The Key to a Joyous and Complete Life - Proverbs 19:23

The Key to a Joyous and Complete Life

Theme:      Proverbs 19:23

The fear of the Lord is the key to a joyous and complete life filled with creativity, success, prosperity, health, peace and wholeness.  By fear, Solomon means adoration and worship of Almighty God instead of a feeling of trepidation about possible judgment and punishment.  God does not want us to recoil in His presence.  Rather, He desires that we find security in His unfailing love, comforting presence, unquestionable faithfulness and unending grace.  As He freely gives His unmerited favor to us, His children, out of His limitless heart of love, God equally extends His mysterious and infinite mercy.  His love yields daily and practical blessings enabling us to live a joyous and complete life.

Solomon likens the fear of the Lord with life itself.  He describes exaltation and obedience to Almighty God in a vibrant and progressive relationship as “life indeed.”  This interdependent union between God and an individual supplies him with lifelong freedom from fear of daily provision, lack of purpose, aimless principles and failure to progress and prosper.  Actually, anyone who wholeheartedly fears the Lord rests securely throughout his life.  Moreover, he suffers no harm.  God’s faithfulness serves as an offensive and defensive weapon.  It is shield against the fiery darts of doubt, cynicism, ridicule, natural disasters, health scares and emotional instability.  It is a refuge amidst life’s daily tests and trials.  It is a citadel of protection against the assault of enemies, seen and unseen.  Thus, dwelling continuously in God’s presence means persistent provision and protection.  That blessed assurance prevents suffering and secures His children against any harm.

Furthermore, to utilize the key to a joyous and complete life and open the door to its vistas, a disciple fundamentally and perpetually gives thanks to Almighty God, “the Giver of every good and perfect gift,” for His gracious and generous bestowal of daily blessings.

Introduction

Author of the international best-selling book, The Power of Positive Thinking, Norman Vincent Peale considerably raised popular consciousness about the benefits of spiritual progress and personal improvement through positive thinking.  His books promote the primary idea that happiness and contentment emerges in the lives of people who discipline their minds to convert all thoughts into positive affirmations.  Likewise, positive people participate in favorable and empowering conversations.  Peale encourages belief in great possibility and limitless creativity.  He challenges his readers to view obstacles as opportunities and roadblocks as directions to a better path.  “If life gives you lemons, then make lemonade.”  A positive outlook virtually assures a person that everything will work out.  Essentially, Peale strives to help struggling persons discover the means and methods of living a complete life.

Centuries before Peale, King Solomon, believed to be the wisest man to have ever lived, offers a more straightforward and enduring answer to the question relating to how to acquire a complete and joyous life.  Simply, Solomon suggests the fear of the Lord and its consequent wisdom as the most effective means and methods of totally enjoying daily living.  Solomon credits the Lord’s wisdom as the deliverer of Solomon’s worldwide influence and unprecedented wealth.  When visited by the Lord in a dream as a child, Solomon is given a chance to ask for anything he wants.  Humbly, Solomon asks for divine wisdom and practical guidance to lead Israel.  Because Solomon does not requests material and financial gain but God’s help, the Lord gives Solomon his heart’s desire and limitless other acquisitions.  Consequently, Solomon teaches others that life is meant to be filled with bountiful blessings and if unfavorable situations arise, God always will take care of anyone who rightly relates to Him.  As Solomon greatly values the Lord’s wisdom, Solomon lives under divine protection although a vast army surrounds him.  For anyone who listens to and fears God, a joyous and complete life awaits.

Definition – What is meant by a joyous and complete life?

Ancient philosophers wrestled with this question.  What is the summum bonum in life?  Aristotle asks, “What is the ultimate good in life?”  Socrates says “The unexamined life is not worth living.”  Epictetus and other Stoic thinkers suggest a person minimize pain as much as possible.  Hedonists recommend maximum self-indulgence; “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.”  Other Eastern thinkers pursue nirvana, a state of extreme bliss and self-actualization.  All of these perspectives attempt to help people answer one of life’s most demanding questions.  How do we attain a joyous and complete life?

Arguably, there are as many correct answers to the question as people offering responses.  However, Solomon would reject this notion of relativism.  He does not accept any answer as reasonable that excludes a vibrant and growing relationship with Almighty God.  Life, itself, fundamentally means adoration, worship and praise of God.  Hence, a joyous and complete life centers upon God as a person’s “ultimate concern” and reason for being.

It is also possible to answer this enduring question from both negative and positive points of view.  A joyous and complete life definitely excludes adversity, danger and bleak experiences.  A joyous person overcomes all of his fears; renounces doubt; does not lack anything; forsakes poverty; never fails; shuns aimlessness and defeats all adversaries.  However, excluding negative aspects does not necessarily reveal anything positive.  Actually, it leaves a vacuum.  How do we fill it?  With what do we fill it? 

Practically speaking, what are the components of a joyous and complete life?  Love and work are the two main hemispheres in life.  How does a joyous person determine the passions of his heart?  How does he use his time?  Is he able to live peaceably with all people and in all situations?  Is he capable of adhering to moral and ethical principles despite the circumstances?  Is he a good steward of his talents, treasure and temperament in addition to his time?

Today, many spiritual teachers offer concrete answers and “cookie cutter” formulas in response to those questions.  They constantly bombard the airwaves and Internet with fanciful ideas and marketable phrases which evaporate in the heat of reality.  In stark contrast, in this eternal wisdom in Proverbs 19:23, Solomon recognizes life’s many dimensions, components, relationships and seasons do not lend themselves to easy and elementary answers.  Yet, its surest foundation is a relationship with Almighty God whose love, grace, mercy and blessings supply joy and wholeness.

Proofs of a Joyous and Complete Life

What are the indicators of a joyous and complete life?  Possibly, the list is inexhaustible.  Four evident signs leap from the biblical page when meditating upon this verse.  Righteousness which means to live in a right relationship with Almighty God by sharing in His holiness, accepting His unconditional love, benefiting from His grace, receiving His mercy and relying upon His faithfulness is primary.  Second, it reasonable a joyous person devotes himself to a lifelong purpose instead of merely working in a chosen profession; he pursues his passion as a means of earning his daily bread.  Because he works within his passion, he attains achievement and success if not excellence.  Third, he snores harmoniously when he sleeps as he lives in total peace with everyone and within each situation.  Finally, he enjoys complete freedom from all fears and obtains victory over all vices.

Practical Application

“The fear of the Lord” equates with worship which is a lifestyle instead of attendance at a collective gathering of believers.  Wholehearted adoration and praise of Almighty God requires denunciation of idolatry in all its insidious forms.  We cannot serve any other gods.  Accordingly, we obey God’s commands as we live in presence as an act of our reciprocal love in exchange for His loyal, faithful and unfailing love toward us.  We cultivate attitudes and hearts of endless thanksgiving for His bountiful blessings.  In our daily practical of spiritual disciplines such as maintaining a prayer journal and writing gratitude lists among other exercises to strengthen our relationships with Him, we realize the objectives of Solomon’s wisdom in this verse.  God is awesome and majesty beyond our wildest imaginations.  He offers us abundant life filled with serenity and security.  Each day, we cannot possibly awake to any nasty surprises.  No danger will befall us as we live in His direct presence.

Conclusion

If you accept Solomon’s suggestion regarding how to lead your life, you will not lack anything at any time.

Further Reflection

·         Psalm 23

·         Psalm 27

·         Psalm 42

·         Psalm 90

·         Psalm 91

·         Isaiah 40:28-31

·         Isaiah 41:10-13

·         Isaiah 42:16

·         Isaiah 43:1-3

·         Isaiah 45:3

On Being a Team Player within the Body of Christ

On Being a Team Player within the Body of Christ

Recently, my son, the resident athlete and basketball expert in our family, finished his season on the freshmen basketball team at his all boys parochial school.  His team managed to squeak out a winning season with an overall record of fourteen wins and eights losses (14-8) with an even league record of eight victories and eight defeats.  They progressed to the second round of the playoffs where they replayed a team to whom my son’s team previously suffered a disastrous loss by forty-five points.  It was very painful to travel to the Bronx New York in the midst of a Friday afternoon rush hour to watch such a royal shellacking.  Yet, my son’s team began the fourth quarter of the playoff game with only a deficit of nine points.  Had they had a better and more insightful and caring coach, they would have been able to adjust their game plan to grab a win and advance to the semi-final games. 

Nevertheless, my son maintained a very positive attitude as a member of his freshmen team although he was given extremely little playing time.  As his father, I maintained a silent poker face throughout the season though I was absolutely furious about the coach’s indifference to my son.  He is a good defensive player who aspires to coach basketball as his profession.  My son’s passion for the game of basketball is indescribable as he has learned the history of the game and can recite contemporary players and team statistics with ease and finesse.  Parenthetically, I wish his passion would extend to all of his academic subjects.  Nonetheless, his passion, knowledge and willingness to develop defense strategies made him an asset to his team.  Most regrettably, the coach for his freshmen seemed totally uninterested in developing my son or any other members of the team even the seven players he favored regularly.  Of the sixteen team players, nine of them spent most of the season on the bench.  As a consequence, they functioned as a practice squad for the other seven players.  We parents of the bench players attended as many games as the parents of the seven students who played regularly.  We face the same challenges of adjusting our schedules and managing competing priorities as any other parents.  Even in the foregoing game in which the team lost by forty-five points, we still has to wait until the last two minutes of the game in order to see our children enter the game.  Remarkably, in a holiday tournament game in which my son’s team won a game by seventy points, he and the other bench players did not enter the game until the final few minutes! 

Despite this disrespectful and offensive treatment by his coach, my son maintained a very positive outlook throughout his season.  I marvel still when I recall how my son faithfully characterized his opinions of game with “We” instead of “I” when he critiqued wins and losses.  When discussing mistakes, he always personalized the need for improvement.  He did not say “They” when assessing a mistake.  He always thought about what he needed to adjust in order to strengthen his skills.  Further, my son did not harbor any resentment toward the coach or the seven players who received partial treatment.  Though the coach rightly deserved my son’s disdain, he did not receive it publicly or privately.  My son never despised the man in my presence or anyone else’s.  As it relates to his team members, my son was not jealous of them.  He concentrated on his skills and sought to earn more playing team.  My son was magnanimous enough to compliment his teammates and cheer for them in very tight games.  He even overlooked the coach’s blatant incapacities and character defects among them being his primary refusal to establish any meaningful relationships with team members beyond the court.  Additionally, my son diplomatically handled an arrogant but weak and indecisive teammate who over-thought his position and thus consistently turned over the ball and missed important rebounds.  My son’s generosity and graciousness offer important lessons for me to emulate.

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul parallels the parts of the human body with Christian fellowship.  Parts of human anatomy are dependent upon each other in order for a body to function healthily. The eyes cannot say to the knees, “I have no need of you.”  Although very prominently visible, the face, chest, buttocks and legs cannot denigrate the hidden internal organs which maintain viability.  As I reflect upon my son’s sportsmanship and generosity of attitude and character, I apply this biblical lesson to daily living.  Each member of a church would strengthen his or her congregation by following my son’s example. Successful athletic teams usually include team players who balance self-confidence with appropriate humility and willingness to subordinate personal achievements and records in order to win collectively.  “Trigger happy” basketball players who relentlessly but erroneously pursue the elusive “three-point” shot often turn the ball over to their opponents who usually capitalize upon those failed shots.  Actually, my son’s team suffered two of their seven losses because of a “trigger happy” forward who imagined the cacophonous glory and celebration of a dramatic “buzzer beating” shot.  Had he simply passed the ball for an obligatory lay-up shot, the team would have won.  In church settings, disciples with tunnel vision restricted to their self-centered motives and self-aggrandizing purposes often inhibit progress in congregational ministry.  Many times, latent jealousy explains their unwillingness to collaborate effectively with their brothers and sisters.  Practically speaking, perhaps members of church families could contribute most helpfully by being good team members who cheer for their brothers and sisters, seek ways for them to develop and maximize their potential, forsake personal arrogance and extend grace and generosity.     

Loving Difficult People: Love Transcends Character Defects and Personal Incapacities

Loving Difficult People:

Love Transcends Character Defects and Personal Incapacities

The previous phrase is my response to a clergy colleague who called to express his enduring frustrations about a mutual friend who has a heart of gold but is one of the most difficult persons with whom to collaborate.  Recently, the first colleague called to vent his anger about our mutual friend’s perpetual delays in coordinating a meeting date for a working session on a forthcoming presentation.  Each time my colleague in Denver suggested a date, the one in Boston offered an alternative which he repeatedly and subsequently rescheduled.  As the time for the conference approached, my Denver colleague actually offered to fly to Boston to meet with our friend to ensure they would be prepared to present.  Not surprisingly, the Boston colleague could not find time for a face-to-face meeting.  Shockingly, the Boston colleague called the one in Denver and left a terse voicemail about the necessity of appreciating other people’s time and efforts.  With regard to the written portion of the presentation, both men were to draft a segment and mutually edit them.  The Boston colleague failed to write even a word; but he severely edited the Denver colleague’s manuscript and demanded he delete central sections of his presentation.  After his anger dissipated, the Denver colleague asked me how I had worked successfully with the Boston colleague for the seven years I spent under his tutelage.  “As I got to know him, I realize he has a heart of gold.  He is one of the most generous persons I know.  In times of deep distress, he is a congregant’s pastor par excellence.  During my most difficult personal and pastoral days, he has been a friend indeed.  I am to overlook his character defects and personal incapacities because I know he is one of the most genuinely loving and caring people despite his difficulties.”

Living with the difficulties of a very hurtful and challenging upbringing inclusive of abandonment, neglect and indifference, my Boston colleagues exhibits a rough and tough exterior which functions as his citadel of protection.  The cumulative psycho-emotional and psycho-relational pain of his formative, childhood, adolescent and young adult years compelled him to build a “Great Wall” to prevent any further harm.  His circle of intimate friends is very tight and close.  In addition to his wife, he limits it to a college contemporary and seminary classmate. His gruff public persona petrified as he observed similar traits of an influential male in his upbringing.  His defense mechanisms, isolationist tendencies, proclivity to withdraw and easy lapse into depression in response to personal and professional rejection veil the heart of gold that lives exuberantly within him.  A prototype of Henri Nouwen’s “Wounded Healer,” my Boston colleague transforms his pain into emotional, spiritual and psychological assets of empathy, generosity and willingness to aid anyone in need.  His empathy and authentic consideration of others enables people who actually get to know him to overlook the unvarnished aspects of his character.

My Denver colleague persisted with stating his frustrations about our mutual friend and colleague.  The Boston colleague did not arrange a formal meeting nor did he complete his portion of the writing.  Yet, he staunchly criticized the Denver colleague’s writing and outline.  The Denver colleague could not understand our Boston colleague’s failure to submit his written portion or contribute to the presentation.  From my experience with this fellow, I posited his psyche could not permit him to write anything and subject it to collegial scrutiny.  He is not lazy or obtuse.  His insecurities could not absorb hard criticisms regardless of how respectful anyone offers them.  At this emotional and psychological stage of his life, he is unable constitutionally to digest any constructive feedback.  As circumstances would unfold, our Boston colleague eventually called our Denver colleague to apologize for his shortcomings and incidental lack of professionalism.  He admitted his incapacities and asked for relational forbearance.

After processing the apology, my Denver colleague asked how does the children of our Boston colleague handle being loved by someone whose love flows from such a hard and hurtful space?  I posited that his children are capable of seeing his heart of gold and looking beyond his character defect and incapacities.  Actually, I became self-reflective as I considered the question.  My children could easily indict me for the hard and difficult way in which I love them.  Whereas they appreciate the myriad tasks I complete for them, the money and other loving kindnesses, my son and my daughter probably would prefer I be less exacting, demanding and perfectionist.  Could I be less extreme in demanding that their rooms are clean and spotless?  Do I need to correct their grammar each time they misspeak?  Do they have to endure lectures contrasting my impoverished childhood with their middle class upbringing?  Must I emphasis academics so fiercely? Are the exhortations about the actualization of their talents and natural endowments necessary?  In fact, a spiritual director once told me that it must be hard for the recipients of my love.  Though they appreciate my labors of love, the intensity of my personality partially repels them.  As I humbly desire my wife and children overlook the shadow of my character, the past painful experiences that perpetually inhibit the emergence of my best self, I understand the dilemma of my Boston clergy colleague who suffers equally with this challenge.  To a large extent, he knows people appreciate him and his love but sincerely wish it evolves with less intensity and hardship.  Because he has a heart of gold, people who really know him choose favorably to look beyond the broken vessel which holds his love.

The apostle Paul reminds the Corinthian Christians that God embodies our ministries in “earthen vessels,” literally jars of clay and dirt.  Therefore it is evident that the miraculous wonders of the gospel and kingdom of God emerge from the Heavenly Father and not from any human talent or ability.  Equally, genuine and unconditional love emerges from human hearts circumcised with Christ’s redemptive, selfless and sacrificial love.  However, daily and practical expressions of Christ love by human beings will be as imperfect as we are.  Although our love expressions many not be perfect, our intentions very well may be.  Realizing this complexity and irony, we love difficult people by transcending their character defects and incapacities with our reciprocal love and enduring gratitude.

Listening for the Lord's Voice

Listening for the Lord’s Voice

The Lord Jesus says, "My sheep hear my voice and they listen to me." The Johannine evangelist records these words from the lips of our Lord as He discourses about His identity as the "Good Shepherd" who willingly gives His life in exchange for the lives of the sheep.  The Good Shepherd appraises His sheep's lives to be invaluable.  In Luke's version of this story, the Good Shepherd leaves ninety-nine sheep to pursue only one who wanders inexplicably from the fold.  What an incalculable appraisal when we consider the shepherd's willingness to sacrifice potentially ninety-nine percent of his flock in exchange for preserving a mere one percent.  How lavish is the Lord's love for His children.  Nonetheless, I surmise the singly lost sheep immediately heard the Lord's voice when He pursues him.  Presumably, the ninety-nine obey His voice and remain where He tells them to stay until His return.  Whether fleeing from the Lord's presence or remaining next to Him in silent obedience, His disciples listen faithfully and diligently for His voice.

Listening for the Lord's voice can be rather difficult given the multiplicities of contemporary daily distractions.  My son is basketball player and avid fan of the game.  This season, I attended nineteen of his twenty-two regular season games plus two play-off games.  As the season progressed and the desire for post-season play increased, the attendance, competition and noise level in the gyms increased commensurately.  Interestingly, parents appeared more emotionally invested in these games than the players and their coaches.  I sat next to many fathers, uncles, older brothers and cousins who fiercely yell directions to the players;  it is as if they are NCAA Division I coaches.  Compounding these relatives’ loud voices, the crowd is full of “experts” who equally and intensely yell directions to the players.  In the midst of this cacophony of enthusiasm, anger, fear, anxiety, loyalty, dreams, goals and hopes, the actual coaches struggle to encourage and empower their players and students to actualize their talents and natural endowments.  The players must find a way to hear and listen to their coaches despite the countless, high pitched voices they hear in the background.  Similarly, disciples strive to listen to the Lord’s voice and guidance in the midst of life’s busyness and daily noise.

As a loyal father of a player, I sit in bewilderment wondering how the players learn to ignore the crowd and listen intently to their coach’s voice.  The drama and intensity of the setting would confuse me.  Actually, it might paralyze me as I would not know what to do.  Somehow, basketball players can hear their coach’s voice above the crowd!  His words, “Pick and roll or cut left,” yield their obedience although someone else may scream the exact opposite.  Players develop the character, courage and consideration to esteem the coach’s instructions above those of fathers, other relatives and close friends.  My son informs me discipline is the key to learning to ignore the crowd.  Because of the time that players spend in practice with their coach, they develop a relationship with him and learn to trust his counsel and wisdom.  They accept him and his knowledge of the game of basketball.  They realize their coach knows more about the science of the game than an amateur fan whose knowledge does not extend beyond anything he watches on television or gleans from casual conversations with friends.  As a consequence, it does not matter how loudly a person in the bleaches yells; his words are a mere impression of what he suspects might be helpful.  Players rely forthrightly on the trustworthy relationship and experiential knowledge they acquire from practices with their coach.

A thorough non-athlete who was never picked for any of the neighborhood teams in pick-up games during childhood, I have been spared the preceding dilemma.  Yet, it resembles the challenge I face daily as a disciple of the Lord.  How do I listen intently for His voice amongst the competing voices of our rapidly advancing scientific, technological, pluralistic and global community?  In a culture that celebrates narcissism, worships at the altar of hedonism and esteems the self-seeking motives of capitalism, how do disciples obey “The Great Commandment” and the other biblical commands of Christ?  Obedient and loyal basketball players offer a significant clue.  Just as they cultivate discipline to hear and obey their coach’s voice and ignore the crowd’s uninformed opinions because of their relationship with their coach, discipline gain when they invest time and energy in building a greater relationship with the Lord.  With the daily practice of spiritual disciplines, disciplines learn the distinct sound of the Lord’s voice.  As they spend time with Him in accordance with the Psalter’s suggestions (Psalm 27:4, Psalm 42, and Psalm 46:10), disciples develop unwavering trust in the Lord.  They experience His faithfulness as both a shield and rampart, offensive and defensive weapons (Psalm 91:4).  Mostly and simply, they learn to listen to His voice and obey His will regardless of numerous competing and contrary voices.

Christmas 2012 Greetings from The Singletary Family

Christmas 2012 Greetings
from The Singletary Family

24 December 2012

Dearest Family and Friends,

Soiled diapers, smelly wipes, odoriferous shirts and blouses reeking of an infant’s projectile vomiting, loads of urine soaked children’s laundry due to accidents, glaring volumes of kids television programming and radio, tripping over myriad toys throughout your house, repeated trips to the pediatrician, serving as a chauffeur and any other daily parental chores, all, are amongst the greatest gifts we have as we celebrate Christmas and other religious holidays this year.  In the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy, countless fellow citizens painstakingly strive to find “a new normal” as they rebuild their lives.  The recent tragedy of mass murder of twenty innocent first grade students and six undeserving adults in Newtown, Connecticut compels us to reassess our cardinal principles of faith, politics, finance and public policy.  As a father of a fourteen year old son and ten year old daughter, my heart bleeds continually for the parents and families of those victims whose lives have been ravaged with an unimaginable horror.

Utilizing the enduring and rich spiritual disciplines of the Christian faith, I pray genuinely for them and seek practical and pragmatic ways to concretize divine love and compassion.  I will join with like-minded people of faith and social justice advocacy to use the power of community to combat evil with the steadfast hope that we can spare other parents such an unspeakable atrocity.  Yet, chief among the Christian practices from which I draw strength, comfort and hope is gratitude.  I am most appreciative this holiday season for my two beloved children and gifts of parental obligations as I realize I am greatly blessed as a recipient of their unconditional love.  This year, my heart swells with thanksgiving for my family and their well-being with appropriate soberness as I consider the regrettable plight of my neighbors in the Northeast.

One of my family’s most recent joys is Curtis’ success in freshmen basketball tryouts!  His number is 44.  With all due humility and objectivity, if I may say, Curtis is a very good defensive player who refuses to allow taller and bigger players to intimidate him “in the paint and the post.”    As my basketball skills equate with my readiness for the next phase of the space program, I sit in the bleachers and marvel as I watch him play.  He is a quintessential athlete who strives for excellence.  Most fortunately, his efforts also extend to his academic subjects as he missed honors by a couple of points.  Personally, I wish he were in Ashburnham, Massachusetts yielding such academic and athletic achievements.  His mother, my beloved wife, will not entertain the thought!  Accordingly, I harbor this dream within my Walter Smitty flights of fantasy.

Our daughter, Sariel, spent the fall semester balancing soccer, swimming and voice lessons in addition to attaining honors in her classes.  A magnanimous creative soul which sings openly and freely and even literally in the morning as we attempt to leave punctually for school without familial drama, Sariel enjoys Disney radio (the Wakey Blakey Morning Show), fashion design books, and Archie comics of late.  It is a sheer joy to view the world through her innocent, generous and compassionate eyes.  What an antidote to the jadedness that emerges within years of adult living!  Her joy erodes the cynicism that easily overwhelms the optimism of my youth.

In February, Carol Joy and I will celebrate twenty years together.  Already, I am very excited about this milestone.  How amazing to spend 7300 days in relationship with the same person!  We look forward to another twenty years.  She serves as a Dean of Culture at a charter school in Brooklyn where she is able encourage elementary school students as they begin their educational odysseys and empower their parents as they collaborate with teachers and administrators in a very fluid and vibrant learning community.  As teacher and educator at heart, Carol Joy is suited ideally for her current position of service.

In addition to the drastic challenges of natural disaster and inexplicable, maniacal mass murder, this year has yielded other professional accomplishments and personal delights.  As I write, I reach the two and a half year mark at Cambria Heights Community Church.  My family’s return to our beloved New York City remains a progressive answer to a heartfelt prayer as I yearned for an existential space where each of our souls could be fully alive as we embrace our dreams and goals.  I continue to visualize the completion of a few goals which linger in the sanctuary of my mind and heart.  Inspiration spontaneously erupts in the middle of the night.  I am silly with enthusiasm as I enter the afternoon of life and willingly encounter life’s mystery and serendipity.  Admittedly, I agreed with the outcome of the presidential election but I particularly rejoiced when I observed the willingness of countless diverse American citizens to stand in line for several hours on end to vote.  As a student of history, I saw their relentless will to exercise democracy’s greatest gift to the common person as a vindication of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 for which many of my forbears of the American South sacrificed their lives.  Mostly, I relish the accomplishments of my wife and children whose smiles, happiness and joy unquestionably yields the very same for me.

In that spirit of divine love, we wish you, your family and friends our heartfelt wishes for the genuine blessings of this sacred season.  I believe our most invaluable gift is God’s love as it is personified through our most precious relationships.  Ironically, the recent unimaginable and irreversible loss suffered by our neighbors New Jersey, Colorado and Connecticut forces us to re-examine life’s true riches.  As you celebrate the holiday of your respective faith traditions, Carol Joy, Curtis, Sariel and I hope love, joy, peace and wholeness will be your daily and constant companions.

With warmest personal regards,

Victor   

Say Goodbye to Guilt! - Romans 8:1-4 - Part One - Sermon in Outline Format

Say Goodbye to Guilt!

Romans 8:1-4

Salutations

·       Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

·       Welcome again to any Friends and Visitors

·       Read the Passage – Romans 8:1-4

·       Announce the Title – “Say Goodbye to Guilt”

·       Prayer

·       Humbly beseech the gracious bestowal of the anointing of the Holy Spirit who breaks every yokes that binds the people of God

·       With all due humility, I ask that I would decrease so that You may increase within me.

·       Open the eyes and ears of our hearts and reveal unto us Your “good, pleasing and perfect will” for our lives.

·       O most gracious and benevolent Master, give us knowledge of Your will for us and the mental willingness and spiritual power to carry it out.

·       May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength and redeemer.  Amen.

Introduction

·       Paint the picture of the sentencing phase in a criminal trial for a capital offense

·       The jury slowly returns to the jury box

·       The bailiff takes the sealed verdict from the foreperson and hands it to the judge

·       The judge asks the defendant and his counsel to rise.

·       The foreperson of the jury rises to read the unanimous verdict aloud to the packed courtroom

·       Cameras are clicking endlessly.

·       The news media is having a feeding frenzy.

·       Reporters develop writer’s cramp as they furiously attempt to capture each rich detail.

·       Then the stunned silence of the room as the words, “We sentence the defendant to a life sentence so that he may daily and repeatedly recollect his guilt.  Should he die and when he dies, he shall know that he is guilty.”

·       That drama or should I say melodrama recycles through our minds and hearts multiple times each day.

·       Because we feel guilty about unresolved issues, we awake each morning and re-sentence ourselves to a lifetime of guilt.

·       Unconfessed sin

·       Refusal to repent

·       Willfulness

·       Self-justification

·       Cringing upon the mention and recollection of a given person or incident

·       Thinking we got away but hoping not to be found out

·       Trying to think of yet another way to elude responsibility for our actions or having to face the consequences of our choices.

·       Hoping the statute of limitations runs out.

·       Hoping to ward off double jeopardy

·       Allude to Al Sharpton and his 68-count indictment

·       Allude to the story of prosecutorial vengeance – 168-count indictment

·       Yet, we play this game with ourselves when we refuse to repent and fully receive the forgiveness of Almighty God

·       As 2003 comes to a close in a few days and 2004 begins, I hope

·       that we will say goodbye to guilt.

I.  Page One – Problems in the Text – Romans 8:1-4

·       The Story behind the Text

·       A thorn in Paul’s side

·       Speculate about the thorn – heavily utilize imagination

·       Physical infirmity

·       Emotional

·       Psychological

·       The desire to preach in Rome

·       The desire to preach in every crevice of the Roman Empire

·       I suspect the memory of persecuting the Church persistently plagues Paul.

·       I imagine that he cringes each and every time that he thinks about it.

·       I posit that the memory of standing over Stephen’s dead body and nodding with approval and having his bosom swell with pride torments Paul.

·       Until the day he dies and transitions to eternal life, I imagine that Paul fights a daily battle to receive genuinely and completely God’s enduring and unquestionable forgiveness.

·       Paul awakes each day to the struggle of forgiving himself for such an egregious error.

·       His battle with this sin remains an open wound.

·       He festers like a thorn trapped in the skin.

·       I suspect that Paul’s unrelenting and tireless efforts to spread the gospel is a personal atonement of sorts.

·       Paul daily negotiates with this emotional pain.

·       Will he ever find relief?

·       Is inner healing and spiritual wholeness possible?

·       Why does God allow Satan to torment Paul in this way?

·       Why does God seemingly ignore Paul’s persistent pleas to remove this thorn?

·       Where is God?

·       Satan uses guilt to manipulate Paul

·       Accuses him each and every day

·       Memory

·       Guilt

• ·         The vivid and indelible images of persecuting the church and gleefully giving his assent to the death of Stephen and countless others.

Say Goodbye to Guilt - Romans 8:1-4 Part One - Sermon in Outline Format

Say Goodbye to Guilt! – Romans 8:1-4 – Part Two

II.  Page Two – Problems in Our Lives and the World

·       Guilt

·       Secrets

·       Memories

·       Unconfessed sin

·       “Down low”

·       Petrified sin

·       Thorn

·       Ghosts – Ebenezer Scrooge

·       Past “rap sheets”

·       Failure to extend and receive forgiveness

·       Trampled upon other people and their feelings

·       Unrequited love

·       The duplicity of love – the number of people who stayed together for the holidays but will break up before Valentine’s Day

·       We are more like Jacob than we care to acknowledge – we have used people

·       Jung’s idea of the shadow

·       “If you can name then you must claim it.”

·       Check our motives – those dangerous ulterior motives which go unfulfilled

·       Secrets – “You are as sick as your secrets.”

·       Unconfessed sin – “Your sin will find you out.”

·       Willfulness

·       Refusal to repent

·       Arrogance of self-reliance

·       Self- justification

·       Rationalization

·       Guilt

·       We hope never to be discovered

·       Don’t want to be found out

·       Our guilt manipulates us

·       Guilt and fear tag team us

·       We are afraid to reach for certain positions

·       Some people forego public life

·       Some people isolate

·       Some people never get close to other people for fear of being found out

III. Page Three – God’s Grace and Redemption in the Text

·       Return to the courtroom scene.

·       The verdict and sentence are announced.

·       Yet, someone walks in and insists that all of the evidence is not in!

·       Allude to the suffering servant passage in Isaiah 53 – quote it

·       We have an advocate and an excellent defense counselor who has never loss a case.

·       Experience the grace of God

·       “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

·       because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death

·       For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature,

·       God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.

·       And so he condemned sin in sinful man,

·       In order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us,

·       Who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.”

·       “The gospel through grace was able to due what the law could not do.”

·       Christ removes our guilt!

·       Rejoice – we are free in Christ

·       Romans 8:31 – “What, then, shall we say in response to this?  If God is for us, who can be against us?”

·       Romans 8:33 – “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?  It is God who justifies. 

·       1 John 1:9

·       Hebrews 4:12-16

·       1 John 2:1-2 – We have an Advocate in Christ Jesus, our Lord

·       There is no remaining guilt or condemnation for anyone who is on Christ Jesus!

IV.  Page Four – God’s Grace and Redemption in Us

·       Experience the liberty from guilt, shame, humiliation, embarrassment, manipulation, emotional extortionists, and fear that Christ offers.

·       Tell the story of the image of the weight on the shoulders and using it to balance one’s self to reach the other side of a stream with a fierce current

·       Similar to crossing the Jordan into the Promised Land

·       Practical steps

·       Confession

·       Repentance

·       Forgiveness

·       Live into it

·       Daily grace

Conclusion

·       Say goodbye to Guilt!!!