Because I Said So

Pastoral Prayer- Lindsay Lagasse
Music- SDA Hymn 309; I Surrender All
Sermon- Lindsay Lagasse
Closing Prayer- Lindsay Lagasse


Pastoral Prayer: Father, we continuously fall short of Your glory. Many times we hastily ask for forgiveness, but we lack the sincerity to allow You to do so. We bind You down by our unwillingness to put aside time for You and only You. We ask that You soften our hearts, Lord, so that our will may be strong enough to hand it to You. Only by Your grace can we do what pleases You. And now, Father, we ask that You bless what is written here. Each word typed will, by Your grace, be honoring and glorifying Your perfect name. In Christ's good and holy name we pray, amen.

Special Music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x2IpLSfqp8 (includes written lyrics as song is sung)

Scripture reading: Jeremiah 7:23 out of the New King James Bible "But this is what I commanded them, saying 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you".

Brothers, Sisters, why are we such a stubborn people? I walk the school hallways and see nothing but rule breaking. A prime example played out in a class of mine today. A young boy used foul language, and then had an attitude when confronted by the teacher. He buried himself deeper and deeper until it was ended by him being sent away. If he had taken the criticism maturely, obeying his superior's wishes, his punishment would have been less severe. In fact, if he had refrained from breaking the school policy on language to begin with, he could have avoided the whole issue. My friends, why are we, as a race, so disobedient?

Am I the only one who's noticed that the ability to follow simple demands has declined in recent years? Another realization is that as fast as those numbers decline, so do the number of Christian teenagers. Connection? Maybe, maybe not. If we can not follow the orders of those older than us that we can see the wrath of, how can we expect to have enough control to behave in a fashion a being we do not physically get spanked by, would approve of. I think it's quite clear that, if we keep going at the rate we're going, many of us are going to get the curse mentioned in Deuteronomy 11:26-28, rather than the blessing said in that scripture. "Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I commanded you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known." Which sounds more like what you want? Obey and be blessed, or go through the trouble of disobeying and get the curse. It's your choice, but it's also your consequence.

All the Father asks of you is to obey His ten simple commandments. If you do so, your peace will be like a river and your righteousness like the waves of the sea (Isaiah 28:18). He makes it so desirable to do His commandments, it is hard to understand why someone would choose not to. They aren't hard, for the most part. Only worship Him, do not take His name in vain, remember the Sabbath, honor your parents (further discussion on that coming up in this sermon), do not murder (hardest one, sometimes), do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness (aka, no lying), and do not covet your neighbor's house (Exodus 20:3-17). I know sometimes we fall short, and the Lord knows this too. This is why He is willing to forgive when we sincerely seek His mercy. Doesn't get a whole lot easier to please than this--and yet, so many fail to care enough to even attempt.

"If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15). To love the Lord, we must know Him. To know Him, we must dedicate time to Him. It is unfortunate when you see a soul lost because they become discouraged when they do not feel the grace of God right after baptism. They failed to take the time to study His word, thus did not grow a personal relationship with Him. It is those individuals that find it so hard to follow the Lord's commandments. If we have a true, earnest love for Him, we will want nothing more than to obey Him simply because He asked us to do so.

In addition to obeying the Father Himself, we are asked to obey another pair of individuals. The fifth commandment (Exodus 20:12), tells us to honor our father and mother. "Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is pleasing to the Lord" (Colossians 3:20). However, it also makes it clear in Colossians 3:21 that the father should not tempt the child. "Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged" is a passage that is often forgotten. We know a child should, and must respect their elders, but does that mean a parent can taunt and harass that youngster and expect no retaliation? How is a child supposed to grow in Christ, if their soul role models are hypocritical in their own faith?

"Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, and give attention to know understanding" (Proverbs 4:1). Father could be read literally, or perhaps as a term used for any elder. It is true, for the most part, that a child should listen in order to learn, for those older have seen more, thus know more. A friend once told me to listen twice as much as I speak; that's why God gave us two ears and one mouth. There is nothing more true than that statement. You never learn anything if you continuously spew out sounds. Through all this, however, we must keep Acts 5:29 in mind, "We ought to obey God rather than man". Even if it is an elder telling us to do something, we must run it by God before taking action. We must learn to obey God simply because He said so.

Closing prayer: Father Almighty, we ought to obey You, and yet we don't. No one knows what's best for us as well as You do, and no one wants what's best for us as much as You do. Why, then, can we not follow Your simple demands that You make out of love? Our hearts are hardened against Your laws, Lord, and we ask now that You take them close to Your perfect form so as to soften them. There is not a thing in the world that we want more than to be willing to fully surrender to You and obey You. So, Father, please be with us in the coming week, that we may walk the steps You place before us, honoring and glorifying You. In Christ's name we lift our prayers, amen.