BASIC DECENCY

1. Some of you may have read a story in the December (2005) issue of the Gospel Advocate.

2. A member of the church describes what he saw during the recent hurricane named Katrina.

ACCORDING TO THIS ACCOUNT, A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH SAW A WOMAN (PRESUMABLY A MOTHER) AND HER CHILD THROWN OVER A BRIDGE. HE ALSO COMMENTED ON HOW AN ELDERLY GENTLEMAN WAS THROWN OVER TO HIS DEATH, AND HOW PEOPLE WERE SHOOTING ONE ANOTHER IN A DESPERATE CRAZE. THIS WAS A VERY DIFFICULT TIME, BUT IT ILLUSTRATES A VERY LARGE PROBLEM.

a) In a lot of ways, our world has lost its sense of decency.

b) Some here can remember a time when they didn’t lock their care or home doors.

c) Now almost everyone locks up every door with a lock.

d) At work there are lockers, cars have sophisticated locks, and houses have deadbolts.

2) A lot of the information in the Scriptures consists of what I would call “decent living.”

3) Living decently does not mean a person is a Christian or will be allowed into heaven.

4) Yet, we cannot be a Christian if we do not “live decently.”

5) Today we want to look at some of things involved with “decent living.”

a) We have already heard Eph. 4:28 read. Decent living means we are willing to “work.”

b) It is not uncommon for us to get reports about people who don’t want to work; they want to steal.

c) Instead of getting a real job, there are those who embezzle funds from others and cheat people.

d) Basic morality should be in place and should help stem the tide of that problem.

e) As a culture our basic moral backing is gradually eroding.

6) Benjamin Franklin said that if the Lord doesn’t build the house, it is in vain.

7) It is next to impossible for a nation to really prosper without the basic principles in the Bible.

8) Our nation was founded on those principles and it has prospered; now we see a drift away from them.

9) Without the under girding of the principles found in the New Testament, America cannot prosper.

10) It may take 50 years or even 100 or 200 years for this to be proven true, but it is right.

11) Decent living is a thought scattered throughout the sayings of Jesus and the writings of the apostles.

12) This morning we want to look at some of them.

a) Mt. 5:7 refers to the “merciful.”

b) No matter how we look at the story I shared a few minutes ago, it has no element of mercy in it.

c) This woman was not asking to be tossed off a bridge.

d) The child certainly had no say in the matter. Neither did the older man want to be tossed off.

e) Mercy is helping people who most probably do not deserve aid.

f) It is a divine quality, but it is becoming less and less popular in the world.

g) We live in a self-serving, me first culture.

13) Maybe at one time or another we have needed help from someone—a favor.

14) The person we asked for help met our request with these words: what will you do in return for me?

15) Has anyone ever said that to us? We needed help (mercy), but our request was treated as a “deal.”

16) Jesus said “blessed are the merciful.”

17) Mt. 5:9 refers to “peacemakers” (those who actively try to make peace).

18) Basic decency should tell people to “pursue peace” instead of create trouble and contention.

19) Lots of people simply don’t care – they want to go their own way and if someone gets in their way – fight.

20) A “core value” that should be part of our nation’s fabric is peacefulness whenever possible.

21) In Mt. 6:1-4 we have another basic quality: giving (helping others).

a) Just a few days ago I saw an interesting article in a national newspaper.

b) The writer said “the wall between church and state should sometimes be breached.

c) According to this man, in times of national disaster, state and church should work together.

d) I found this writer’s perspective (he was from the Billy Graham association) to be a little odd.

e) The government is basically anti-church until it needs some money or relief effort.

f) If a religious person tries to say anything about morality and law, people shout “SEPARATION!”

g) Only when church money is available does the government say, “come aboard, we’ll work together.

h) In some respects that is casting pearls before swine.

i) These points aside, Jesus did speak of “almsgiving” in Mt. 6.

j) A basic tenant in Christianity is offering assistance to others, and we believe in that.

k) Jesus once told a parable about a Samaritan man, someone who was not well liked.

l) This man was robbed, beaten and left by the roadside. He was “half dead.”

m) A man passed by, saw him, and didn’t help (the passerby lacked basic decency).

n) A second man also came along and he too went out of his way to avoid helping the injured man.

o) If the Samaritan had been bleeding from a small cut, that would have been one thing.

p) He was a man who needed serious medical help.

q) A third man came along and offered that aid and here is what the Lord said about Him:

r) “Go and do thou likewise” (Lk. 10:37).

22) If give the general gist of the thought, it is: “be decent and helpful.”

23) We can give in the sense of Mt. 6 or Lk. 10, but basic helpfulness is basic goodness.

24) Later in Matthew 6 we have the word “forgiveness” (Mt. 6:12).

25) A basic part of humanity should be a willingness to forgive.

26) The values we are talking about this morning almost sound like Kindergarten material.

27) They seem as basic as learning the abc’s or learning how to count from 1-10.

28) For many, they have not been taught basic Bible principles or they information has not been well learned.

29) Some schools have apparently recognized this void and are trying to go back and teach basic morality.

30) Basic morality comes from the Bible. This is the source for this material.

31) We cannot have true morality with out God and His moral code.

32) This basic code has as part of its core forgiveness.

33) Mt. 7:11 refers to parents giving “good gifts” to their children.

34) We are entering into a time of the year when a lot of people think about giving gifts.

35) People will in up at stores at 4 or 5 in the morning to buy “good gifts” for their children.

36) Basic morality (core values) tell us something about parents and giving “good gifts.”

a) Good parents don’t give gifts once or twice a year.

b) Christmas is not a “make up time” for bad parenting the other 364 days of each year.

c) Having a great Christmas and a extravagant birthday party doesn’t cut it either.

d) Good parents give “good gifts” (and this doesn’t mean presents) on a regular basis.

e) Those good gifts are the right example, kindness, training the right qualities, and hopefully a Christian home.

37) When Paul wrote to the Colossians he also spoke about basic morality.

38) A “heart of compassion” is listed in Col. 3:12 as well as “longsuffering.”

39) With many, patience is a lost art.

40) On the highways we see impatience.

41) In the workplace there is impatience.

42) If people don’t get what they want right away, they start sending out e-mails, making calls & hollering.

43) Another basic value is expressed in the word “honorable” (Phil. 4:8).

a) It’s not often that we hear someone asking if a practice is honorable.

b) I am old enough to remember people saying they would do the honorable thing.

c) It was honorable to return a lost wallet.

d) Now a lot of people see a lost billfold and reason, “Some fool left his money and credit cards—good for me.”

e) We need to bring back the idea of honorable actions.

44) Basic values also have a part in the workplace.

45) This was implied by the first reference that was read.

46) Another text that has bearing on this topic is 1 Pet. 2:18-19 – READ.

a) Most employers appreciate workers who are good employees.

b) If we were an employer, would we want to hire someone we didn’t trust or are lazy?

c) Last Tuesday I was sitting in the plant cafeteria.

d) Two people were “on the clock” and were assigned to sort some parts (separate the good from bad).

e) We noticed these people off in a corner, heads down, and asleep.

f) I was with the man who had arranged for these people to sort the parts.

g) He wasn’t happy about paying people for work when they were off napping.

h) Basic decency means being the best employer or employee we can be.

47) All around us are examples of people who have a misguided sense of morality and good.

48) Peter spoke about basic decency in 2 Pet. 1:6 “self control.”

a) As I see his words I am reminded of something that just happened.

b) Just to the east of Grand Rapids, the day after Thanksgiving, shoppers rushed into a wal-mart.

c) Dozens of people tried to get in all at the same time; one woman fell and other shoppers trampled her.

d) A 13 year old girl was also injured in the stampede.

e) What the accounts described sounded like an out of control cattle stampede in the old west.

f) If this were an isolated incident, maybe it would not be as noteworthy; it is not isolated.

g) There was a man in Orlando, FL. He didn’t have the self-control to wait and get a discounted computer.

h) He cut in line so he could insure he got one of the special deals.

i) He was quickly wrestled to the ground by others in the store.

j) Self control should be a basic moral value in the lives of people but it is lacking.

49) If we want a quick lesson in basic courtesy, 1 Cor. 13 comes to mind.

50) Even if a loose paraphrase of this chapter is used, we see basic responsibilities to others:

a) People with love (or basic morality) do not demand their own way.

b) Love contains the element of loyalty.

c) Fairness is also involved.

51) At this time of year there is often an emphasis on being a “good person.”

52) Charity and other good qualities are sometimes adopted.

53) After the holidays are over, many go back to the same old practices.

54) Decency and a basic morality are never out of season.

55) For God’s people this is the way to live day after day.

56) We hope you have made the decision to live in this manner.

57) We also hope you have made this choice for the right reason.

58) Some live good lives because they like the feeling it gives.

59) That choice is destructive to eternal well being.

60) We need to live good lives (and holy lives) because we have become a Christian.

61) A good live must be founded on Christ or it is not truly good.

62) We hope you know how to become a Christian.