7-16-23
“I Came In Here to Do Something….?” 2 Kings 7:1-11 (Unison); Romans 8:1-11
Sermon Preached by Rev. Dr. J. Ben Sloan at Eastminster Presbyterian in Columbia, SC, USA
I heard a comedian once speak of turning
middle aged. He said when you turn
middle aged your brain starts having some electrical shorts So you walk into a
room intent on doing something but when you get into the room you forget why
you came in there. Fortunately, he said
there is this button that God has invisibly installed on your backside. So when you go back to sit down, you press
the invisible button and you remember why you were supposed to go into the
room.
Many people illustrate this in their
lives. At one point they had a purpose-
a reason- that motivated them forward, but then when they got to some point,
they got distracted, or they just forgot what their purpose is. We are not here by accident. We are the Bible and shorter catechism says,
put here to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
That is our purpose. We are not
here to be made comfortable, to be entertained, to waste our lives. Don’t get me wrong, God also put us here to
enjoy life- which is part of enjoying Him.
But God does not exist just for our own comfort. We exist for His pleasure. Our passage says that those who live
according to the flesh- as if there is no God- no spiritual sense at all- have
their minds set on the what the flesh desires- whatever their feelings
dictate. He says the mind of the flesh
is hostile toward God and is death. Gang
violence is death; abuse of our bodies leads to death; not valuing others made
in God’s image- thinking you have the right to shoot them- is death; the way of
selfishness is the way of death. The way
of Christ is the way of life. You and I
in this room are stewards of the Good News- that there is a way of life. There is a way to eternal life- and it begins
right now.
I love this story from 2 Kings
7. The people were starving to death in
a siege of their city. They had run out
of food. People were becoming desperate
for food. The king was mad at God for the disaster- and wanted to kill Elisha-
God’s prophet. Elisha told them they would have more food than they could
handle by the next day. No one believed
him.
But two lepers totally separate said,
we’ll climb over the wall and go to the Arameans and surrender, but at least eat. But when they climbed over the wall- they
realized whole Aramean army had fled out of fear of an illusion- the army
thought they heard horses and chariots.
So, the lepers were just having a feast on all the food the enemy army
left behind. Only when they were full
did they begin to think of those in the city still starving to death. The people were starving to death- but they
didn’t need to starve. They didn’t know the good news that the army had left a
feast on just the other side of the wall.
There was abundant food for everyone.
The lepers finally went back and the people didn’t believe them at
first. But finally they realized what
happened and there was a stampede out of the city to get food. We are called to not keep good news to
ourselves. The world is starving for
hope and good news- we have it, and we don’t need to keep it all for
ourselves.
The United States surgeon
general said that loneliness is an epidemic in America. It is aggravated by staring at cell phones
even in the presence of family and others; and loneliness and isolation was
aggravated by Covid. But now the
pandemic is over, and people are still left with loneliness. One leading Psychiatrist, Daniel Amen (known
for his 11 brain clinics and 12 NYT best sellers) said there is one simple step
we can take- go to church or go back to church!
Church is the place where we learn to love one another- despite our
imperfections and differences. We want
to love them by helping them physically, and mentally- but the church has
something to say no one else can say. No
government agency can say it. No civic
club will say it. We are the only ones
who can say that there is a way beyond the grave for sure. We know it is sure because our leader- Jesus
has already made it through the tunnel of death and came back to tell us that
it is ok. He has been over the wall- and
the enemy is gone- there is a way to life.
No one else will dare to say that there is life on the other side of the
wall of death- but us. We have a purpose- we have come into this
generation- with this knowledge and this love in our hearts to tell others of the
Great Love that can give life- now, and in the life to come- that is
Jesus. So how do you share faith? Pray for others who say they do not believe
or will not go to worship (Ro. 10:1); Identify with Christ (Ro. 1:16)- put an
Eastminster magnet on your car, or say you go to Eastminster on your about info
on social media; Then invite folks when you have the opportunity; Be ready to share your story (testimony) of why Christ is important to you and then look for opportunities to do so; Know the Gospel and be ready to share it and look for an opportunity so share that Christ died for our sins on the cross.
We also are urged by Paul in this
passage to set our minds in the right place.
The selfish person has their mind set on what they can get- more stuff,
better stuff, fancier stuff. The
spiritual person has their mind set on what they can give- how can I love, how
can I serve God better. Your mindset is
how you make sense of the world. If you
make sense of the world only by what you can touch and see- then you are leaving
out faith, hope, and love. Carol Dweck
is a Psychologist at Stanford and recently wrote a bestselling book called
“Mindset- How to fulfill your potential.”
KJV Prov. 23:7 (As a man thinketh so is he.” God cares not just about our actions and
words, but also about our thoughts. One
of Kay’s and my verses for the year is Philippians 4:8 which says, “Whatever is
true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable—if anything is excellent or
praiseworthy think about such things.”
If we practice this way of thinking it changes us. Pray,
Identify, Invite, Be ready. Live the life (last)
I am so excited to be the pastor for
missions- and outreach for the next year.
I am excited that we can build a church building in Mexico where the
church is outgrowing its buildings. As
someone who has come back to Eastminster after many years of ministry- I can
say I am so proud of how this church cares for the hungry, the homeless, the
hurting all around us. I am so grateful
to be a part of a church that doesn’t think only of itself, and to have pastors
who lead in this way. I hope you are
excited too. Let us look into how we can
set our mind on the Spirit I am excited
that in this post covid time- we can come together and invite other people over
the wall to join us in the feast of God.
