to get her to do the trick of sitting on the stool again until one day she started doing her trick with no hesitation. The sudden change puzzled the trainer until one day he noticed the elephant was not actually sitting on the stool, but only crouching over it. Have we found some "easy way outs" for serving Christ?
