Idolatry and Inescapable Judgment

Yesterday, I began preaching the new series Revive Us Again: Studying Zephaniah.  This sermon focused on God’s judgment and idolatry in Zeph. 1:1-6, and had this main point: idolatry cannot coexist with righteousness.  Here are some other highlights:

• Not all people accept the warnings of God’s Word. From the verse of Zephaniah 1, we learn that Zephaniah is speaking God’s words to the people of Judah.  We also learn that he is the great-great grandson of Hezekiah, one of the good kings of Judah, and is prophesying in the time of King Josiah of Judah.  Not only is Zephaniah a relative of Josiah, but his royal lineage might have given him a position to be listened to by Josiah.  If there’s anything we should remember about Josiah, it’s that he was 8 years old when he became king and he eventually brought great reformation to Judah.  Zephaniah’s message from the Lord as prophet was working hand-in-hand with Josiah’s actions from the Lord as king.

My Thoughts on Jon & Kate Getting Divorced

NOTE: This was a post I originally wrote on June 23, 2009.  I am sharing it here because I mentioned this divorce in a sermon recently in the context of idolatry.  Hopefully this post will benefit its reader.
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It was discouraging to see the CNN headline this morning: “Reality TV stars Jon and Kate are divorcing.” It broke the news that Jon and Kate Gosselin have separated now but will continue to film the show! They apparently will film separately with the kids for the remainder of the season.

This is discouraging because the high value marriage has in the eyes of God is not being maintained by people.

This is discouraging because it shows a TV show ruining a family, maybe for the sake of good ratings.

This is discouraging because of the comments I read by Kate. She was quoted by CNN as saying: “”I’m not very fond of the idea, personally, but I know it’s necessary because my goal is peace for the kids.”

In this statement we see part of a problem which plagues many couple- they live for their children and not to glorify God through their marriage. It is easy to let children become the focus of a marriage, and I would contend that this is another form of idolatry, idolatry being something in our lives that we place over Jesus Christ. We can easily elevate people to a position in our lives where we idolize them, and I think it happens easily with children because we love them so much. But when two people unite in marriage and become one flesh, their first priority should be to each other and to honor God through their marriage. In Scripture, marriage is likened to the relationship between Christ and His church- that’s why marriage is so sacred and should be honored and valued. And in the case of Jon & Kate and many others, children have been elevated to a position where they became the focus of the marriage.

Idolizing children is part of the reason for parents dealing so difficultly with their children eventually moving out. They have placed their children as being first in their lives, so its no wonder that when they move out, the parents are crushed, saying “I have nothing left to live for!” Really?? If we live for our kids, we’re simply replacing Jesus’ position in our lives with them, and we’re opening ourselves up for emotional disappointment.

And we see that idolizing children is part of the reason for a separation in a marriage. Kate said she is not fond of the idea of separating, but she is separating for the peace of her kids. What’s more important in her marriage- her relationship with her husband exemplifying the relationship of Christ and His church, or keeping peace with her children?

I don’t intend to devalue parenting here. I am a parent. Parenting is of great importance. But like everything else in our lives, it has its place. Parents should work together to train children in the ways of the Lord so they can watch them carry out God’s purpose later in their lives. But children were never created to cause division in marriages.

Neither do I intend to judge Jon & Kate here, but they are in a national spotlight and are setting an example to many whether they want to or not. And since we see their marriage on TV it’s easy to scrutinize it. But I would imagine that many marriages separate or dissolve for reasons very similar to what we are seeing.

I pray that Jon & Kate can work through differences and see a change in their marriage so that they can exemplify Godly marriage to the great amount of people who view them. I pray that we can see marriage honored in our country the way it should be as a relationship created by God to illustrate His redemption of mankind. I pray that God will be glorified even though we, as sinful people, don’t always follow His ways.

Monday Morning Rewind: The Reputation of the Church

Yesterday, I preached the first sermon in the new series, “Living Together,” where I’m preaching through the letters to the Thessalonians.  You can find more info on this series by clicking here.

The focus scripture text was 1 Thessalonians 1 and focused on the reputation of the Thessalonian church.  Before getting into what was written in the letter to the Thessalonians, I shared the historical context of the writing so we could properly apply it.

We know that Thessalonica was the capital of Macedonia, a port city with much trade and the exchange of philosophies due to many different people traveling through.  By reading through Acts 16-18, we learn that Paul set out for Macedonia on his second missionary journey, and that took him through Thessalonica.  He spent at least three weeks with the Jews there proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah, and then was strongly opposed publicly for it.  This still happens when we boldly proclaim the gospel of Jesus.

Paul was sent on from Thessalonica probably for his safety.  But in those few weeks of being with them, a church was formed.  Paul eventually sent Timothy to check on them and report back to Paul.  Paul wrote the letters to the Thessalonians after hearing Timothy’s report.

At the start of the first letter, Paul takes time to thank God for them for what he learned about them.  He was concerned about his little church plant, and it overjoyed him to hear they were doing well in their faith.

Specifically, the church was noted for:

1- Faith, love, and hope. This was found in verse 3, and Paul gives particular attention to hope in his letters to this church.  Hope is given the prominent last position in this triad, not because the others are not important but because it is what applied most to the people there.  I explained to the congregation that the New Testament letters are examples of situational theology where the letter does not cover the entire scope of doctrine, but only addresses the issues specific to that people.  We do this today still, but we usually call it contexualizing the gospel.

2- Proclamation of the Gospel & Evidence of their Faith (v.8). Not only did they hear the gospel, but it went forth from them.  They shared it, and their faith was evident in this area.

3- Deserting Idolatry (v.9). They turned from idols to the only living and true God!  We deal with idolatry still today, which is placing anything above God in our lives.  I explained how even good thing become an idol in our lives, and told them this cliche that I’ve heard preached before: when good things become god things, they become bad things.

4- Hope for Jesus’ Return (v.10). They had a strong hope that Jesus was coming back, and no matter how troubling their affliction (we know they were persecuted from the content of this letter), Jesus was in sight.

After preaching through the chapter, I simply asked the question, what is the reputation of our church? And it must be noted that this reputation of the Thessalonian church was made known by the community around them!  Paul refers to this in verses 8-9.

If the community around our church was asked about us, what would our reputation be?