SERMON BY THE REVEREND AMOS MCCARTHY

19TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

OCTOBER 20, 2019.

Title: “Humility Leads to Happiness”

Text: “Blessed (Happy) are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:7).

Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:1-12.

We all have heard of D. L. Moody. D.L. Moody was the most famous evangelist in the world in the late 1800s. People came from around the world to attend his Bible Conferences in Northfield, Massachusetts. One year a large group of pastors from Europe were among the attendees. They were given rooms in the dormitory of the Bible school. As was the custom in Europe, the men put their shoes outside the door of their room, expecting them to be cleaned and polished by servants during the night.

Of course there were no servants in the American dorm, but as Moody was walking through the halls and praying for his guests, he saw the shoes and realized what had happened. He mentioned the problem to a few of his students, but none of them offered to help. Without another word, the great evangelist gathered up the shoes and took them back to his own room where he began to clean and polish each pair. Moody told no one what he had done, but a friend who interrupted him in the middle of shining the shoes and helped him finish the task later told the story of what had happened. Despite the  praise and fame he received because of God’s blessing on his life and ministry, Moody remained a humble man. Because of this, D. L. Moody was a happy man.

Name eight things that would make you happy.  If God said to you on this third Sunday in October, “Choose eight things that would make your week a happy one and I will give them to you,” what would you choose?

Would you choose to be “poor in spirit”?  Would you choose things such as mourning, meekness, hunger and thirst, being merciful, being pure in heart, being a peacemaker, or experiencing persecution?  Do you think these eight things would make you happy? Jesus seems to think so.

Before you conclude that Jesus is wrong, consider the antithesis of these qualities: characteristics such as pride, pleasure-seeking, aggressiveness, compromising, impurity, cruelty, and hatred.  You could not be happy with these characteristics, could you? Of course not! Therefore consider the eight Beatitudes as eight steps to happiness.

Humility is the way to happiness.  In Matthew 5:3 when Jesus spoke of being “poor in spirit,” he was referring to our recognition of both our spiritual neediness and the means that can supply our needs.  This poverty of spirit results in our discovery of God’s kingdom. People who are “poor in spirit” do not boast of their attainments or talents because they know they have nothing that has not been given to them.

Why is humility the way to happiness?

The first answer to this question is humility enables you to be honest about yourself.  When Jesus spoke of being “poor in spirit,” he did not imply that being wealthy is wrong.  Money can be handled in a Christian manner or in a nonChristian manner. Success and prosperity can lead a person to be self-satisfied and proud.  Yet poverty can drive a person to dishonesty. Jesus did not teach that the poor are spiritually superior. Not money but “the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10).

Jesus declared that if you want to be happy, you must be aware of your spiritual poverty.  No picture is more pathetic than that of a person who has a great need and is unaware of it.  Do you remember Samson standing in the valley of Sorek? He was surrounded by Philistines: “But he did not know that the Lord had left him” (Judges 16:20 NIV). 

Poverty in spirit is the beginning of happiness. It is an admission that you are nothing without Christ.  This admission is always followed by the Lord’s flooding one’s life with the riches of his mercy and grace.  To be “poor in spirit” is to be honest about yourself, and this is the way to happiness.

Secondly, humility is the way to happiness because humility impels you to commit your full potential to God. William Barclay conclude that “Blessed are the poor in spirit” means blessed are those who have realized their own helplessness and who have placed their complete trust in the Lord.  After you have done this, you will become detached from things and attached to God. You will commit your full potential to God’s will. The boy who came to hear Jesus teach illustrates this commandment. He took all the food he had and turned it over to Jesus (John 6:9)

Once you are willing to do this, you will be amazed at what Christ can do with what you have to offer.  Andrew asked what we are so often tempted to ask, “But what are they among so many?” In his own hands, the boy’s lunch was hardly enough to satisfy one lad’s hunger.  But in Jesus’ hands, the small meal became enough to feed more than five thousand people! Never underestimate what God can do with your loaves and two fish. The moment you commit all that you have to Christ, the impossible begins to happen!

Poverty that produces happiness is poverty of the spirit. Total submission to God’s will is always best, and humility is the way to happiness because it implies you to commit your full potential to God’s will.

On a third note, humility prepares you to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  No proud soul can be filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit, for a life filled with pride has no room for him.  Those who are unwilling to be controlled by the Holy Spirit are controlled by selfish ambition. Therefore the Lord said that we must become like little children before we enter the kingdom of heaven.  Children depend on their parents. Because they are their parents’ children, they are not really poor. As God’s children, we are dependent on him. Children spend little time worrying about what they will eat, what they will wear, or where they will sleep.  They simply assume that their needs will be met by their parents.

Our heavenly Father is responsible for our care.  We are told to cast our cares on him because he cares for us.  Jesus also said to his disciples, “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?  If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven 

give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (LUKE 11:11-13 NIV).  The “poor in spirit” know they are poor in spirit. They know they can do and can be nothing apart from the indwelling Spirit of God.  Those who find happiness through humility allow the Holy Spirit to fill them. 

Humility that enables you to be honest with yourself, that impels you to commit your full potential to God, and prepares you to be filled with the Holy Spirit is the way to happiness.

The first beacon of the Eddystone lighthouse off the coast of Plymouth, England, as placed there over two hundred years ago to warn ships of the dangerous reefs.  Henry Winstanley, the architect who built it, was so confident of its strength that he had written on the cornerstone, “Blow, O Ye Winds!Rise, O Ocean! Break Forth, Ye Elements, and Try My Work!  Those were foolish words, for less than three years later, a raging storm destroyed the lighthouse, along with Winstanley and others who were making repairs on it at the time. 

Years later, John Smeaton, an early leader in civil engineering, rebuilt it.  He found a new cornerstone revealed” Except the Lord Build the House, they Labor in Vain That Build it!”  For over ninety years it has stood every test. It was founded on a rock!

Jesus Christ, the Son of God and King of Heaven, had the right to honor, praise, and worship. Yet to be our Saviour, He laid all of His privileges aside and became a lowly servant. We often hear people talk of living as Jesus lived, and while He truly is the model for us to follow, many who speak of following Him are unwilling to give up their rights and reflect His humility. We will never be like Jesus unless we are humble and lowly. “Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.”—Proverbs 3:34  Do you want the kingdom of heaven now?  Then dig deeply and build your life on the foundation of humility, because it is the way to happiness!

SERMON BY THE REVEREND AMOS MCCARTHY

16TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

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Title: “Moral Courage: A Virtue of the Soul”

Text: “Have not I commanded you?Be strong and courageous;  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go,” (Joshua 1:9 NIV).

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Scripture Reading: Joshua 1:1-9.

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One of the most gifted speakers in church history was John Chrysostom.  The name comes from a Greek word meaning “golden tongued.” John was sent from Antioch to what was then Constantinople where he preached fearlessly in the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. His denunciation of the lavish extravagance of the rich and ruling class and his condemnation of excess infuriated many, including Empress Eudoxia who arranged for him to be exiled.

When he was told of his fate, Chrysostom responded: “What can I fear? Will it be death? But you know that Christ is my life, and that I shall gain by death. Will it be exile? But the earth and all its fullness is the Lord’s. Will it be the loss of wealth? But we brought nothing into the world, and can carry nothing out. Thus all the terrors of the world are contemptible in my eyes, and I smile at all its good things. Poverty I do not fear. Riches I do not sigh for. Death I do not shrink from.” 

Far too many today are more worried about what people think than about what God thinks. The desire not to offend others (which is not a bad thing in itself) is often elevated to be the most important thing. As a result, many shrink from taking the steps needed to get involved with others.  The second major premise of our sermon last week focused on getting involved with people as a major step in good neighboring. Getting involved with people has been a difficult decision for many of us. What do we need to motivate us to get involved with others? What do we need to live out our faith? Courage is what we need. Learn with me this morning as we look at moral courage as a virtue of the soul.

To begin with, let us understand what courage is.  Courage is one of the cardinal virtues. A virtue is a quality that adorns the soul through the practice of a good habit. Courage is one of the four cardinal virtues (wisdom, courage, temperance, justice), so called because they are foundational – they were identified by the Greeks through philosophical reflection and they are all found throughout the Bible, (Shaffer, 20).  Courage is another word for fortitude or strength or bravery. How does courage relate to us?

Our text this morning narrates the story of the genesis of Joshua’s leadership of Israel after the prophet Moses died.  Joshua the son of Nun took over. God’s plan for Joshua and Israel was to be prosperous as a nation. In this process, decisions had to be made and bonds had to be forged.  These needed courage to accomplished.Daniel 3 tells us how Daniel displayed this virtue in the face of imminent death.  It was the aspect of his soul that made him cried out, “Our God is able.” Courage is the virtue which adorns the irascible aspect of our souls.  It is that fight or flight impulse in us when danger is upon us or when we see a good that is not easy to obtain.  That impulse is given to us by God naturally to avoid pain and to preserve ourselves.  When fear arises in us because of some perceived danger, we react to it. But because of the confusion of our souls, we do not always react well.  We might cower and withdraw when we should fight or draw near, we might fight when we really should withdraw.

Courage is that virtue enabling us to act despite our fear and to do the right thing, to be ready even to fall in the battle.  Courage does not make us suffer pointlessly, but for a great good we perceive through hope to be attainable.

We all know courage, we have exercised it. If you are a student, making the move to a new life on your own, to a new city, the blank page when you must write an essay, the facing of exams for the first time!; if you have launched yourself on a new career.  If you have travelled and if you have moved to distant places, it takes courage.

The Bible is full of passages of God telling us to have courage.  One is the quote we heard this morning from Joshua: “Be strong and of good courage; be not frightened nor dismayed; for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua had recently taken over the leadership of Israel when Moses died. He hesitates before going across the Jordan and into the promised Land. He is afraid on different levels.  We know he was afraid because God does not speak without purpose, and tells him to have courage not once but three times! Joshua probably wondered can I be a leader? what sort of dangers will we face? so many uncertainties? He is afraid.  I remember before going to seminary in Ghana, I needed the courage. I didn’t have the money to leave. I was afraid of leaving behind my young daughter. God minister to my heart to read the passage we read this morning and when I did, I felt immediately physically and spiritually strengthened.  There was a recovery of joy, the release of energy and excitement about the coming adventure – yes, of course! God will be with me, all things are possible with Him!

We need courage to live out our faith, to witness about our faith to others, and to seek out God. When we confess our faith, in a group of people who are non-believers, it is not physical harm that we fear, but there can be fear that we will be rejected by the crowd, or simply thought to be foolish.  And yet as we exercise that courage, we find ourselves emboldened. Sometimes people react differently than we expected, it can draw out a latent, hidden faith in others. I know it was important to me, in the years when I was outside the Church, for people in my midst to admit they were Christians, it helped awaken my hidden faith. To speak to that person, whom I respect, believes?Moral courage is also tested in our speaking out when other voices are silent to an unjust oppression.  The courage to be a voice in the face of corruption or abuse in a work environment, even when it can cost us our job. The courage to put to an end an abusive relationship or to call another person to account regardless of the consequences. Moral courage is needed to speak against something society thinks is acceptable morally, but when we understand it to be contrary to Scripture.

The virtue of courage is not given to Christians so that we can avoid being harmed, it is not given to us to preserve our lives at all cost, but it is to enable us to be vulnerable in acts of love, to pour out our lives as a living sacrifice, to be steadfast in the face of persecution, to be able to walk in the way of love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:2)  God bless you all!! 

SERMON BY THE REVEREND AMOS MCCARTHY

FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

SEPTEMBER 22, 2019

Title: “Knowing your Neighbor”

Text: “And he answering said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. But he, desiring to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:27-29 KJV).

Scripture lesson: Luke 10:25-27.

Jesus Christ during his earthly ministry use parables very often.  There are over forty parables and related sayings recorded in the gospel.  Jesus Christ used these parables as teaching moments. Jesus used these teaching moments to convey truths.  Jesus use of parables was to convey a message to change his audience’s perception about reality. So Jesus use of these parables was to create meaning for the people of his time and for us today..  

In our Scripture reading this morning, we read a well known passage in the Bible, the Parable of the Good Samaritan. We all are familiar with this parable.  Society is familiar with this parable that even a half dozen hospitals in the US are named after this the Good Samaritan. This story is so familiar, we may ask the question, “Why another sermon on the parable of the Good Samaritan?

It is important to preach another sermon on the parable of the Good Samaritan because a lot of people think it is a story about helping someone.  It is not. Jesus Christ spoke this parable to convey a truth. It is a parable about the perspective of eternity. It is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. It is a story in which Jesus tells us the importance of loving God and those who are created in the image of God. With that in mind, we can look at three things here this morning: Who is our neighbor?  How do we know our neighbor? What are the things that hinder us from knowing our neighbors?

Who is our neighbor? Jesus told this parable as a result of the interaction between Jesus and the Lawyer.  The Lawyer asked Jesus a question, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  The motive behind the lawyer’s question is not clear.  The question itself contradicts the core of Jesus’ teachings because the inheritance of any form is the result of a relationship.  Eternal life is a gift we inherit from God through our relationship with him. It is not something we earn through works of righteousness.

Jesus answered with a counter question. He asked, “What is written in the law? How do you understand it?” The Lawyer answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself,” (Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18) The Lawyer was right but got trapped. He sought to prove that eternal life required the fulfillment of the Law. But his answer proved otherwise.

The lawyer pulled out a wild card, in an attempt to justify himself. “Who is my neighbor?” In Jewish culture, only a fellow Jew was considered to be a neighbor. Gentiles weren’t considered as neighbors. The Lawyer was implying he has fulfilled the Law by treating his fellow Jew with respect in keeping with the Law. Therefore he has earned eternal life by complying with the Law, not through a personal relationship with God. Our friend thought he finally had Jesus. But Jesus is smarter and wiser. He told him the parable of the Good Samaritan in an attempt to answer the lawyer. In this parable, Jesus Christ introduced four individuals.  Two of those individuals were the Jew and the Good Samaritan. The interaction between two of these individuals, the Jews and the Good Samaritan answers the question who is my neighbor?

The history of the feud between Jews and Samaritans is as old as 722 B.C. The year the Assyrians conquered Israel and took most of its people into captivity. Shortly afterward the invaders brought in Gentile Colonists to resettle the land. These foreigners brought with them their pagan idols, which the remaining Jews began to worship alongside the God of Israel. Intermarriages also took place. The Samaritans were descendants of these Jews who mingled with the Gentiles. Therefore the other Jews despised the Samaritans.It was such a man that became the neighbor to the fallen Jew. Did he know the Law of Moses? Jesus didn’t tell. But he said this, “But a Samaritan who was traveling came to where the injured man was, and when he saw him, he felt compassion for him.” Then Jesus closed the story with another question. “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The Lawyer knows the answer but he cannot even bring himself to mention the man’s race. He is picky about his neighbors. He answered, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.” By telling this parable Jesus wanted us to understand that our neighbor can be anyone in need. Our neighbor can be anyone who lives far and near.  Our neighbor is anyone who is not in right standing with God. Don’t divide people as neighbors and non-neighbors based on their race or behavior because God created everyone in his own image.

How do I know my neighbor? To answer this important question is to have the heart of love and getting to involved with people.  It is important that we get involved with people to know them. The heart of love which Jesus had made him involved with people. This is found in the story of Jesus and the woman at the well.  This example is found in John The end result of this example is found in verse 39, “Many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him.” (NKJV) Jesus influenced a city by influencing one person. As we endeavor to experiment with the good neighbor project, we must learn one great truth: Get involved with people.. Notice the introduction of the story.

“A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” (John 4:7-12; NKJV). 

  Jesus was involved with people. At the time recorded in this text Jesus was traveling. He was traveling from Judea to the region of Galilee. He did not have to pass through Samaria but He did. In fact, the Bible indicates “He needed to go through Samaria.” Samaria consisted of a group of people who were a mix of two nationalities. The Jewish people frowned on such crossovers. They looked down on the Samaritans. They believed in a purebred pedigree. Jesus did not avoid the Samaritans. He walked among them. As Jesus traveled through Samaria he stopped at a water well about noon, for a drink of water. This well was named after the Old Testament character, Jacob.  It is still there today.

Notice something; Jesus did not stay among the religious people, the Jews. He did not stay in the religious realm, in Jerusalem. He was involved with people. The longer we attend church and participate in religious functions the fewer contacts we have in the community. Jesus was not some religious Holy Man who stayed in a religious bubble. He was actively involved with people.

As a church you have been given a wonderful gift. Our church does not bog you down with endless meetings and activities. Some churches I have served will require 8-10 hours of our time each week. We try to limit time requirements. I hope you will use some of that time to be involved with other people. If we take a retrospective look at the ministry of Jesus, we will see in Luke chapter 4 beginning with verse 31 that Jesus was involved with people. Jesus was involved with Peter’s sick mother in law (Luke 4:38); Jesus was involved with the demon possessed (Luke 4:41); He was involved with the crowd (Luke 4:42) What are the hindrances to us getting involved with people?

In our passage, two individuals shows some of the hindrances in being a good neighbor.  The priest and the Levites were two people who could not get involved with the victim. It was common for the travelers of ancient times on this path to come under the attack of the bandits and thieves who occupied the mountains.

A Priest passed by him but did nothing to help. In the Jewish culture a Priest was a very important person and a symbol of hope. It still is in any other culture also. He passed by on the other side deliberately putting a safe distance between himself and the dying man. Maybe he feared ceremonial uncleanliness or was afraid the bandits were still around. The Bible doesn’t say? The point is the Priest failed to be a neighbor. 

We also see that the Levite also passed by the Jew. I assume hierarchy wise Levites was lower than the Priests. Nevertheless, they were a well-respected group in Jewish society. The Levite also passed by the other side of the road. Maybe he too feared ceremonial uncleanliness or was afraid the bandits were still around.

We will all agree that fear, prejudice, lack of love and the list goes on are all things that hinder us from being good neighbors.  We can put our fears away and work towards being good neighbors to people. We need to have a heart of love to be able to perform the art of good neighboring.

Jesus showed one cannot hate another human being and still claim to love God. Our love for God and man is best expressed in showing mercy to people in need. Let us show mercy wholeheartedly and God will reward us with eternal life.

SERMON BY THE REVEREND AMOS MCCARTHY

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

SEPTEMBER 15, 2019

Title:  “Our Responsibility in Obedience

Text: “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12).

Scripture Reading: Philippians 2:12-18.

Apollo in Greek mythology is the national divinity of the Greeks.  He is the Greek god of archery, dance and music, truth and prophecy, the sun and light, poetry and more. In one of the many art galleries of Europe there is an Old Greek statue of Apollo that is a beautiful figure of physical perfection.  Someone visiting the gallery said he did not know which impressed him more, to look at the statue or to watch the crowd as they looked. Invariably, he said, everyone who stood before it, even for a casual glance, began to straighten up, put back his or her shoulders, and stand tall.  The statue has the lifting power of loftiness.

This is something of the sensation we have as we read the lofty description of the journey of Christ from glory to the cross and back to glory by way of the cross.  Paul gave us this marvelous description of the grace and glory of Christ as an appeal to unity. He wanted us to have the mind of Christ, an attitude of humility and service.  For his obedience he received the exaltation of God.

Paul returned to exhortation and appeal in Philippians 2:12, picking up from verse 8 as a point of reference.  Christ was obedient even to the cross. We are to be obedient also.

Arabian horses are trained rigorously in the  middle eastern deserts. The horses must learn to fully obey their master. This obedience is tested by depriving the horses of water for many days and then turning them loose near water. As the horses get to the edge of the water, and just before they drink of the much needed water. The trainer blows his whistle. If the horses have learned to obey they turn around and come back to the trainer who then gives them as much water as they need. The trainer knows what his horses need and will not allow them to die of thirst, but they must trust him. God knows what His children need and wants to supply it, but we must trust and obey Him.

The first thing I want to run by you is that verse 12 and 13 reminds us that our responsibility for obedience shows in the certainty of salvation.  Obedience to God is manifested in salvation. Paul’s exhortation to “work out your own salvation,” sounds strange to our ears, for Paul was the one who insisted that salvation is wholly by grace.  Two things must be kept in mind: (1) He said, “work out” not “work for.” Salvation is by grace. (2) Paul was referring to the final result of salvation we enjoyed in Christ.

Salvation is wholly accomplished in the work of Jesus Christ.  In verse 13 Paul asserted that it is God who works within us. Although salvation is entirely a gift from God, we must cooperate with God in obedience and faith in order to receive it.

How are we to go about working out the salvation that God has given us, bringing to a final conclusion the results of God’s grace?  A constructive fear of God keeps us from a dangerous self confidence. Spurgeon told of a servant girl who gave as the proof of her conversion that now she swept all her bad ways under the mats and behind the door.  This is a proper combination of awe and responsibility, fear and trembling.

Secondly, verse 14 and 15 tels of our responsibility for obedience shows up in the splendor of salvation.  Paul’s exhortation in verse 14 is, “Do all things without murmurings and disputings.” His reason is in verse 15: “that… in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation…ye shine as lights in the world.” That is the splendor of salvation.  The splendor of salvation is that the Chistian shines in a world of darkness and perversity.

Pierre Barlot was a gunner in the fort of Mont Valerin during the Prussian siege of Paris. One day he was standing by his gun when General Noel, the commander, came up and leveled his glass at the Sevres bridge. “Gunner,” he said, “do you see the Sevres bridge over there?” “Yes, sir.”“And that little shanty in a thicket of shrubs to the left?” “I see it, sir,” said Pierre, turning pale. “It’s a nest of Prussians; try it with a shell, my man.” Pierre turned paler still. He sighted his piece deliberately, carefully, then fired it. “Well hit, my man, well hit!” exclaimed the general. But as he looked at Pierre he was surprised to see a great tear running down the gunner’s cheek. “What’s the matter, man?” “Pardon me, General,” said Pierre, “it was my house—everything I had in the world.”

Paul gave us three ways in verse 15 to shine as lights in the world.  We are to be “blameless,” “harmless,” and “without rebuke.” When used of people, it implies absolute sincerity.  In the sight of God, Christians are without rebuke. They should be able to withstand even the scrutiny of God.

Paul in verses 16-18 reminds us that our responsibility for obedience shows up in the service of salvation.  What is our service? We are to hold forth the word of life by proclaiming God’s message of salvation and by demonstrating Christian living.  If we do this, our lives will have purpose and will not have been in vain. Paul uses two very vivid pictures to show this.

One has to do with athletics and the other with religion.  He does not mind sacrificing his life to serve God.

A missions director once met with the mother of one of his agency’s missionaries and spent some time getting to know her. She prepared tea for the director in her parlor and as they drank the tea, she explained to him the difficulty of having a daughter on the mission field of China and a son as a missionary in Sudan. She loved and missed them dearly, but as she explained, her love for God allowed her to let them follow His will for their lives. The mother went on to describe the burden her son had for the Sudanese people. Her relay of his description of the people brought her to tears several times during the conversation. The missions director left her house with a deeper appreciation for the parents of missionaries and a greater burden for the country of Sudan.

A few months later the missions director got word that a missionary in Sudan had been killed—it was the Scottish lady’s son. Feeling he should be the one to break the news to her, he once again visited the mother in her home. After telling her the tragic news, the mother looked down, and in a few moments of composure she said, “Sir, I would rather have my son die in the middle of Sudan, alone, than to have him living here with me, disobeying God’s will.” What is the result of this kind of service? Joy and rejoicing in life.

We have a responsibility to be obedient to God.  And as we are obedient to him, we will have real joy in life.  God will give us the joy, the peace that passeth all understanding.  Our responsibility for obedience shows in the certainty of salvation.  Our responsibility for obedeince shows up in the splendor of salvation.  Our responsibility for obedience shows up in the service of salvation. God bless you all!!