Summer Sun or Son

When Lise and I first came to Oklahoma, and I hope I've got the date right, I know I'm like the rest of you guys, but I say a date and my wife gives me the right date after. But it was the early part of December 1982, we came from Montreal, Canada. I'll never forget leaving Montreal, Canada, where it was 10 degrees below 0 Fahrenheit. Cold, cold, grey, miserable. And, she and I and 3 of our children in the UHaul, and in the car, arriving at Oklahoma Christian College in those days at the campus, where it was a balmy 68 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny. And I remember our car was filled with boots and heavy coats and scarves and gloves. And these were shed layer after layer as we moved on through the south, arriving finally in Oklahoma from the, from the cold north. I've told this story before, it was so cute. I remember crossing the border and the border guard there, you know, the immigration person, here he is in December.

And we're at the border and you know, they're always asking, what's your destination, what's the reason you're going, you know. And they ask that a 1000 times a day, a 1000 times an hour, all the cars going from Canada to the US. So anyways, we get there and it's a woman, you know, an immigration person and she says, and she's not even looking at me, she's looking at my passport and she says, your destination. And I go, Oklahoma. And she looks up and she goes, why?

Like, who wants to go to Oklahoma? You know what I'm saying? If it's ever so I told her I was going to college there and she kind of understood. And I remember thinking, Wow, look at this, 60 8 degrees, people walking around in the shorts, you know. December, December, sunshine, warm weather.

And I remember thinking, I can do this. I can live here forever. Then of course after a few weeks, I learned about the crazy weather in Oklahoma, you know, like there was an ice storm the next day or something, you know, some weird thing happening. Well, I tell you this story, obviously, to highlight the point that I personally love sunshine. I love it.

I love warm and sunshine. I mean, I'm down when it's gray and I'm up when it's I don't know if you're like me, but I'm like that. I love the sun. People say, you know, Boy, you must be missing that cold weather. No.

You know, why do you think I'm here? If I was missing the cold weather, I'd be back there. And I think most people are like that. That's why so many people from the north, northeast have moved to the south and to the west, So, they can enjoy the bright sunshine and the milder weather. Of course, it's no surprise that people value sunny climates.

You know the creation at its beginning when God originally created the world, was beautifully moderate with perfect sunshine and rainless skies. I mean, that's how God originally created the world. You know, scientists tell us, creation scientists tell us that Hawaii for example, best resembles today what the weather was like all over the world at the point of creation. Isn't that marvelous? Isn't that marvelous?

Now the sun has always been an important factor in people's lives. Actually, even to the point where people have worshiped it as a deity. You know, that's kind of going overboard but you know, because it's so central in our lives. The Egyptians in the ancient civilizations were the most notable to worship the sun, and in more modern times, the Shinto religion of Japan has the sun as a very central figure if you wish in its religion. Here in the United States, we don't actually have any religions that worship the sun.

However, we do allow the sun to interfere and influence our religion. We don't worship the sun but the sun sure interferes with our practice of Christianity. For Christians, the coming of summer and the beautiful sunny days present temptations in 3 basic areas. And I want to share those with you this morning. First of all, when the sunny weather comes, there is the temptation to be immodest.

You know, the summer creates a situation where we wear less clothing for comfort's sake. And some women unfortunately use the occasion to exploit men's natural curiosity and desire for the female form. You know skirts, you know the deal, skirts and shorts become way, way too short. And tops have necklines or material that reveal way, way too much. And clothing is worn so tight that there's nothing left unknown to the casual observer.

Now some men are immodest, but not necessarily in revealing themselves. That makes me laugh at thinking the supreme court in New Jersey had to actually go to court to decide that a female breast had much more influence on a man than a male breast. And they actually went to court over a thing like this to decide that, which was true, you know, duh. But some men are immodest, as I say, not in revealing themselves. No, their immodesty is in the fact that they use the summer as an opportunity to take advantage of the immodest dress of the women around them.

Now defining immodesty is a tricky thing, you know? The word only appears a few times in the Bible. For example, in 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 9, Paul exhorts the women, he says to the women, Christian women, I want the women to adorn themselves with proper clothing. And then he describes what proper clothing is. Modestly and discreetly.

And then he goes on to say, not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly garments, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness. Now the Bible definition of modesty is related more to what a woman is wearing, and not so much what she isn't wearing. The word modest means well ordered or decent. For Christians, modesty meant that your address is in line with your faith. You know, young girls say, Well how short is how short is okay?

Well, how short should be based on what your faith is like. Modesty is an attitude born of faith that is seen in the way you act as well as the way you dress. Faithful women love the Lord. They love others, they love themselves. Modesty is all about love.

Did you know that? Not about dress, it's about love. For this reason a modest woman would not wear clothing that dishonors the Lord. Just ask yourself, if you're wondering about what you're wearing, just ask yourself, would you wear this in the presence of the Lord? I mean the Lord is within each one of us.

Modest women would wear clothing that shows love for others, not a lack of love for others. You know, you don't love your brother if by the way you dress you provoke him to lust after you, or you suggest to him the image of your body by the way that you dress. Modest women would dress in such a way that would not draw other people's attention. In other words, they would dress in such a way that would draw other people's respect, not other people's attention. Not other people's curiosity.

Not other people's envy. Did you know that? That's all about modesty too. Not just provoking lust, but provoking envy in others. And not provoking ridicule.

You know sometimes, you know, putting a ring in your nose or putting 10 studs in your tongue and you know, is that a sin? No, it's just immodest. It draws attention to yourself and most of the time, the point of curiosity or ridicule. That's immodest. That's hard for us today.

Let's face it, on TV things are like over the top. So what I'm saying here is like, Woah, pretty tough. Some women don't understand the power that they have, especially younger girls and young women, especially if they haven't been taught properly by their parents. Women have tremendous power with their bodies. And it's a natural gift that God has given them.

There's nothing wrong with being beautiful, being shaven. There's nothing wrong with that. God has given that power to women. And we know that that power, provides great joy within marriage. But a lot of young women don't understand that.

And because they are careless, they let the summer sunshine draw them into immodest. Others know exactly what they're doing, unfortunately. It's not carelessness, they know what they're doing. But like any other sin, they excuse it, or they ignore it, or they blame others for it. I've heard women say, Hey, it's not my problem men are like that.

I dress to please me. And if people don't like it, well that's just too bad. Is that a Christian attitude? You know, that may be true of women without faith but Christian women live to please their Lord and live to please others and not just themselves. As Paul says in Romans chapter 15 verse 2, each of us is to please his neighbor to his edification.

I'm interested in what my neighbor thinks. I'm interested in what other people's people think of me. I'm very interested in what other people think of my children. So let's be careful how we dress, so that when people see us, they easily see Christ, and they're not provoked simply to look at our bodies. And for men, let's promote modesty, let's promote it.

In our homes, with our wives, with our daughters, in our own lives by watching what we watch, and in our sons by providing a good example. You know, guys, let me tell you something. Your children are always looking at your eyes. They're always looking at your eyes. If you're there with your son or your daughter and some gal goes by and she's not she's dressed in a provocative way, you know what happens?

The kid will look at the woman and the very next thing he'll do or she'll do is look at you to look at what you're looking at. That's exactly how it works. You need to teach your children modesty. And by the way you dress, by the way you encourage others to dress, and by what you're looking at. The second temptation of the sun is this, the temptation to be irresponsible.

You know, it seems that we equate sunshine with fun. And in many instances, that's true. You know, it's vacation time, let's get into the garden time, it's barbecue time, it's sports time, it's just get outside time. I mean, in the summertime, I'll tell you, on the weekends, you know, I kind of review my lessons for Sunday. My wife knows I'm sitting out in the yard and I got a cool drink and I got my Bible and all my notes and I'm just kind of reviewing that and getting the rays out there.

I love to be outside. But the sunshine also tends to loosen things up too. There's more crying when it's sunny outside, you know. I mean, even burglars don't like to go out in the cold. And there's more immoral behavior when it's hot for some reason or other.

And there's more impulse purchase on a beautiful day. I mean, cars are cars, right? And yet, they sell a whole lot more than on a sunny day than on a rainy day. It's easy for us to forget our priorities when the sun is shining. We put off doing what needs to be done so we can enjoy the sunshine.

We're less profitable at work because it seems that the summer is time for play, not work. You know, when I was a kid, I used to get 2 months off for the summer. Now, I'm working and summer comes. Shouldn't we let go a little bit? Now, I may be nitpicking here but many of us feel justified in being irresponsible just because the sun is out.

Now, god is no respecter of man or of times. Jeremiah told the rebellious Jews that God would judge them at high noon. At high noon! And the reason he said that is because for the Jews, high noon I mean, the last time, the least time that they would ever think God would judge them was when the sun was shining, when everything was okay. He said in Jeremiah 15, he says, I will bring against them, against the mother of a young man, a destroyer at noonday.

The point is, don't let the nice weather entice you into laziness or irresponsible behavior. We need to be ready for the Lord's coming because he might come on a hot sunny day, when we're not expecting him at all. And then finally, the son also brings the temptation to be unfaithful. You know, I organized a monthly preacher's luncheon for the preachers of the church in the in the county here actually, in southern county eastern county. And a lot of preachers come, you know, 20, 25 preachers from different congregations around.

And we talk and we share and we have speakers and so on and so forth. And at this time of year, these brethren are always complaining about the summer and how it'll kill the church, how it adversely affects the church. Attendance is down for all services because people are away doing other things. Giving is down because people who miss services don't make up their offering on the following week. And it's hard to get work done around the church or the building rather, because everybody has got so many extra activities in the summertime.

Well, I have a couple of questions here. Who said that if you skip services because the weather is nice, it's okay? I mean who made that rule? Is that rule somewhere? It's like, well, don't you understand?

Didn't you look at the weather? It was nice out. I mean the lake and every it was a nice weekend. Of course, we you know. I have another question.

Who gave the permission to use the Lord's portion of your income to finance your summer recreation activities? Where show me where that's written please. Show me where it's written that we can use the Lord's money to finance our summer fund. Or who made the rule that it was acceptable to neglect our ministries so long as it was because of nice weather? You know, when you choose to neglect services so you can enjoy the sun, then you've chosen to worship the son of the sky instead of the son of god.

As simple as that. When you choose to use the lord's money for your son activities, then you've offered your portion to the son of the sky instead of the son of god. When you stop serving the church so you can devote more time to outdoor activities, then you're you've chosen to serve the son of the sky instead of serving the son of god. God is the same today, yesterday, tomorrow the same. Our worship and our giving and our service should remain constant and even all year long because God remains constant all year long.

You know, we expect God to save us, to help us, to provide for us each day. Rain or shine, right? Rain or shine. We're expecting him to be there for us. Well, you know what?

He expects us to be faithful to him, rain or shine. It works both ways. Now some people might be saying, Man, this preacher's breaking my back here. Can I take a vacation? He takes a vacation.

Can I take a vacation? Don't I get some time off? You know what? If you're asking this question, if you're really if that question's crossed your mind, then it shows that you have the wrong attitude to begin with. The question that we should be asking is this, how can I glorify the son of god while the sun is shining?

That's the question. In other words, what are some of the things that I can do for the Son of God now that the sun in the sky is shining and the warm weather is upon us? How do I take advantage of this beautiful weather to glorify my Lord? Well, there are a couple of ways. For example, when you go on vacation and you go away, everybody's got I've got vacations too.

Boy, I'm looking forward to mine. I don't know about you. Buddy of mine, Alan, brother in the Lord and I are driving to Montreal. I'll tell you right now. We're driving to Montreal.

We're going to Montreal International Jazz Festival. We're gonna take in a lot of sites. Visit my mom. Gonna eat. Steamed hot dogs, smoked meat sandwiches, oh man, I can taste it now.

It's gonna be great. So I'm looking forward to my vacation. You should too. But you know what? When you're on vacation, why not visit other congregations?

Especially pick one that's a small one. And we always go to the, I wanna see that big church. How about going to that little church? What a great encouragement it is for small I know because I preach in small congregations for a long time. But what a great encouragement it is, right?

At least on Sunday morning, to have visitors. When we were in Canada, every Sunday we had visitors from the United States who were visiting Montreal, they were tourists. It was terrific! We'd have 6, 7, 8, 10 of them sometimes. Oh boy, our numbers would swell.

We'd be 60. Boy, we were 70. It was terrific. 10% growth one Sunday. Why not do that?

Why not plan for that? And if you're going somewhere that has no congregation of the Lord's people, that happens. It happens. You're going to a remote place. There's just no church there.

Well who says that you cannot plan ahead that you and your family will worship together? Why not bring the elements along so that you can share communion? Why not think ahead of perhaps a message of encouragement or a bible study that you can have together? A photocopy, bring your songbook along, don't take it from the pew. You know, plan ahead, plan a little worship service for your family, dad.

And if mom, if you're alone, that's fine, you plan for your family. Sharing the Lord's supper and the singing and praying together. So, what a rewarding experience that draws families closer together, makes you appreciate when you come back. Another thing you can do is calculate what your offering would have been and set it aside, so you can give it to the Lord when you return home. I mean, we don't skip house payments, do we, when we're gone on vacation?

Can we do that? Do we call the bank and say to our manager, listen, I'll be gone on vacation, so you forget I'll just be paying that mortgage in September when I get back. Well, you know. Same thing, the lights keep shining here and you still got to buy stuff. Gotta pay for the preacher's vacation one way or another.

This is good stewardship. All kidding aside. Just good stewardship. And it's a wonderful example of faith before God and others. And many of us need to kind of step up in our maturity level and be thinking about that.

It's a radical idea. I'll give you another radical idea for your summer. How about setting aside part of your vacation or your free time for the purpose of spiritual growth? How about a camp for seniors or kids? How about a family camp?

How about a weekend retreat? How about a special service project that you and your family can do in the summertime because it's a little easier? You know, we got VBS or visitation or say, hey, you know, that Friday Saturday I got 2 days of my vacation and you call up Dave Roberts, our elder in charge of all service projects, you know, and say, Look, use me. You need mowing? Can I paint something?

You know? There's a radical idea. These are all ways that our growth as Christians can be enhanced by the sunshine, by the warm weather, rather than inhibited by it. And of course, of course, let's choose clothing and let's choose activities that maintain our year round witness that we are faithful children of God, Pure in mind, pure in spirit. And it shows, you know, we're going to Montreal.

You know Montreal, guys, it's a big town, lots of sin in that town. And when you want, you can get to Montreal, but, you know, we're not going there to do bad things, we're going there to do good things. Because I'm a Christian no matter where I am. And even if my local congregation is not watching me, I'm watching me. I'm watching me.

And I can be much more critical of me than anybody sitting out there. All these activities that I mentioned are going to promote spiritual growth without interfering with the enjoyment of the beautiful weather. Now, I'm not picking on those who love sunny skies. I'm one of them. I'm not picking on one who, you know, on vacation time.

And this sermon could be preached during every season of the year. I could preach it in the fall for the hunters. I mean, you just you just you just change it around and if you're a hunter, you you apply that to you. You know. Where do you where do you get the right to, you know, drop everything?

And I could preach it in the wintertime for those who love to shop at Christmas time. Everything stops because it's Christmas. And all my money goes for Christmas and all my time and energy goes for for Christmas to to do what? Excuse me? To celebrate Jesus?

Or I could do it in the springtime. Let's offend everybody. I could do it in the springtime for all the sports fanatics. Oh, soccer? Forget it.

It's soccer or baseball or, you know, whatever. You're feeling the sport. You you you want me to do church stuff and forget soccer or, you know. The question brothers and sisters is always the same always the same. Who are you going to worship?

Who are you going to worship? At what altar are you going to worship? Who do you love the most? Yeah, I know you love Jesus, but who do you love the most? Cause the one you love the most is the one you give your heart to.

Where's your heart? Is it in the dugout? Is it in the blind? Is it on the beach? Who are you going to serve?

And who or what is your priority? It's always that, it's always the issue. I'm just here to remind you that if you call yourself a Christian, then Jesus Christ and His church, they are your priority. That's if you call yourself a Christian now. If you don't call yourself a Christian, you can make up your own priority.

But if you, like Luke this morning, have confessed Jesus Christ and been buried in the waters of baptism, you have made Him your priority. And I don't care what you say, if you put something ahead of him, you're not following Jesus. You're following that other thing. Invitation time. That's it.

It's a no brainer, isn't it? If you haven't done what Luke did this morning, I mean think about it, somewhere back there in your life have you consciously acknowledged that you believe in Jesus Christ? Have you done that? Have you repented of your sins? Have you been buried in water for the forgiveness of those sins?

Have you done that? Because if you haven't done that, doesn't matter what you say, you haven't become a Christian according to what Jesus says you must do. So the invitation is, do what you must do. And the other invitation is about priorities. Have you let the Lord slip and let him become a second or third priority?

You know you know if this is true or not. And I keep asking and begging you Sunday after Sunday to put him back as the Lord of your life. And as long as the Lord gives me breath and opportunity, I will continue to do that. And so if you need to respond this morning, I encourage you to do that as Dave leads us in our song of encouragement.