I've Been Talking About It - A Sermon on Procrastination

Well I finally got some yard work done. I'd been talking about it for quite some time. Yet, day upon day and week upon week those rose bushes and shrubs only got taller and taller and I just hadn't found the time to take care of it. So finally. Finally, I just couldn't put it off any longer. The roses were overgrown and out of control. I had to do something about it!

So, I put on some old genes and a t-shirt, donned my trusty old base-ball cap, and marched off into the yard with pruning shears and clippers in hand. Well 16 rosebushes and 4 shrubs later I stood back and admired my accomplishments. I had even washed out two trash containers, cleaned a bathroom, washed the dishes and started a couple loads of laundry for good measure.

Yep I looked at ALL I had done and I felt pretty proud of myself.

It was about that time that Holy Spirit nudged me and reminded me of ALL the things I'd been talking about doing but had NOT done.

Oh, I'd been talking about washing the dog

And I'd been talking about washing the car

I'd even been talking about cleaning out the garage, shampooing the carpet, fixing the window and pulling out the weeds.

I was gonna do all those things.

Yep I'd been talking about it.

I'd been talking about vacuuming the church, mopping and waxing the church floors, deep cleaning the pastor's study, and trimming the bushes around the church.

Yep I'd been talking about it.

I'd been talking about trying to love my neighbors

I'd been talking about tithing more and spending more time in prayer and Bible study and drawing closer to Jesus.

I'd been talking about all these things but what had I accomplished?

I was gonna do all those things and more. Wasn't I?

And my mind reflected back to my childhood to a time when my father had scolded me for not completing some chore.

"Why didn't you finish what you started, Billy?" My father asked.

"I was gonna" I replied.

"Well the road to hell is paved with, I was gonna'" my Father scowled.

GOOD INTENTIONS we all have them. We say we're gonna do something but for whatever reason, we don't. Yes, my father was right. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Jesus spoke about this in Matthew 21:28-30 when he said,

I will tell you a story about a man who had two sons. Then you can tell me what you think. The father went to the older son and said, "Go work in the vineyard today!" 29 His son told him that he would not do it, but later he changed his mind and went. 30 The man then told his younger son to go work in the vineyard. The boy said he would, but he didn't go. 31 Which one of the sons obeyed his father?

The older son said he wouldn't help but he did.

The younger son said he would help but he did not.

Which of these sons am I?

Which of these sons are you?

In James 4:13-17 the apostle tells us: 13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

And this is the problem isn't it? We want to do something good, but we don't. We think about it, we even talk about it, but for whatever reason it just doesn't get done. We said we were going to get around to it SOME DAY but we don't. The Bible says that this type of behavior is a sin.

In Matthew 12:36-37 Jesus said, 36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

And when I think about the wishful thinking and good intentions that have poured out of my mouth to those around me, those things that I have said but I have not done, I can only cry out with Isaiah when he said, " Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips ." (Isaiah 6:5)

Or I could cry out like Peter, after he had beheld a miracle of the Lord and, "he knelt down in front of Jesus and said, "Lord, don't come near me! I am a sinner."

Even the Apostle Paul cried out about the struggle he had with good intentions when, in Romans 7:19 he said, " For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice." I refer to this verse as the Doo-doo verse. In this pastor's translation of the Bible it is rendered, " That which I want to do, I don't do, and that which I don't want to do I do do."

Ouch!

And Paul goes on to say in Romans 7:21-24: 21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

Then Paul answers his own question and says

25 I thank God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Why does Paul thank God? Because, God had delivered him from the body of death through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We forget sometimes how short we fall from the glory of God.

If our words and thoughts were to be broadcast on a loudspeaker, what would people hear? Would they hear our empty promises and our lame excuses? Would we not all at some time be men and women of unclean lips?

The Bible says, all are guilty. Yet, despite our sinfulness Christ paid the price at Calvary. And not only are we forgiven for our sins, but Christ has entered into a relationship with us, and filled us with Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Counselor, whom Jesus said, "Would lead you to all truth."

So how can I strive to have holier conversation? How can I purify my lips?

In Matthew 5:37 Jesus said, "Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one."

When we start prognosticating and predicting our future are we not playing god? For only God knows the future. Why do we complicate things?

Jesus advised us to KEEP IT SIMPLE.

Simply he said, simply say, yes or no and let your yes mean yes and your no mean no. Say what you mean and do what you say. Walk your talk, and let your actions speak louder than your words.

We say things like, "I'll pray for you" but we don't. And if we were to be asked why we didn't pray we might say something like "I forgot," or "I fell asleep," or "I was just talking about doing that"

Jesus said let your yes be yes and your no be no, and that more than this was of the Evil One the father of lies. So, in essence, every time we break a promise we allow Satan to spawn his children.

Yikes! And I don't want to spawn children with Satan how about you?

So, how can I guard my tongue? How can I say what I mean, and do what I say? How can I walk my talk?

Jesus said, "Keep it simple."

In Galatians 5:16 the Apostle Paul says, "Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."

But, how do we walk in the Spirit?

In Matthew 14 we are given an account

22 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. 24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.

25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear.

27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid."

28 And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."

29 So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"

31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God."

Like Peter, we sometimes tell God how to do his job. Remember what Peter said? "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."

Well, the Lord gave Peter exactly what he asked for he started to walk on the water, but he had gotten in over his head... literally. He was talkin' about walkin' on water, but when push came to shove he couldn't finish what he had started.

Peter sank because he took his eyes off of Jesus. If we want to walk in the Spirit than we must keep our eyes on Jesus. When we keep our eyes on Jesus, we can walk with Jesus. And when we walk with Jesus we can talk with Jesus. And our conversations will be pleasing to the Lord.

But, if we should doubt, and look away from Him, should we start to sink into the sea of empty promises, should we find our conversations to be less than pleasing to the Lord, all we have to do is reach out to Jesus like Peter and say, "Lord, save me." And Jesus will take us by the hand.

A simple prayer...



Lord, sometimes my mouth gets me into trouble. Help me, that my words may be pleasing to you always. In Jesus name.