S6 E5 - Fail! Point and Laugh!

We all love a good fail video - it's innocent fun and when no one gets hurt, it can be quite comedic. We even laugh at our own expense, like I did when my neighbor caught me in 4k falling on my tush on the ice this past week. 

However, while that's innocent, in this world sometimes people can take pleasure in the actual failure and fall of others. This is not a quality of God's people. We are to weep with those who weep, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who persecute you. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Transcript

What if I told you that God could be seen in the most ordinary things every day? 

What if I told you that every day, ordinary events could teach us extraordinary eternal truths? Would you believe me? 

 Welcome back to season 6 of the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! My name is BJ Sipe, and I am a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. In our next few moments together, we hope to learn some of the most important lessons from some of the simplest things in life. Thank you for taking this journey with me.

First of all, thank you so much for your patience with the day delay of the podcast. As I posted yesterday on my profile, my wife came down with strep throat, so it has put a slight delay on just about everything. Lord willing her antibiotics and steroids can kick in soon and she’ll be feeling better in just a few days.  In the meantime, we’re still trying to thaw out over here in Danville. Our driveway is still a solid sheet of ice, parking lots are still a mess, and temperatures are still below freezing until this next week. I thought you all would get a good laugh out of a story that I wanted to share with you from last week. The mail truck and just rolled through and dropped off some things I needed to grab, so as I typically do, I threw my slippers on and ran outside to get the mail. Mind you, things were freshly and thickly iced over still at this point – and I had not thought of that until I was already several steps down my front walkway. “Meh,” I thought to myself, “I’ll just go slow and I’ll be fine.” And I was…for about thirty feet. Suddenly, I hit a real slick patch, over corrected, and in loony toon fashion my feet went straight out from underneath me – landing me square on my rump on the ice. I hit hard, because my tush left quite the indent in the frozen yard. If that were not embarrassing enough, after landing, I started to slide even further down the yard another 10 feet or so. Conveniently I came to a stop just a few feet away from my mailbox, which is exactly where I was hoping to end up in the first place. 

It was at this point that I looked up to see one of my neighbors driving by who had witnessed the whole thing. He rolled down his window as he rolled up on me and stuck his head out just enough to shout, “I got that whole thing on video!” We both cracked up laughing. After checking to make sure that I was actually okay, we joked about how to extract said incident from his dash cam so I could share my hilarity with the world. Who doesn’t love a good fail video? If you have social media at all, you’ve likely seen compilations of “fail videos” before that are strung together for a good laugh and our enjoyment. Cooking fails, gym fails, sport fails, the list goes on and on. So long as nobody is actually seriously injured, we as people often find humor and take pleasure in both our own and others silly mistakes and minor mishaps. It’s certainly not ill intentioned, it’s just innocent comedy to chuckle at things gone wrong that we all experience sometimes. As a matter of fact, one of my children’s favorite television shows is America’s Funniest Home Videos – in which thousands of people send in their own comedic misfortune for the entire nation to laugh at together with them. You’ve got to learn to laugh at the little things in life sometimes, especially when it is at your own expense. 

While we might have innocent fun enjoying a video of someone’s dentures falling out while blowing out some birthday candles, unfortunately we live in a world where taking pleasure from the failures of others is anything but innocent. The depravity of this world is on full display when we praise, endorse, and celebrate the downfall and serious mistakes of others. We see murder celebrated, claiming that those who were killed “got what they deserved” and smugly boast in this because they did not like said person. We see others laughing and mocking when someone of a political party that doesn’t suit their own desires makes a mistake or is uncovered in some great fraudulent scheme or insensitive post. Hate has filled the heart of this world, and there is very little that many people enjoy more than watching those that they do not like fail and suffer. But my friends, such a heart has absolutely no place among those who call themselves children of God. 

The Scripture speaks in abundance on this subject, and we want to dive headfirst into this for our time today. Let us begin by examining Proverbs 24:17-18: “Don’t gloat when your enemy falls, and don’t let your heart rejoice when he stumbles, or the LORD will see, be displeased, and turn his wrath away from him.” Consider the wisdom contained within this proverb – there is a strong warning from the Lord to not celebrate the mistakes and downfall of one’s enemy. To the world, this would seem counter-intuitive – what else should one do when your enemy stumbles and falls? More on that in a minute. And yet look at what the text clearly tells us – such a heart and such a response greatly displeases the Lord. Why? Because we forget the love that God has for all of mankind, and his desire for them not to stumble and fall, but for them to find hope and grace in him. 

We read in Ezekiel 33:11, “Tell them, ‘As I live—this is the declaration of the Lord GOD—I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked person should turn from his way and live. Repent, repent of your evil ways! Why will you die, house of Israel?’” Why should we not take pleasure in the downfall of the wicked? Because the Lord God takes no pleasure in it! We all have been made in the image of God, and our Creator was willing to shed even his own blood in order that we might be reconciled back to him. While God has great joy when a sinner turns away from the error of his ways and turns back to him, God has absolutely no joy when they continue in the error of their ways and suffer the consequences of doing so. Peter will confirm this truth given to us through the prophet Ezekiel when he would write, “The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.” (2 Pet. 3:9) God is patient, forbearing, and greatly desires for no one to stumble and fall. His patience and kindness are intended to lead us to repentance, and that is the only thing that God takes joy in. When we refuse to repent, God must act as a just and righteous judge, but he takes no pleasure in doing so. My friends, if you take pleasure in the suffering and failures of others, you do not have the heart of God and we have failed in seeing others as fellow image bearers of him. And make no mistake, if you continue to take joy in the suffering of others, God will take action against you for doing so. Heed the warning of Proverbs 17:5, “The one who mocks the poor insults his Maker, and one who rejoices over calamity will not go unpunished.”

So, what is the proper response? What should we do when even those whom we would consider our “enemy” fall, stumble, and are met with calamity? Pray for them. Jesus would teach us in the Sermon on the Mount, “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  Christlike love is unlike the love and ways of the world. We do not rejoice over the downfall of our enemy; much rather, in sharing the heart of Christ, we pray for them from a genuine heart of love. To bless those who curse us and pray for those who persecute us is counter-intuitive to the world, but it is an expression of the very nature of God who desires all to come to a knowledge of the truth. Remember, we were enemies with God when Christ died for us and extended salvation to those who were willing to turn and accept it (see Romans 5). Who knows – perhaps even one day those we would consider our “enemy” might even be called our fellow brother or sister in Christ one day. Is that not what we should desire? If it’s not, we have far greater heart problems that we must fix. Remember, at one point even the apostle Paul was one of the greatest enemies of the church…but by the grace of God, he turned and became one of greatest blessings and servants of it. 

Consider the encouragement of Paul himself in Romans 12:14-21, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head. Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.” Evil is not conquered by returning blow for blow, insult for insult – it is conquered by returning evil with good. It is conquered by weeping with those who weep with mercy, not laughing in their face in pride. It is conquered by giving careful thought to say and do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes, not by slandering and diminishing those that I disagree with. It is conquered by leaving vengeance to God, who takes no joy in judgment but will act justly against those who refuse to repent (see Lam. 3:33). It is not conquered by getting up each day and looking to engage in any and every verbal battle, but rather in doing our absolute best, as much as it depends on us and without compromise of the truth, to live at peace with all people. 

My friends, we can do better. We have to do better. In a world full of voices of laughter, mockery, and anger – let your voice be one that resembles the Good Shepherd, and use your voice to praise, bless, and direct fellow image bearers back to their Creator. Let us conclude with the words of our Lord in Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”

This has been season 6 episode 5 of the Set Your Mind Above Podcast – and I’m so thankful that we had this time to grow together! A new episode is dropped each Friday of the week. If you’re able to, go ahead and like and subscribe to the podcast, give us a good rating, and tune in next week. Even more important, share the spiritual truths that we learned today with someone else. And more than anything my friends, always remember the following: know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.