MEN’S BREAKFAST
April 1, 2008
We love fools. We have a soft spot for idiots, don't we? I think that's one of the great attractions of Australia's Funniest Home Videos. And for that matter, other shows like Jerry Springer or The Footy Show. We have a secret bit of us that likes to see people being really, really stupid. My guess is that, on the inside, it makes us feel a little better about ourselves - “I can't believe that they did that... I would never have done that...”
I was given a great book for my birthday – History's Worst Decisions, and the People Who Made Them. It summarizes fifty episodes from history, starting with Adam and Eve and finishing with Robert Mugabe and Enron.
The beauty of the book is how the author walks through the decision-making behind each of these worst decisions, and how obvious the mistakes were. Of course, the magnitude of the mistakes is what really makes the grade here.
One example – the Lee-Enfield rifle. Nothing wrong with the gun itself. The original took one .303 cartridge, which had to be manually loaded. This involved biting off the greased end of the cartridge. Again, not so bad, and was much safer than any other rifle going.
The problem was that in 1867, the British forced the use of the Lee-Enfield and its cartridges onto the local army, which was made up mostly Hindu and Muslim conscripts. The grease that the cartridges were packed in was made of pig-fat and beef fat...
The Sepoy Rebellion that followed this resulted in 11,000 British troop deaths within a year, and probably triple that in Indian deaths, a great famine and massive debt.
At the same time, we do tend to venerate wisdom where we can. Lists of the 100 most influential people will generally have people like Voltaire, Confucius, Gandhi, Jesus (you know, that famous philosopher) and Plato. More and more people in the West look towards Buddhism, Islam and Eastern new-age philosophies because they seem to have a good measure of wisdom in them.
Nobody wants to be a fool. And the wisdom of this present age is, constantly, improve yourself! Get wise! So people enroll in very expensive Anthony Robins classes to “unleash the power within.” People go on life-enhancing courses. And people look for pleasure and satisfaction, promotion and prestige, wealth and influence... you name it.
What do we believe? That there is nothing that we can do to save ourselves. We believe fully the words of a first-century Jew who said he was the Son of God and was executed. We believe in a man who – contrary to every piece of financial advice I've ever read – said, emphatically, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,” “do not worry about tomorrow,” and “be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men.” In a world where donating to charity is an excellent marketing tool, financial security rides on being able to correctly read the stock market and financial security will only come from a carefully-managed portfolio spread, this is nonsense. This is complete irresponsibility!
The world tells you and I that we must be assertive and combative, ready to defend what is ours by rights. What fool is going to follow the teachings of this Jesus who instructs us to not resist the evil person. Listen to Jesus' words in Matthew 5... [read aloud Mt 5:39-42]
The morals and ethics of the world outside of these walls is getting further and further away from the morals and ethics of being a follower of Christ. At the centre of what we believe is the death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. But we even have church leader around the world – in an effort to be so inclusive and loving to everyone – telling people that this is both unnecessary and untrue. If anything is a stumbling block to your faith, it must be wrong. Homosexuality and lust are what make us human, and it would be a cruel and unjust God that would deny us these things.
This is what the world wants to hear. The world doesn't want to hear from fools carrying on about sin and repentance. The world doesn't want us to open our mouths and say stupid things. Because what we have to say is just so... foolish!
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1...
"I know very well how foolish it sounds to those who are lost, when they hear that Jesus died to save them. But we who are saved recognize this message as the very power of God. For God says, “I will destroy all human plans of salvation no matter how wise they seem to be, and ignore the best ideas of men, even the most brilliant of them.”
Make no mistake; we are fools. We do stupid things, in the eyes of the world out there. they've never said it to either Fiona or myself out loud, but I suspect that there are a few people who think I'm a bit stupid going to Moore College – I've walked away from a good job with a respectable company into a future with little probability of great financial security... they see it as being irresponsible.
We have almost all faced mockery for our faith – some have faced great hostility in the workplace. When my uncle came to Jesus in the mid-eighties, his wife left him. Blessedly, as the result of years of prayer (and his unbelievable capacity for forgivenness and a spirit that would never give up) they reconciled, and they both spend half the year in the Philippines as missionaries to the poor who live in the local slums and cemeteries.
I wish all of our stories have happy endings... and you know what? They will. Every one of us following this foolish gospel of a slain and risen Jesus will have a happy ending. One day. But in the meantime...
The ultimate wisdom of God inverts the logic of the world. Grace... it's so unnatural! A God who loved the world so much that he would give his only Son that whoever would believe...
God, in His great love, compassion, mercy and grace, has let us see past what the world sees. We know where the real wisdom lies, and we know the lies of the world. As we go our ways today, I want us to encourage each other in our foolishness. It's not easy. It can be draining, it can be exhausting, it can be downright depressing when workmates and classmates dismiss us out of hand because we have chosen to follow the slain and risen Lord. But it's the best thing that we could ever have done.
I want us to encourage each other on April Fools' Day to be strong in our foolish belief, making foolish ethical decisions and foolish choices that benefit the Kingdom of God and not our own security.
I want us to encourage each other to keep being fools for the rest of our lives. As Reg said in a sermon a while ago - “I'll stake my life on it.”
Happy April Fools' Day.
April 1, 2008
We love fools. We have a soft spot for idiots, don't we? I think that's one of the great attractions of Australia's Funniest Home Videos. And for that matter, other shows like Jerry Springer or The Footy Show. We have a secret bit of us that likes to see people being really, really stupid. My guess is that, on the inside, it makes us feel a little better about ourselves - “I can't believe that they did that... I would never have done that...”
I was given a great book for my birthday – History's Worst Decisions, and the People Who Made Them. It summarizes fifty episodes from history, starting with Adam and Eve and finishing with Robert Mugabe and Enron.
The beauty of the book is how the author walks through the decision-making behind each of these worst decisions, and how obvious the mistakes were. Of course, the magnitude of the mistakes is what really makes the grade here.
One example – the Lee-Enfield rifle. Nothing wrong with the gun itself. The original took one .303 cartridge, which had to be manually loaded. This involved biting off the greased end of the cartridge. Again, not so bad, and was much safer than any other rifle going.
The problem was that in 1867, the British forced the use of the Lee-Enfield and its cartridges onto the local army, which was made up mostly Hindu and Muslim conscripts. The grease that the cartridges were packed in was made of pig-fat and beef fat...
The Sepoy Rebellion that followed this resulted in 11,000 British troop deaths within a year, and probably triple that in Indian deaths, a great famine and massive debt.
At the same time, we do tend to venerate wisdom where we can. Lists of the 100 most influential people will generally have people like Voltaire, Confucius, Gandhi, Jesus (you know, that famous philosopher) and Plato. More and more people in the West look towards Buddhism, Islam and Eastern new-age philosophies because they seem to have a good measure of wisdom in them.
Nobody wants to be a fool. And the wisdom of this present age is, constantly, improve yourself! Get wise! So people enroll in very expensive Anthony Robins classes to “unleash the power within.” People go on life-enhancing courses. And people look for pleasure and satisfaction, promotion and prestige, wealth and influence... you name it.
What do we believe? That there is nothing that we can do to save ourselves. We believe fully the words of a first-century Jew who said he was the Son of God and was executed. We believe in a man who – contrary to every piece of financial advice I've ever read – said, emphatically, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,” “do not worry about tomorrow,” and “be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men.” In a world where donating to charity is an excellent marketing tool, financial security rides on being able to correctly read the stock market and financial security will only come from a carefully-managed portfolio spread, this is nonsense. This is complete irresponsibility!
The world tells you and I that we must be assertive and combative, ready to defend what is ours by rights. What fool is going to follow the teachings of this Jesus who instructs us to not resist the evil person. Listen to Jesus' words in Matthew 5... [read aloud Mt 5:39-42]
The morals and ethics of the world outside of these walls is getting further and further away from the morals and ethics of being a follower of Christ. At the centre of what we believe is the death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. But we even have church leader around the world – in an effort to be so inclusive and loving to everyone – telling people that this is both unnecessary and untrue. If anything is a stumbling block to your faith, it must be wrong. Homosexuality and lust are what make us human, and it would be a cruel and unjust God that would deny us these things.
This is what the world wants to hear. The world doesn't want to hear from fools carrying on about sin and repentance. The world doesn't want us to open our mouths and say stupid things. Because what we have to say is just so... foolish!
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1...
"I know very well how foolish it sounds to those who are lost, when they hear that Jesus died to save them. But we who are saved recognize this message as the very power of God. For God says, “I will destroy all human plans of salvation no matter how wise they seem to be, and ignore the best ideas of men, even the most brilliant of them.”
Make no mistake; we are fools. We do stupid things, in the eyes of the world out there. they've never said it to either Fiona or myself out loud, but I suspect that there are a few people who think I'm a bit stupid going to Moore College – I've walked away from a good job with a respectable company into a future with little probability of great financial security... they see it as being irresponsible.
We have almost all faced mockery for our faith – some have faced great hostility in the workplace. When my uncle came to Jesus in the mid-eighties, his wife left him. Blessedly, as the result of years of prayer (and his unbelievable capacity for forgivenness and a spirit that would never give up) they reconciled, and they both spend half the year in the Philippines as missionaries to the poor who live in the local slums and cemeteries.
I wish all of our stories have happy endings... and you know what? They will. Every one of us following this foolish gospel of a slain and risen Jesus will have a happy ending. One day. But in the meantime...
The ultimate wisdom of God inverts the logic of the world. Grace... it's so unnatural! A God who loved the world so much that he would give his only Son that whoever would believe...
God, in His great love, compassion, mercy and grace, has let us see past what the world sees. We know where the real wisdom lies, and we know the lies of the world. As we go our ways today, I want us to encourage each other in our foolishness. It's not easy. It can be draining, it can be exhausting, it can be downright depressing when workmates and classmates dismiss us out of hand because we have chosen to follow the slain and risen Lord. But it's the best thing that we could ever have done.
I want us to encourage each other on April Fools' Day to be strong in our foolish belief, making foolish ethical decisions and foolish choices that benefit the Kingdom of God and not our own security.
I want us to encourage each other to keep being fools for the rest of our lives. As Reg said in a sermon a while ago - “I'll stake my life on it.”
Happy April Fools' Day.
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