The Scripture Readings for this week are:
- Psalm 15
- James 1:17-27
- Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
The Sermon title is Integrity
Early Thoughts: A long standing argument/excuse for not going to church is that the people who go there are hypocrites. A long standing condemnation of politicians (particularly during election campaigns) is that you can not believe anything they say or promise.
And if we are honest those become long standing because they carry a fair bit of truth to them.
The psalmist speaks of a vision of what makes people blameless before God. James encourages us to make our actions match our words. Jesus reminds us that it is what is in our heart that is most important, that what is in our heart flows out of us. In the end I think there is a call to integrity here. There is a call to be true to who we are created to be -- even if it may be inconvenient or uncomfortable at times.
Our words matter. Our words matter deeply. Our actions matter deeply too. All too often our words and our actions do not match up. We talk a good line but shy away when the rubber starts to hit the road. We have grand dreams but find it hard to translate those dreams into reality. Or maybe we have an inclination toward one thing but we have deeply ingrained beliefs and habits that lead us in a different direction. In all cases the end result calls our integrity into question.
God calls us to a life of integrity. God calls us to grow into people who not only hear the word but have it shape our actions. God calls us to pay attention to both our words and our actions. May God help us live into that call.
--Gord
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