Younger Child<\/b><\/p>\n
Biologically speaking, I came late to the party. When I was born, my mother was 41, my dad was 42 and my brother was already ten. This built-in generation gap probably defined me every bit as much as my distinctly peculiar blood mix.<\/p>\n
My mother, Catherine, was born in Scotland. My father, Angelo, was a first-generation Italian-American. I seem to be divided right down the middle. My Scottish side is practical, analytical, even a bit frugal. My Italian side is loud, outgoing, ready to laugh (and be laughed at).<\/p>\n
As in immigrant, my mother lived in constant fear of deportation. You could miss up to four questions on the citizenship test, and Mom missed five. The question she flunked on was: \u201cWhat is the Constitution of the United States?\u201d The answer she gave was: \u201cA boat.\u201d Which wasn\u2019t entirely wrong. The USS Constitution was docked in Boston. But the judge instantly denied her citizenship.<\/p>\n
My father stormed up to the judge. \u201cWhat the hell is this? Let me see the test! She\u2019s not wrong\u2014the Constitution is a boat!\u201d<\/p>\n
The judge rolled his eyes and said, \u201cNo, the Constitution is the basic governing\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s also a boat in Boston! The Constitution! Same thing! Come on!\u201d<\/p>\n
The judge finally couldn\u2019t take any more. He said, \u201cFine. She\u2019s a citizen. Now get out of here!\u201d<\/p>\n
So my father said to my mom, \u201cyou passed!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I didn\u2019t pass,\u201d she whimpered. \u201cThey\u2019re going to come after me!\u201d From then on, any time my mother was even in the proximity of a policeman, she quaked with fear. When I took her to Scotland in 1983, she asked me, \u201cWill I be able to get back in?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMa! Don\u2019t worry! That was 50 years ago! They don\u2019t know that you said a boat!\u201d It never ended.<\/p>\n
\u201cA Houseful of Love and Laughter\u201d, from Leading with my Chin, by Jay Leno, (NY, Harpercollins Publ., Inc., 1996), quoted in Reader\u2019s Digest, pp. 13-14.<\/p>\n
Guilt Motivation<\/b><\/p>\n
All guilt motivation results in<\/p>\n
1. Pride in those who make it,<\/p>\n
2. Frustration in those who fail. Standards may lead to pride or frustration if they are used to determine spirituality.<\/p>\n
Source unknown<\/p>\n
Hiding<\/b><\/p>\n
A man who hid for 32 years fearing punishment of pro-Nazi wartime activity says he used to cry when he heard happy voices outside, but dared not show himself even at his mother\u2019s funeral. Janez Rus was a young shoemaker when he went into hiding at his sister\u2019s farmhouse in June, 1945. He was found years later after she bought a large supply of bread in the nearby village of Zalna. \u201cIf I had not been discovered, I would have remained in hiding. So I am happy that this happened,\u201d Rus told a reporter. Throughout those years he did nothing. He never left the house, and could only look down at the village in the valley.<\/p>\n
Today in the Word, October 17, 1993<\/p>\n
Leopold and Loeb<\/b><\/p>\n
In May 1924, a shocked nation learned two young men from Chicago, Richard Leopold and Nathan Loeb, had killed 14-year-old Bobbie Franks. What made the crime so shocking, and made Leopold and Loeb household names, was the reason for the killing. The two became obsessed with the idea of committing the \u201cperfect murder,\u201d and simply picked young Franks as their victim. They were sentenced to life imprisonment, but Leopold was killed in a prison brawl in 1936. Claiming he wanted \u201ca chance to find redemption for myself and to help others,\u201d Nathan Loeb became a hospital technician at his parole in 1958. He died in 1971.<\/p>\n
Today in the Word, October 3, 1992<\/p>\n
Guilty Conscience<\/b><\/p>\n
Mahatma Gandhi is fasting to protest the riot killings that followed the partition that created Hindu India and Moslem Pakistan in 1947. A fellow Hindu approaches to confess a great wrong. \u201cI killed a child,\u201d says the distraught man. \u201cI smashed his head against a wall.\u201d \u201cWhy?\u201d asks the Mahatma (Hindu for \u201cGreat Soul\u201d). \u201cThey killed my boy. The Moslems killed my son.\u201d \u201cI know a way out of hell,\u201d says Gandhi. \u201cFind a child, a little boy whose mother and father have been killed, and raise him as your own. Only be sure he is a Moslem\u2014and that you raise him as one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reader\u2019s Digest, February, 1992, p. 106<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t Feel Guilty<\/b><\/p>\n
A man entered a bar, bought a glass of beer and then immediately threw it into the bartender\u2019s face. Quickly grabbing a napkin, he helped the bartender dry his face while he apologized with great remorse. \u201cI\u2019m so sorry,\u201d he said. \u201cI have this compulsion to do this. I fight it, but I don\u2019t know what to do about it.\u201d \u201cYou had better do something about your problem,\u201d the bartender replied. \u201cYou can be sure I\u2019ll remember you and will never serve you another drink until you get help.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was months before the man faced the bartender again. When he asked for a beer, the bartender refused. Then the man explained that he had been seeing a psychiatrist and that his problem was solved. Convinced it was now okay to serve him, the bartender poured him a drink. The man took the glass and splashed the beer into the barkeeper\u2019s astonished face. \u201cI thought you were cured,\u201d the shocked bartender screamed. \u201cI am,\u201d said the man. \u201cI still do it, but I don\u2019t feel guilty about it anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unfinished Business, Charles Sell, Multnomah, 1989, p. 223<\/p>\n
All Have Sinned<\/b><\/p>\n
I was once conducting a rap session with high school teenagers. I told them that they could ask me any question on any subject, and I would try and answer it. Their questions were typical of ones I had received in similar sessions scores of times before. As the session drew to a close, one girl toward the back, who had not said anything, raised her hand. I nodded, and she said, \u201cThe Bible says God loves everybody. Then it says that God sends people to hell. How can a loving God do that?\u201d I gave her my answer, and she came back to me with arguments. I answered her arguments, and she answered my answers. The conversation quickly degenerated into an argument. I did not convince her, nor did she convince me. After a few more questions I dismissed the session.<\/p>\n
After the session I approached her and said, \u201cI owe you an apology. I really should not have allowed our discussion to become so argumentative.\u201d Then I asked, \u201cMay I share something with you?\u201d She said, \u201cYes.\u201d So I took her through a basic presentation of the gospel. When I got to Romans 3:23 and suggested that all of us were sinners she began to cry. It was then that this high school senior admitted she had been having an affair with a married man. The one thing she needed was forgiveness. When I finished the presentation of the gospel, she trusted Christ. The reason she did not believe in hell was because she was going there. In her heart she knew she had sinned. Her conscience condemned her, but rather than face the fact of her guilt, she simply denied any future judgment or future hell.<\/p>\n
Evangelism, A Biblical Approach, M. Cocoris, Moody, 1984, p. 163<\/p>\n
Armed Robbery<\/b><\/p>\n
The scene was San Diego Superior Court. Two men were on trial for armed robbery. An eyewitness took the stand, and the prosecutor moved carefully: \u201cSo, you say you were at the scene when the robbery took place?\u201d \u201cYes.\u201d \u201cAnd you saw a vehicle leave at a high rate of speed?\u201d \u201cYes.\u201d \u201cAnd did you observe the occupants?\u201d \u201cYes, two men.\u201d \u201cAnd,\u201d the prosecutor boomed, \u201care those two men present in court today?\u201d At this point the two defendants sealed their fate. They raised their hands.<\/p>\n
Tom Blair in San Diego Union, quoted in Reader\u2019s Digest<\/p>\n
Resource<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2022 Wake Up Calls, Ron Hutchcraft, Moody, 1990, p. 46.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Em Griffin, The Mindchangers, Tyndale House, 1976, pp. 61ff<\/p>\n
Quote<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2022 Is like the red warning light on the dashboard of the car. You can either stop and deal with the trouble, or break out the light.<\/p>\n
Source unknown<\/p>\n
Blackout<\/b><\/p>\n
In the Prison Fellowship newsletter, Jubilee, Charles Colson told of a young boy who became excessively fearful during the great New York blackout of 1977. When his parents questioned their son, he confessed that at the exact moment the lights went out, he had kicked a power line pole. As darkness engulfed the city, he thought he was to blame and would be punished.<\/p>\n
Charles Colson<\/p>\n
Free Again!<\/b><\/p>\n
A preacher of the early 1900s said that when he was 12 years old he had killed one of the family geese by throwing a stone and hitting it squarely on the head. Figuring his parents wouldn\u2019t notice that one of the 24 birds was missing, he buried the dead fowl. But that evening his sister called him aside and said, \u201cI saw what you did. If you don\u2019t offer to do the dishes tonight, I\u2019ll tell Mother.\u201d The next morning she gave him the same warning. All that day and the next the frightened boy felt bound to do the dishes. The following morning, however, he surprised his sister by telling her it was her turn. When she quietly reminded him of what she could do, he replied, \u201cI\u2019ve already told Mother, and she has forgiven me. Now you do the dishes. I\u2019m free again!\u201d<\/p>\n
Source unknown<\/p>\n
Sin Enslaves and Forgiveness Frees<\/b><\/p>\n
Richard Hoefler\u2019s book Will Daylight Come? includes a homey illustration of how sin enslaves and forgiveness frees. A little boy visiting his grandparents was given his first slingshot. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit his target. He went back to Grandma\u2019s back yard, where he spied her pet duck. On an impulse he took aim and let fly. The stone hit, and the duck fell dead. The boy panicked. Desperately he hid the dead duck in the woodpile, only to look up and see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.<\/p>\n
After lunch that day, Grandma said, \u201cSally, let\u2019s wash the dishes.\u201d But Sally said, \u201cJohnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today. Didn\u2019t you, Johnny?\u201d And she whispered to him, \u201cRemember the duck! So Johnny did the dishes.<\/p>\n
Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing., Grandma said, \u201cI\u2019m sorry, but I need Sally to help make supper.\u201d Sally smiled and said, \u201cThat\u2019s all taken care of. Johnny wants to do it.\u201d Again she whispered, \u201cRemember the duck.\u201d Johnny stayed while Sally went fishing.<\/p>\n
After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally\u2019s, finally he couldn\u2019t stand it. He confessed to Grandma that he\u2019d killed the duck. \u201cI know, Johnny,\u201d she said, giving him a hug. \u201cI was standing at the window and saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I forgave you. I wondered how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.<\/p>\n
– Steven Cole<\/p>\n
Richard Hoefler, Will Daylight Come?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Younger Child Biologically speaking, I came late to the party. When I was born, my mother was 41, my dad was 42 and my brother was already ten. This built-in generation gap probably defined me every bit as much as my distinctly peculiar blood mix. My mother, Catherine, was born in Scotland. My father, Angelo, … Continue reading “Guilt”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}