A Heart of Reverence and Respect - Leland Zehr

Good morning, Welcome and greet you in Jesus name as well. Thank you

all that have shared and participated this morning so far. I don't have a

I recognize it has been mentioned it's the last day of the year, tomorrow's

New Year's and I don't have a message prepared to fit that calendar this theme

today, but I want to share give a message that's been on my mind

for the last while. I'm not exactly sure why or where it came from.

It's been something I've been thinking about lately, and that is the matter

of respect. The title that I decided to give the message is a heart

of reverence and respect, and I'll try to break that down a little bit

more as we go along here. How many of you children know what it

means to be respectful? You understand that when your mom and dad tells you

to respect your Sunday school teacher, respect your teacher, respect your elders.

What does that mean? Sometimes we look around at our society as adults,

especially in our secular society, we hear it a lot, talking about the

public school system, the riots in the cities, the defiance of authority,

and we're amazed at the level of disrespect that we see around us. I

hear comments, and maybe I've commented this, but I've heard comments from older

ones lamenting the loss of Respect Act. Where has respect gone? Often we

think about respect, as I've already referred to to the children as something for

the children. You hear it in schools, You hear it maybe to youth

to respect your elders. And so the question one question to think about is

is respect a subject for children? Is it a subject for youth? And

where does all this disrespect come from? If there's disrespect, what does it

look like and what exactly is it? You know, as you look at

our country and you think about our society, you think about the leaders,

the political leaders, What about the parents? What about Hollywood movies that the

trend setters, those that are an influence in positions of influence, I have

to look that far. Maybe sometimes we look inside our own schools, our

own private schools, their own churches, their own homes, and it gets

even closer than that gets you feel it. I feel it in my own

heart at times, and unfortunately maybe it comes out a bit of disrespect.

I don't like disclaimers, and I don't view this as a disclaimer, but

I view this as an acknowledgment and because I just feel it's better I say

it than you have to think it all service, and that is that I

am not better than you in this subject. I stand before you and try

to speak and teach, but I don't stand as one that is on a

higher plane than you all in the area of respect. In fact, some

of you are, I would say, better at it than I am,

and I have things to learn from you as I watch you. As I

pondered this subject, I thought about different childhood memories. I thought about even

adult memories that came back to me that I was ashamed of that when I

wasn't respectful like I should have been. And so I acknowledge that as a

continual area of growth for me and my family as well. In this area.

The reality is that all of us parents, our children are born with

a respect problem. It's a problem. It's something that we inherit. It's

in our DNA. We come pre programmed, self willed. We don't want

authorities in our lives holding us back, telling us no. That is seen

as early as months old in the life of a baby. Often to think

our opinion is center and there's opinions to the right and views to the left.

It's just how how we tend towards It's something that our children need to

be trained. They don't they don't trained out of And I want to be

merciful to you this morning, especially with younger children. If you have you're

in the middle of the battle. Don't feel bad. I'm in the middle

of the battle as well. And I realize that that it is a process.

We cannot just crush our children into a respectful mole immediately. But it

is something we need to work on and stick with and stay with if we're

going to play the long game and have success. And so it is a

it is a it is a process. It comes over the time of years,

a heart of reverence and respect. Why a heart and why reverence?

I just want to give a little bit on that. Reverence and respect can

be worked out on surface levels. It can be worked out with our actions.

We can hold the door open for somebody, We can say nice things

with our mouth. But real reverence and respect, as I'm aiming at this

morning, is a matter of the heart. It is something that is deeper

than that. It is not just trying to contain it in all this rebellion

that's in my heart. But it's trying to actually take a look at ourselves

and recognize when it is disrespect, when it is irreverent. The level of

respect that we have in our hearts towards others is really up to us.

It is not my circumstances. It isn't because of my dad, It isn't

because of my church, It isn't because of a mean authoritarian in my life.

Those are all unfortunate things, those are wrong. But my attitude,

my respect in life is solely up to me. It is the condition of

my heart. And so that is why I think it's important to just bring

that out, that reverence and respect, to aim for the goal of a

heart that is actually in that position as much as possible. In authority and

position and power has a certain amount of leverage and strength to demand, to

force, to pressure, whether it's as a parent or as a school or

the laws of the land, to bring someone into compliance in obedience and to

some level of respect. You might say, but true respect cannot be brought

about with force and with big sticks and a loud voice, or excommunication cannot

you cannot achieve and pressure someone. I can take maybe one of my younger

boys. I can get them by the back of the neck, and I

probably could force them to bend their neck and bend their back and physically bring

them to their knees. My older boy maybe not. There comes a time

in life when the when the brown and the stick and the force doesn't work

anymore, and now you're depending upon a respect, a mutual respect. And

how do you get there? How does that happen? What if you wake

up one day and they're looking you in the eye and they don't respect you.

Well, this is where I think reverence comes in. And I just

want to I'm not going to talk a lot about reverence, but as I'm

using the terms this morning, I'm using reverence. I open this up in

a little bit reverence as our relationship to God. And I'm thinking of respect

as our relationship to mankind and others and things things like that. So reverence

towards God, I believe that it is so foundational. It is where it

comes. That is where we're talking about, getting down to the heart of

the matter, is our view of God towards God. And so the question

might come, well, can't I be respectful. If I don't believe in

God or have reverence for God, I think that there can be a level

of respect generated through other ways. People learn to be rec respectful that aren't

godly, that aren't Christians, they're civilized, they've they've learned to some degree.

But I would say when we're talking about a heart of respect on a

deeper level, it starts. It starts with reverence towards God and a proper

view of God, a fear of God, like proverb says, and not

just saying that I fear God, and not just coming to church, and

not just being a Mennonite by name, but actually thinking and believing and bowing

my heart before God, recognizing that He is the creator, recognizing that he

is my authority, recognizing that will I must give an account to him,

Recognize that He is the maker and sustainer of life. And if we can

get a glimpse of God's greatness and how small I am in comparison, I

think it helps us set the stage and give us a foundation for true respect

in relationships around us, in life with others. When I voluntarily bow my

neck and my back to a higher power, then we are more prepared to

be a respectful person in life. A heart of reverence helps us, helps

rid our hearts of pride. A heart of reverence gives us a proper understanding

of our place before God and others. It does not make us better,

It does not make us lower and worse. It gives us a proper view

of our self worth. Reverence for God gives us stability. It gives us

a moral compass. It gives us something to come back to home base.

And I just want to give you a couple of examples in the Bible.

Joseph. You think about Joseph, Joseph, He's such a case study and

so many lessons of integrity and in respect. Joseph was tempted by Potiphar's wife.

He was alone with her, far far away from Mom and Dad,

far far away from his church. No one else could see. His brothers

had set him up and hurt him and rejected him and sold him. And

he ended up far away in a powerful man's house with a powerful man's wife,

and she tempted him to come lie with her. But you know,

Joseph, Joseph had no blocks on his phone, He had no accountability partner

to call out. But what Joseph said was at the end of some of

the other things that he said, was how then can I do this great

wickedness and sin against God? Because he had a fear and irreverence for God,

it helped him to see clearly in the moment and to be able to

respect Potiphar that wasn't there, and to respect Potiphar's wife that was acting like

she shouldn't have. Probably looked like a mistake the first few years. I

wonder what Joseph thought as he sat in prison for being a man of integrity,

and this was what he got. But you know, years down the

road, Joseph became the second in command in the land, a very respected

man, and I believe he was a very respectful leader as well. Moses,

when he was born, the king of Egypt had commanded all the midwives

to kill the baby Hebrews and it's interesting, I don't know who these midwives

were, but says the midwives feared God and did not as the king of

Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. Somehow, these midwives,

these women, in the secrecy of these huts and homes, thought about

the fear of the King and the judgment that might come upon them if they

don't obey him. But there was a higher and a greater reverence and a

respect in their hearts, and they saved those babies. Years later, Moses

was out in the wilderness, this baby one of them that was saved.

But because of the fear of God in some midwives. He was out in

the desert and the bush was burning, and it wouldn't burn up, and

he went over to it. And God said to Moses, put off thy

shoes, from off thy feet, for the place where on stand is holy

ground. And I think that and Moses obeyed, and Moses bowed himself down,

and he had a reverence for God, understood the holiness and the importance

of that. And Joseph went on to probably do one of the most difficult

jobs in the history of mankind, to become an ambassador between God and Pharaoh,

and between the God and the children of Israel. And he was right

in the middle of these relationships of very disrespectful people. But he was a

man of integrity, and he walked through that with very high respect. And

I believe it was as you watch the disrespect of the people come upon Moses.

What does he do? He falls to his knees before God. He

had a heart of reverence. That was the only way he could act that

way. Any other way he would have I'm sure lashed out. So reverence,

reverence for God prepares and tunes our heart for practical everyday respect and challenges

that we face. Reverence for God and his word the Bible. Now just

a little bit on the opposite. I just want to bring this point of

reverence and where it all comes from in disrespect before us before we get into

more practical things. But we see the opposite of reverence in Isaiah fourteen,

and this is where Satan has a fallout with God and he's being cast from

heaven. And Isaiah fourteen thirteen through fifteen says, for thou hast set in

nine heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above

the stars of God. I will sit also up on the mount of the

congregation, the sides of the north. I will send up above the heights

of the clouds. I will be like the most high. Yet thou shalt

be brought down to Hell, to the sides of the pit. And I

just want to point out a few things here. The defiance of authority and

the focus on I was what Satan's problem was. He was tired of being

under the headship of God. He said, I can go on my own

I can be like God. I can sit up on the mount. I

will exalt my throne. So pride and rebellion are very much a companion of

disrespect. Rebellion and pride feel good in the moment, feels good to walk

away from authority, go do my own thing, seems like freedom, seems

like independence. But the end of that road is hell, hell on earth

sometimes as well as eternity in families and communities, in countries. Satan was

the author of rebellion and disrespect. It's what caused the first division, and

it's what's caused many more since. So that isn't quite is so important,

I believe to get the background the foundation for respect in just the little things

of life and relating to people one with another is to have a proper concept

of God, to have a proper concept of the devil, and what respect

disrespect really is and where it comes from. Now, the term respect can

be used in different ways. If you'd look in a dictionary or even in

the Bible, it's used in different ways. But I wrote, I wrote

up on the board here the definition as I'm thinking of it. And along

with these definitions, I wrote on one side respect, I wrote on the

other side disrespect, and I gave a little definition, and I wrote some

words that I thought of that go often with respect, and some other words

that go often with disrespect. And it's just to help paint a picture in

your mind, maybe to connect the dots of the package of respect in the

package of disrespect. And I don't know if we'll be able to touch on

all of these. I want to touch on most of them. But respect

and honor I might mention. And the Bible honor is very similar to respect.

Honor your parents, honor those that are in authority, honor all men.

As we would think of respect, it's to hold a high esteem,

to show regard for others' work. It's an attitude of deep admiration. And

then attentiveness. And I'll go over some of these. Why I say that,

but respect you think of a respectful person or trying to be respectful,

they are attentive, and it says to gaze. I'll talk about that later.

Polite and courteous, consider it, thankful, humble, careful with property

and things a bridal Ton. And then over here we have disrespect. It's

a disregard for the opinions and feelings of others. I don't care what you

think. Ignores they're often they're kind of opposites, but ignores and is disinterested

if I don't care about it. Rude, scoffers and mockers. We see

that in Proverbs. Often with the scoffers and mockers. They're disrespectful, self

willed, and rebellious, unthankful everything in life. Just consume it just I

deserve it. Proud, reckless, and rough in a sharp tongue. Those

are some things that make up what we're talking about when we talk about respect

and disrespect, reverence. I don't know if I have these things exactly all

right, But reverence seemed to me is just a notch higher than respect.

It is an awe of God. It is worship. It is I think

more of that fear of God in relation to God. I want to talk

about various things here this morning, and I'm going to get pretty practical on

some things. I hope that's all right. And the first one I want

to talk about is respect for other people, and especially elderly and those in

authority. So who does that include, Well, it includes all of us.

None of us are without authority in our lives. And I'm going to

read a few verses here just from different passages. One Peter two seventeen says,

honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the King.

Proverbs twelve ten says, be kindly affectionate one to another with brotherly love,

in honor, preferring one another. Verse Timothy five one through three says

rebut not an elder, but entreat him as a father. And the younger

man is brethren, the elder women as mothers, the younger at sisters with

all purity, honor widows that are widows indeed, And then you jump to

a few verses ahead in Timothy five seventeen. Let the elders at real well

be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in word and doctrine.

Proverbs sixteen thirty one. The hoary head is a crown of glory if

it be found in the way of righteousness. And so God set up this

headship order. It seems especially to emphasize the importance of respecting elders often in

the Bible, or are parents or those in authority. You know, any

human relationships, societies, churches, homes where you have a group of people

trying to work together a government. When this law of the God given law

of order of headship is not respected, it brings chaos and confusion and strife

and division and a lack of productivity. You watch a country like Haiti,

it's incomplete chaos. Everybody's doing what is right in their own eyes or whatever

they can do. It's dysfunctional and everyone suffers. There's no there's no respect.

So I believe it's a love of God. It's like truth and like

if you're a liar, you'll find yourself down a path you don't want to

be in bondage. And same with a disrespectful person. There is even aside

from being a Christian, when a person that bes is respectful, God blesses

them to a certain level. Exit US twenty twelve says Honor thy Father and

Mother, that the days may be long upon the land that the Lord thy

God giveth thee I think that is the principle. That doesn't mean or if

you die young. You are disrespectful. But I think it is a general

principle that when we are we honor our authority, we honor our parents,

that God's blessing will be upon us. You don't have to agree, you

don't have to understand, but you still need to honor, you need to

respect. And I would think this maybe feels like I'm talking to the youth,

but I'm not. Really I am, but I'm not just to the

youth, but a few words to the youth especially, there are times at

your stage of life that you will most likely be exasperated with your parents,

with your authority, with other people's opinions. It doesn't make sense. Maybe

they hold you back from things that seem harmless, just as a exercise a

patience to put up with your parents and put up with your authority. And

I would just say that in a way, some of that's okay. You

can feel that way. You don't understand and everything. You can't understand everything.

You haven't walked the path that they have walked yet, And that is

what Proverbs is full of. Is it appealing to the young man to listen

and to take counsel to those that have went on before you. It doesn't

make you dumb or less valuable. It's just a simple fact that experience and

produces a certain level of knowledge and awareness that you don't have. And I

think as a young person, if you can come to the point not to

where you get to the point where you don't think you need to think and

ask questions and challenge older people, that's good. But I think you need

to get to the point where you can accept I don't understand everything, but

still be respectful and God will bless you as you grow through life in that

way. Be humble, and don't forget that just because an older person doesn't

say much, they maybe mumbled a few things to themselves or to you that

they're not smart. It seems like the often the wise have very few words,

and it isn't because they're not wise. It's maybe because they are wise

and they've learned to bridle their tongue and to be careful. Whoso curseth his

father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscured darkness.

The glory of young men is their strength, and the beauty of old men

is the gray head. Another way to be respectful. Now I'm shifting away

from the youth and just to all of us. Another way to be respectful.

As I mentioned, attentiveness, and that I think we can understand if

we think about that. But in Genesis four, where canaan Abel came to

God with their sacrifices, it says that God respected Able's offering, but he

did not respect Cain's office offering. And that word respect, I don't know

what all it means. That some of that word means to look at intently,

to gaze at. And so that is an interesting thought to me because

in real life that is so true. God looked at Abel and his offering

and he accepted it. When Cain brought the offering, it seems like God

looked away. It wasn't acceptable, something was wrong. I don't know what

was wrong, but he ignored it. He looked away. And Cain felt

that very much, the lack of God's attention on his life. And when

you think about respect and listening to people or talking to people and trying to

respect them, paying attention and looking at them when they talk to you,

it is a token of respect to listen to what they say, even if

you don't agree, even if you think it's not true, but you can

respect them by giving them your time and attention. Be polite, be courteous.

A respectful person is polite. And I know that you can do all

this without respect, but I'm just saying if you're respectful, the reason you

are polite and respectfuls because you're thinking, and you're esteeming others. You're thinking

about other people outside of yourself. If you're just just absorbed with yourself,

you tend to miss all the needs of people around you. To open the

door, to say thank you, when you pass each other, look them

in the eye and say good morning, and I know we're up. I

would just say this as a bonus here. We are reserved people, men,

women, and that is good. I think we should have a high

regard for that. But when you meet another person coming down the hall and

it's just you to look them in the eye and say hello or good morning,

that don't don't be weird about it. Don't don't look down. That

just feels rude, It feels cold, And I think that is one thing

many of us and you do well at this, but it's just something I

think about it. It's little cultural things, but they all add up when

we start being impolite at home or at church or with each other. Smile,

just just give someone a smile. Some of you comes real easy,

and others of us we have to work at it. But you can do

it if you try. And it's a blessing, it's a it's a method.

It's a form of respect to to others, to acknowledge them, to

to speak a word of kindness to them. I had a memory that as

I thought about this subject as a boy, and I and I thought about

not sharing it some no I'm ashamed of it. But I remember as a

young boy with another person, another young boy with an older man, middle

aged man maybe, and for some reason, we would they would some of

you still do wear bill hats, and he would wear a bill hat and

we would knock that hat off his head and it would land on the floor

and one of us would grab it, and then you know, he would

want his hat and he couldn't get it, and there was two of you,

you'd throw the hat back and for it terribly disrespectful. And I don't

know how much we did that, but I just remember a memory in my

mind of the day in the shop, the place where he had had enough,

and I was all of a sudden caught in this whirlwind of a man,

and there was a steel rod land somewhere, and he gave me a

whipping of my life, And you know that hurt my feelings, and i'd

I held a grudge for a while, but there was I don't know that

I ever knocked his hat off again. And some of us need to learn

the hard way. And I'm not advocating as an adult that we can just

lose our temper, but I think that sometimes young people, there's consequences children

when you be disrespectful, and sometimes it takes severe ones to help us remember

respectful in our speech. Maybe I'll ask this, what do you think about

that? Parents? What about that as a community? Most of us the

responsibility of training our children up as families as to the parents, But what

about on a broader level, what if you see one of my children being

disrespectful? What if I see one of yours being disrespectful? How should we

handle that? And your parents are around, I think the appropriate thing is

to try to let the parent know if they're there. If the parent's not

there, I think that you should address my son or daughter they're being disrespectful

in some appropriate way if that they're doing something. I think a community,

a church, we need to have that level of okay in us and not

be offended if somebody touches or says something to my child, if we're not

there, we should see that as help and to bless each other in that.

Now, there's, of course all kinds are wrong and right ways to

do that, and we need to be respectful in the way that we do

that. But I would just encourage us in that that we welcome help with

our children. Respectful in our speech. Speech in our tongue is a big

giveaway. It's an indicator. It's James talks about that the difficulty of controlled

speech. Respectful speech is careful, it's kind, it's thoughtful. Disrespectful speech

is sharp, it's defiant, it's impulsive. In the heat of the moment,

he says, rebuke not an elder, but be careful. So be

careful how you talk to older people. Don't be defiant to them if you

disagree with them. And there is a place I think that if we were

to dissect that verse. Paul is talking to Timothy, a young preacher.

He has a responsibility, he's to deal with people that are probably older than

him, and to even rebuke them. But he says, when you do

that, do it in a fatherly, careful way, don't do it in

a disrespectful way. And I think that that is actually healthy. Teenagers in

the home should be able to challenge their father and mother in a very I

don't know challenge is the right word, but ask questions in a respectful way,

but not be disrespectful. And those are teaching moments. Okay, what

about us as parents or elders, do we need to respect others or do

we get do we grow out of that at some point and then we were

just on the receiving end until we die. You know, if I'm the

dad, if I'm the business owner, if I'm the preacher or the grandpa,

am I exempt? I don't think so. In fact, I'll have

a little bit more on that. But when when we see disrespect in our

children and in our youth. And I say this carefully because a child has

a will and they're born rebellious, and there's all of that side of it,

but it's just maybe something for us to think about. Disrespecting our children.

Could the fruit of that the fruit of our young people. Does it

come from the tree from which it fell? Is that a possibility if we

take the time to check to consider that, you know, as fathers and

mothers and school teachers and grandparents, ministers, elderly whoever, you might be

by the way we talk and act and respond to our authority towards those over

us, the underlying lack of reverence or respect that maybe comes out when things

happen that we don't agree, When people do or say things that we just

totally disagree with, how do we handle that? You know? If we

storm around and complain and murmur, talk negative, scorn, belittle, you

know, those are the real teaching moments. Those are the moments. That's

when we're teaching our children. It's not just in family devotions. When we're

calm, they might not say much, but they're picking things up, they're

being taught. And so if that's the case when they down the road bear

this fruit, maybe we shouldn't be so puzzled, you know, we as

fathers, if we're we I talked about before at the beginning, We can

physically bow the neck of our children if we want to, and we can

use emotional bark and bite and we can dominate them. You know that method

as I've watched and maybe even experience for times works in the short term.

It looks good, it's a tidy package, children are all sitting in a

row, but it doesn't work in the long run. The long run takes

more work. It takes a father with a bowed heart, father that is

submissive to his authority, but father that has a bridal tongue. Disrespectful children

and youth can be very difficult, but it pale in comparison to a disrespectful

school teacher, a disrespectful father, a disrespectful preacher, a disrespectful president.

That's a handful. The hoary head is a crown of glory if it be

found in the way of righteousness Proverbs six thirty one. And I think there

is a natural there is a respect even for older people that aren't living right,

that we should have. But I think there is an extra demanding respect

of a godly older person as gray hair, and as an example of respect.

Respect is generally reciprocated if you know what that means. What you not

always, but often the way you operate what you give out often starts at

a reciprocation where people give that back. It's the best way to teach them.

It's whether it's on the job, place, or work or wherever.

Often the way that we if we treat people with esteem and respect. It

comes back around rebuke not an elder, I read these verses, but entreat

him as a father, and the young men as brother, and the elder

women as mothers, the younger as sisters with all purity, honor widows that

are widows. Indeed, and we see here I want to make that point

that the importance of respecting for sure, like I've been talking about those that

are older than us, the gray haired men and women. But he says

here also to respect the younger. If I'm older, I should respect.

It doesn't maybe it doesn't sound right to you, but I should respect in

some way my children. I don't mock them. I don't make light of

them or the youth and the things that they have done. I'm older,

so I can just kind of run over, he says, no. And

the young men is brethren, So treat them if you're the one in authority,

treat them as an equal, as a brother, and that creates that

respect. The young women as sisters with respectful reserve. Treat them as your

daughters. You love them, there's a reserve you respect them, and the

widows as well. The widows are vulnerable. They are in a position in

life where people can easily sometimes take advantage of them. Respect them. The

Bible talks and first Quintin's about the differences of gifts, differences of administration,

difference of ways of doing things, differences for different views. But it says

but the same Lord. I think that gets practical sometimes, and it's a

little hard to we the tendency can be. And I think Brother John mentioned

this in a Sunday School a few weeks ago, and it stood out to

me that we can sometimes base our loyalties and our decisions on our friends and

the opinions of our friends, instead of on what is right and wrong.

And I think that people do things different, they view things different, They

come from different perspectives of life. There's different churches and backgrounds, and so

we respect that. The minute somebody disagrees with me doesn't mean I need to

tear his character down because he doesn't agree with me. Now, listen,

I think we can learn from those that disagree with us. If it's done

in respect. We should respect the handicapped. In Leviticus all the way back

in the Old Testament, God address us in Leviticus nineteen fourteen, Thou shalt

not curse the death, nor put a stumbling book before the blind, but

shall fear thy God. I am the Lord. I think that is very

important. The physically handicapped, the mental handicap, the poor, the people

that are vulnerable in life, the homeless. Yes they've made bad decisions,

we shouldn't mock them and degrade them. They are still a human that has

a soul that God cares about. The value of a person is not on

how much money they have in the bank, the car that they drive,

how tall they are, how jump high they can jump. It is it

is not measured in that. And the world tends we can have that tendency

to give more honor unto you know, the best athlete, the prettiest movie

star. That's how it works. But with the Christian it should not be

that way. How about reverend and respect in church services, maybe give just

a little bit on that. I remember in Romania years ago walking into the

church, and I guess it was their tradition. I don't know if all

the Romania and Christians do this, but there, but they walked in and

they they would come up to the bench and right before they would sit down

on the bench, they would just kneel on the floor with their hands on

the back of the bench and just say a silent prayer. And then they

would get up and sit down. And that impressed me and stuck with me.

It just had a everybody did that as they came in at their own

pace. Whenever he came in, he just kneel and I don't know what

they prayed, but it felt very respectful and reverent. How about reverence and

respect for the speaker that has studied and prayed and is now speaking, even

if we disagree with him, and even if he's boring, and even if

he's all the stuff, Respectfulness for the person that has put in effort to

try to come and give something for the audience. It's a it's a it's

a matter of respect to listen to what he has to say. I and

I agree that we, any of us as speakers, should do our part

to try to have something to offer. A while ago, I was at

a church and there was some grown people will put it that way, that

whispered, looked around, shuffled around almost continuously, not paying attention, terrible

distraction, very irreverent, and unfortunately that was this church. I'll just tell

you that much. And I don't think I don't think that the bulk of

our church is that way. I'm not tongue lashing you for that. I

think most of our church in you right now especially, are very attentive and

very respectful, and so I don't give that in a derogatory way, but

I would just say I think there's there's room for that to be improved.

And again my family as well, but we don't want to try to get

into into some mold where they're you know, we're just sitting on benches and

not twitching. But I'm just talking about being respectful, paying attention. Lots

of in and out just because we're bored. What about phones in church?

Stick my neck out on this one. I know a lot of you,

I don't know if a lot of you. Some of you use phones in

church, and it's probably fine. It's probably not wrong in and of itself,

and there's a right way to use it. But I would just point

out a few dangers and a few things have came back to me that I've

heard not always witnessed. The potential for temptation is there. That's the big

reason why I don't do I don't like it anyways, but I wouldn't do

my devotions on my phone. There's all kinds of apps, all kinds of

alerts, all kinds of temptations. As you pick up that phone and it's

full of apps, it's hard to stay focused on just the Bible and using

it in that way. There's a temptation to flip into other things, emails

and pictures and a quick check on social media. And i've heard I don't

know if this is true. I hope it's not true, but I've heard

that there's been sports looked at on our phones right during church and shopping and

do a little bit of shopping on your phone. It's irreverent, disrespectful.

If we don't have the discipline to use our phones for a Bible, I

would suggest we we don't bring them. How about reverence in prayer? To

We have this little cultural thing of closing our eyes, and that's almost I

don't close my eyes every time either, but I think there's something to that

it's not because it's holy to close your eyes and bad to open your eyes,

but it's that thing of distraction again. I think, as you bow

your head, does body posture matter? Can I just pray like this to

God? And I probably could? But I think our body posture, our

actions, our words say something about the heart. I think that is why

I think it's I'm glad that we hang on to kneeling for prayer at least

some I don't think we have to, and I think you can kneel and

be hererever. But I think there's something about bowing our physical bodies down before

God, closing our eyes that is an act of human military in reverence,

and I think it's good and it reminds us of what we're doing. What

about clothes, I suppose this is a touchy one, but you know,

the way we dress in church, I think matters, Like to what level?

Well, I can't dice that out perfectly, and I know there's different

ways and practices and cultures, but I think probably all of us would agree

on some level it matters. Now the level to which that is is where

it's debatable. But close body posture, the way that we act portrays whether

we're reverent or not, or we're respectful, and if nothing else, if

we don't get it, we don't agree with it. There is a level

of respect for a culture and a congregation that will at least respect what the

practice is and what the practice has been. And I always have to do

the opposite and be logical about it and say what difference does it make.

It's about respect, it's about blending with the way that your community does that.

And yes there's different ones that do it different ways. Respect for life,

the basic respective life, abortion, assisted suicide, euthanasia, all of

that, that, of course is I think again, at the foundation is

a lack of reverence for God, and so then life itself doesn't matter.

You can kill babies, you can kill people. It's a disconnect from the

reverence of God. Speaking of cultures, we get that, and the Bible

teaches that Paul talked about that when you're with the Greeks, when with the

Jews, you maybe adjust some of your practical applications. I remember in Haiti

one of the things that they had. You'd go to a church and if

you sat on the bench, it was very at your reverence to do this

and I'm not sure why, but it's just part of their thing. And

I sat up there one time and I had my legs crossed and the people

were. They tend to be really respectful to the white people, so I

really put them in a buying because they wanted to be respectful to me.

But I wasn't being respectful by the way I was sitting. And I think

after some whispering and a couple one of them came and told me, pointed

for my leg to be down, and so I could have just justified myself.

There's nothing wrong with crossing my leg. What in the world this is

stupid, but to be respectful put my leg down to fit in. And

we understand that in cross cultures, but the same is true in our own

cultures, in our in our own churches and our own communities and our own

families. To be respectful of that and not always try to logic our way

into swimming upstreams. Respect for animals Proverbs twelve ten. Righteous man regardeth the

life of his beast, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

And I think I won't say much on that, but just being kind to

animals is part of respect, respect for property and things. Thankfulness seems to

be connected, Like I said, to respect, to be thankful, to

be good stewards, to not be wasteful and rough and reckless, and to

teach our children not to just throw the book on the floor when they're done

with it, to throw the toy down, and if there's a paper land

on the floor, just rip it for no reason. Just destroy things.

That's kind of how at least some of ours come preprogrammed, and then they

still are a little bit and so it's like you teach them line up online,

don't throw the book on the floor, don't tear the paper, don't

break the toy, respect those things. Don't slam the door. I remember

as a boy over in Ernest Berky's cabinet shop sanding a desk top down,

and my dad was trying to teach me to respect the property of the school.

I don't know what I'd scratched or written or what, but respect for

property. Okay. So in closing, like to encourage us as individuals,

as a family, as families, as a community to cultivate respect and reverence

for God for his creation. And it matters. It matters a lot it

is a principle of God. And a respectful church and respectful families and youth

created a godly environment. And where there is disrespect and disregard and mocking and

backbiting, it brings division and strife and ill will in a community. Let's

be helpful, but let's be patient and merciful with one another in this effort.

May God bless you. Let's tell a song.