This Sunday, sloth is the next Deadly Sin in our “Seven Deadly Sins” sermon series. The deadly sin of slothfulness is usually thought in terms of being lazy, but it’s more than that. It has to do with not meeting the needs of someone in need. It’s assuming that someone else will “step up” and meet the need. Does the phrase “someone really needs to do something about…” or “The bushes at church really need to be trimmed, they need to get someone to do that” sound familiar to you? I know I have my times of apathy and have been guilty of this.
At youth group we sometimes play a game called “sit down if…” Basically everyone stands up and the leader reads off a list of things like, “If you think Tennessee will beat Kentucky on February 13 sit down?” and of course no one would sit down. Another statement might be, “If you think Kentucky will ever beat Tennessee in football sit down?” and of coarse no one would sit down. So right now, no matter where you are reading this, we are going to play “Sit down if…” So stand up and let’s play! Here we go, “Sit down if you have ever thought that kids today are lazy.” “Sit down if you have ever said something like back when I was a kid we never had it as easy as kids today.” Okay, go ahead and sit down before we hear how everyone back in the day had to walk to school, uphill, both ways, in the snow.
For many of us, the assumption is that today’s kids are just flat out lazy and apathetic. How many of us have ever given up a week’s vacation to sit across the table and talk to a homeless person? Our youth have been on mission trips to Nashville and Chicago. How many of us have helped repair homes for perfect strangers? Our youth have in Mississippi, Charleston, SC, Cleveland, OH, and Marion, VA. Our middle school youth even provided over 40 Christmas presents for a local family this past Christmas. And ask Sherri Smith how VBS would go if she didn’t have the 30 plus youth volunteers every year? I could go on and on about how not just our youth, but how this generation is meeting the needs of others and is changing the world. But slothfulness goes beyond not meeting needs. There is also the danger of us becoming apathetic in our relationship with God.
The past two weekends our youth attended the Holston Conference’s Resurrection weekend. This is always a transformational weekend for our youth and this year was no different. Our youth were challenged to start taking responsibility for their own spiritual growth by “feeding” themselves and their friends. We were also challenged to evaluate our actions and ask ourselves, “Is it holy?” Our youth responded to this challenge. Over 60 of our youth reaffirmed their faith in God through Jesus and three youth said yes to a relationship with God through Christ for the first time! Five of our youth stood up and said that they believe God might be calling them into full-time Christian ministry! No doubt our youth were awakened from their spiritual slothfulness.
This Sunday morning, in both traditional worship services, you will get to hear the stories of their Resurrection experience. If you are physically able, I challenge you to be in worship this Sunday and to not give into slothfulness by thinking it is “only” youth Sunday or that it’s too cold, etc… So ask yourself if your options other than attending worship this Sunday are Holy.
Is It Holy?
- Coop
