Rev. David Holwick ZP
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
December 28, 2003
James 1:5
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I. What is the dumbest thing you have ever done?
A. Don't do this at home.
Several years ago, I heard the story of Larry Walters.
Larry was a 33-year-old man who decided he wanted to see his
neighborhood from a new perspective.
He went down to the local army surplus store and bought
42 used weather balloons.
That afternoon he strapped himself into a lawn chair, to
which several of his friends tied the now helium-filled
balloons.
He took along a six-pack of beer, a peanut-butter-and-jelly
sandwich, and a BB gun.
He figured he could shoot the balloons one at a time when he
was ready to land.
Walters assumed the balloons would lift him about 100 feet in
the air.
He was caught off guard when the chair shot more than 3 miles
into the sky at 1,000 feet a minute.
The first official mention of his flight was by a TWA pilot who
reported he had just passed a guy in a lawn chair at
16,000 feet.
All afternoon planes had to be diverted from Los Angeles
International Airport.
Larry stayed airborne for two hours, too afraid to shoot his
balloons.
He finally did shoot a couple, only to drop his BB gun.
Eventually he landed in some power lines.
When he landed he was arrested by the police and fined by the
FAA.
Reporters asked him three questions:
"Where you scared?"
"Yes."
"Would you do it again?"
"No."
"Why did you do it?"
"Because you can't just sit there." #1677
1) A close second - the Holwicks buy Josiah a roller blade
jump and a grinding rail set for Christmas.
B. Mistakes stay with you.
Fred Snodgrass was a successful baseball player for the
Giants 90 years ago.
In the 1912 World Series, he dropped a pop fly.
His error set up the winning run, for the next batter hit
a single.
Consequently, the Giants lost the game and the Series.
When he died in 1974, the New York Times printed this
headline:
"Fred Snodgrass, 86, Dead; Ballplayer Muffed Fly in 1912."
Sixty-two years later, and yet they could not forget his
mistake.
Never mind the fact that Fred later became mayor of the
city of Oxnard, California, and was a successful banker
and rancher and raised a fine family.
He dropped a pop-up in the 1912 series, and they couldn't
forget his mistake.
#2235
C. End of year is a time of assessment - where have you failed?
1) (Notice how we don't tend to focus on our successes?)
2) What are we going to do about it?
a) Vow to do better.
Donald Sebastian, age 54, was in federal court this month on
charges of impersonating a U.S. Marshal.
Judge David Perelman ordered him to read aloud a pledge the
judge wrote for him:
"I promise that I won't do anything stupid.
If I do anything stupid, I'll likely end up in pretrial
detention."
Sebastian, in real life a dog trainer in Middleburg Heights,
Ohio, was arrested after making a traffic stop and, when
things got out of control, calling for police backup.
Police found he had a badge, uniform, and other marshal
equipment
Sebastian couldn't really work as a federal agent since he
has been arrested 29 times in the last 20 years.
He said he acted as a marshal as his "way of giving back to
the community."
#26831
II. Keep it in perspective.
A. Everyone makes mistakes.
1) Sometimes it is because we are sinners.
a) Even at our holiest, we are still corrupt.
2) Other times it is because we are stupid.
a) Our knowledge is always incomplete.
3) But often it is not a fault of ours, but because we live
in a messed-up world.
a) This is generally the preferred interpretation.
B. Don't blow your mistakes out of proportion.
1) Anything you have done can be forgiven.
2) Anything you have done can give valuable knowledge.
C. Don't ignore them, either.
1) It IS possible to change, to grow, to succeed.
2) Your efforts can make a difference.
III. Learn from your mistakes.
A. Mistakes can be educational.
1) From an Ann Landers column:
"Good judgment comes from experience.
Experience comes from bad judgment." #3331
2) God uses catastrophes to teach us.
a) God usually doesn't get our undivided attention until
we really blow it.
b) Painful accidents, being arrested by police, getting
fired from our job, all serve to raise our awareness.
B. Mistakes keep us humble.
Writer Joe Queenan has noticed that most men think that they
have to be perfect when they're with their kids.
He thinks this is not only NOT good, it's bad training.
Better you should just continue being a mess-up.
Fall off your bike.
Drop an easy pop fly.
Make a fool of yourself on the ski slopes.
The sooner kids understand that you're not perfect, the
sooner they'll realize that they don't have to be perfect.
#24989
IV. Avoid repeating mistakes.
A. Use the wisdom you gain from past failure.
1) You will always make mistakes, but you don't have to make
the same ones.
2) Be careful not to rationalize failure.
American Heritage magazine says the most overrated
American proverb is, "If anything can go wrong, it will."
In the 1950s and 1960s it was considered clever
bulletin-board wisdom.
All that changed in 1977, when an enterprising fellow named
Arthur Bloch came out with a small book of sayings that
he grouped under the title MURPHY'S LAW.
Even Murphy himself - an Air Force development engineer -
claimed we got it all wrong.
His field experience led him to conclude, sadly but
logically, that "if there are two or more ways to do
something, and one of those ways can result in
catastrophe, then someone will do it."
That is, if it is physically possible to drown in two
inches of water, some idiot will find a way to do it.
Murphy's Law doesn't mean if something can go wrong, it WILL
go wrong for me.
We want it to say that because it gets us off the hook.
-Mistakes are inevitable so it is not my fault.
American Heritage called this the "get-out-of-fail-free"
card.
No more responsibility, no more guilt.
But you ARE responsible.
You have the power to change and you can't run away from it.
#4610
B. Refine your thinking.
1) Old nature vs. new nature.
a) Change from the inside out. Renew your mind - Rom 12:2.
b) Requires God's miraculous power.
2) Study God's Word, the Bible.
a) "Prudent" verses from Proverbs:
1> Practice self-control; don't be impetuous.
Prov 12:16
A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man
overlooks an insult.
Prov 12:23
A prudent man keeps his knowledge to himself, but the
heart of fools blurts out folly.
2> Think before you act.
Prov 13:16
Every prudent man acts out of knowledge, but a fool exposes
his folly.
Prov 14:8
The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways,
but the folly of fools is deception.
Prov 14:15
A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives
thought to his steps.
3> Anticipate future consequences..
Prov 22:3
A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple
keep going and suffer for it.
4> Leave room for God.
Prov 19:14
Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent
wife is from the LORD.
3) Ask God for wisdom.
4) Study admirable Christians.
a) Look at those from the past, and the present.
b) Emulate success.
V. Mistakes remind us of God's grace.
A. He loves failures in spite of themselves.
1) Adam and Eve suffered consequences of sin, but their
death penalty was delayed.
2) King David was forgiven for adultery and murder.
3) Peter was allowed to be a leader in the church again.
4) Paul failed to stamp out the church, and was called to
be a Christian.
5) He loves you, too, and can use you again.
B. Turn your failures into victory.
1) Confess your mistakes to God and move on.
2) Use mistakes as an opportunity for knowledge and growth.
3) Ask God for inner wisdom to avoid making the same mistakes
again.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
This sermon was influenced by the sermon "How To Avoid Dumb Mistakes" by
Rev. Dan Warkentin, #16200 in Kerux database.
# 1677 "Lawn Chair Man," author unknown, most info taken from Timex ad
in Newsweek magazine, November 5, 1991. More complete info
is available at the "official" site,
http://www.markbarry.com/amazing/lawnchairman.html
# 2235 "They Never Forget The Muff" by Rev. Eric Ritz, Dynamic Preaching
www.sermons.com, April 1992.
# 3331 "The Relationship of Experience and Judgment," by Ann Landers,
Star-Ledger newspaper, July 13, 1995.
# 4610 "Murphy's Law Is Not What You Think," by Brian Burrell, American
Heritage Magazine, May 1999, page 43.
#24989 "Don't Sweat Messing Up," by Joe Queenan, quoted in
www.sermoncentral.com newsletter, June 10, 2003.
#26831 "I Won't Do Anything Stupid," by D. Murali, thehindubusinessline.com
November 28, 2003.
These and 25,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html.html
===========================================================================
Rev. Dan Warkentin
==================
I. Everyone has made dumb mistakes.
A. (examples of dumb statements)
B. (personal mistakes in money)
C. (mistakes in marriage)
II. How can I change my life?
A. What would you like to change?
1) Looks?
2) Habits?
3) Attitudes?
B. Why is it so hard to change?
1) We are often trapped in stupidity because we don't see what
is stopping us from changing.
2) Essence of sermon: God's Spirit will change us from the
inside out; He will empower our thoughts, actions, speech.
III. Two steps to change tendency to make dumb mistakes.
A. Understand why change doesn't come naturally.
1) Four reasons it doesn't:
a) People live out who they are. James 3:11-12
1> Change is hard because we have to become something
else.
2> One of our two natures has to die. Col 3:5
b) People cannot change by themselves.
c) People's outer actions match their inner beliefs.
d) People see the need for other people to change.
2) God doesn't want you to stay stupid.
B. Submit to God's change in you supernaturally.
1) God changes us with a crisis.
2) God changes us when we have confidence.
3) God changes us when we make our confession.
4) God changes us when we show cooperation.
IV. Conclusion.
A. Face your mistakes to someone else - it's called confession.
B. Understand that God wants you to grow beyond mistakes.
C. Ask God for inner wisdom to avoid making the same mistakes.
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