Sunday's Sermon - When the Brownie Knows Our Names

During the summer of 2017, I preached a series of sermons entitled "Living by the Spirit." Although God has called us and filled us with the Spirit, often our lives don’t actually reflect his presence. Of course, that doesn’t stop us from talking about it and claiming to understand how to get it and even judging whether or not others have got it. This we do often and well. What we’re not so good at doing is living it, in other words, living by the Holy Spirit. And that’s what we’re going to talk about this summer, how we might demonstrate the presence of God through our lives. Using Galatians 5:22-26, we’ll consider the following topics:
✙ Those who live by the Spirit...
✙ Those who live by the Spirit demonstrate love.
✙ Those who live by the Spirit feel joy.
✙ Those who live by the Spirit work for peace.
✙ Those who live by the Spirit have patience.
✙ Those who live by the Spirit show kindness.
✙ Those who live by the Spirit practice generosity.
✙ Those who live by the Spirit understand faithfulness.
✙ Those who live by the Spirit exhibit gentleness.
✙ Those who live by the Spirit have self-control.

Below is a copy of the last message in this series sermon, "Those who live by the Spirit have self-control."

Well, this is it. And even though I feel like singing “The Way We Were,” I won’t do it. And I say that in spite of the fact that right now, “Memories light the corners of my mind, misty water-colored memories of the way we were.” You see, today we end a journey we started way back on June 11, you know, when the world was a simpler place, back when few people outside of the ACC knew much about Charlottesville and few comic book fans associated Wonder Woman with World War One and we all assumed nothing else could go wrong with the air conditioning: good times, good times. But that was then and this is now, and this morning we’re putting a bow on our series dealing with living by the Holy Spirit.

And what a series it’s been. Over the last nine weeks, we’ve looked at what living by the Spirit isn’t. And then we’ve discussed love and joy, peace and patience, kindness and generosity, faithfulness and gentleness. And this morning, well, we’re looking at the one fruit that might actually be the most challenging of all, and right now I’m talking about self-discipline. You see, this is the one trait that all Christians are supposed to have, but that may also be the toughest to show on anything like a consistent basis, at least it is for me. Man, it’s hard to be self-disciplined.

But of course, it’s even harder when the stuff we find most tempting seems to know our name. Let me give you an example. As most of y’all know, on Tuesday, we had a bereavement dinner after the service remembering Paul Welch. And to that dinner, one of the ladies brought these little brownies with a pecan or maybe a walnut on the top. Now, I’ve got to tell you, along with snick-a-doodles and pizzelles and gingerbread, I love brownies. In fact, whenever I see a brownie, not only do I begin to feel a deep hunger inside, but it brings back some of the very best memories of childhood. Anyway, for the dinner someone brought these wonderful brownies, and I know they were wonderful, because I ate one.

And that would have been fine, but for some reason, after everything had been cleaned up and put away, there was one brownie left that the ladies put in the refrigerator, I guess so the deacons could put it out today in the parlor. And so there it was, sitting on the second shelf. And as the week went by, I discovered something strange happening. You see, this wasn’t just any brownie. In fact, I think you could call it mystical, because not only had it somehow developed the power of speech, it knew my name. You see, on Wednesday and Thursday, every time I got a cup of coffee I could hear the brownie speaking to me. And it would say stuff like, “Ed, aren’t you hungry for me” and “Wouldn’t I taste great with that cup of coffee” and “Don’t worry, I don’t have any calories,” you know, stuff like that. Well that’s what happen on Wednesday and Thursday. And on Friday, I could hear the brownie speaking all the way in my office. And then on Saturday, not only could I hear it, somehow it had gotten into my subconscious and I was being drawn, of course against my will, to that little chocolate square on the styrofoam plate. I’ll tell you, just like the sirens drew sailors to the rocks, that brownie was drawing me to the refrigerator. And you know, by yesterday evening, about seven o’clock, both the brownie and its song was so sweet, my resolve, my strength, my inner desire to be disciplined, man, that was melting away. Now that’s what happened to me. But don’t sit there all snug. I think few people could resist a brownie that knows their name.

But of course, if we’re honest with ourselves, self-discipline or the lack thereof isn’t just about food. There’s all kinds of stuff that we allow to draw us away from what we know is right and best and even Christian. And I think our only hope of not drifting away is what Paul considered the ninth fruit of the Holy Spirit. And since, right along with love and kindness and faith, he considered it something all Christians must show, we’re going to talk about self-discipline this morning, specifically what self-discipline is and how self-discipline can be developed and finally, why self-discipline is so important. And like we’ve done nine times before, we’re going to use the Bible to do it. Now that’s what we’re going to focus on during the rest of our time together.

And I’ll tell you, when you’re considering what self-discipline is, I think you have to also spend a little time looking at what it isn’t. And you know, when you’re talking about what self-disciple is all about, I think you really have to go to the Greek word that Paul used in Galatians: ἐγκράτεια. You see, that word literally means “having dominion over self.” And even though all the words Paul used in his list of fruits were offered in Greek because it was in this language that he wrote the letter, with this particular word, the Greek is really important, and I’ll tell you why. “Having dominion over self” or having self-discipline,” well it was considered a virtue by the Greeks, not the Jews. In the whole Greek translation of the Old Testament, this particular word is almost never used, because Jews emphasized obeying God, not disciplining self.

But that wasn’t the case for the Greeks. Self-discipline was considered necessary to live a virtuous life. That’s what they thought. And evidentially, so did Paul. And for him, self-discipline demanded self-control. In other words, a disciplined person was able to control some of his inner drives and impulses. And I think this is something we can see when he talked to the Corinthians about marriage and specifically about why a Christian might need to get married and when he wrote about how living the Christian life was actually like a foot race. For example, this is what he wrote about marriage: “The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another except perhaps by agreement for a set time, to devote yourselves to prayer, and then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. This I say by way of concession, not of command. I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has a particular gift from God, one having one kind and another a different kind. To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain unmarried as I am. But if they are not practicing self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion.” [1 Corinthians 7:3-9] You see, for Paul, self-control involved harnessing the natural feelings that people have for one another. And later in the same letter, he wrote, “Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.” [1 Corinthians 9:24-27] In other words, being a successful Christian is just like being a successful athlete. They both take dedication and effort and even sacrifice, but not just for the sake of sacrifice. Rather what is done is done for the sake of winning the race. Therefore, on one hand self-discipline is all about self-control.

On the other hand though, it has nothing to do with what we consider self-indulgence. And I think Paul defined what he had in mind with this kind of life-style when he wrote to the Philippians, “For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” [Philippians 3:18-20] And remember, for Paul, the opposite of living by the Spirit was satisfying the desires of the flesh. He wrote, “Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.” [Galatians 5:19-21] Now maybe it’s just me, but this seems to be a pretty self-indulgent, self-centered, self-satisfying way to live. You see, it would seem that Paul believed Christians should be self-controlled and not self-indulgent. And that’s what self-discipline is all about.

And how does self-discipline develop? For Paul there seems to be two things Christians need to do. First, to develop self-discipline, we really need to trust God. I mean, I think that’s why he called it a fruit of the Spirit, in other words, something the Holy Spirit works within us. But beyond that, I think it’s important that self-discipline appeared last in Paul’s list. You see, by occupying this final position, self-discipline assumes a place of strategic importance. In fact, you might say that self-discipline is the summation of the previous eight qualities that the Spirit produces. In other words, the work of the Spirit reaches its consummation in self-control. And this virtue enables us to realize every other aspect of spiritual fruit. And so, our ability to control ourselves starts as a gift from God. But second, it’s a gift that needs to be claimed and used in order to do us any good. I mean, it’s like getting a membership to the community center for your birthday, you know so you can get in better shape. That membership ain’t worth a hill of beans if you never go. You see, although God may give us the ability to become “athletic” Christians, we’re still going to have to decide to do the training ourselves. And this is something Paul knew. For example, just listen to what he wrote to Timothy: “If you put these instructions before the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound teaching that you have followed. Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives’ tales. Train yourself in godliness, for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.” [1 Timothy 4:6-10] Of course, training ourselves in godliness is probably going to involve doing things like attending worship and studying the Bible and avoiding criticizing others and assuming that we already know everything worth knowing. You see, we need to trust God and use the tools and opportunities he’s given us; that’s how self-discipline develops.

And why is it important, well, I think that comes down to two benefits. I mean, first, it strengthens our faith, and I’m talking about our faith in God. In other words, the more we focus on getting some control over ourselves and the more we trust God and use what he’s given, the closer we’ll come to him. And you know, I think we can see this link between faith and self-discipline in Peter’s second letter: “For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [2 Peter 1:5-8]. You see, self-discipline strengthens our faith in God. But that’s not the only reason it’s important. Second, people who have control over some of their less than beneficial impulses really help others, particularly other believers. Paul wrote this to Titus: “For a [church leader], as God’s steward, must be blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or addicted to wine or violent or greedy for gain; but he must be hospitable, a lover of goodness, prudent, upright, devout, and self-controlled. He must have a firm grasp of the word that is trustworthy in accordance with the teaching, so that he may be able both to preach with sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it.” [Titus 1:7-9] I’ll tell you, in the church, a leader who can’t discipline him or herself isn’t much of a leader, at lest not for Paul. You see, self-disciplined Christians help both themselves and others, and that’s why it’s important.

Now, I have a question for one of the deacons who set-up the snacks in the parlor this morning. Did you move any brownies upstairs? You see, I already know you didn’t. I just couldn’t resist anymore and so I gave into to the dark chocolate side. I failed in my attempt to be self-disciplined. But as it comes to our spiritual lives, we can be a little better than that. I mean, we can choose self-control over self-indulgence. And we can trust God and use what’s he’s given us. And when we do, we’ll help both ourselves and others. And I’ll tell you, we can do it, even though the brownie may actually know our names.