Sermons
A Resplendent Morality
Series: The Way Of SalvationA RESPLENDENT MORALITY
Sermon By Terry Siverd
Cortland Church of Christ / November 03, 2019
One of the perils of grower older is the development of two psychological “ailments” that often work in tandem.
One of these ailments is what we might call chronic pessimism
We find ourselves, more often than not, thinking negatively about about most everything. This mindset gives
rise to various declarations about how our world seems to be going downhill: going to hades in a hand-basket.
Over-exaggeration and hyperbole is often employed to describe people and happenings, especially those we dislike.
“He is, without a shadow of doubt, the absolute worst president I've ever seen”. Some of us may be saying that
about President Trump; others may have said it about Presidents Obama, or Bush or Clinton or Reagan or Carter.
That music is horrible; TV has become so raunchy; Movies nowadays are a total waste of money.
Newspapers today aren't worth the paper they are written on. Etc.
The other is selective amnesia.
That which we remember of the past, tends to have been sanitized considerably.
We often look back with rose-colored glasses reflecting on how wonderful things used to be.
There is a readily-available cure for both of these ailments.
For some it might be a remedy that is a hard pill to swallow, but, I promise you it works.
It's called READING HISTORY.
If you think our national politic has gone bonkers, you need to read about the early days.
After George Washington came John Adams, and after Adams came Thomas Jefferson.
We could visit the homesteads of all three of the founding fathers - - Mount Vernon,
Peacefield and Monticello, and come away wishing we could return to the good ole days.
I don't have time this morning to flesh out the political landscape during those twenty years between 1789-1809.
Just trust me when I tell you, it was UGLY!!! If you think things are bad now, you need to read
some trustworthy biographical books and historical works about how life really was in the old days.
I've shared these thoughts by way of confession.
As I grow older I am feeling the tug of this two-headed temptation.
Several times over the last five years I have heard myself say something like,
I can't believe that I have lived to see these things come about.
The focus of these exclamations is often centered on MORALS.
What I am fuming about and bemoaning is not just morals, but what I perceive to be a rapid decline in morality.
I have wrestled (this past week and for many years now) about how to confront this matter.
I am being very candid when I tell you I don't know the answer.
Some would say we need to “let the hammer down”.
Others would say we need to try to “make lemon-aide out of lemons”.
Both of these approaches appear to me to be off-center and flawed.
The Jesus we read about in the gospels clearly had a special place in his heart for those who were struggling
with immorality. In fact, His compassion (empathetic tenderness) was so real that the multitudes were drawn
to Him - - the common people heard Him gladly (Mk.12:37). As we read the gospels, the most frequent criticism
we read others leveling against Jesus is that, “He was a friend to sinners” (Mt.11:19; Mk.2:16 and Lk.7:34).
The times that we find Jesus “letting the hammer down” is not when He is discoursing with immoral sinners, but rather, when is He is standing down haughty, high-minded scribes & Pharisees – those who saw themselves as morally upright.
On the other hand, the idea of trying to make lemon-aide out of lemons sounds too lenient.
It's like we're looking the other way regarding “the lemons”. We can't just wink at sin, can we?
Perhaps Jn.8:1-11 provides us with a helpful template to guide and direct us.
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them.
And the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the midst, they said to Him, 'Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such
a woman' what then do You say?' And they were saying this, testing Him, in order that they might have grounds for ac-
cusing Him. But Jesus stooped down, and with His finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking Him,
He straightened up, and said to them, 'He who is without among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.
And again He stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And when they heard it, they began to go out one by one,
beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the women, where she was,in the midst.
And straightening up, Jesus said to her, 'Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?'
And Jesus said, 'Neither do I condemn you; go your way and sin no more.
So here is my approach to this all-important topic of MORALITY.
I am not going to let the hammer down and neither I am going to look the other way.
I am going to appeal to you to hear the Scriptures and resolve to do your best to live under The Word.
By “under” I do not want to imply that the teachings of the Bible are a burden to our lives.
By “under”, I simply mean that the Word of God should serve as the polestar in governing our lives.
If the Holy Scriptures really, really matter to us, they ought to shape and animate how we live.
As I noted in my opening comments, history reminds us that their have always been times of moral decline
and decadence - - even seriously troubling times when moral decline appears to yield to moral depravity.
Yet, among those who call Jesus our Lord, there needs to be about us A RESPLENDENT MORALITY.
This word “resplendent” is a strong word.
It does not describe an occasional flicker of light.
Neither does not apply to a light that is vacillating, fluttering or blinking - - on sometimes and off other times.
Resplendent does not describe something that fluctuates or oscillates.
Resplendent is resolute and steady - - it provides a constant shining and continual beaming.
When we speak of MORALITY we are not just talking about sexual behavior.
The morality that we read about in the New Testament is all-encompassing.
It spans all of life - - all that we do in word and deed - - our speech as well as our actions.
Morality sometimes speaks of behavior that is unacceptable to God:
Rom.1:29f - - unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip, slander, hate, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful.
Gal.5:19-21 - - immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts
of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.
Eph.4:25f - - falsehoods, stealing, unwholesome words, bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, malice.
But the morality that is taught in the New Testament is not just a list of things not to do,
is is also a directive as to what to do, how to live, what to say and even how to think.
Gal.5: 22f - - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Col.3:12 - - a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience,
bearing with one another, forgiving one another, love, peace and being thankful.
1Thess.4:3 - - this is the will of God for you, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality.
2Cor.7:1 - - let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
There are numerous other passages in the New Testament that instruct us regarding morality - -
verses of Scripture that tell us what to “put on” and what to “put off” - - how to live and how not to live.
I do not mean to overlook them or pass them by as if they are not equally significant. In the words of Jesus,
man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Mt.4:4).
Nevertheless these texts that we are underscoring this morning are far-reaching
and will surely provide each and and every one of us with lots to work on.
I want to close with on two more texts. The first one is, Titus 2:11-12 - -
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
instructing us to DENY UNGODLINESS AND WORLDLY DESIRES and
to LIVE SENSIBLY, RIGHTEOUSLY AND GODLY in this present world.
God has called us to be the glorious church of Christ Jesus our Lord.
If we are to be that we must have A RESPLENDENT MORALITY.
In closing, let me read a second and final citation - - Eph..4:17-24 / NCB
In the Lord's name, I tell you this. Do not continue living like those who do not believe.
Their thoughts are worth nothing. They do not understand, and the know nothing, because they refuse to listen.
So they cannot have the life that God gives. They have lost all feeling of shame, and they use their lives for doing evil.
They continually want to do all kinds of evil. But what you have learned in Christ was not like this.
I know that you heard about Him, and you are in Him, so you were taught the truth that is in Jesus.
You were taught to leave your old self - - to stop living the evil way you lived before.
That old self becomes worse, because people are fooled by the evil things they want to do.
But you were taught to be made new in your hearts, to become a new person.
That new person is made to be like God - - made to be truly good and holy.
So, as your preacher, as a minister of the gospel of Christ, as one attempting to faithfully proclaim the Word,
I am trying to be faithful to my calling and I am asking all of us TO LOOK DEEP INSIDE OURSELVES and
to make a decision to daily do out utmost for sake of Christ and His kingdom,
to work hard at acquiring the mind of Jesus and the Spirit of Christ.
Morally speaking, whatever we are doing that we shouldn't be doing, let us resolve to STOP IT!
And whatever is it that we are failing to do, let us determine to DO IT AND DO IT WELL!
Most importantly, our heavenly Father is watching.
And so is the world around us.
Let us shine as lights in the world, resplendent in every way as we faithfully hold forth the word (Philip.2:16).
