Wounded In Our Thoughts
Sermon
Wounded For Us
Scriptural Cures For Our Wounds: Lenten/Easter Resources
Sermon Notes
Causes
Bad tapes (bad programs)
Poor self-image
Self-centeredness (pride)
Bad information
Rut thinking (not open to new information)
Prejudice
Negative input
Cure
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God -- what is good and acceptable and perfect.
--aRomans 12:2
Sermon
Wounded In Our Thoughts
Isaiah 50:4-9; James 3:1-12; Matthew 27:27-31
(The sermon begins with illustrations of people whose identities are shaped by their self-image. Below you will find examples that were used for the week of February 29, 2004. The pastor may want to use illustrations that are more current and relevant to his or her congregation.)
A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-packed vehicle outside of an Iraqi police station in a Kurdish neighborhood in Kirkuk, killing at least fifteen people and wounding 45 others.
Only four percent of Amish men are obese versus 31 percent of non-Amish men. Why? In an experiment, 100 adults in an Amish farming community in southern Ontario wore pedometers and logged their physical activity for a week. The men reported ten hours of vigorous work a week and averaged 18,425 steps a day. All told, they engaged in six times as much physical activity as did their "modern" counterparts (Time, February 9, 2004).
Enrollment at Azusa Pacific University (A.P.U.), the second largest evangelical Christian college with an enrollment of 8,200, has risen 27 percent since 1997. "Young people want to know something bigger than themselves," says senior Marcus Robinson, 24 (Time, February 2, 2004).
For several months, motorists in the Columbus, Ohio, area have been victims of a sniper who so far has killed one lady. From the information which has been released, it would appear that the white, male shooter just gets his kicks out of shooting at cars passing him on the interstate.
A woman pleads guilty to setting fire to the trailer in which her three children were sleeping. In a letter filed with the court she states: "The sooner I can get bonded out then I can take on my motherly responsibilities of my young children. My children are everything to me."
An Islamic terrorist, Amish men, students attending an evangelical Christian college, the Columbus sniper, and a mother who sets her trailer on fire: what do these six examples have in common? Each of these individuals or groups acted on the content of their minds. Their "take" on reality informs their decision, dictates their priorities, and frames their response to their environment.
This observation is not only true for the above six examples, it is true for each of us. Our worldview, formed over many years of experience, input, and evaluation, predisposes us to think, observe, reason, and act in predetermined ways. Much of what we do, how we see our world, and our understanding of reality is based on the content of our minds. On the whole it is good content and serves us well. But we can also be wounded in our thoughts, we can have content which is unhealthy, non-productive, and which continually gets us into trouble.
Bad Tapes (Bad Programs)
In the '70s, Thomas Harris made "Transactional Analysis" a part of the American vocabulary with the publishing of his book,
I'm OK -- You're OK. For Harris we all have inside our human consciousness tapes, many of which go back to our earliest days and months, which begin to play when we find ourselves confronted by a challenge or a threat, called upon to perform a particular task, or presented with a new or novel situation. They form the basis of our conditioned response to our environment. Fortunately, most of the time these tapes serve us well. However, there may be some whose content habitually gets us into trouble. When one of them begins to play, we might well say to ourselves, "Well, I've done it again."
I suspect if Harris were writing his book today, instead of using the imagery of tapes, he might well use computer programs. Our brain is a computer filled with programs that allow us to function. For the most part they perform without a hitch. However, when they have been improperly installed, have become corrupt, or have been invaded by a virus, they can cause great harm and distress.
What happens to your computer when it has a bad program or one that has become corrupt or has a virus? It does not work well. And you get very frustrated, very upset, and very angry, trying to correct the problem. So it is with us when one of the programs in our head has become faulty, or has become wounded.
Poor Self-image
For Thomas Harris, a tape that is common for a majority of Americans is "I'm not okay, you're okay." Most of us suffer from a poor self-image. Somehow no matter how much we do, how much we accomplish, how much people affirm us, we still do not feel worthy. We think to ourselves, "If people only really knew me, they would think differently about me. They would never like me." Somehow we don't quite measure up. It doesn't seem to matter how much good we do, how much we accomplish, or how much people say how wonderful we are, we still do not feel good about ourselves.
Self-centeredness (Pride)
The opposite of a poor self-image is self-centeredness. Here the faulty tape is "I'm okay, everyone else is not okay." The scriptures identify this as the sin of pride. No one else can do things as well as I can, have ideas as good as I have, or is as worthy of praise as I am. In fact, I am a superior individual. The content of the mind of a person who suffers from self-centeredness and pride is filled with the pronoun "I." "I think." "I want." "I believe." It goes on and on and on.
Bad Information
Every once in a while, I discover that a bit of information that I was sure was absolutely true turns out to be inaccurate. Usually they have to do with my take on past events. Fortunately, these bad bits of information don't make much difference in the big scheme of things. When they are discovered, it is good to get them corrected. There are those that can cause serious harm. Here it is imperative that they be identified and quickly corrected.
Rut Thinking (Not Open To New Information)
Much of the time I practice what I call "rut thinking." I have this entrenched sorting system that very quickly categorizes each new bit of information and deposits it into well-established pigeonholes. Without such a system I would go crazy making decisions of where to put every new fact. The problem arises when something novel makes its way into my sorting program, is not recognized, and is disposed of in the same old place. There are those times when it is important to get out of one's rut and take a fresh look at things.
Prejudice
One of the ruts that does not serve us well is pigeonholing people by a particular group with which they are associated. We call this prejudice. We have our set ideas of just what a Republican or a Democrat is, of what a person who belongs to a particular nationality or race is like, of what certain trigger words mean for us. We see the world through our stereotypes of it. These preconceptions prevent us from seeing people as individuals. Instead, we see them as categories.
Negative Input
In the world of computers is the axiom: "Garbage in, garbage out." If one only fills his or her mind with negative, depressing, unhealthy, and immoral information, one should not be surprised when his or her picture of the world is negative, depressing, unhealthy, and immoral. From the home where we live, to the place where we work, to what we watch on television, to the friends we have, to how we occupy our free time, we are filling our minds with information. Taken together, this database colors how we see and experience life.
Jesus Takes Our Bad Tapes Upon Himself
The good news is that on the cross, Jesus takes the bad tapes and programs that influence our thinking upon himself, then redeems and transforms them into something new. In the opening of his letter to the Corinthians Paul writes: "For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.... For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength" (1 Corinthians 1:18, 22-25).
On the cross Jesus takes upon himself our tapes of poor self-image and affirms us to be a person of worth and value.
On the cross Jesus takes upon himself our tapes of self-centeredness and pride and helps us to take the role of a servant.
On the cross Jesus takes upon himself our tapes that have bad information and assists us to identify it and then correct it.
On the cross Jesus takes upon himself our tapes that have become routine and helps us to see the new and the novel.
On the cross Jesus takes upon himself our tapes of prejudice and allows us to see people with fresh eyes, not as categories.
On the cross Jesus takes upon himself our tapes that are filled with garbage and fills them with something beautiful.
Plan Of Action
As Paul moves in his letter to the Romans from his theological section to his more practical section he invites his readers "not to be conformed to this world, but [to] be transformed by the renewing of [their] minds, so that [they] may discern what is the will of God -- what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2). This morning as we begin this Lenten season I would invite all of us to be transformed by the renewing of the content of our minds. In just a few minutes you will be invited to examine the content of your mind to discover the places where you may be wounded. Then we will be praying together that Christ may take upon himself these wounds, redeeming them, and bringing about resurrection and new life.
As we are taking stock of the content of our minds, it may not be readily apparent the places where we are wounded. Sometimes they are so subtle and have become so much a part of the fabric of our lives that they have become second nature to us. During this Lenten season we need to be in prayer that Jesus would help us to identify the places where we are wounded in our thinking, places that need transformation.
To help with your examination of the content of your minds, you will find a bulletin insert that has listed each of the seven areas mentioned this morning. You may want to begin your time of meditation by asking yourself, "In which of these areas am I wounded?" When you have made your list, you may find it helpful to choose one that you want to give to Christ so that he might work during this Lenten season to bring about redemption and resurrection.
Let us all now be in a period of self-examination and reflection.
Causes
Bad tapes (bad programs)
Poor self-image
Self-centeredness (pride)
Bad information
Rut thinking (not open to new information)
Prejudice
Negative input
Cure
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God -- what is good and acceptable and perfect.
--aRomans 12:2
Sermon
Wounded In Our Thoughts
Isaiah 50:4-9; James 3:1-12; Matthew 27:27-31
(The sermon begins with illustrations of people whose identities are shaped by their self-image. Below you will find examples that were used for the week of February 29, 2004. The pastor may want to use illustrations that are more current and relevant to his or her congregation.)
A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-packed vehicle outside of an Iraqi police station in a Kurdish neighborhood in Kirkuk, killing at least fifteen people and wounding 45 others.
Only four percent of Amish men are obese versus 31 percent of non-Amish men. Why? In an experiment, 100 adults in an Amish farming community in southern Ontario wore pedometers and logged their physical activity for a week. The men reported ten hours of vigorous work a week and averaged 18,425 steps a day. All told, they engaged in six times as much physical activity as did their "modern" counterparts (Time, February 9, 2004).
Enrollment at Azusa Pacific University (A.P.U.), the second largest evangelical Christian college with an enrollment of 8,200, has risen 27 percent since 1997. "Young people want to know something bigger than themselves," says senior Marcus Robinson, 24 (Time, February 2, 2004).
For several months, motorists in the Columbus, Ohio, area have been victims of a sniper who so far has killed one lady. From the information which has been released, it would appear that the white, male shooter just gets his kicks out of shooting at cars passing him on the interstate.
A woman pleads guilty to setting fire to the trailer in which her three children were sleeping. In a letter filed with the court she states: "The sooner I can get bonded out then I can take on my motherly responsibilities of my young children. My children are everything to me."
An Islamic terrorist, Amish men, students attending an evangelical Christian college, the Columbus sniper, and a mother who sets her trailer on fire: what do these six examples have in common? Each of these individuals or groups acted on the content of their minds. Their "take" on reality informs their decision, dictates their priorities, and frames their response to their environment.
This observation is not only true for the above six examples, it is true for each of us. Our worldview, formed over many years of experience, input, and evaluation, predisposes us to think, observe, reason, and act in predetermined ways. Much of what we do, how we see our world, and our understanding of reality is based on the content of our minds. On the whole it is good content and serves us well. But we can also be wounded in our thoughts, we can have content which is unhealthy, non-productive, and which continually gets us into trouble.
Bad Tapes (Bad Programs)
In the '70s, Thomas Harris made "Transactional Analysis" a part of the American vocabulary with the publishing of his book,
I'm OK -- You're OK. For Harris we all have inside our human consciousness tapes, many of which go back to our earliest days and months, which begin to play when we find ourselves confronted by a challenge or a threat, called upon to perform a particular task, or presented with a new or novel situation. They form the basis of our conditioned response to our environment. Fortunately, most of the time these tapes serve us well. However, there may be some whose content habitually gets us into trouble. When one of them begins to play, we might well say to ourselves, "Well, I've done it again."
I suspect if Harris were writing his book today, instead of using the imagery of tapes, he might well use computer programs. Our brain is a computer filled with programs that allow us to function. For the most part they perform without a hitch. However, when they have been improperly installed, have become corrupt, or have been invaded by a virus, they can cause great harm and distress.
What happens to your computer when it has a bad program or one that has become corrupt or has a virus? It does not work well. And you get very frustrated, very upset, and very angry, trying to correct the problem. So it is with us when one of the programs in our head has become faulty, or has become wounded.
Poor Self-image
For Thomas Harris, a tape that is common for a majority of Americans is "I'm not okay, you're okay." Most of us suffer from a poor self-image. Somehow no matter how much we do, how much we accomplish, how much people affirm us, we still do not feel worthy. We think to ourselves, "If people only really knew me, they would think differently about me. They would never like me." Somehow we don't quite measure up. It doesn't seem to matter how much good we do, how much we accomplish, or how much people say how wonderful we are, we still do not feel good about ourselves.
Self-centeredness (Pride)
The opposite of a poor self-image is self-centeredness. Here the faulty tape is "I'm okay, everyone else is not okay." The scriptures identify this as the sin of pride. No one else can do things as well as I can, have ideas as good as I have, or is as worthy of praise as I am. In fact, I am a superior individual. The content of the mind of a person who suffers from self-centeredness and pride is filled with the pronoun "I." "I think." "I want." "I believe." It goes on and on and on.
Bad Information
Every once in a while, I discover that a bit of information that I was sure was absolutely true turns out to be inaccurate. Usually they have to do with my take on past events. Fortunately, these bad bits of information don't make much difference in the big scheme of things. When they are discovered, it is good to get them corrected. There are those that can cause serious harm. Here it is imperative that they be identified and quickly corrected.
Rut Thinking (Not Open To New Information)
Much of the time I practice what I call "rut thinking." I have this entrenched sorting system that very quickly categorizes each new bit of information and deposits it into well-established pigeonholes. Without such a system I would go crazy making decisions of where to put every new fact. The problem arises when something novel makes its way into my sorting program, is not recognized, and is disposed of in the same old place. There are those times when it is important to get out of one's rut and take a fresh look at things.
Prejudice
One of the ruts that does not serve us well is pigeonholing people by a particular group with which they are associated. We call this prejudice. We have our set ideas of just what a Republican or a Democrat is, of what a person who belongs to a particular nationality or race is like, of what certain trigger words mean for us. We see the world through our stereotypes of it. These preconceptions prevent us from seeing people as individuals. Instead, we see them as categories.
Negative Input
In the world of computers is the axiom: "Garbage in, garbage out." If one only fills his or her mind with negative, depressing, unhealthy, and immoral information, one should not be surprised when his or her picture of the world is negative, depressing, unhealthy, and immoral. From the home where we live, to the place where we work, to what we watch on television, to the friends we have, to how we occupy our free time, we are filling our minds with information. Taken together, this database colors how we see and experience life.
Jesus Takes Our Bad Tapes Upon Himself
The good news is that on the cross, Jesus takes the bad tapes and programs that influence our thinking upon himself, then redeems and transforms them into something new. In the opening of his letter to the Corinthians Paul writes: "For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.... For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength" (1 Corinthians 1:18, 22-25).
On the cross Jesus takes upon himself our tapes of poor self-image and affirms us to be a person of worth and value.
On the cross Jesus takes upon himself our tapes of self-centeredness and pride and helps us to take the role of a servant.
On the cross Jesus takes upon himself our tapes that have bad information and assists us to identify it and then correct it.
On the cross Jesus takes upon himself our tapes that have become routine and helps us to see the new and the novel.
On the cross Jesus takes upon himself our tapes of prejudice and allows us to see people with fresh eyes, not as categories.
On the cross Jesus takes upon himself our tapes that are filled with garbage and fills them with something beautiful.
Plan Of Action
As Paul moves in his letter to the Romans from his theological section to his more practical section he invites his readers "not to be conformed to this world, but [to] be transformed by the renewing of [their] minds, so that [they] may discern what is the will of God -- what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2). This morning as we begin this Lenten season I would invite all of us to be transformed by the renewing of the content of our minds. In just a few minutes you will be invited to examine the content of your mind to discover the places where you may be wounded. Then we will be praying together that Christ may take upon himself these wounds, redeeming them, and bringing about resurrection and new life.
As we are taking stock of the content of our minds, it may not be readily apparent the places where we are wounded. Sometimes they are so subtle and have become so much a part of the fabric of our lives that they have become second nature to us. During this Lenten season we need to be in prayer that Jesus would help us to identify the places where we are wounded in our thinking, places that need transformation.
To help with your examination of the content of your minds, you will find a bulletin insert that has listed each of the seven areas mentioned this morning. You may want to begin your time of meditation by asking yourself, "In which of these areas am I wounded?" When you have made your list, you may find it helpful to choose one that you want to give to Christ so that he might work during this Lenten season to bring about redemption and resurrection.
Let us all now be in a period of self-examination and reflection.
