Stubbornness

Introduction:

I want to start out by talking about Harry Truman. Probably everyone here automatically thought of Harry S. Truman, the 33^rd President of the United States. He was the only Missourian President, born in southwest Missouri at Lamar. But I want to talk about Harry R. Truman. Who is that?

· He was a World War I veteran who survived the torpedoing of the ship Tuscania. In 1926 he became the caretaker of the Mt. St. Helens Lodge in the state of Washington, near Spirit Lake and in the shadow of the volcano.

· In1980, Mt. St. Helens began to show activity. Harry was 83 at the time. The area was evacuated; but Truman refused to leave, despite several warnings to do so.

· On whether Mt. St. Helens would erupt: “I don’t believe it is the point that I’m going to pack up.” He also said, “This area is heavily timbered, Spirit Lake is in between me and the mountain, and the mountain is a mile away. The mountain ain’t gonna hurt me.”

· On May 18, 1980, Mt. St. Helens had a major eruption. Truman was never found. The site of his lodge was buried under 150 feet of volcanic debris. The blast devastated the land and leveled thousands of trees. Fifty-six other people also died. Because of Truman’s refusal to leave Mt. St. Helens, despite numerous warnings, he perished. His stubbornness was his downfall. The eruption covered 2,200 square miles in volcanic ash, was found in seven different states, destroyed 230 square miles of land and timber. Truman was one mile away. How do you think he did!

Body:

I want to look at stubbornness and a few Biblical people who were stubborn.

Israelites

The Israelites were notoriously stubborn and it led to their destruction. Scripture to Note: Deuteronomy 9:5-7, Deuteronomy 31:27, Psalm 81:11-14, Ezekiel 3:4-7, Romans 2:5

These verses show the years, the centuries of Israel’s stubbornness. Being stubborn never benefits anyone. It can hurt you and those close to you. Look at two specific examples of stubbornness early on with the Israelites.

· The Golden Calf (Exodus 32) The Israelites asked Aaron to build a golden calf after Moses was gone for a while. They worshipped this idol. God almost destroyed the people; but Moses persuaded God to spare the people. The Israelites were still punished [gold-polluted drinking water, Levites killed 3,000 men, God smote more people].

· The Twelve Spies of Israel (Numbers 13-14) One man from each tribe, a strong leader of each tribe, was sent to survey Canaan, the land God promised to the Israelites. They spied for forty days. They reported to the people that the land was very beautiful; but ten of the spies said that the people living there were too big and strong to battle. The other two spies, Caleb and Joshua, were saying that they could win the land in battle and they were correct. Eventually, the Lord did not allow that generation to enter the land, except for Joshua and Caleb.

Jonah

Scripture to Note: The Book of Jonah, Numbers 14:22-23 The people put God to the test ten times.

· God commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh to try and save them from their wickedness; but Jonah did not want to go. (Numbers 29:19) So he left to go to Tarshish, which is now modern-day Spain. That was the “end of the earth.” Jonah was trying to get as far away as he could.

· Jonah got on a ship going to Tarshish, but God caused a great storm to disrupt the ship. The lot fell on Jonah and he offered to be thrown into the sea. The storm stopped, causing the sailors to fear God.

· The Lord caused a great fish to swallow Jonah. He was there three days and nights. Jonah prayed to God and he was vomited up on dry land.

· Jonah then went to Nineveh and the people believed in God. They and their city were saved.

· After this, Jonah was angry and he even said he would rather die than live.

· Jonah tried to escape his duties; but even when he accomplished them, he was still disturbed. Even good results sometimes do not matter to the stubborn.

 Peter

Scripture to Note: The Book of Matthew

Peter was an apostle of Jesus and some would argue he was the greatest apostle.

But as great of a Christian as Peter was, during Jesus’ life, he was stubborn.

· Matthew 16:21-23 Even though Jesus told the apostles of his impending death, Peter refused to believe it. He was stubborn to the truth.

· Matthew 26:31-35 Jesus told all the apostles that they would soon abandon Him for a time. Peter said that he never would. Jesus told Peter that during that very night Peter would deny Him three times. Peter and the rest of the apostles said that they would die with Him if necessary. But none of them did. Judas even betrayed Him.

· Matthew 26:69-75 That very night Peter denied Jesus three times. When he realized it, he wept bitterly.

Unlike Israel and Jonah, Peter learned lessons from his stubbornness and moved on to be a great man of faith who brought many people to Christ.

Conclusion:

What we can learn from these passages:

Stubbornness leads to negative results. It can lead to our own demise and destruction. It can hurt those around us. [The Israelites hurt each other. Jonah almost got the sailors killed. Peter hurt Jesus.] It can affect you the rest of your life; but it can be overcome like Peter.

Invitation:

Maybe stubbornness is causing pain in your life. Maybe your heart has been too stubborn for you to be baptized.

 

Zane Berner

 

June 1, 2014