Blake Heffner December 31st, 2006

“Great Exhortations”

Texts: Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Romans 13:8-14

INTRO: It’ New Year’s Eve Day, the time when traditionally we contemplate making resolutions designed to improve our lives. Have you set any personal goals yet? Well, the Bible is filled with exhortations (or encouragements) toward improving our lives. Let’s explore a few of them that might inspire us toward some meaningful resolutions for the year ahead.

1. At the End , Moses Urged: Choose Life!

It was Moses’ last speech. It was time to turn over the leadership to Joshua and bid his people farewell before they entered the Promised Land. Together they had witnessed God’s almighty hand in the Exodus and His distinctive guidance and providence in the wilderness for forty years. Yet, the people seemed so wayward, so vulnerable to failure. Moses would not be able to steer them straight any longer, so he offers one last urgent sermon:

“Listen! What I am telling you today is not too hard for you to understand. It’s not way out there beyond your reach. No, it’s the most basic, simple instruction: ‘Choose life, not death! If you choose to obey the commandments that the Lord has given you, and walk in his ways; if you will love the Lord your God above all things, then you will be blessed and enjoy a long life! If, however, you decide to go your own way, do your own thing, you will be in deep trouble. If you turn to other gods and serve them, you will surely be cursed and die. It’s your choice! I strongly recommend you choose life!”

Life is all about choices, isn’t it? Erma Bombeck, at the end of her life, looked back and reflected upon how some choices had robbed her of life. Like Moses, she tells us things are not too hard to understand or actualize. You may have heard this list before, but it is worth re-visiting now & then.

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER - by Erma Bombeck
(written after she found out she was dying from cancer). Or, How to make the most of the time we’ve got!}

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren’t there for the day.
I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.
I would have talked less and listened more.
I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.
I would have eaten the popcorn in the ‘good’ living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.
I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.
I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.
I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
I would have sat on the lawn with my grass stains.
I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life.
I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn’t show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.
Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I’d have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.
When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, “Later. Now go get washed up for dinner.” There would have been more “I love you’s” More “I’m sorry’s.”
But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute…look at it and really see it .. . live it and never give it back. STOP SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF!!!
Don’t worry about who doesn’t like you, who has more, or who’s doing what.
Instead, let’s cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us.
Let’s think about what God HAS blessed us with, what we are doing each day to promote ourselves mentally, physically, emotionally.

Again, that’s not deep or esoteric advice. But, you will agree those are ways to choose life in the everyday sense. Maybe, there’s a resolution or two for each of us in that list!

1. Before Coke, Jesus Urged: Give Live Love!

Have you noticed the slogan on bottles of Coke lately? GIVE LIVE LOVE. What an original idea! Isn’t this really Jesus’ main message? If we are to choose life, we must choose to “give and live love!” We’ve heard this many times before. Paul summed it up in our lesson from Romans 13: “The only obligation you have is to love one another. Whoever does this has obeyed the Law… [The whole Law] is summed up in one command, ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ If you love someone, you will never do him or her wrong. ”

We fully understand what Paul is saying, don’t we? Love is not so-called “rocket science.” Yet, in this era of hyper-busy-ness, when we are consumed by our personal schedules and agendas, we find it very hard to consistently give and live love for others. Do you agree? To effectively care for those around us – relatives, friends, neighbors and strangers – we have to swim against the raging stream of busy-ness. It takes time and energy to care for others – as we naturally care for ourselves. I don’t know about you, but I need to be more resolved in this area.

Years ago a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore assigned his class to visit a city slum and interview 200 boys. “On the basis of your findings, predict their future.” Shocked at what they saw in the slums, the students estimated that 90 percent of the boys interviewed would someday serve time in prison. Twenty years later the same professor asked another class to locate the survivors of the 200 boys and compare what happened. Of the 180 boys they could find, only four had ever been to jail. Why had the predictions by the earlier class proven false? A common denominator - over 100 of them remembered having the same high-school teacher, Miss O’Rourke, who had been a tremendous influence on them at the time. After a long search, Sheila O’Rourke was found in a nursing home in Memphis. When asked for her explanation she was puzzled and replied, “All I did was love every one of them.” Never doubt the power of love, especially the love of God in Christ Jesus.

That was the effect of one teacher during one year in the life of those hundreds of young men! Imagine what effect we can have on the people around us if we simply and consistently love them! “Giving and living love” shouldn’t be something we have to ‘add on’ to our agendas. It has to be our agenda, PERIOD. It is the only way to choose life! Let’s focus on this in 2007!

1. Before Nike, James Urged: Just Do It!

The apostle James realized the problem is not lack of knowledge on our part; it’s often failure to put into practice what we know. So, he urged us, long before Nike, to “Just do it!” Just take what we have learned and “walk the walk,” as they say. Friends, let’s be honest, isn’t it true that we often think about doing the right things, we just don’t always follow through.

One summer, a man spent the day on the beach in Jacksonville, Florida. The undertow was unusually strong that day, and more than once, lifeguards jumped down from their towers to rescue swimmers from the treacherous surf. Finally, the man went to the lifeguard station to express his appreciation for the dedication of these men. When he walked inside, he noticed a sign on the wall in large red letters: IF IN DOUBT, GO! And the man said, “Those same words should be on the walls of every church and on the wall of
every person’s soul.”

“If in doubt, go!” Let’s resolve to be quicker to act upon the promptings of the Holy Spirit this year. If we wonder that we haven’t seen someone lately, let’s pick up the phone. If we know someone has been grieving, let’s send a card and then pick up the phone. Like Erma Bombeck, let’s not let the state of our house keep us from inviting a friend or neighbor over for lunch or supper. Let’s not sweat the small stuff – and so much of our fretting is over small stuff. Could it be we have hurt someone – even unintentionally? If there is any question in our minds, let’s “just go” to them and try to make amends. When we get these little things down, we’ll be ready to move on to deeper and broader forms of love.

Friends, in 2007, may the Lord to help us to choose life, give love, and make time to act upon our intuitions – in Jesus’ name, for his glory!

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, we praise you for the new year that lies before us. It is a clean slate, thanks to your grace. Because, if we are in Christ, all things are made new: the past is finished and we have a fresh start. Lord, fill us with your Holy Spirit and enable us to make the most of this new beginning. Set before us goals that, by your grace, we can achieve. Show us how to love those around us – by being more patient, more kind, and less irritable, less self-centered. Lord, help us as a congregation to keep our eyes upon Jesus, who is the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith…

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