Sermon 3 - Hypocrisy
First and foremost, Don't Panic, the world will not end anytime soon.
No man knows the hour when Jesus the Christ will make his second return. Only God the Father knows when that will happen. There is nothing we can do that will hasten the day of the Lord's return. Jesus laid out the sequence of events quite nicely in chapter 13 of the Book of Mark:
3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,
4 Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?
5 And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you:
6 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
7 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet.
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers (multiple) places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
9 ΒΆ But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.
Hypocrisy, that's what this is, hypocrisy. A world of woes, a world of lies, a world of despair. We read about some little girl that dies tragically and forget about the thousands of children that die daily around the world. What war is in favor this week, so we can forget about the hundreds of other little rebellions and insurrections going on that killed innocent bystanders all in the name of some mad struggle for power, greed, and the need to be right.
WAKE UP AND LISTEN TO YOUR GOD whomever or whatever you consider him/her/it to be. They all tell you to respect life, to better yourself, and in the end, to bring back more than you brought with you. Any who pick up a gun or any manner of weapon is a liar if he believes his God, whatever he conceives him/her/it to be, told him to do this. They are liars to the world and before their God. They shall not prevail ether in this life or the next. To the faithful, though you shall die, yet shall you live, and they perish.
We are powerless to change things is the greatest hypocrisy. Wake up people of the world! You are the power! How did so many allow themselves to be ruled over by so few? God will not reshape the world, we will, you will. We are embedded in hypocrisy. We swim in it, we bathe in it, we drink it, we eat it, and we breathe hypocrisy into our lives with each daily breath. How great is our hypocrisy if we have to kill to protect it? How great is your hypocrisy? I will tell you about mine.
I wrestle with the question of salvation daily. A supreme battle between good and evil. You see I was not always as I am now. I was once a Child-of-the-Night, one of the children of the street, a dropout and runaway at 16. All the dark images that conjures to mind would not be far from the truth. Still, like now, there were men out there that preyed upon young boys. Some held positions of trust, the hypocrisy. I joined the Army when I was 18.
I've wrestled with a problem of a sexual nature for many years. I find that I lust after beautiful women and have had sex outside of the bonds of marriage multiple times in the past, both free and paid for. Hopping bars and beds have not been without complications. I acquired an Internet porn site addiction thanks to AOL a while back. I would spend hours at night viewing pictures of naked women caught in the act. Today, I am free of my porn website addiction, and I have learned there is a difference between lust and desire, desire and want, want and need. Still, this is not the worst that I've done.
I've stolen to survive, and I have stolen just to steal. If you got something you want to keep. Then tie it down or I will walk off with it. I can lie, cheated, steal, and back-stabbed with the best of them. I cared little for my fellow man, so self-absorbed, and wrapped up in myself as I was. I've shirked my responsibility to man and God.
I've used drugs most of my adult life. There isn't a drug that I have not tried at least once. More often than not I tried any given drug more than once. I liked getting high. I could think of such great thoughts when I was high. My muse burned inside myself and I could write forever when I was high. How much more could I have done if I had stayed straight? I'll never know the answer.
Even the title Reverend, which by the law of the land I can be called, is a hypocrisy. Power from God cannot be bought, nor sold, nor given away. It's just a legal loophole I could use to my advantage later down the road of life. Don't you know, religion is big business. I will preach to you for money that I may get gain. I will preach to you the things you want to hear. I will lay before you the salvation and not the exaltation. A temporal bonding not an eternal one. All this will I do to make a living for myself. I have no desire for the welfare of any except myself. Pay me enough and I will be a concerned friend of yours. This is the meaning of the title of Reverend and any like titles we encounter today. Hypocrisy here is a cup filled to overflowing, onto the table, down onto the floor, and out the door.
I reject this title and all such titles. I am the least of God's errant children. I am almost nothing in His sight. If I have a title, then let it be the title of nothingness, the least of His creations. My standing among men is no more or less than the man/creature I am standing in front of at the moment. I add enough of my own hypocrisy into a world already filled with hypocrisy. The best I can hope for is to lessen the impact my hypocrisy has on the world, and I have no hope for something better without a hope in Christ.
I confess this day to all the wrongs that I have done. I confess to all the evils I have embraced. I confess to every evil and corrupt thought that has passed through my brain. I confess to breaking nine out of the Ten Commandments. I confess to drug use and having base desires of the most lecherous kind, and also the fulfilling those desires. I confess to lying, stealing, cheating and all manner of evil doings. I confess of all the wrongs I have ever done.
I confess all my sins and give them to you Lord to do with as you will. Not only do I confess my sins, but I confess my pains too. I worry that I may doubt what I know to be true. I worry that I cannot help all those that truly need my help. My saddest heart ache is that I do not have a partner in this life. These are some of the worries that I give to the Lord.
I confess that my only hope in this world rests with Jesus the Christ. Without Christ we have no hope of a life to come. He is our rock and our anchor. He is why I offer my services for free putting everything I have behind the goal of reaching out a helping hand to those in need around the world. The only way I can lessen the impact my hypocrisy has on the world is to become more like Christ. Only through Jesus the Christ are we saved, we are nothing without him, I am nothing without him.
Only by embracing God and reaching out to our brothers and sisters can we hope for salvation through Christ. Only then can we end this life of hypocrisy we lead. Then we will find the peace that we have always been searching for but has ever been just out of our reach. Pray that the truth may find you and you will be ready to hear it. Pray to know the truth when you hear it. Pray that you may follow the truth wherever it leads. Pray to know God and His salvation. Pray to help your brother or sister. Pray that your deeds be only good deeds worthy of Christ.
As I have confessed to you and the world; you too must confess before God and the world that you may be freed from the burden of sin in your life through Christ's sacrifice for us all. Visit our Confessional to unburden your soul to the world and to God and to accept Jesus Christ as Son of God and Savior of Mankind and your personal Savior on whom your salvation rests. Come now before the world and tell the world of your love for God.
Amen.