I read a story about the manager of a minor league baseball team who was so disgusted with his center fielder's performance that he ordered him to the dugout and assumed the position himself. The first ball that came into center field took a bad hop and hit the manager in the mouth. The next one was a high fly ball, which he lost in the glare of the sun--until it bounced off his forehead. The third was a hard line drive that he charged with outstretched arms. Unfortunately, it flew between his hands and smacked his eye. Furious, he ran back to the dugout, grabbed the center fielder by the uniform, and shouted. "You idiot! You've got center field so messed up that even I can't do a thing with it!"
While the text I have chosen doesn't specifically speak about blame, it sets forth a high standard for Christians to live up to. The problem we all face is that when we don't live up to that responsibility, we want to blame someone else or even God Himself.
We always want to blame others for our mistakes, don't we? It's hard to take responsibility for your mistakes, your sins, your errors in judgment. I have discovered that it is really easy even to help others blame someone else. My grandson had an auto accident last Saturday morning. Technically, it was his fault. But the man he hit was driving on a suspended license with no insurance. I thought, "It was really the other man's fault for illegally being at that place at that time. After all, he should not have been driving his car." We always want to blame someone else, don't we?
Wayne W. Dyer, in his book, "Your Erroneous Zones," says "All blame is a waste of time. No matter how much fault you find with another, and regardless of how much you blame him (or her), it will not change you. The only thing blame does is to keep the focus off you when you are looking for external reasons to explain your unhappiness or frustration. You may succeed in making another feel guilty of something by blaming him, but you won't succeed in changing whatever it is about you that is making you unhappy."
Not only is placing blame, whether it be on others or on yourselves, a waste of time, it is also sinful. The Bible says, "Look after each other so that not one of you will fail to find God's best blessings. Watch out that no bitterness takes root among you, for as it springs up it causes deep trouble, hurting many in their spiritual lives." (Hebrews 12:16 TLB) If you are to find "God's best blessings," you cannot blame anyone - including yourself - for the things that happen to you. Yet, all too often, that's what happens. So today, I want to take a brief look at three different areas of life and see how you, as a Christian, can handle each. First, I want to look at blaming others and/or God, then at blaming yourself, then at how to handle it when others blame you.
Think for a moment: Did you blame someone else for something this past week? It may have been something you did and wanted to divert the attention to someone else. It could easily have been blaming someone for something another person did. It's easy for politicians to blame "the people" for, say, causing global warming. And that may make each of us feel a little guilty. It's not hard to find someone you can blame, or at least imply their guilt, when you don't want to take responsibility for a problem of your own making. We see political candidates doing a lot of that these days. We also see various political commentators working overtime trying to score points for their favorite candidate or against their candidate's opponent. We all like to lay the blame at someone else's feet, don't we? Even when you are not directly affected by someone else's action or irresponsibility, you will somehow, at least in your mind, lay blame on them. You will say something like, "What an idiot that guy is."
In Lodi, California, in March of 2006, a city dump truck backed into Curtis Gokey's car. The car was damaged badly, so Gokey sued the city of Lodi for $3,600. There is a catch to the story: Curtis Gokey was driving the city dump truck that crunched his personal car. He admitted it was his fault. The city dropped the lawsuit, stating that Gokey could not sue himself.
Another problem we struggle with, is blaming God for what happens to us. There was a couple who were always talking to their son about all the wonderful things God has made. They would ask him questions like "Who made the sun?" and "Who made the rain?" One evening, his mother looked at the toys scattered on the floor and asked, "Who made this mess?" The boy didn't miss a beat, he said, "God did!" Have you ever muttered the phrase, "Why me, God?" Or "Why are you doing this to me, God?" When you can't logically blame anyone else you often try to put the blame on God.
Another thing folks sometimes do is try to use God as an excuse for what they have done. Donald Drusky took God to court. The one-time employee of USX Corporation blamed God for failing to rectify the wrong done to him when he was fired in 1968. Drusky waged a 30-year battle with the steelmaker, before deciding to take legal action against God. The suit reads: The defendant, God, is the sovereign ruler of the universe and took no corrective action against the leaders of his church and his nation for their extremely serious wrongs, which ruined the life of Donald S. Drusky. For damages, Drusky asked for the return of his youth, the skill of a great guitarist, and the resurrections of his mother and pet pigeon. Drusky hoped that God would fail to appear in court, allowing him to win the case by default. Drusky's case was declared frivolous and thrown out by a Syracuse court. Some people take really extreme measures to place blame where it does not belong.
Saul, in the Old Testament, was commanded by God to destroy the Amalekites and everything they had. He took his troops and did just that - except he kept the best of the livestock. When Samuel confronted him, he claimed that he kept those sheep and cattle so he could sacrifice them to God. He finally confessed his sin of disobedience and God forgave him. In that exchange, Samuel said, "What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams." (1 Samuel 15:22 NLT) You see, God would rather have you seek His will and do it, than just dutifully show up in church each Sunday.
Just prior to His ascension, Jesus commanded us to "Be His witnesses," (Acts 1:8) and to "make disciples." (Matthew 28:19) Ask yourself: Am I being obedient to that command? Or, am I making excuses and blaming circumstances for not obeying?
The CEO of a company was scheduled to speak at an important convention, so he asked one of his employees, Jenkins, to write him a punchy, 20-minute speech. When the CEO returned from giving the speech at the big event, he was furious. He tore into Jenkins: "What's the idea of writing me a speech that lasted an hour? Half the audience walked out before I finished." Jenkins was baffled. "I wrote you a 20-minute speech," he replied. "I also gave you the two extra copies you asked for." We sometimes blame others when it is actually necessary to own up to our own mistakes. But blaming yourself is not good either.
That's the second area where we often waste time and even sin against God - blaming yourself. We all do it at times. It is so easy to say something like, "I am so stupid!" Or, "Why did I do that?" Or "Oh, God! I am really dumb." Or even to perpetually blame yourself with comments like, "I can't do anything right." It is easy for you to take the approach that Geraldine, Flip Wilson's character used to take, and say, "The Devil made me do it."
Shirley MacLaine, who is really confused about religion and faith practices, is at least consistent: she argues that if your reality isn't so great - if you're poor or unemployed - you have only yourself to blame. You have victimized yourself by not living up to your potential. If a politician said this, he or she would be attacked as cruel and selfish, rationalizing his unwillingness to sacrifice for others. When New Age religion people like MacLaine say it, they congratulate each other on their openness to new ideas and faith in individual potential.
Blaming yourself for your situation or for your mistakes helps no one. It makes others look down on you and it makes you feel worse and insecure. The better approach is to simply own up to your mistake and admit your sin and seek forgiveness from God, and from others, if that is necessary. The Bible says, "God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, "God is tempting me." God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away." (James 1:12-14 NLT) The secret, I believe, is to keep your eyes on Jesus all the time. That way you can fight off the temptations that cause you to do foolish things or turn from the godly way.
There are also those who believe that they are made by God to be accident prone, always making foolish mistakes, turning aside to sinful practices. The Apostle Paul says, "Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, "Why have you made me like this?" (Romans 9:20 NLT) He goes on to point out that we must accept who we are and make the most of it to God's glory. In his letter to the Ephesians, he reminded us that "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10 NIV)
Novelist Vince Rause is not a believer, but he wrote in the Los Angeles Times Magazine a few years ago, about a time when he was going through hardships in life and was blaming God for them. One night he reflected in bed, and realized something significant about his anger and his disbelief. He remembers that night: "As I lay in bed with the empty, hostile cosmos pressing down, a thought popped into my head: I am angry at a God I don't believe in." It's easy to be angry at God and blame Him for your troubles, mistakes, sins, etc., if you don't truly believe in Him. That's pretty much like blaming someone else for your mistakes. If you believe in God, you must confess your mistakes and seek His forgiveness. He does not cause you to make them, but He readily forgives you when you ask for His forgiveness.
There is one other area on which I want to touch this morning. That is the problem of others blaming you for something that you have not done. Jesus says we are to "forgive those who sin against us." (Matthew 5:12 NLT) Sometimes that is a difficult thing to do. We might take Stephen, one of the original Deacons, for our model. As he was being stoned to death for his faithful preaching, he called out to God about those stoning him and said, "Lord, don't charge them with this sin!" (Acts 7:60 NLT)
There is one area where you could rightly be blamed for something you did not do. That is the area of sharing your faith with others. It would be truly tragic if someone called out to you on Judgement Day and blamed you for failing to tell them about Jesus. It would be truly sad, if someone you know, fails to acknowledge Jesus as their Lord and Savior, because of a lack of knowledge about Him.
Someone has said, "Too often we complain about our problems to anyone who will listen and praise God only in private. How much better it would be for us to complain privately and to praise God publicly." It is all too easy to complain and place blame somewhere - anywhere - so long as it is not on yourself. May each of you be able to say with the Psalmist, "Declare me innocent, O Lord, for I have acted with integrity; I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Put me on trial, Lord, and cross-examine me. Test my motives and my heart. For I am always aware of your unfailing love, and I have lived according to your truth..... Now I stand on solid ground, and I will publicly praise the Lord." (Psalm 26:1-3, 12 NLT)
You know, we complain about things in the life of the church, and blame people or circumstances for contributing to the problems - there is not enough money to meet the budget, there are not enough people doing the work that needs to be done, etc. We always want to blame someone else - or God. But you have to ask yourself, have I been salt and light in my areas of influence? Have I put the light of my Christian faith on a lampstand for all to see, or have I hidden it under a basket? Or, as Paul wrote to Timothy in our text today, Have I "fought the good fight for the true faith?" Have I "held tightly to the eternal life to which God has called me?" Have I "confessed that faith so well before many witnesses?" (1 Timothy 6:12 NLT) If you do that, you will find that your life is joyful and fruitful, and you will experience God's presence, not just in church on Sundays, but every day.
Prayer:
Gracious and Loving God: Help us to never blame You or others for our mistakes and sins. And
when we realize we have slipped and goofed or sinned against another and You, may we be
quick to recognize that error and confess it and be forgiven. Help us to not blame ourselves, but
to put confessed sin behind us so that we may live victorious lives for You. In Jesus Name.
Amen.
__________________________
Sermon September 16, 2007
Sermon September 23, 2007
Sermon September 30, 2007
Sermon October 7, 2007
Sermon October 14, 2007
Sermon October 21, 2007
Sermon October 28, 2007
Sermon November 4, 2007
Sermon November 11, 2007
Sermon November 18, 2007
Sermon November 25, 2007
Sermon December 2, 2007
Sermon December 9, 2007
Sermon December 16, 2007
Sermon December 23, 2007
Sermon December 24, 2007
December 30, 2007 - Guest speaker, transcript not available
Sermon January 6, 2008
Sermon January 13, 2008
Sermon January 20, 2008
Sermon January 27, 2008
Sermon February 3, 2008
Sermon February 10, 2008
Sermon February 17, 2008
Sermon February 24, 2008
(Please note: At this point in time, we are only able to keep the last few weeks' messages available. As a result, links to
earlier sermons on previous sermon pages may not work.)
If you have questions about this message or wish to contact Dr. Kile for further information, feel free to e-mail him at pastor@gulf-prairie.org