“Think on these things”
This is the message I brought to the Parkrose Village Congregation on 15/10/17.
Phillipians 4
“8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things
are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever
things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good
report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these
things.”
That is the KJV, we had the
Living Bible read to us earlier.
I chose this passage and topic because apart from
it being the recommended passage for this week in the lectionary, it reminds me
of the occasional letters and notes I would get from my late Aunty Alma.
She was my mum’s sister and a keen reader,teacher
and author.
When I was a child, and probably due to the
influence of my English grandmother, I used to receive as a Christmas present
the Rupert Bear Annual.
Does anyone here know Rupert?
Beautiful books that had a longer version of each
story below the beautiful illustrations,
but if you were lazy
you could
just read the shorter rhyming version as a caption beneath each illustration.
See sample here.
Rupert has his origins in England.
I used to love these books and the family tradition
continued for some time until “we grew out of childish things”.
One year when I was an adult,
and a
reasonably new Christian,
I received a Rupert Annual in the mail from my
Aunty Alma who lived in Victoria.
In the front she had written the verse we have
today.
“8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things
are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever
things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good
report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these
things.”
I was very much into a steep
and fast learning curve about Christianity at the time,
into some of what I thought
was more important theology.
I was into the
Theology and gifts of the
Holy Spirit,
The second coming of Jesus,
Healing prayer,
Learning how Jesus can heal
our sub conscious,
How to deal with the devil
and cast out demons if required,
Which Baptism was right,
What must I do to be saved?
Creation verses Evolution.
Now these things were and are important,
but I thought to
myself that here was Aunty Alma getting all poetical and profound again and I
thought I want more “meat” than something as cute as that passage.
Besides she was Anglican and
I was Church of Christ.
What would she know?
Not a good attitude was it?
Now as a more mature
Christian,
and knowing the battles she had in life,
physically,
emotionally and spiritually,
her note to me is more relevant and now I
appreciate why she sent it and why she packaged it with Rupert Bear.
Rupert Bear books were
something I remember as wonderful as a
child.
His world had much drama and
conflict but always ending with a positive outcome.
Idyllic scenes of an
imaginary English countryside.
Wonderful uplifting stories
with very appealing characters much as the young ones today have things like
Peppa Pig and their various cartoon characters.
“whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report”
Rupert certainly ticked
those boxes for me back then.
The Bible teaches us to
become as a little child and how the faith of a child keeps it simple and full
of trust and belief.
A popular saying we have in
our country and elsewhere is “take time to smell the roses”.
That is really a spin off
from this passage also.
“Think on these things”
which means not only
thinking,
but appreciating,
looking at our world in the
way God did when we read these words in Genesis.
“So God made man like his Maker.
Like God did God make man;
Man and maid did he make them.
28 And
God blessed them and told them, “Multiply and fill the earth and subdue it; you
are masters of the fish and birds and all the animals. 29 And
look! I have given you the seed-bearing plants throughout the earth and all the
fruit trees for your food. 30 And I’ve given all the grass and
plants to the animals and birds for their food.” 31 Then God
looked over all that he had made, and it was excellent in every way. This ended
the sixth day.[j]”
We do need to slow ourselves
down from the pace of modern life and to in effect count our blessings.
We do need to stop and think
of the wonder of God’s creation and what He has provided for us.
When we stop and do this we
are doing ourselves and those around us a real big favour.
We can be relieved of much
of our stress and anxiety if we follow the instructions in todays passage.
“4 Rejoice in the Lord always:
and again I say, Rejoice.
5 Let your moderation be
known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
6 Be careful for nothing; but
in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests
be made known unto God.
7 And the peace of God, which
passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ
Jesus.”
We have been rejoicing and
giving thanks through our music,
We have prayed together as a
Church,
As we have come to worship
Jesus at the Lord’s table
we have examined ourselves
and repented of bad attitudes and un
forgiveness.
We have been gathered in
Jesus name and He has been and is here with us.
Have you been aware of Him?
Don’t worry if you haven’t.
It can take a lifetime of
growing as a Christian to know His presence sometimes.
We are not exempt from
growing as a Christian even though we might be getting on in years.
He has been here whether we
have felt Him or not.---
If we think on the positive
things,
look for all the reminders
around us of God’s absolute power,
His creation
and love
our faith can only be strengthened.
We can better face whatever
comes our way.
Back in the 1960’s the
Bachelors had a hit record called “I Believe”
Many others recorded it
also.
I love the lyrics although
it is not a Christian song but it points us in the direction of the creator who
is our Lord.
Here is how it goes.
“I
believe for every drop of rain that falls a flower grows
I believe that somewhere in the darkest night a candle glows
I believe for everyone who goes astray someone will come to show the way
I believe, I believe
I believe above the storm the smallest prayer will still be heard
I believe that someone in the great somewhere hears every word (that someone is
Jesus)
Every time I hear a newborn baby cry or touch a leaf or see the sky
Then I know why I believe"
By
practicing the essence of our Bible reading today, we can in effect help
prevent ourselves from being led astray.
It
is easy to be seduced by the goodies,
the
world,
the
secular world,
has to offer.
We
need to be on our guard when temptation comes our way.
So
some practical things we can do to make today’s message real in our lives.
Ask ourselves when we
watch
TV,
read a book,
look
at the internet,
talk
on the phone,
if Jesus was with us and watching over our shoulder
would we feel good in His presence or would we think He would not approve of
this.
We
might feel shame!
Would
Jesus see what we are doing is
pure,
true,
honest,
of
good report,
praiseworthy?
Think
on these things!
Remember that while this message today points us in the right direction,
if we fail,
then we have our Lord Jesus,
who is always there to pick us up.
We just go to Him!
We
are now going to sing our closing Hymn.
All
things Bright and Beautiful.
