School is In Session

Click Here to Listen to the Sunday, April 3, 2011 Sermon by Pastor Rodger S. Loar


Scripture Reference 2Peter 1:3-9

School is in Session

“School’s out for summer, School’s out forever, Schools been blown to pieces, No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher’s dirty looks.”  So goes the lyrics to Alice Cooper’s School’s Out song.   I, for one, definitely daydreamed about the school being blown to pieces as a kid, especially before math tests.

It’s easy for us, as adults, to think that we are done with school; so, there isn’t any more learning to be done.  As Christians, that just isn’t true!  Growth is still expected of us, and that takes learning.  It doesn’t matter whether you are 19, 49, or 99 years old.  God still has some growing for you to do.

Peter lays out a growth path for us in 2Peter 3:5-7.  He tells us to add to our faith, goodness; to our goodness, knowledge; to our knowledge, self control; to our self control, perseverance; to our perseverance, godliness; to our godliness, mutual affection; and to our mutual affection, love.

Faith is where it all starts.  When we believe in Christ, that isn’t the end of the journey, but the beginning.  This is the point where we start, ‘having escaped the corruption in the world’ (2:Peter 1:4).  Yet, this is also the point where many believers stop.  Like Lot’s wife, when the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, they can’t help looking back at the world they know and so they stay there, stuck between two worlds and not growing. 

We then add goodness or virtue to our faith.  This is the same word used to describe Christ in verse 3.  No one is good all the time, but you start to practice being like Christ. 

Then comes knowledge.  If we don’t know God, then how can we be what he wants us to be?  This knowledge comes primarily from studying the Bible.  It also comes from sermons and lessons, but only when you apply a discerning ear to compare what is taught with God’s word.

After we gain knowledge, we must learn self-control.  That’s a hard one in this society where we can have almost anything we want without waiting for it.  Hungry?  Microwave a pizza in a minute.  Thirsty? just turn on the tap.  Bored?  Flip on the TV and grab any movie you want from online.  Lonely?  Heck, you don’t need to work at a relationship with someone, just go online and you can find all sorts of ‘entertainment’.  Want to buy something, go to an ATM and get your money now.  No money in your account?  Swipe a credit card and pay it off someday. 

Self control must be cultivated.  You have to learn to save for things, to wait for things, to earn what is right and good or we are no better than toddlers who cry when they don’t get their every desire met instantly. 

Self control naturally leads to perseverance.  Learning to endure through the difficult can lead us to all sorts of good things, from losing weight to making it through pain and disease to surviving the death of those close to us.  Our lives don’t have to completely fall apart when things get hard, it just takes perseverance. 

Godliness is next, learning to be more and more like the holy people He calls us to be.  This comes from putting godly values into practice.  You don’t earn this one on the couch, you have to get out and do.  This is not the false holiness that so many people project, but the real holiness of making the right choices in our life priorities, in our time, and in our money.  Other people see this and can quickly tell if you really are living a holy life or if you are just living a holier-than-thou life.

Mutual affection.  Brotherly love.  Caring for one another.  Walking together.  That’s what the church is all about.  Many people try to do the hard stuff on their own.  Always smile at people and never let them know you are breaking inside.  That path is destructive.  We need each other and we must be intentional about it.  Get to know your neighbors, learn to love your fellow Christians.  Spend time, share, eat together, pray together, have fun.  It’s almost impossible to grow past a certain point if you don’t have people close to you helping you to grow.

Finally, we get to love.  This isn’t puppy love, brotherly love, erotic love, or the love you feel when you bite into a good cheeseburger.  No, this is the practical love, love in action.  This is serving others.  This is intentionally loving those people who are hard to love.  This is putting yourself on the line to touch someone else’s life.  This is serving the homeless, even if they aren’t thankful for it.  This is praying with the dying.  This is visiting the little old lady next door and listening to her tell you all of her medical problems.  This kind of love ain’t easy, but it is an incredibly important part of our growth. 

God calls us to keep growing, to keep learning as believers.  He doesn’t call us to be ‘Pew Potatoes,’ you know the type, the vegetable who sits rooted in the pew.  Far too many of us feel that our faith is about ourselves and our own comfort.  The problem is, you don’t learn and you don’t grow if you are comfortable.

It’s time to get back to school. It’s time to stretch ourselves and grow.

Summer break is over.

School is in session.

                                                                 Pastor Rodger