Default attitudes, assumptions, and actions

June 6, 2020 (Saturday)

 

                Join us tomorrow as Faith Alliance Church of Fuoss Mills restarts. Please observe social distancing, wear a mask (provided if you do not have one), and wash, sanitize, or glove your hands. The service will start at 10:45 a.m. See you there.

                What happens when nothing is going right? What happens when everything is going wrong? I’m glad you asked. Sermon tomorrow morning!

                Seriously let’s look at the question, preparing our hearts for tomorrow’s service. Psalm 11:3 asks our question in a different way, "If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" [KJV] Physical foundations are what holds our buildings in place. Jesus used the image of “foundations” in a spiritual way. Jesus claimed if we build on solid rock, the house will stand in a storm. If we build on sand, the house will be smashed by the storm. (See Matthew 7 or Luke 6)

                I’ve wondered if it’s possible to build on rock AND sand. Like when we compromise. This would make our spiritual lives unstable. We would sustain damage in time of the storm. We are seeing storms in the form of violent riots, racial injustice, and a killer pandemic. Notice Jesus didn’t give us the option of skipping the storm. The SAME storm hits the house built on the rock and house built on the sand.

                The question is HOW do we respond to the storm? If we find our spiritual life smashed or damaged because of compromise then what do we do next? It would be tempting to continue to live in the unsound parts of the house. However, in the case of a physical storm, the house is condemned and slated for destruction. It must be rebuilt. Do we make the same mistakes and compromises in rebuilding our spiritual life?

                So, what are these spiritual foundations? They are our default attitudes, assumptions, and actions. You know the "go to" things we think. For instance, what do you think when you see someone different than you? Someone with a different skin color, or ethnic, or cultural background, or faith, or...? Do you stop and go to the other side of the road? 

                If our default attitude is one of fear or hatred, then our foundation is faulty. Under the pressure of the wind and rising water, our lives will collapse. We will be driven deeper into those default attitudes, assumptions, and actions.

                Here’s the problem if our default attitudes, assumptions, and actions got us into this mess: why go back to them? One of my favorite images from the Bible comes from Proverbs 26:11, “As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness.” [NLT] Every time I remember a dog doing this, it makes me want to throw up. Our compromised default attitudes, assumptions, and actions are like vomit. When we unthinkingly default to them we are like the dog seeking to consume what was just rejected.

                A new default attitude, based on solid belief (not assumptions), leading to new actions and habits are built on Jesus. Listen as Jesus states for the record, “I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it.” [Luke 6:47 NLT] Have you come to Jesus? Are you listening to Jesus? Are you following Jesus?

                So tomorrow, join us. I will be covering one important skill to rebuilding (or building) a solid foundation.