May 11, Pentecost, Mother’s Day, Rural Life Sunday

Lesson: Mark 12.30d

Sermon Title: Strength

(Back to Study Home Page) (Back to Sermons 2007-2008)
(Back to Sermons Home Page) (Back to Shultz Home Page)

INTRODUCTION: Mother’s Day Humor

I. Kids Answer Questions About Mothers[1]

A. Here's how several elementary school students answered the following questions about moms:

Why did God make mothers?

C She's the only one who knows where the Scotch tape is.

C Mostly to clean the house.

C To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?

C He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.

C Magic, plus superpowers and a lot of stirring.

C God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?

C God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world…and one dab of mean.

C They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?

C We're related.

C God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's moms like me.

B. Insults from Marge Simpson, She says to husband, Homer:

“Homer, I've gone through seven years of receipts, and you've spent less on gifts for me than you have on temporary tattoos.@

II. “I'd like to be the ideal mother, but I'm too busy raising my kids.@[2]

III. Mother's Advice[3]

The new bride went crying to her mother. "Momma, I can't get my husband to do anything. I want him to fix up the house, and he keeps putting it off."

"Honey," her mother replied, "after being married to your father for twenty-six years, I've found the only way to get him to do anything is to tell him he's too old."

(Top) (Back to Study Home Page) (Back to Sermons 2007-2008)
(Back to Sermons Home Page) (Back to Shultz Home Page)

MAIN BODY

I. Today we consider the last phrase Jesus uses in expanding the First and Greatest Commandment.

A. You shall love the Lord your God with all your strength.

B. with thy strengthCThis commands our energies: Thou shalt put intensity into thine affectionC"Do it with thy might" (Eccles. 9:10).

1. Taking these four things together, the command of the Law is, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy powersCwith a sincere, a fervid, an intelligent, an energetic love."

2. But this is not all that the Law demands. God will have all these qualities in their most perfect exercise.

a) "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God," says the Law, "with all thy heart," or, with perfect sincerity;

b) "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul," or, with the utmost fervor;

c) "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy mind," or, in the fullest exercise of an enlightened reason;

d) "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy strength," or, with the whole energy of our being! So much for the First Commandment.[4]

C. Pentecost is a day of recognition of the strength of the Holy Spirit.

1. You take 12 weak, confused troubled disciples and the rest of the people in the room and in a brief instant the weak become strong.

2. The inarticulate learn to speak.

3. The world of Jerusalem is turned upside down.

D. Mother’s Day is a day for the recognition of Mom’s strength.

1. Mom’s have to have a lot of strong opinions, options, and opportunities.

2. This isn’t exactly a Mother’s Day sermon, yet it applies to Moms and all Mom’s offspring.

II. I was struck by the importance of a series of questions:

A. Where do we find the strength to be a witness?

B. Where do we find the strength to be an example?

C. Where do we find the strength to be admit we may be wrong?

1. It takes a strong person to admit they were wrong.

2. Argument Settled[5]

The other day, Avril and I got into some petty argument. (I say it was petty. She would have said it was Armageddon.) As is our nature, neither of us would admit the possibility that we might be in error.

To her credit, Avril finally said, "Look. I'll tell you what. I'll admit I'm wrong if you admit I was right."

"Fine." I said.

She took a deep breath, looked me in the eye and said, "I'm wrong."

I grinned and replied, "You're right."

D. Where do we find the strength to endure?

(Top) (Back to Study Home Page) (Back to Sermons 2007-2008)
(Back to Sermons Home Page) (Back to Shultz Home Page)

III. Where do we find the strength?

A. On my own, I admit I don’t have it.

B. We find the answers to the questions in the scriptures.

1. 2 Corinthians 12.1, 10

¹It is necessary to boast; nothing is to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord...¹⁰Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong, (2 Corinthians 12:1, 10, NRSVA).

2. Colossians 1:9-12

⁹For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. ¹¹May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully ¹²giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light, (, NRSVA).

3. 2 Timothy 2:1-7

¹You then, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; ²and what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well. ³Share in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴No one serving in the army gets entangled in everyday affairs; the soldier’s aim is to please the enlisting officer. ⁵And in the case of an athlete, no one is crowned without competing according to the rules. ⁶It is the farmer who does the work who ought to have the first share of the crops. ⁷Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in all things, (, NRSVA).

4. 2 Timothy 4:16-18

¹⁶At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! ¹⁷But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. ¹⁸The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen, (, NRSVA).

5. Ephesians 3:16-17

¹⁶I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, ¹⁷and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love, (, NRSVA).

6. Philippians 4:10-13

¹⁰I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned for me, but had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. ¹²I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. ¹³I can do all things through him who strengthens me, (, NRSVA).

a) through Christ which strengtheneth meCThe oldest manuscripts omit "Christ.”

b) The manuscript is then translated:

"In Him who giveth me power," that is, by virtue of my living union and identification with Him, who is my strength (Galatians 2:20).[6]

7. This is why Paul writes in Galatians 2.19-20:

¹⁹For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; ²⁰and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me, (Galatians 2:19-20, NRSVA).

8. Finally in that marvelous passage in Ephesians 6:10-17, we are encouraged to put on the whole armor of God.

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. ¹¹Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹²For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ¹³Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. ¹⁴Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. ¹⁵As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. ¹⁶With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, (, NRSVA).

(Top) (Back to Study Home Page) (Back to Sermons 2007-2008)
(Back to Sermons Home Page) (Back to Shultz Home Page)

CONCLUSION:

I. Love with all your strength means with all the strength that you possess which is so weak and small.

A. We may add to what we have so that we can become strong.

B. We have a source of strength.

C. We find that strength in Jesus through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

II. The 12th-century mystic, Hildegard of Bingen, once told a little parable:

AListen, there was once a king sitting on his throne. Around him stood great and wonderfully beautiful columns ornamented with ivory, bearing the banners of the king with great honor. Then it pleased the king to raise a small feather from the ground and he commanded it to fly. The feather flew, not because of anything in itself but because the air bore it along. Thus, I am a feather on the breath of God.@

A. Reuben Morgan has written the song AWhat the Lord Has Done in Me.@[7]

Let the weak say, AI am strong@
Let the poor say, AI am rich@
Let the blind say, AI can see@
It's what the Lord has done in me.

B. And in the words of the anonymous writer of Just a Closer Walk with Thee

1.
I am weak, but Thou art strong;
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I’ll be satisfied as long
As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

2.
Through this world of toil and snares,
If I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares?
None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.

3.
When my feeble life is o’er,
Time for me will be no more;
Guide me gently, safely o’er
To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.

C. We are challenged by Jesus to greater heights of understand that we could ever imagined.

D. We are challenged by Jesus to deeper levels of love than we could have ever anticipated.

III. Let us love not just in word or speech, but in truth and action. 1 John 3:18 (NRSVA)

Amen!

(Top) (Back to Study Home Page) (Back to Sermons 2007-2008)
(Back to Sermons Home Page) (Back to Shultz Home Page)

[1]Submitted by Peg Beukema, Nyack, New York, Church Laughs Newsletter [churchlaughs‑html@lists.christianitytoday.com]

[2]Mikey's Funnies [funnies‑owner@lists.MikeysFunnies.com]

[3]Received from Thomas Ellsworth. The Good, Clean Funnies List [gcfl‑info@gcfl.net]

[4]The Commentary on the Whole Bible by Rev. Robert Jamieson, D.D., Rev. A. R. Fausset, A.M., Rev. David Brown, D.D., Database 8 2000 iExalt, Inc. iExalt Electronic Publishing

[5]You Make Me Laugh [You_Make_Me_Laugh@crosswalkmail.com]

[6]JFB Commentary Database 8 2000 iExalt, Inc. iExalt Electronic Publishing