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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion February 5, 2005 Yea, Yea, Sure! |
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Frontline Devotion for Saturday, February 5, 2005 By Don
Kress
Matthew
7:24-28
Today’s text focuses on Jesus’ concluding words from His famous “Sermon on
the Mount.” He tells us that there are two kinds of people in the world:
hearers of the Word and doers of the Word – foolish people and wise people.
He calls us to be the latter.
Jesus has just finished one of the longest and most powerful sermons of His
ministry, and He concludes by telling those in the audience to put what they
heard into action. That’s probably very sound advice for us contemporary
Christians, too. How often I’ve gone to church, sung the beautiful
hymns, heard the lessons of the day, listened to a good sermon, and walked out
of church the same as I was when I entered. I imagine that’s happened to
you, too. It’s so easy to be a hearer, and so difficult to be a doer.
We all succumb to the “Yea, Yea, Sure Syndrome.”
Earlier in my career, I worked for several years in a school for emotionally
disturbed youth. One of the students that I remember the most was a young
man named Larry. Larry was full of energy and had terrible impulse
control. He was always in some kind of trouble. When debriefing an
incident with Larry, he would agree with anything you said, accept any proposed
change in behavior that you were suggesting, and make any commitment that you
asked him to make in terms of trying to behave differently the next time.
He would look you straight in the eye, and in the most sincere voice, respond,
“Yea, yea, sure.” But his physical behavior never followed up on his
verbal commitment. I coined the term “Yea, Yea, Sure Syndrome” in
honor of Larry, but it’s a syndrome that was not solely owned by him.
You probably know and work with someone who has this syndrome. At times, I
even have it!
It’s easy to be a “Yea, Yea, Sure” Christian. Everything you hear
makes such great sense to you. Of course that’s how you want to behave;
of course you know it’s the right thing to do. To argue otherwise is
like being against motherhood and apple pie! “Yea, yea, sure.”
In theory, it all seems so simple. But that all changes when you move from
theory to practice. That’s when you have to change your behavior and
make sacrifices; that’s when things become uncomfortable, threatening, and
often painful. That’s when it becomes much easier to be a hearer rather
than a doer.
Jesus tells us that if we’re only a hearer, we’re like a foolish man who
builds his house on sand. In the storms of life, our fall is certain.
But if we’re both hearers and doers of the Word, Jesus likens us to a wise man
who builds his house on rock. The storms of life will still come and beat
on us, but we will not fall.
Tomorrow, if you go to church, your pastor will likely end the service by
bidding you, “Go in peace, and serve the Lord.” You will likely
respond by saying, “Thanks be to God!” Will you put that response into
action after you head for home, or was your response really just a “Yea, yea,
sure.”? Answer the call, and be a doer!
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for the teachings given to us in your
Sermon on the Mount. You don’t just teach us by repeating something you
have read, but you teach us with authority. Help me to not just hear your
teaching, but to put your teaching into action. Help me to build my life
upon the one true Rock. Amen.
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All are welcome to join and share in our Devotional Ministry on the "Frontlines" of the world. Frontline Devotions are sent via email daily. Sign up by clicking on the box to the left. Pastor Dave welcomes feedback. Contact him at pastordave@goodshepherdonline.org. |
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