NIV Deuteronomy 11:18
Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
NIV Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-- think about such things.
“Think Real Hard”
The Post It Note:
I bet a few of you are wondering what in the world is going on with all the little “Post It Notes” all over the church today. Well… I’m going to answer that question by asking another question… what is a “Post It Note?”
In 1968, Dr. Spencer Silver, a scientist at 3M in the United States, developed a "low-tack", reusable pressure sensitive adhesive. For five years, Silver promoted his invention within 3M, both informally and through seminars, but without much success. In 1974, a colleague of his, Art Fry, in a church choir in North St. Paul, Minnesota, was frustrated that his bookmarks kept falling out of his hymnal. He had attended one of Silver’s seminars, and, (I love this part) while listening to a sermon in church, he came up with the idea of using the adhesive to anchor his bookmarks to his hymnal… and the first “Post It Notes” were born. Now you can find these helpful little notes all over the world posted on everything from desks to walls. They serve as reminders… of appointments, of things to get at the grocery store, of things we need to remember to shut off or turn on. They help us to remember… the most important things.
Our Old Testament text is kind of like that today. “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.” In other words… put them on “Post It Notes” because they are THAT important.
God’s Post it Notes:
The Old Testament instructed the Israelites to write the Laws on their gates, on their doorposts, and to bind them to their wrists and bind them to their forehead so that they would not forget. The New Testament takes it even further calling us to write the laws on our heart! Like a giant “Post It Note” for the soul… we are supposed to always remember the words of God and make them a part of our life.
The Importance of Study:
It is an important lesson for us to learn… because it’s true what they say… what goes into you comes out of you. That is why there is so much importance placed on keeping the word of God so close to your mind… because the mind will always take the shape of whatever it concentrates upon. It is kind of like that old saying… “You are what you eat!” The same thing goes for the brain.
Let’s look at an example of this. What was your absolute favorite song growing up? I mean… a song where you wore out the record or wore out the 8 track or wore out the tape listening to it over and over and over again? Have you got that song in your head right now? That song became a part of you. That song has shaped you… even today!
I’m curious… have any of you ever heard the name “Vanilla Ice?” He was the first white rapper ever to make it big. When I was in junior high, I was absolutely in love with the song “Ice, Ice, Baby!” You’ve all heard it right? Well anyway… I bought the tape and listened to it over… and over… and over… and over again. So much so, that it began to become a part of me. I began to walk around saying things like… “Yo!” and “Word!” Because, the mind begins to take on the attitude of whatever it is focusing on! I was becoming the geekiest rapper in all LaMoure county. Then I heard a Garth Brooks song and began wearing cowboy boots!
But it really goes to show you… what you put into your brain… has a way of coming out… so we need to make sure that we are putting in plenty of the good stuff.
Why Study?
That is exactly what the Apostle Paul is talking about in our New Testament lesson today when he writes “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-- think about such things…” because it makes all the difference to our lives. Take all that is true, take all that is noble… right… pure… lovely… admirable… excellent… and praiseworthy… and put it on a big old “Post It Note” that will remind you… and keep reminding you… over… and over… and over again. So much that he becomes a part of you… and you become true… you become noble… you become right… pure… lovely… admirable… excellent… and praiseworthy… because the little yellow “Post It Note” on your soul keep reminding you to be that way.
So how do we do it… besides putting up little yellow “Post It Notes” all over the place? How do we make God’s word so near and dear to us that they become a part of us? We are encouraged by scripture… to study… “think on these things” as Paul says. “Bind them on your foreheads” or another way of saying… put it at the very forefront of your mind… as Deuteronomy writes. Study the word… and make it a part of you.
Four steps:
“Study” is the third spiritual discipline that we are focusing on in our spiritual disciplines sermon series. We will be focusing on it during my Sunday School class next week…and it is perhaps the single most important one of the whole bunch. In his book “Celebration of Discipline,” Richard Foster reminds us that “the purpose of spiritual disciplines is to totally transform you. Spiritual disciplines replace old destructive habits with new life giving habits. Nowhere is this purpose more clearly seen than in the discipline of study.” (62) This discipline… more than any other has the ability to transform you inside and out.
Hopefully, without boring you to tears… I would like to briefly share the four steps that Foster gives that truly help us to really study scripture and make it a part of us. Four steps… Repetition, Concentration, Comprehension, and Reflection.
1) Repetition – take scripture and bring it up over and over until it forms a habit, whether by continuous reading, memorization, actually putting it on a “Post It Note,” present it to your mind over and over again until it become a part of you and becomes part of your habits (example… turn off lights “Post It”)
2) Concentration – Once you have it in your head, you have to concentrate what is actually being said… concentrate on the message and concentrate on what God might be saying through these verses.
3) Comprehension – Once you have it in your head and have concentrated on it… the next step is to actually understand it (example… Eureka experience)
4) Reflection – In reflection we come to understand not only the scriptures, but we begin to understand a little bit more about ourselves. Jesus speaks often of ears that do not hear and eyes that do not see. When we ponder the meaning of what we study, we come to hear and see in a new way.
Repetition, Concentration, Comprehension, and Reflection, to make the word of God a part of our lives.
The uneasy task:
Now, there are times when scripture just doesn’t want to cooperate… times when the scriptures are stubborn and hard to understand… we are not alone in this. The apostle Peter found some things in the epistles of “our beloved brother Paul” that were “hard to understand” (2 Peter 3:15-16). If Peter, someone who actually walked with Jesus and learned from him, found it hard understand, we shouldn’t be to hard on ourselves when we find a little difficulty doing it. We need to work at it and not give up.
So What?
So that is it… the discipline of study in a nutshell. Why should we even bother with it… “So what?” Well… Foster concludes his chapter by saying “study produces joy” but I personally think there is much more at stake. We are called as Christians to follow the example of Christ, to go beyond just being Christians… to become Disciples, and that is really what the discipline of study is all about.
It is like our church’s mission statement says: by reflecting Christ in our daily lives, we are working with God to make life improvements happen. By reflecting Christ in our daily lives… we are working to make life improvements happen. Our number one goal as outlined by our mission statement… sounds and awful lot like the discipline of study to me.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
