Sinners in the Hands of an Angry Mom

I was listening to our local Christian station the other night as I drove home from the grocery store.  For the life of me, I can't remember who was speaking, but I heard something that I have been carrying around with me since that night.  The speaker said that when Jonathan Edwards delivered his sermon, Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God, he did it without the pastoral theatrics that we have sometimes been exposed to. 

 

I think I read this sermon back in college.  You can imagine that I don't remember much about it.  I doubt I was interested in what was in front of me at the time, so I got on the web to read the sermon again, and I have to say that if there were any sermon that was set-up to be delivered by a yeller/pacer, then this one is it.  Just the title of the message alone would give anyone plenty of material for theatrics!  Read this exerpt in your finest T.V. evangelist voice:

 

"The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood. Thus all you that never passed under a great change of heart, by the mighty power of the Spirit of God upon your souls; all you that were never born again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin, to a state of new, and before altogether unexperienced light and life, are in the hands of an angry God."

 

Now that's some heavy stuff!  There's a lot more where that came from.

 

This sermon was a huge influence in the Great Awakening in the early 1700's, and it was all done without any yelling and screaming. 

 

So what has been at the back of my mind these last few days is this: if Jonathan Edwards can deliver this sermon without theatrics and loud voice, and have the members of his congregation begging God for forgiveness, what's to stop me from speaking to my own kids without theatrics (you know what I mean!) and receiving the same results?  Why can't I be a parent who never raises my voice to my children and yet gets immediate results when I speak?  I really don't see why I can't.  Here are my reasons why:

1) I'll bet a TON of prayer went into this sermon before it was written, while it was written, after it was written, before it was delivered, during its delivery and after its delivery. 

I'll bet if I increase my prayer life in this area of childrearing, I won't be able to NOT see results.

2) To be more specific about Jonathan Edwards' prayers about this sermon, I'll bet he prayed for God to speak to the hearts of his congregation.  I'll bet he prayed for God to SAVE his congregation. 

Am I always asking God for these things for my children?  No.  Just every now and then.  I'll bet I could change that!

3) The Word of God is active!  Jonathan Edwards used God's Word, the Bible, to reach his congregation. 

I pull out my Bible every now and then with the kids when there are behavior issues, but not nearly enough.  God's Word can take the place of my theatrics and do a much better job than I ever could.

 

So now I just need to pray for myself.  Pray that God would set my soul on fire for discipling my children without raising my voice, and feeling justified in doing so.

 

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

1 Corinthians 13:1-8