First Presbyterian Church
of Inglewood
100
North Hillcrest Ave
Inglewood,
California 90301
Telephone
numbers: (310) 677-5133 Fax (310) 330-8342
Electronic
mail: PRESBYTS@SBCGLOBAL.NET
Sunday,
June 14, 2009
Rev.
Dr. Harold E. Kidd
2
Peter 1: 1 - 11
SPIRITUAL
VITAMINS FOR GROWING SOULS
“Giving
all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge
self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to
godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these
things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We
live in a time in which it seems that everyone, or a majority of people have
become more health conscious. Serious about maintaining a healthy body and a
healthy lifestyle. The Health & Fitness Industry is a billion dollar a year
industry. Which is inclusive of foods, pills, drinks, water, fitness centers,
clothing, meditation, vitamins,
surgeries, and any number of sport hobbies just to name a few.
Suggestive
that we can exercise our way to health, eat our way to health, drink our way to
health, pill-pop our way to health, dance our way to health, meditate our way
to health, dress our way to health, whatever appeals to us as the best means to
maintain good health, the ‘health gurus’ can help us find a way that works for
us and fits our lifestyle! Preventative
health care is a billion-dollar-a-year industry.
But
the advocacy and maintenance for good health habits is nothing new. Amen.
Centuries ago, Paul in 1 Corinthians informs us our bodies are the temples of
the Holy Spirit, and we are encouraged to glorify God in our bodies, which no
longer belong to us, but to God. Paul
was very health conscious, spiritually speaking. His advice to a young Timothy
in 1 Timothy 4: 8 is that while bodily exercise is profitable, it has its
limits; but spiritual exercise is profitable for all things, it will benefit us
in this life as well as in the life which is to come.
Life
lived at full and maximum capacity. Life lived in a way that gives back the
best in the midst of the wear and tear of living is best achieved and
maintained when we strive to incorporate healthy habits to maintain the mind,
physical body, as well as the soul.
Amen. We have to eat healthy, not always living at a pace wherein we are
burning the candle at both ends. It means getting adequate rest & sleep.
There is a balance to holistic health. And doing all of this is more than a
notion. Yet…
What
a shame if after having spent much of our time and energy with some rigorous
sweat and labor doing cardio to strengthen our heart and build our lung
capacity of oxygen, we yet suffer from
spiritual heart disease and lack of spiritual breath because we have failed to
do any spiritual cardio, good for our souls. To be looking good on the outside
but to be in spiritual distress.
What
a sad commentary it would be if after having spent all that physical investment
and discipline to build healthy and physically fit bodies, we are yet
spiritually sluggish and out of shape, with no energy or passion for the things
of the Lord.
What
a tragedy it would be if one has 20/20 vision but spiritually is blind to the
realities of God and His eternal love. What a shame it would be if one can
physically hear the drop of a pin, can count the very number in the fall of the
rain drops as they dance upon the ledge of one’s window sill, yet is
spiritually deaf to the sweet voice of Jesus, saying, “Come unto me all ye who
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you spiritual rest.”
Unable
to hear the call of God upon one’s life to feed the hungry, clothe the naked,
visit the sick ... saying, “As you have done it unto the least of these my
children, so have you done it unto me.”
Now
the theme for this message, Spiritual Vitamins for Growing Souls, comes from 2
Peter Ch. 1, vss. 5 – 8. Herein Peter
gives a listing of virtues or qualities within the Christian faith and practice
which can serve in helping us to maintain a growing life in the Lord. In a culture in which believers are being
stressed and pressed by the difficulty of the times in which they live,
something is needed to maintain good spiritual health. Something is needed to ward off the negative
influences of a culture and life situations which daily assaulted their and our
health and well-being.
Let
me suggest to you that Peter is giving them as well as us a list of Spiritual
Vitamins to add to our daily diet in order to fortify our soul. Spiritual Vitamins that will help build up
our immune system against personal troubles and societal problems, and help us
fight off the ‘free radicals’ in a culture that seeks to weaken our life in
Christ. (Free radicals are those harmful
substances our cells must continually fight against.) Spiritual Vitamins that will enhance their
health and well-being in Jesus.
Spiritual Vitamins that will help them maximize their growth in
Christ. Spiritual Vitamins empowering
them to live long and for the most part healthy lives. He says,
“But
also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to
virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to
perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly
kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither
barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
And
he begins this verse “But also for this very reason”. “For what reason, Peter?”
For the reason that you are living in a time that robs believers of good
spiritual health in Christ. For the reason that you live in a time in which
many are too stressed to be blessed. For the reason that you live in times of
great uncertainty, creating worry and anxiety in many. For the reason that you
live in times when world events are moving in fulfillment of prophecy. And how
will the church respond to meet the needs of a growing number of those in need?
You
live in a time in which the constant media saturation of godlessness needs an
infusion of godliness; people have need of experiencing some love, and some
kindness. They see enough gold on people; they need to see some God in
people. People have seen enough ill-will and negativity; they need to see some
faith in action, to see some goodness, some perseverance. And so for this very
reason, he could have said, “Take your spiritual vitamins.” That “you will be
neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Vitamins,
we are reminded, serve the important purpose as a dietary supplement to enhance
our physical health. Amen. Vitamins not
only supply what our bodies are deficient of, but they reduce our risk of
diseases. What our bodies lack in vital vitamins such as A, C, D, E, Thiamin,
Riboflavin, B-6, and B-12 or in minerals such as zinc, iron, copper, and
magnesium -- vitamins supply as a supplement.
Many
multi-vitamin supplements today also contain antioxidants, which strengthen our
immune system, so necessary in fighting off cancer and other diseases which
attack the body. So vitamins serve an invaluable purpose in supporting good
health.
I
can remember years ago on one of the religious radio stations in Baltimore, one
of the early morning DJ’s would give what she called her ‘spiritual vitamin’
for the day, a verse of Scripture followed by a 2-3 minute reflection on the
verse. Designed to give the hearer something to enhance their spiritual health.
When
you think about it, the Bible is filled with spiritual vitamins. Verses that
will strengthen our spiritual hearts. Verses that will maintain sharp spiritual
memory and control mood swings of doubt, depression, and melancholy. Verses
that will increase our stamina and endurance to keep on keeping on and give us
renewed levels of energy. Verses that enhance a good night’s rest and repair
the soul while we are asleep. Verses that have the effect of keeping our spiritual
eyes focused on Jesus.
One
of the properties of Vitamin A is that it helps in our sight. Psalm 27:1 is like a dose of Vitamin A: “The
Lord is my light and my Salvation; whom shall I fear?” Or John 1:4, “In Him was
life, and the life was the light of men.”
We’ve
come to discover that the B Vitamins -- B6, B12, and Folic Acid -- are
essential in fighting various types of cancers and heart disease. Psalm 42:1, “As the deer pants for the water
brooks, so pants my soul for you, O God”, and Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a
clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me,” are filled with B
Vitamins. Necessary for a healthy
spiritual heart.
Then
there is Vitamin C, which many believe helps our immune system to fight off
colds. One of the reasons why so many people take Vitamin C as part of their
daily diet is because Vitamin C is a strong antioxidant that helps counteract
substances harmful to our immune system.
One of the best places to find Vitamin C is in 1 John 1:9, “If we
confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness.” Or 2 Corinthians 13:14, “The grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with
you all. Amen.”
Vitamin
D helps our bodies build strong bones by assisting in the retaining and
absorption of calcium and phosphorous. If we need some Vitamin D because we
have not gotten much sun lately, then we might want to take a daily dose of
John 8:12, “Then Jesus spoke to them saying, I am the light of the World. He or
she who follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life.”
And
finally there is Vitamin E, said to promote healthy skin and to help fight
certain kinds of cancers. Well, the best
Vitamin E that God has is Jesus. Amen.
For the Bible says, He shall save His people from their sins. Jesus will make you feel good on the inside,
and He will make you look good on the outside. He is God’s solution for human
sin. “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son that
whosoever believes in Him should not perish but might have everlasting life.”
And it is through His shed blood that our sins have been washed away. Spiritual
Vitamins for Growing Souls.
“Some
folks would rather have houses and land, some folks ... silver and gold. These things they cherish and forget about
their soul, I’ve decided to make Jesus my choice.”