November 11, 2007

Foundation of love and peace
Romans 8:5-6

Side 1: Those who live according to the sinful nature
Side 2: have their minds set on what that nature desires;

Side 1: but those who live in accordance with the Spirit
Side 2: have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

Side 1: The mind controlled by the sinful nature
Side 2: is death,

Side 1: but the mind controlled by the Spirit
Side 2: is life and peace.

Romans 8:5-6

What foundation are you operating from?

I’m not sure if you caught it or not, but Pastor Kelly mentioned about a month ago that he was challenged by something that
I shared that had, in turn, come out of a challenge that Pastor Tonie Gatlin shared with us.

What I had shared was that God convicted me that I was living my life on a foundation of anxiety; and that he was calling me – like he calls all of us – to live our lives from a foundation of peace and joy.

It all started when Tonie shared with us that God had convicted her about worrying. Tonie, being the no nonsense person that she is, obeyed God and stopped worrying. She was amazed at how often she had worried, and how easily it had crept into her thoughts. But now that the Lord had convicted her, she wasn’t letting it take over her thoughts. She was nipping it in the bud, and that was that. It was time to quit worrying. God said it; she’d do it.

This was a neat process in Tonie’s life, and we talked about it more than once. To stop worrying seems like an obvious thing, but it was transforming her life. As it did, it also made her hope that other people’s lives would be transformed by it. I sat there, hearing what she was saying, and nodding, thinking, “Yep, so-and-so and so-and-so need to stop worrying. They’re always walking in looking so stressed. They’re always complaining. They just need to give it to God. They just need to let things go and get closer to God.” (It’s always someone else who needs to change, isn’t it?)

Well, after thinking like this for a couple of days, I finally heard the still small voice of God trying to tell me something. Now I don’t really struggle with worrying. At least, I wouldn’t call it that.

But God put a mirror up to me and showed me what I look like. I was walking into places looking all stressed. I was complaining – at least in my mind – about all the things I had to do.

Part of what he used to show me what I looked like was a morning I was late for staff meeting. I was running around, late and stressed. Oh, I had all sorts of reasons why I was late; and no one else had been up as early as I had been or working
as hard as I had been or dealing with so many family and church things as I had been; and doggone it; it was an amazing feat that I made it to staff meeting at all, and they should be thrilled that I’m there at all. And those voices were running around in my head saying all the things I just knew they’d raz me about:
“Oh yeah, there’s Rose late again.”
(Well, didn’t I have good reason?)
“All the rest of us made it here on time.”
(Well, that’s because none of you have all these things going on in your lives.)
And I just knew Pastor Kelly was going to say again that he really wanted us to start our meetings on time. I was all ready
to say something to that.

Now, if you’re sitting there rolling your eyes and shaking your head and thinking how crazy I was being, you’re right.

I was being crazy. I was angrily defending myself against things that nobody had even said. I was working myself into a frenzy of anxiety just thinking about all the things I had to deal with. And I was becoming hostile to the rest of the staff.

It was crazy. Unfortunately, it got worse.

You see, I was getting myself all worked up and ready to fight back when (not if, but when, of course) someone was going to say something to me.

And sure enough, somebody did say something. I burst into the door of the offices and Pastor Kelly said something about
me being late, and I fixed him with this awful look and said something to him. (I don’t remember what it was, but it had attitude in it.)

Poor Pastor Kelly. There’s two problems there. One is that no one deserves to get blasted with both barrels when they’re simply wanting staff meeting to start on time. The other problem is that whatever he said, I hadn’t heard it right. I was so into my own anxiety, that I didn’t even hear what he said correctly. I heard something condemning. What he actually said was something praising me.

I gradually calmed down and heard him explain what he had said (and Heather and Tonie confirmed that it had been something positive about me). Oops.

I also eventually heard God saying something to me.
Through that situation, and through some other things, God convicted me that maybe I wasn’t worrying, but that I certainly was letting anxiety and anger and hostility rule my life. Not all the time, but I was letting them take over too often.

Just like Pastor Tonie said, “No more worrying,” I had a choice. That choice became quite clear:
Would I live my life from a foundation of anxiety and hatred; or
would I live my life from a foundation of peace, joy, and love?

Part of what we need to give up is not just our anxiety, anger, and hostility. Part of what we have to give up is our idea that we have reason to be anxious, angry, and hostile.

Now I am plenty busy. David and I simply have a busy life. Between our family and church, our extended family, our home, friends, neighbors, jobs and schooling, we’ve got a lot going on.

I had been struggling with all the things going on in my life, because there’s too much to do. I’m hitting another stage in my
life where it’s becoming quite apparent that there’s a lot of good things that I simply can’t do because there’s too many good things to do. I’ve got to seek God’s face and see what He wants me to put first.

God used kind of an odd Scripture to convict me of this.
(It’s printed in bulletin; some Bibles in chairs; but bring your Bibles.)

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. . . .
“When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.…”
Luke 10:1, 5

So what was of “first” importance to Him?

The end of Chapter 9 talks about priorities . . . and that following Christ has to come first.

Then when Jesus Christ sent 72 people out to go ahead of him into various places, what was the first thing they were supposed to do?
“When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.…”

The first thing they were supposed to do when they entered someone’s home is to extend a greeting of “Peace” to them.

Well, God convicted me that I wasn’t bringing peace to anyone. I was running around my house stressed; I was running around the office and the church stressed; and all my neighbors saw was me getting in and out of the car all uptight
and anxious.

Why?
Because I had so much to do. I have so many crazy things going on. I have to deal with so many things. I have to answer
this phone call. I have to do this thing. I . . . I . . . I . . .

I was so focused on myself.

I didn’t stop to turn my eyes upon Jesus. He’s called me to all these things. And if I’m doing something that he hasn’t called me to, it’s time to stop doing it. That would cure a lot of stress right there!

I was so focused on my own circumstances, my own desires, my own little pity party. . . . Really, I was wrapped up in my own sinful nature.

What do we live by? What are we ruled by?

If you look at this passage in Romans 8:5-6 in different translations, you’ll find an interesting picture full of different ways to look at this.

They’re all describing how I was.
And just in case you’re thinking this isn’t about you, just remember that there’s all sorts of stories that you could tell about how you start to live your life on a foundation of anger, anxiety, and hostility.

Thankfully, Scripture shows us a better way!
_______________________________________________

Those who live according to the sinful nature
have their minds set on what that nature desires;
(TNIV)

For those who live according to the flesh
set their minds on the things of the flesh…
(NRSV)

People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves.
(CEV)

Those who live following their sinful selves think only about things that their sinful selves want.
(New Century Version)
_______________________________________________

but those who live in accordance with the Spirit
have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
(TNIV)

… those who live according to the Spirit
set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
(NRSV)

Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit
thinks about spiritual things.
(CEV)

…those who live following the Spirit are
thinking about the things the Spirit wants them to do.
(NCV)
_______________________________________________

The mind controlled by the sinful nature
is death,
(TNIV)

To set the mind on the flesh is death,
(NRSV)

If our minds are ruled by our desires, we will die.
(CEV)

If people's thinking is controlled by the sinful self, there is death.
(NCV)
_______________________________________________

but the mind controlled by the Spirit
is life and peace.
(TNIV)

…to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
(NRSV)

…if our minds are ruled by the Spirit, we will have life and peace.
(CEV)

…if their thinking is controlled by the Spirit, there is life and peace.
(NCV)
_______________________________________________

That’s good news!

A foundation of love, joy, peace

We can live our lives from a foundation of love, joy, and peace!

I will be the first to say that it doesn’t happen by saying we want to. I had to look at the mirror that God was showing me, and it wasn’t pretty. I had to repent – to turn away – from how I’d been behaving.

And it’s incredibly easy to fall back into old patterns.
Just last night, I was talking to Sara on the phone and told her, “I’m starting to get stressed.” Why? Because I wasn’t
feeling well, and there was too much to do. I laughed because I was working on this sermon – about living my life from a foundation of peace, love, and joy. Time to back up and practice what I’m preaching. Time to stop and look to God for
that peace. We all need to do that.

We all need to stop and prayerful think through:
   • “Am I living according to my sinful nature / my fleshly desires / my sinful self? What (or who) controls and rules my mind? What do I set my mind on?”
   • “Am I living in accordance with the Spirit? Am I ruled by the Holy Spirit? Am I following the Spirit? Is my mind        controlled by the Holy Spirit?”

I’ve enjoyed the last month or so. I still have a lot to do, and I’m still learning to prioritize better, and there are still times when I start to fall into old habits. However, I’m so much quicker to recognize it and to stop letting my mind be controlled
by anxiety. I’m quicker to stop and let the Holy Spirit control my mind.

And it’s been good. There is a difference. I look forward to growing a stronger and stronger foundation of love, joy,
and peace.