The Sacrifice of Fools

Our youth pastor, Dave, preached this past Sunday.

The sermon was out of Ecclesiastes and titled:  “Precipate Worship vs. Pure Worship, The Sacrifice of Fools"

The word fool popped right out at me.

Fool. 

A person who lacks sense or judgement. 

A person who is made to appear ridiculous. 

An idiot or imbecile. 

It should not come as a surprise that I am 

VERY familiar with the definition.

But fool was not, in this context, any of those definitions.

Quite the opposite.

And potentially,
far worse.

The fool was someone who was in denial.

Or flat-out rebellion, 

wrapped up in denial 

with a teence bit of liar, liar pants on fire thrown in.

You know, the fools that sit in church but don’t listen.

That nod their head at all the right sermon points but don’t hear.

That sing the songs that praise our God but don’t feel it,

much less mean it.

That rush into church late, without properly preparing their hearts and minds for God’s lesson for them.

That says things like, “Well at least I came to church…”

God never wants our least.

The fools that speak fluent Christian chatter but don’t hear what they are saying.

 That take their anxieties to bed and have stress dreams that are “meaningless”.

“As a dream comes when there are many cares, 

so the speech of a fool when there are many words.”

--Ecclesiastes 5:3

“Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God.”

--Ecclesiastes 5:7

Stand in awe of God.

You know, get over ourselves 

and get on over to Him.

The one that can actually do something about anything

and everything.

The fool is one who makes promises to God but doesn't take them seriously.

Got wants us to take promises so seriously that he says He’d rather us not vow anything at all then to take them lightly.

“When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; 

fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. “

--Ecclesiastes 5:4

So no, the fool is not one who is incapable of learning, 
yet one who refuses to learn.

Ouch.

We are all the fool at times.

But repeatedly?

“… He has no pleasure in fools…” 

I don’t know about you but I want God to delight in me. 

To take pleasure in me.

To nudge an angel up in heaven and point down to me here on earth and say,

“You see that woman down there? The one with her thumbs shoved up her nose, trying not to laugh until she cries? 
She’s one of my own and I’m crazy about her.”

At the end of the sermon, we broke up into small groups and were led in discussion by a member of our youth group.

We discussed precipate worship vs. pure worship. 

HINT:  it’s an intentional heart thing.

We discussed being late and/or rushed getting into church.

We aren’t late for jobs and school, 

why church?

We prayed about ways to apply this, God’s word, to our lives. 

It was such a blessing to see how seriously

 the teens leading us were taking it.

So I’m asking God to reveal to me an area in my life where 

 I’m just going through the motions.

Where I’m empty talk.

Where I’m possibly in denial or rebellion or just lying to myself and ultimately God.

You know, where I’m acting the fool.

This morning my devotion led me to 2 Corinthians 3:3. I especially liked The Message’s translation:

“Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it--not with ink, but with God’s living Spirit; not chiseled into stone, 

but carved into human lives--and we publish it."

If I am a letter walking around for anyone to read, I don’t want to be a lie inside of a rebellion wrapped up in denial. 

What kind of a read would that be? 

HINT:  worldly

No, I need Christ carved in me,

more Christ, 

less me, 

so I’m something worth publishing.

“You see that woman down there? The one with the tear-shaped scar around the mole on her neck?
She’s a letter that I wrote, not with ink, but my Spirit 
and I’m crazy about her.”