The Foreclosed Soul: Part Two

The Foreclosed Soul – Part Two
“Stress and Burnout”

Rev. Dr. Eddie Bromley Grace Church 26 April 2009

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What is stress?
When I was doing the research for this sermon I found the following statement about stress:
Many would find it difficult to define stress. Stress is nothing but a normal physiological response of the body to situations or stimulus which are perceived as 'dangerous' to the body.
In other words, when you encounter the normal difficulties of life, your body responds the same way that it would if you were in danger, just to a lesser degree. I prefer to think of stress as the normal wear and tear we experience from everyday life.
Over time, constant stress can have a real negative impact on the way we feel and function. This affect is often called burn out chronic stress syndrome.
Causes include:
External Stressors: pain, extreme temperatures, noises foul air, hurried schedule, work demands, being in an abusive relationship, relationships conflicts, unpredictable events, life changes, and loss of something or someone we love, and problems at work.
Internal Stressors: illness, infections, inflammation hormonal imbalances, poor health habits, intense worry about finance, work family relationship problems, unrealistic expectations, negative attitudes and feelings, trying to do too much, perfectionism lack of fulfillment, and fear.
Over time, if we experience to much of these kinds of stressors, or if we experience them too frequently, the result can be excessive stress syndrome, or what we more frequently call burnout.
Burn out is that condition in which you are emotionally, spiritually, and physically depleted. It is that condition where the rub of stress has nearly rubbed you out. It is that place where you are just sick and tired, where you are just spent. The constant strain of stress has just worn you down, and as we say in the South, you are just give out.
According to Assessment.com here 13 signs that you might be experiencing burnout:
1. Chronic fatigue - exhaustion, tiredness, a sense of being physically run down
2. Anger at those making demands
3. Self-criticism for putting up with the demands
4. Cynicism, negativity, and irritability
5. A sense of being besieged
6. Exploding easily at seemingly inconsequential things
7. Frequent headaches and gastrointestinal disturbances
8. Weight loss or gain
9. Sleeplessness and depression
10. Shortness of breath
11. Suspiciousness
12. Feelings of helplessness
13. Increased degree of risk taking
To that, I would add a 14th point: losing interest in the simple pleasures of life. You lose your taste for food, you lose your sense of humor, you lose interest in your friends, your church, your job and your hobbies. You lose interest in having sex with your spouse, or spending time with your children or grandchildren. The flip side of this is that you become obsessed with some area, such as food, sex, or alcohol and you start using these things compulsively. A lack of interest in the things of life, or compulsive pull toward them can be a sign of burnout.
So, if you are here today looking at this list and saying to yourself, “Man, that’s where I am.” What does our faith tell us about getting beyond burnout? What do we do to be reenergized and revitalized for living?
SPIRITUAL STRATEGIES FOR HANDLING STRESS RECOVERING FROM BURNOUT
Scripture Reading
Matthew 11:28-30
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
L: The word of God for the people of God.
P: Thanks be God!
The Principle of the Sabbath
In Exodus chapter 20 we read the Ten Commandments. The fourth commandment is: 8 “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
In Hebrew, the word Sabbath means stop. We were not meant to be perpetual motion machines, going and going and going and going and going and going and going, without ever taking some time just to be still, just to play and to laugh, just to be in the company of our friends and loved ones, just to bask in the presence of God in worship, just to be. We will were built to live in a rhythm of work and rest. This is not negotiable. This commandment is not a suggestion. You can’t bargain with this commandment of God because its principle has been woven into your very being. And, if you are not following a regular rhythm of work and rest, of production and down time, of time for other and time for yourself and God, don’t be surprised if you find your mental, physical, and spiritual equipment breaking down. The owner’s manual tells us this is exactly what will happen when we do not observe the regular maintenance that comes in the form of practicing the Sabbath.
Now, I know that some of you live crazy busy lives. I know some of you work swing shifts, and have to contend with a lot of unexpected interruptions. No matter. All this means, is that you are going to have to be a lot more creative in finding ways to have some Sabbath time. You are going to have to be more creative than someone who has every Sunday off and is on normal schedule, whatever that means. But a lot of our physical, emotional, and mental issues could have some measure of resolve if we just observed the Sabbath. The Sabbath reminds us that our ultimate worth and value does not come from what we do, but from who we are.
It is a sin not to take care of yourself.
In this sermon series, I am offering a lot of spiritual direction for dealing with emotional and mental issues; but listening to these sermons does not get you off the hook for doing your part. If you know or suspect that something is going on medically with your body, it is a sin not to go and see a doctor or PA. If you are having troubles which these sermons do not address, or you know you are going to need a lot more help, it is a sin not to call and set up and appointment with a licensed counselor or your pastor, or a psychiatrist or all three. It is a sin not to allow yourself to get the rest you need. Think I’m kidding? Psalm 127 says, “God gives rest to those whom he loves.” If you are going to experience renewal and release from burnout, you have got to give yourself the proper amount of sleep.
You have got to eat the right foods, in the right amounts, and give your body some exercise. You need to take the time to nurture the relationships in your life that are important to you. In short, you have got to take care of yourself and your needs. Why? Because God has told you to. In first Corinthians 6:19-20 we read:
19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
Your body, your mind, your soul belong to God; and one of the first and primary responsibilities that God gave to humankind was taking care of God’s stuff – being good managers and stewards of things God created, including our bodies. It is a sin not to take care of yourself to attend to your needs.
Now hear me out. I’m not talking about crazy stuff here. I’m not talking about you feel like your needs not being met so you dump your wife and go after someone half-her age. I’m not talking about, you lived a stuffy life and been crank, and now you think you need a sports car, even if it means wrecking the family’s financial well being. I’m not talking about being selfish and irresponsible.
In fact, I am talking about being responsible about thinking of others. If you don’t take care of you, there will eventually be nothing left to give to others. If you do not take time away to rest, to play, to renew yourself, to worship your God; if you do not eat right and get off the cigarettes and don’t start exercising, you will not have anything left to give. Taking care of yourself is not selfish, but is instead the way of staying in the game the long haul, and having more to give to others because you have structure some time for yourself.
“Be still and know I am God” – Psalm 46:10

TAWG

We need some time alone with God daily, so that he might refresh our souls and breathe new life into us. This is a silly play on words but it works. You can tell when someone has had sun exposure. Their skin simply radiates with the glow and warmth of being outside. In the same way, we can tell when folks have had spent time being exposed to God’s Son. It just shows. There is a life element there that is just fresh and radiant. We all need some time alone with God daily, that he might refresh our souls.

Volcanoes and Scorpions Part 2

Nicaragua's dry season runs from November 1st through all of April. Not a drop of rain falls during this time and the country is a little like living in a dust bowel. Therefore, we did not see a lot of these critters. We were told, however, that when the rainy season starts, bugs come out from everywhere. I'm glad to have been traveling during the dry season. It is not my idea of fun to stick a foot in my boot only to discover someone else is already inhabitting it.

Volcanoes and Scorpions

On Saturday, April 4 I and 14 other friends traveled to Nicaragua to work with the fine people of El Ayudante. Nicaragua is a country filled with active volcanoes, scorpions, and most importantly, a lot of great people. When I first talked with friends and family about the idea of traveling to Central America, it was amazing how many of them tried to discourage me, saying that I would be shot at by Sandinistas, robbed by street children, and kidnapped by members of a drug cartel. I am happy to report, none of this happened. I never once felt threatened in Nicaragua and felt I needed to take only the same precautions I would take when traveling to any large city in the US.

When we arrived at the airport the customs agents and police were courteous and professional. As guest visiting their country, we were subject to some basic questions and a little bit luggage checking, but nothing more than we in the US would want done to foreigners visiting our country.

The cities of Nicaragua were safe and orderly and the people, both in the city and in the rural areas were so hospitable that I could have mistaken them for Kentuckians. There were certainly some cultural differences; but these were not striking. I felt rather home in Latin America.

In this picture you will see one of the several active volcanoes our group saw. This particular volcanoe is very safe an is located inside a national park. We climbed it and took in a great site.

The Foreclosed Soul: Part One

The Foreclosed Soul

Sometimes we get in over our heads. Sometimes we seem to run out of the resources needed for the tasks at hand. On the outside, we may look like we’re doing fine, but on the inside many of us are really struggling. We’re talking about mental illness and emotional problems. At one point or another, almost everyone deals with one or the other; but sadly, seldom do we talk about mental illness and emotional problems in constructive ways, if we talk about them at all.

Starting in April, join the people of Grace Church on Sunday mornings as Rev. Eddie Bromley preaches a series of sermons on the resources Christianity offers us for bailing out the Foreclosed Soul.


The Foreclosed Soul – Part One
“Anger in the Christian Heart”

Rev. Dr. Eddie Bromley Grace Church 19 April 2009
Psalm 137, Ephesians 4:25-27, and Matthew 21:12-13
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Psalm 137
1 Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem.[a] 2 We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees. 3 For our captors demanded a song from us. Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn: “Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!” 4 But how can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a pagan land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget how to play the harp. 6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I fail to remember you, if I don’t make Jerusalem my greatest joy.
7 O Lord, remember what the Edomites did on the day the armies of Babylon captured Jerusalem. “Destroy it!” they yelled. “Level it to the ground!” 8 O Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy is the one who pays you back for what you have done to us. 9 Happy is the one who takes your babies and smashes them against the rocks!
Ephesians 4:25-27 (New Living Translation)
25 So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. 26 And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.”[a] Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil.
Matthew 21:12-13
Jesus Clears the Temple
12 Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. 13 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!”
L: The word of God for the People of God.
P: Thanks be to God!
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Our reading this morning from Psalm 137 are the words of someone who has a lot anger inside and this anger is just pouring out of them as they pen the words we heard spoken a few minutes ago. Some of us may know what it is like to have so much anger inside that it is just looking for chance to come exploding out. Some of us know that anger is something that can cause us to have a foreclosed soul.
Children will play with virtually anything they get their hands on. It's no surprise, then, that when Dutch children in the town of Barneveld uncovered an unexploded World War II artillery shell, they played with it. In fact, they had games with it for several months.
That shell was still live and contained high explosives. Thankfully, the deadly plaything did not explode in the Barneveld playground as the children tossed it about. Eventually the authorities learned about the shell, confiscated it, and exploded it in a safe place.
Craig Brian Larson, editor of PreachingToday.com; source: "Children play with high-explosive shell," Reuters (10-22-07)

For some of us, this story serves for as a metaphor for the powerful anger we wrestle with everyday. The anger is powerful and deadly and always there is the risk that it will be triggered and will end in us saying or doing something that will really hurt the our relationships, harm others, and ruin our lives.

Our reading from Psalm 137 is a good place to start in talking about some Biblical principles for dealing with anger. But before looking at this passage, I want to say just a few things about anger.

First, like all emotions, anger is something God has equipped us with emotionally. Like all emotions, anger can be experienced and expressed appropriately and inappropriately. Anger is the emotional cue to us that something is not right. Anger alerts us that something is wrong and motivates us to do something to set things right.

I included the reading from the Gospel this morning, because I wanted us to remember that Jesus reacted with anger at what the Temple had become. It was meant to be a place for people to meet with God and had instead become a way of keeping people from God. And Jesus reacts with anger.
In our Ephesians reading, the Apostle Paul recognizes that there will be times when the appropriate emotional response is anger. Paul does not call anger a sin. But he does warn of letting sin control us of letting it linger too long in our hearts and damaging us spiritually. Some of us know exactly what he is talking about.
Web MD has this to say about anger:
Anger is a very powerful emotion that can stem from feelings of frustration, hurt, annoyance or disappointment. It is a normal human emotion that can range from slight irritation to strong rage.
Anger can be harmful or helpful, depending upon how it is expressed. Knowing how to recognize and express anger in appropriate ways can help people to reach goals, handle emergencies and solve problems.
Anger not dealt with appropriately can lead to problems with Anxiety, Depression, High blood-pressure and chronic headaches.
Some suggestions they make for dealing with anger include:
When you start feeling angry, try deep breathing, positive self-talk, or stopping your angry thoughts.
Although expressing anger is better than keeping it in, anger should be expressed in an appropriate way. Frequent outbursts of anger are often counter-productive and cause problems in relationships with others. Anger outbursts are also stressful to your nervous and cardiovascular systems and can make health problems worse. Learning how to use assertiveness is the healthy way to express your feelings, needs and preferences. Being assertive can be used in place of using anger in these situations.
Seek out the support of others. Talk through your feelings and try to work on changing your behaviors.
If you have trouble realizing when you are having angry thoughts, keep a log of when you feel angry.
Try to gain a different perspective by putting yourself in another's place.
Learn how to laugh at yourself and see humor in situations.
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These are some good and helpful suggestions. In addition to these, I would like to offer a Biblical strategy, because I am convinced that the Bible offers us some really good guidance for dealing with anger. To get at this guidance, we need to understand what the Psalms are and what part they play as part of God’s word.
As Christians, we believe that the Bible is God’s word to us. That is, through the Bible God communicates to us His plan for life. Now, we recognize that the Bible had human authors. We recognize that the Bible contains various kinds of literature and writing styles, such as poetry, legal codes, stories, and wise sayings. We recognize that there was a historical process in which the 66 books that make up our Bible were recognized as Holy Scripture, collected and put together. Recognizing all of this, we affirm that this whole process was the means by which God has given us his written word.
As we read the Bible, we notice that most of it is addressed to us the reader or hearer. But Psalms are not addressed to us but to God. They are a collection of prayers people used to talk to God. And since we believe that Psalms is a part of God’s word, then what God is communicating to us through the Psalms is that these are good models for following if we want to pray correctly.
This brings us to Psalm 137 and the harsh words it expresses. So the question is how could this possibly be a good model for teaching us to pray? The answer is that Psalm 137 is more honest about the human heart than we care to admit. This Psalm forces us to deal with the fact that sometimes even the Christian’s heart is filled with unholy rage. We don’t like to admit this, but it is true.
Here is the historical context for Psalm 137. Psalm 137 is a prayer written by someone who lived through the experience of the Babylonian exile. The mighty Empire Babylon finally conquered the city of Jerusalem in 586 BC after nearly a 3 ½ year siege, during which the people of the city lived in terror facing starvation and an impending military siege. When the Babylonians finally overcame the city they burned homes, raped women, slaid soldier and crushed every form of resistance. They then humiliated those taken into captivity by stripping them naked, chaining them together forcing them to march out of their country. Children who were too small to walk were murdered, some by being dashed upon the rocks.
As our Psalmist thinks about what it was to survive through this hell, he or she cannot help but wish that some of the same horrors would come upon those who had terrorized them.
Perhaps no one in our congregation today has ever been through something so bad, though perhaps there is someone who has experienced some as traumatic. Anyhow, we all know the experience of being filled with bitter anger. When we are filled with bitter anger, what are we to do with it?
One strategy is called denial.
This is strategy of saying to ourselves, “I am too spiritual to have a problem with anger. Others may have that struggle but not me – See, I am just godly for that kind of thing.”
This is a real dangerous strategy. Denying and repressing anger is a little like sweeping the dirt under the rug. Sooner or later it will show itself. Except that unlike dirt, anger is explosive and combustible and shoving it ever deeper down inside our souls is a recipe for an eventual eruption.
The second strategy is avoiding God until the problem is resolved.
Some people find that they simply do not feel comfortable praying, coming to worship, or being in God’s presence when something in their life is not right. This person says to themselves, if I have this much anger and bitterness inside me, I must not be a very good Christian. Praying or going to Church while I have all of this stuff going on inside of me would make me a hypocrite, so I am not going to pray or go to Church until I get this resolved.
This strategy makes a number involves a number of bad assumptions. First, it assumes that we have to fix ourselves and make ourselves holy before coming to God. This, of course is simply not Biblical. The Gospel is not self-help. The message is not first get your life in order and then come to God. The message is, broken sinners coming just as we are, knowing that we will be received in love and that God will do the straightening out of our lives, as we yield to his grace.
Second, this thinking of not coming to God when we have broken areas in our lives assumes that people come to God because they are so good. This has it all backwards. We come to God because he is so good and because he loves us even when we are not good.
Besides, what secrets could we possible have, that we think God does not already know about? Do we really think that he would be surprised and caught off guard to know that we are wrestling with some pretty ugly stuff? Do we think that he might be so surprised, so revolted by what he sees that he wants nothing more to do with us?
Here’s the truth, we all have some yucky stuff inside. If even our closest friends were to really see our worst thoughts, they might want nothing to do with us. But, God already knows what is going on inside and he loves us just the same.
So is it really a good strategy to let our problems, the things we are wrestling with inside to keep us from coming to God? The answer is, “No.” Which brings us to the Biblical strategy for dealing with anger, the strategy found in Psalm 137-
Bring it to God and let God help you deal with it.
Psalms 137 is one of the prayers available for helping us learn how to pray and talk to God. Yes, but it is such an ugly prayer with such bitterness and anger. And that is exactly why it is found in the Psalms; because sometimes there is anger in the hearts of God’s people. Sometimes there is stuff inside us that is really yucky, and God knew we would need a strategy for dealing with it. The strategy is to bring it to God, because God can handle it. Some of our loved ones might not be able to handle it. Some of the people you love and that love you are not strong enough to handle the bad stuff we have inside us, but God can.
And guess what! He isn’t going to be caught off guard and he isn’t going to say, “Oh, man-are you messed up!” We can bring it to him and he will help us to work through it. God is the only truly safe place to let this kind of venom flow out of our wounds that we might begin to heal.
1 Peter 5:6-8 (New Living Translation)
6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
You and I need the various kinds of prayers found in the psalms. We need happy psalms –and guess what? There are lots of happy psalms in the Bible. We need psalms for when we are sad-and guess what? There are psalms in the Bible that help us express our sadness. We need psalms that help us deal with our doubt-and guess what? There are psalms that help us express our doubt.
Psalm 13
1 O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way?
And yes, we need psalms that help us express and deal with our anger-and guess what? That is what a psalm like psalm 137 is about.
Think of Psalm 137 as a spiritual mirror. What Psalm 137 does for people dealing with issues of anger is that it allows us to look honestly at ourselves so that God can help us deal with the problem as it is.
A businessman in a service industry grew weary of being yelled at. He tired of getting sprayed with angry spittle from dissatisfied customers who expected five-star service at Motel 6 prices. One day, he became oddly detached during yet another customer tirade; he felt as though he were watching a movie. In fact, he couldn't help but think that the angry woman's antics made her look like a monkey.
That observation gave him a brilliant idea. He posted a giant mirror behind the front desk—and the customer tirades all but ceased. When people saw how rude and hateful they looked while yelling and screaming, they stopped yelling and screaming.
What is true physically is also true spiritually. Prayer provides a mirror for our attitudes. Through it, we begin to see our motives from a different perspective.
Gary Thomas, The Beautiful Fight, (Zondervan, 2007), p. 63
Psalm 137 helps us to take an honest look at our anger, so that God can help us deal with it and move past anger to the joy of living in God’s presence.
But pastor, spiritual people are not supposed to get so angry that they think of doing terrible things. You’re right. But, sometimes they do. The people who had been drug into exile had been terrorized and abused. They had been humiliated and harmed. They had been stripped of their clothing, they had been raped and beaten, and some of them had even seen their little babies dashed upon the rocks by enemy soldiers.
Maybe they should not have been thinking of revenge, but some of them were. That is what the historical context of Psalm 137 is. And the purpose of Psalm 137 is to help people who have been through such traumatic events that their hearts or filled with poisonous amounts of anger. Psalm 137 gives them and us a place to bring that anger, so that we do not actually carry out what we are thinking and feeling.

Good Friday

Hebrews 4:14-16

When I was in seminary, each student was required to spend a semester in a clinical setting such as a prison, a hospital, a nursing home, etc. Sometimes there would be quite a disconect between the experiences of the patient and the chaplain-in-training because the enourmous age difference, and the kind of experiences that come only with age. What, for example, would a 23 year seminary student know about being a 90-year old verteran with Alzeimers, or 45 year old inmate with childen she isn't allowed to see? This is not say that God's grace was not present through some of us "young preachers" or that love and emapthy couldn't over come many barriers. But, sometimes we need someone who has been were we are, who has suffered the way we have suffered. In Jesus, we have such a priest.

Bishop and author William Willimon tells of an encounter he once had with a dying woman:
She was in the last stages of lung cancer, gasping day after day for breath. It was obvious she was in great pain and exhausted from fighting. She clutched a crucifix daily, given to her by her grandmother when she was a girl, carved by a monk in Europe. It was a symbol of all that her Catholic faith meant to her.

When I entered the room that afternoon, I could see she was very near the end.
"Would you like me to pray for you?" I asked. "Would you like me to summon a priest?"
With her last ounce of energy, she held out the crucifix toward me, which depicted the body of Christ nailed to the cross. She said, "Thank you—but I have a Priest."
William Willimon, "You Need a Good Priest," PreachingToday.com

Maundy Thursday

Exodus us 12-13

Every year, Jewish families all over the world celebrate the Passover. The Passover Supper re-enacts the liberation of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. God acted on behalf of a powerless group of people to set them free and to give them new hope for the future. On the night Jesus was betrayed, Jesus celebrated the Passover with his followers. And as he did, he interpreted his own story in light of the Passover story. According to Jesus, his life and death fulfilled the Passover story and gave it a broader meaning. No longer would it simply be the historic account of the ancient Hebrews being set free from bondage in Egypt. It would now also be the story of God's redemptive action in Jesus to set the world free from the bondage of sin and death.

Palm Sunday

Luke 19:28-40

As I meditate upon this passage, I seek to not let myself be a passive observer, watching in a detached way as the scene unfolds, as I would watch a television program. Instead I imagine myself as part of the crowd, shouting "Hosanna" a Christ rides into Jerusalem. I allow myself to be swept up in the excitement as I look upon the One who is Israel's true king. But then I ask myself, why does the crowd, why do I as part of the crowd turn on Jesus just one day later? Why am I fanatically for Jesus one moment and fanatically against him the next? What lies in the human heart that causes me to react so to Jesus? What change must Jesus make in my heart to tame these wildly divergent passions; to give me an undivided heart of love and loyalty to God?

Fifth Sunday in Lent

More Than Self-Help
Rev. Dr. Eddie Bromley Grace Church 29 March 2009
Selected Reading from the Lectionary Cycle.
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[I want the Scripture reader to stay up front the whole time to read the Texts as directed]
In many ways the Self-help movement has been a phenomenal success. Some of the best-selling books all time have been self-help books. I’ve read a number of them and bet some of you have too. Some of these books have been tremendously helpful. Dale Carnegie’s book How to Win Friends and Influence People has taught millions of people the importance of relationships in all that we do. It is not enough just to acquire skills, knowledge, and proficiency in an area. Without also have some skills of working with people, we will never go as far as might like. Carnegie has taught us that many of us can benefit from being more focused on people and less focused on things.
Norman Vincent Peale in his book The Power of Positive Thinking has shown countless people how we often allow ourselves to be defeated in our minds long before we ever step out onto the court to play the game. Peale has taught us that we often lose or fail to get ahead because we expect to lose and stay behind. When we can change our negative thinking to positive thinking, we will often see different results in the goals we attempt to achieve.
Stephen Covey’s book the The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People teaches us that in order to get ahead in life, we have to have a plan to get ahead. We have to have a plan and work the plan to get out of life all that we hope.
I highlight these books to say that the Self-help movement has enabled countless people to tackle some of the most vexing problems in life. They have helped countless people to live more joy-filled, productive, and satisfying lives. But of the biggest problem facing the human race, the self-help movement has nothing to offer.
The biggest problem facing our world today is not environmental pollution, or war, or AIDS, or poverty, or cancer, or immorality. All of these are big problems, but each is only a symptom of a much greater problem the Bible calls SIN.

[ I would Like to have Power Point with the word Sin in Big Bold Letters]

According to the Bible, something is profoundly wrong with our world and with us. Though we were created by a good God who loves us and treasures us, at the heart of who we are, at the heart of creation, something is profoundly broken. This is what we mean by sin. And sin, needs a solution bigger than the solutions on offer from the self-help movement. The only real solution is the Gospel and the Gospel is a lot more than self-help.
FIRST READING
Jeremiah 31:31-34 (New Living Translation)
31 “The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord.
33 “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”
[power point of Ronald McDonald]

In Jeremiah, we are reminded of humankind’s tendency to wander from God, to forget our maker. Through the prophet Jeremiah God reminds us that God himself had done everything faithfully to keep up his end of the relationship. Graciously, he had called a people to himself and had made the expectations clear. They would be his people and He would be there God. He would give them all that they needed for abundant life. They would live in faithful obedience. But again and again, they, we walked away from God and forgot the one who called us as his own. Jeremiah reminds us not only of the disobedience and unfaithfulness of some ancient Jewish folk, but reminds us of our own disobedience and unfaithfulness to God. As the old hymn penned the words, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Take my heart; o’ take and seal it for thy courts above.”
In the documentary Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock ate exclusively at McDonald's restaurants, for three meals a day. At the conclusion of his 30-day experiment, Spurlock found himself 25-pounds heavier and in poor health.
The documentary contains one telling scene regarding small children and the power of media. It occurs when Spurlock shows a series of pictures to several 1st grade students, asking each one to identify the individual in the picture.
The first picture is of George Washington. Though a few struggle, most are able to identify him and make statements (if not entirely accurate) about who he is:
"He was the fourth president."
"He could never tell a lie."
The viewing audience cannot see the next picture shown to the children. "Who is this?" Spurlock asks.
One little girl shrugs her shoulders, another shakes her head, but only one even offers a guess.
"George W. Bush?"
"No," says Spurlock, "but that's a good guess."
Spurlock turns the picture around to reveal a painting of Jesus.
The last picture was of Ronald McDonald. Every child was immediately and enthusiastically able to name the hamburger clown.
Content: Rated PG-13
Elapsed Time: 00:44:52 to 00:46:10, DVD scene 18
Super Size Me (Samuel Goldwyn and Showtime Independent Films, 2004); produced and directed by Morgan Spurlock; submitted by David Slagle, Atlanta, Georgia

SECOND READING
[followed by Power point of boomerang]
Psalm 51
For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Nathan the prophet came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. 2 Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. 3 For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. 4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.[a] 5 For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. 6 But you desire honesty from the womb,[b] teaching me wisdom even there.
7 Purify me from my sins,[c] and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me— now let me rejoice. 9 Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit[d] from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.

In Jeremiah, we confront something true of the whole human race, our collective tendency to wander from God. But in Psalm 51 it becomes personal. It is about confessing that that bent of sin in us, in me. This is where so many get stuck; because, they don’t mind thinking about sin in general, or even about others being in need of God’s redemptive work. They have no problems acknowledging that if God does not intervene, the world and humankind will never be made right. But they themselves have trouble admitting that if they are ever going to be made whole, God is going to have to do something in their own life.
Psalm 51 is about confessing, that is calling our own sin by its proper name – sin. And until we come clean about our own need for redemptive grace, we will make no real spiritual progress.
While visiting Mount Isa, Australia, in 1983, an American man stole a boomerang from a local art museum. Twenty-five years later, he returned it with a check and a note of apology. "I was younger and dumber," he wrote. "It was the wrong thing to do; I'm sorry." Though the man included his full contact information, the mayor of Mount Isa has decided he will not disclose the man's identity to the authorities or the local press. The mayor explained, "I think putting his name on [his letter] was part of his purifying effort."
Kevin Miller, executive vice president, Christianity Today International, and Brian Lowery, associate editor, PreachingToday.com; source: "It wasn't all bad," The Week (2-1-08)



THIRD READING
[followed by powerpoint of prom]
Hebrews 5:5-10 (New Living Translation)
5 That is why Christ did not honor himself by assuming he could become High Priest. No, he was chosen by God, who said to him,
“You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.[a]”
6 And in another passage God said to him,
“You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”[b]
7 While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. 8 Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. 9 In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him. 10 And God designated him to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.


Our text from Hebrews brings us face to face with the fact that Jesus did for us something we could not do for ourselves. If you or I believe we will go to heaven because we have always been honest or never harmed any one, or have lived a good life, we are simply denying what the Scriptures teach about the human predicament. It is true that a reformed character is evidence of the kind of change Christ will make in the heart and it is also true that sterile belief in Christian doctrine without a change of heart is not Christian faith. However, we do not earn heaven and eternal life by being good. And no one goes to heaven because they have lived a decent enough life.
Our only true confidence about heaven and eternal life rests in what Jesus has done for us, in his precious blood and sacrificial love. He did for us what we could never do for ourselves and has given a place in heaven for everyone who trusts in his name.
Alexandra Flynn of Fremont, Nebraska, was looking forward to the 2002 homecoming dance. She left home in high spirits, but she did not have her high school ID with her. When the man at the door refused her admission without her ID, she went home to get it.
Unable to find it, her mother went with her back to the dance to identify her and to explain. Again, the daughter was refused admission without the ID. Alex had the tickets in her hand but still was not admitted. Even though Alexandra Flynn of Freemont High is Student Body President, plays cello in the Allstate orchestra, is on the Honor Roll, is the school's number one cheerleader, and she spent hours decorating the gym for the Homecoming Dance, she was still not admitted.
Did I mention she was homecoming queen?
But, she never did get in.
In a similar way, getting into heaven isn't a matter of our good deeds and accomplishments. Without Jesus Christ, we have no ID to get into heaven.
Ronald Erb, Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania; source: Paul Harvey News and Comment (12-3-02)


FOURTH READING [followed by power point of chess pieces]
John 12:20-33 (New Living Translation)
Jesus Predicts His Death
20 Some Greeks who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration 21 paid a visit to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee. They said, “Sir, we want to meet Jesus.” 22 Philip told Andrew about it, and they went together to ask Jesus.
23 Jesus replied, “Now the time has come for the Son of Man[a] to enter into his glory. 24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. 25 Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. 26 Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.
27 “Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But this is the very reason I came! 28 Father, bring glory to your name.”
Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, “I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again.” 29 When the crowd heard the voice, some thought it was thunder, while others declared an angel had spoken to him.
30 Then Jesus told them, “The voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out. 32 And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” 33 He said this to indicate how he was going to die.

The message of the Christian Gospel is that our problem, the problem of humankind, the problem of all creation was and is so bad, so problematic and dire that it took a radical solution. Self-help was not going to be enough. A good pep talk was not going to cut it. Getting everyone educated could not bring about the desired results. Getting out the vote was not going to usher in utopia. Putting the right laws on the books was not going to straighten it out. The cost of redemption was great because the problem was profoundly bleak.

Most kingdoms do anything they can to protect their king. This is the unspoken premise of the game of chess, for example. When the king falls, the kingdom is lost. Therefore, the king must be protected at all costs. Another notable example comes from the Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill desperately wanted to join the expeditionary forces and watch the invasion from the bridge of a battleship in the English Channel. U.S. General Dwight David Eisenhower was desperate to stop him, for fear that the Prime Minister might be killed in battle. When it became apparent that Churchill would not be dissuaded, Eisenhower appealed to a higher authority: King George VI. The king went and told Churchill that if it was the Prime Minister's duty to witness the invasion, he could only conclude that it was also his own duty as king to join him on the battleship. At this point Churchill reluctantly agreed to back down, for he knew that he could never expose the King of England to such danger.
King Jesus did exactly the opposite. With royal courage he surrendered his body to be crucified. On the cross he offered a king's ransom: his life for the life of his people. He would die for all the wrong things that we had ever done and would do, completely atoning for all our sins. The crown of thorns that was meant to make a mockery of his royal claims actually proclaimed his kingly dignity, even in death.
From Philip Ryken's sermon "Long Live the King!" PreachingToday.com