Sunday morning May 17, 2015 provided complete evidence that Buffalo's winter was finally over. Sun, warmth, birds and the windows were open in the car as we drove to church. This morning's message would be about the "Almond Anointing" and doing new things in the midst of old things coming against you. I felt peacefully adrenalized, I was on my way to deliver a sermon that I had diligently prepared for. I was ready and felt adequate for the task.
My wife and I left the Fruit Belt in our little red Honda Civic and headed toward South Buffalo. Driving south on Oak St. through Downtown Buffalo, I spotted two ladies sitting at a bus stop. Peering across the passenger side windows, I tried to see if they were smoking. My thoughts at that point were something like this:
"People at bus stops smoke and leave their filthy butts on the ground. Bus stops smell like stinky, discarded cancer sticks. Those ladies are probably smoking and adding to the mess."
I had puffed myself up to my haughtiest level of self-indignation. Within fifteen minutes, we were sitting in church. My contentedness carried me right into my sermon which began shortly thereafter. I was in the middle of my sermon when the Holy Spirit began needling me with my own personal deflate-gate. The way of love is narrow and my inflated self-righteousness would not fit into the pearly gates. I needed to be deflated of self-righteous judgment before I could be brought into the fullness of Christ. The Holy Spirit's needle of love slowly began to deflate my haughtiness.
The message on Sunday morning was about an Almond Branch and how God can take deadwood (like me) and supernaturally bring new life. My sermonizing was delivered with some seriousness and some smiles until I read these words from Isaiah 11:3-4 from the Amplified Bible:
13 And shall make Him of quick understanding, and His delight shall be in the reverential and obedient fear of the Lord. And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, neither decide by the hearing of His ears;4 But with righteousness and justice shall He judge the poor and decide with fairness for the meek, the poor, and the downtrodden of the earth; and He shall smite the earth and the oppressor with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
My smile quickly disappeared as I realized that the rod of my words toward those two ladies was destructive. Within a few minutes when the Holy Spirit gave me all the clarity I needed, I confessed on the spot to the kind church folks who were like a group of witnesses. I was preaching about the words of your mouth as being a testimony to your thoughts. I was convicted, became as deadwood, confessed, repented and God's love was restored. Jeremiah 1:11 was the main verse within the text that I had been studying.
11 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see a branch or shoot of an almond tree [the emblem of alertness and activity, blossoming in late winter].
The roots of my sin grew from two guilt pollinators. I'm a former smoker and my overcoming that bad habit has inflated my ego as an overcomer. The other part of the equation comes from a memory of resentment. Several years ago I needed to wait at a bus stop because my van was in the shop for repairs.I noticed that folks smoked heavily at bus stops and I judged them as being less than an overcomer like me. When you sin, examine the roots and pull them out or they will grow again. Ego and resentment are a destructive force.
It was God who alerted me to my own sinful condition. There was another passage in the Bible that we covered yesterday that could more adequately describe my journey through inadequacy from Numbers 17:5-8.
5 And the rod of the man whom I choose shall bud, and I will make to cease from Me the murmurings of the Israelites, which they murmur against you.6 And Moses spoke to the Israelites, and every one of their leaders gave him a rod or staff, one for each leader according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods, and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.7 And Moses deposited the rods before the Lord in the Tent of the Testimony.8 And the next day Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony, and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and brought forth buds and produced blossoms and yielded [ripe] almonds.
I went from murmuring against two ladies at a bus stop and became dead in my sin of judgment and self-righteousness. My words are now a rod of testimony that bring alertness and activity in the name of God.
Sometimes we are tempted to let ourselves off the hook of sin a bit too easily. We rationalize that our actions have only hurt us and nobody else. I suppose the effects of sin can sometimes be singular in nature, but life generally has some ripple effects. My activities or inactivities all carry varying degrees of multiplicity. Withholding love may cause the growth of hate. Unrighteous judgment may nurture unrighteous living. Haughty eyes may cast a glance that applies another layer of dirt upon a heart longing to be loved. We have been called to remove the barriers that separate folks from the love of God. Go forth and apply some love.
John 7:24 Amplified Bible (AMP)24 Be honest in your judgment and do not decide at a glance (superficially and by appearances); but judge fairly and righteously.
Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.
#JLYASDW
Bob Kuebler is the Founder & Director of Youth With A Purpose. Bob has spent the last 12 yrs. learning about pain and perseverance from inner city young people and their families. Healing starts with love and encompasses compassion and empathy. Our mission at YWAP is to inspire inner city young people to develop as God's leaders who overcome the mindset of poverty and gang violence. Bob is the Author of four books, several magazine articles and blogs including The Bright Spot Report. He regularly shares with audiences about how God is redeeming our cities through young people.
Bob can be reached at 716-830-8240
or ywapbuffalo@yahoo.com.
www.youthwithapurpose.org
