FBC Morning Light – October 4, 2022

A good Tuesday morning to you. How's your October going? Got off to a good start

I trust. Here we are in the last quarter of the year, last eighth of our

Bible reading chart. Today we're reading in Hebrews chapter 13. These few verses that begin that chapter, they really stand in stark contrast to the culture in which we live.

We're exhorted to behave in certain ways that are quite contrary to the emphases of our culture.

For example, we live in a culture that tells us to love ourselves, to focus the bulk of our attention first and foremost on ourselves.

In the face of that culture, verse one says, let brotherly love continue. We live in a culture that is marked by selfishness and rugged individualism and yet verse two says, do not forget to entertain strangers or some by doing so have unwittingly entertained angels.

That means express hospitality, show hospitality to others. You live in a culture that is selfish and focuses on individualism.

We're not inclined to be hospitable to people that are not our very close friends.

Then our culture is a culture of injustice and violence and yet verse three says, remember the prisoners as if chained with them, those that are mistreated since you yourselves are in the body also.

We need to, in contrast to our culture with all of its fascination with violence and the injustice that's really rampant in our day, we are to show sympathy to those who are oppressed and those who are wrongly treated.

That's what verse three is really talking about. He's not so much focusing on prisoners that are suffering for crimes that they've committed but more prisoners that are suffering for the faith, prisoners that are oppressed and are there because of injustice.

Then in verse four, we live in a culture that as you well know is marked by rampant wholesale immorality and it's becoming an anything -goes.

Right now it's an almost anything -goes but it's becoming an almost anything -goes culture when it comes to sexuality and morality.

But in contrast to that, the writer of Hebrews tells us that marriage is honorable and all and to bed undefiled but fornicators and adulterers

God will judge. So we need to maintain moral purity in the face of the culture in which we live.

Then we also live in a culture that is marked by materialism and just a desire to acquire more.

One of the really disgusting YouTube commercials that I see from time to time is one

I think it's for a thing called Instacart. I haven't paid that much attention to it.

I delete it as soon as I click past that ad as soon as I possibly can. But it shows this person, this woman, soaking in a bubble bath with her phone and she's able to just click and get stuff and it kind of just drops out of the air.

The whole point of the ad is you can get whatever you want whenever you want it with this thing, with this app.

I think it's an app called Instacart. The most ridiculous thing I've ever seen.

Just promulgating the whole notion of materialism and consumerism.

In the face of that, the writer of Hebrews says, let your conduct be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have.

Be content with what you have. We don't live in a culture that encourages contentment.

In fact, we live in a culture that encourages just the opposite, encourages discontentment.

The only way that a consumer economy can thrive is if people just keep buying and buying and buying and buying and buying.

Keep getting more and more and more and more stuff. Well, you see how these opening verses are just really challenging us to live counter -culturally?

Really, when you get right down to it, that's the Christian life, isn't it? The Christian life is a counter -cultural way of living.

These are just a few examples of that very thing. As you go through the course of your day today, let's think and ask ourselves, am

I being seduced by the culture or am I standing against the culture?

Am I counter -cultural? I hope we'll be counter -cultural this day and age in which we live.

Our Father and our God, we thank you for this challenge today because truly, truly we live in a culture that is no friend to your word and no friend to the biblical principles.

Help us, Lord, to live faithfully before you. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, well have a good rest of your