MOM - THE GOAT
Last Sunday, I was very excited to celebrate Mother's Day. With the challenges of COVID19, I needed something to celebrate.
This year, Mother's Day was definitely like no other. However, we should celebrate mothers, as well as, those women who mother other people. Sometimes God places people in a woman's path for the vital and important role of caring for them.
Happy Mother's Day! A special thank you to all of the women who have mothered me. I’ve had every type of mother you can imagine: birth-mother, foster-mother, stepmother, and church mother to name a few. I praise God for all of the mother’s He’s given me. I wouldn’t be here today without the love and support of the women who’ve filled the gap and performed the roles of the Proverbs 31 woman.
I’d encourage you today to look for opportunities to spur one another on, as it states in Hebrews 10:24-25. If your gift is to mother, let God use you today. Our society needs a few good Proverbs 31 women, just as we, need a few good fathers and men. As Don Conley, Ringgold Church Senior Minister would say, "There’s one thing I know,” we can’t do life alone, and we need one another.
As we practiced social distancing, many of us celebrated Mother's Day in the privacy of our own, quarantined homes, but UPS, FedEx, and the floral shops were busier than ever.
As my family prepared for the online Ringgold Church service, I read the lesson’s title, "MOM - The GOAT," on the screen. I was quite confused. I thought it was an unusual sermon title, and I couldn't remember any major stories in the Bible about "MOM - The GOAT.”
“Greatest of All Time.”
Despite being a really cool mom (and you can ask my kids), I honestly didn’t know that G.O.A.T was an acronym for the “Greatest of All Time.” After I learned its definition, I was feeling pretty smug. Don also used VIP to describe mothers, and my smugness went into high gear. After all, everyone knows what VIP stands for –Very Important Person. After hearing all these motherly compliments, Don had my attention. My full, undivided VIP attention!
My excitement and haughty attitude were short-lived because Don then mentioned the Proverbs 31 woman. As he read, I thought, “Really? She spins wool and flax. What is flax anyway?” The Bible goes on to say, she inspects fields and plants vineyards. To be clear, a farmer woman, I am not! I’m afraid of snakes... OKAY, if truth be told, forget the snakes, I’m afraid of bugs.
After going over the long list of AWESOME qualities and characteristics of the Proverbs 31 woman, I began to ponder which things I could do on the list if any. I’m somewhat energetic and definitely a hard worker, after I have my coffee, of course. I try to be considerate and concerned about helping others. Even though, I don’t help as much as I should.
Reading further into Proverbs 31, verse 22 stuck out to me. I thought, "Now, here’s something that I can do…” I like the idea of walking around in fine linen, and purple is one of my favorite colors.
But on a more serious note, I agreed with all of the necessary expressions to be shown to children outlined in the sermon. I'll be the first to admit that I am NOT perfect and have fallen short in parenting. I failed to use the expressions that Don mentioned in the sermon:
Moms Instill Respect for Authority
Moms Are Involved in The Lives of Their Children
Moms Trust God through Those Uncertain Times
I reflected on raising my children. I remember fabulous days, as well as, some very hard days too. When the people you love hurt, you hurt. When people go through difficult times while trying to navigate a hurting world, it can be very difficult for all involved. We must love one another. What an awesome reminder and scripture from this week’s lesson, Deuteronomy 6:5-9.
“5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
I used to help out at my children's school, and I will never forget the time this one child said to me, "Mrs. Dorsey, fifth grade ain't no walk in the park.” It was really funny at the time, but looking back on his comment, life really is no walk in the park, especially without a Savior.
They say it takes a village to raise a child, so if you’re a mother, father, parent, teacher, or anyone standing in the gap, we’re truly grateful to those that lend a helping hand according to God's Will and as is stated in His word.
After hearing Sunday’s message and before Mother's Day ended, I was humbled. I realized the Proverbs 31 woman has big shoes to fill. We can not achieve anything alone, and we must look to our Heavenly Father.
Oh, I also settled on a few new definitions of my own for the acronym G.O.A.T.––
Go On And Trust (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Get Out And Try (Ecclesiastes 9:10)
Get Other Adult Teachers (Proverbs 19:20)
Give Over All Troubles (1 Peter 5:7)
Perhaps this week, you can work on your own definitions of GOAT and fill in the gap for someone in need.
God Bless!
Spirit or Flesh
Spirit or Flesh
When I read the topic sheet for this week’s sermon — Spirit of Flesh — I thought about something I used to do, not so long ago. I am not proud of it, because it doesn’t make any sense, but because I want to be honest, I will tell you about it.
As someone with diabetes, I know it is a dangerous disease. My great-grandfather lost a leg to it. My mother was what they call a “brittle” diabetic. Her blood sugar reading would go from below 100 to 400 or 500, sometimes in a single day.
So, I went to the endocrinologist every six months for a check-up. But after I left the doctor’s office, my first stop was the donut shop, where I treated myself to a Boston Creme donut. Covered with chocolate frosting, it is filled with sweet cream. Delicious, but not what I should be eating. So why did I do it?
Because I resent having this disease and that there is no magic pill to make it go away. So, like a child who sticks out his tongue when the teacher’s back is turned, I rebelled in a way that will hurt me, and by extension, those who love me.
This is what Paul is speaking about in the 8th chapter of Romans — doing the right thing even when you don’t want to. It isn’t easy to do the right thing, because the reward for doing it is not available immediately. God doesn’t hand out gold stars or trophies for doing the right thing. I have to have faith that if I do the right thing in this life, I will be rewarded in the next.
How do I do that? How do I resist the chocolate donut of sin?
How do I do that? How do I resist the chocolate donut of sin? In many cases, it is tasty and I can rationalize that if I swallow it now, I will do better tomorrow.
Paul says I have to change my mindset. “Think of the things of heaven, not the things of earth.” How do I do that? First I have to want it. If I think of the things of heaven and the way of Jesus as something I ought to do, instead of something I want to do, I probably won’t succeed. I need to want to be a better person, to live in a spiritual way and not be caught up in things of the world.
Something that might make it easier: In his book, “Atomic Habits, An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones ,” James Clear says that associating with people who have the habits you want make it more likely that you’ll pick them up, too. But if I stick with the people who don’t have faith, who don’t treat other people with kindness and don’t share the bounty God has given us with those in need, I am going to slip into their way of life.
It is important that I don’t, because as Paul says “People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a trap, people are caught by sudden tragedy.” We are that situation now, with a virus that spreads silently and kills the most vulnerable among us. If I was planning on another 10 or 15 years to enjoy this earthly life and I get COVID-19, what then? I might recover, but as a 70-year-old diabetic, the odds are against me.
Another part of the sermon deals with being a missionary. I probably wouldn’t pass the physical to go on a missionary journey; they need young folks who have the stamina and the health to go to places where things are not as clean and comfortable as they are in the U.S.
Years ago, I interviewed a Christian missionary couple who had traveled to Muslim countries. Their strategy was not to show up and tell the people in those countries that what they were believing was wrong. No, they showed up and began to do things that helped the local people, like building schools and medical facilities. They did good things, then waited for the people in those countries to ask why they were doing them. Then they had an opening to describe their faith.
But just because I can’t travel to foreign countries doesn’t mean that I can’t be a missionary. If I do what Christians ought to do, to act with kindness and generosity, then someone might ask why I am being so nice. And I might be the only Christian that some people have ever met, so I need to spread the message that there is a better way, without trying to force it on those who have never heard it before. I pray that I will always be a good example to the people I meet.
Grace or Guilt
When Pastor Don Conley asked me to try my hand at a blog on the weekly sermon topic, my response was that I was a sinner, and that some of my sins were not dark secrets, but very public. The pastor told me we are all sinners in need of a Savior and that’s why he wanted me to give this a try.
Because of my years at the newspaper, I am more experienced as a writer than I am at reading the Scriptures. In the past few years, I have been delving into the Bible with the aid of a spiritual adviser who lives in Falling Waters, W.Va. I had occasion to call on him recently after something I read on my Bible app.
When going through the four gospels again, I noticed that when Jesus healed someone, he told the person healed not to speak of it. Why would He do that, I wondered.
My adviser did not know, but promised to consult a woman who was well-versed in such matters. Her answer was that Jesus came primarily to teach, not to heal. That also answered my question about why Jesus came in a time when there was no communications technology to speak of. Had he come in the age of television, I reasoned, his arrival would have been a media circus, as opposed to the appearance of a spiritual teacher.
This week’s sermon features the Apostle Paul, who was not called away from his job as a fisherman. He was a persecutor of Christians and preparing to do as bad or worse to the next batch he came across. Then, as he traveled the road to Damascus, he was knocked off his feet and asked why he was persecuting the Lord. He was struck blind and led into the city, where he prayed and fasted for three days.
Now it does not say what prayer he said, but I would guess it was what we call a foxhole prayer, as in “Dear Lord, get me out of this jam and I won’t do bad things any more.” And if Paul said such a thing, his prayer was answered. Ananias gave him God’s blessing and he recovered his sight and became one of the most powerful preachers of Jesus’ word.
“now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
In Romans 8, Paul writes to those he hopes to see when he reaches the imperial city. He begins by saying there is “now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
This a gift, freely given by God through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. But it is not a prize like a Mega Millions jackpot that comes with no strings. Want to buy 10 fancy cars with your lottery winnings? Go ahead. If you’ve got the cash, they’ll sell them to you.
But this gift from God does require us to be ‘in Christ.” I can’t be “in Christ” if you worship money or power. I have to be in the family of Jesus and follow him faithfully. When IU’m tempted to sin, I have to stop and think “I can’t do this because I am with Jesus now. I’m leaving all of those material goods behind for a better life.”
Easy to say, hard to do. When Pastor Don speaks from the pulpit, I am inspired to live the right way. But when I’m at Walmart and an employee is acting like he’s in charge of the D-Day invasion when he’s just letting people into the store gradually, I want to say something mean, to puncture his haughty attitude. I am fortunate that the experiences of the past few years have given me a 10-second delay. Then I remember that he has a job to do and people to answer to, just as I do.
When I am out in the world, I am with many people who aren’t in Jesus’ family. If I want to bring them in with me, I have to behave like a loving Christian. There are many tests out in the world, but if I fail, some may conclude that all Christians are hypocrites.
In the early 1990s, a top official of the United Way was found to be using donated money improperly. Many saw that as evidence that the whole organization was corrupt. Not so. The local agencies had no more to do with that than the corner grocer has to do with the big grocery chains. But donations to local drives fell anyway. I have free will. I can choose to be sarcastic and mean or I can be a loving follower of Jesus. It’s my choice. I pray I always make the right one.