Sunday, November 25, 2012

SPIRITUALLY MOUNDED OR MOULDY


Starting on my other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS on Nov 1...a 3 day series on HOW TO LESSEN ANXIETY.

Click on link below to go to One A Day blog

 


 

A different sermon is begun on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. 

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       The sermons found on this blog are selected sermons preached by Rev. Wyrick during a ministry of over 50 years.  This syndicated columnist/minister thanks you for visiting.

       To Visit neil's other blog One A Day Your Spiritual Vitamins click on the following  


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“It shall even be as when a hungry man dreameth and behold he eateth but he awaketh and his soul is empty.”  (Isaiah 23:8)


A long time ago on the side of a mountain, with the fishing village of Capernaum stretched out around a lake below; a man named Jesus continued his teaching.  “Turn the other cheek…” he said, and Peter, strong, raw-boned, easily angered Peter, cringed at such an affront to human nature.

 “Lay not up for yourselves treasure on earth,” and Matthew, a former tax collector, realizing that many had therefore considered him a legalized thief for the Roman government, cringed and hid his palms beneath his robe.

“Love your enemies…” and all the disciples looked down at the city and across the foothills and the mountain ranges and thought of the Roman heel.  Jesus how can you even suggest that?  So many seem to hate you you should understand that we cannot love everyone!

Read their faces and one could speculate that their thoughts were in turmoil,   troubled by what they had just heard.  Each silently arguing against that it is only human to grow angry and be vengeful.

People must stand up for their rights with their tongues or their fists, even to the point of death

sometimes.  It is just how things are.  

And so Jesus, with the insight of the Son of God, knew what their responses were. and understood.  He could feel how shocked they were with such foreign absolutes.  He could not, would not condone, but he understood.

So he paused, and then continued with a question, “Do men gather grapes from thorn-bushes, or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree produces good fruit, and the evil tree produces evil fruit.  A good tree cannot produce evil fruit, nor can an evil tree bring forth good fruit.”

Again they did mental battles with the truth of what He was saying.  They did not want truth.  They wanted excuses for bad behavior.  They were not looking for that much commitment.  They were looking for compromise.  They really wanted His forgiveness more than they wanted to be challenged.  They hated the Romans and they wanted him to say “It’s O.K. But it wasn’t O.K.

This journey toward understanding that Jesus and all His teachings espoused did not take place overnight. It couldn’t.  We human beings move slowly toward good moral behavior.  Our excuse machines are always in high gear. 

But the point of what He was saying was obvious, and try as they might they could not deny it.  What does a weed produce?  More weeds.  What does a thorn bush or a thistle produce?  More thorns and more thistles.  What does a tree with rotten or shallow roots give?  Fruit not worthy of its weight.

Therefore, what does anger produce?  More anger.  What does misunderstanding produce?  More misunderstanding.  Selfishness?  More selfishness.  The list is endless, the results always the same. 
(TO BE CONTINUED NEXT SUNDAY)
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       Recent articles Rev. Wyrick has written for this web site are:  REFLECTIONS
       Here Comes Summer (July 2012)
       Spring (May 2012)
       Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow (April 2012)
       Wayward and Windy (April 2012)
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OTHER BOOKS BY REV. WYRICK
Poor Richard's Almanack for the 20th Century
Sixty Plus and Not Holding
Boundaries Unlimited
I Am
The ABC"s of Parenting and Grandparenting
Letters to America
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