SermonDo You Feel As I Feel
An all-creatures Bible Message

Do You Feel As I Feel

A Sermon Delivered at the
Compassion Internet Church

15 June 2008

Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Genesis 1:31
Exodus 20:12
Deuteronomy 6:5
Isaiah 1:2-6

When we think of Father’s Day, we mostly think about honoring our earthly fathers, and this is good, for the Bible tell us to do this as one of the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 20:12)

12. "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.

Have you ever noticed that this commandment also contains a conditional blessing for those who do honor their father and mother?

That blessing is long life in the land which God gave us.

But as we all too well know, this world is corrupted and filled with unbelievable violence and destruction from wars, acts of terrorism, the torture and killing of billions of innocent animals, and an ever increasing number of natural disasters.

What kind of a blessing is this!?

It is the “blessing” we deserve for failing to truly love and honor our Father who is in heaven.

Most people fail to understand how God feels.

They fail to remember the joy that God felt after He created that beautiful vegetarian (vegan) world. (Genesis 1:31)

31. And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Our first love is to be directed toward the Lord our God, our Father. (Deuteronomy 6:5)

5. "And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

If we truly loved God in this way, the world would not be as corrupted as it is, for we would love the whole of His creation and protect it, and do none of the things that have corrupted it.

As I was putting together this sermon, and contemplating these things, I kept hearing in my mind the Christmas song “Do You Hear What I Hear”, which was written in October 1962 with lyrics by Noel Regney and music written by Gloria Shayne Baker, a husband and wife team, who wrote the song as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

But, in my mind, the words of this song began to change, as if I could hear God asking, “Do you feel as I feel?”

Do we feel the immense sadness that God feels over the corrupt state of the world?

We should, if we truly love Him and honor Him.

Said the Lord God to His little child,
Do you see as I see?

Everywhere you look, little child,
Do you see what I see?

The pain, the pain, that never goes away,
Do you feel as I feel?
Do you feel as I feel?

With all this going on, how could God have a Happy Father’s Day?

Most of the severe weather patterns we are having appear to be attributable to the global warming we have caused.

According to the United Nations, a whopping 18% of all greenhouse gasses come from animal agriculture; that’s more than all forms of transportation put together.

This is the easiest thing we can fix; that is, if we really want to, and if we truly love our Father who is in heaven.

All we have to do is stop eating animal flesh and their bodily secretions, and return to God’s original intent of eating a plant based diet.

By doing this, we would also eliminate most of our soil and water pollution, and the immense suffering of billions of animals.

Their screams, their screams, ringing in My ears;
Do you hear what I hear?
Do you hear what I hear?

And where are the churches in all of this?

Unfortunately, the vast majority are contributing to the problem instead of solving it.

They are acting very much like Israel was acting when God spoke out against them through Isaiah, the prophet. (Isaiah 1:2-6)

2. Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth;
For the LORD speaks,
"Sons I have reared and brought up,
But they have revolted against Me.

3. "An ox knows its owner,
And a donkey its master's manger,
But Israel does not know,
My people do not understand."

4. Alas, sinful nation,
People weighed down with iniquity,
Offspring of evildoers,
Sons who act corruptly!
They have abandoned the LORD,
They have despised the Holy One of Israel,
They have turned away from Him.

5. Where will you be stricken again,
As you continue in your rebellion?
The whole head is sick,
And the whole heart is faint.

6. From the sole of the foot even to the head
There is nothing sound in it,
Only bruises, welts, and raw wounds,
Not pressed out or bandaged,
Nor softened with oil.

The churches offer praises and prayer to the Lord, but they fail to lead their flocks into kingdom living.

They have failed to send God a truly Happy Father’s Day message; they have only saddened Him.

Do you see My churches, little child?
Do you see what I see?

They’re teaching My children to be hard;
Do you see what I see?

There’s sadness in My heart, little child;
Do you feel what I feel?
Do you feel what I feel?

What is so difficult to understand about how the Lord our God feels?

Didn’t He make us in His image, so that we would understand?

If we put all our love and effort into building a lovely home for our family, and have beautiful landscaping and loving companion animals, wouldn’t it be like a small sample of what God did when He created the heavens and the earth?

Of course it would!

And we would want to care for it and our families, and protect them all, just as God wanted when He gave His earth to Adam and us to care for, wouldn’t we?

Think about how you would feel if your neighbors started destroying your property for their own selfish use, and put your beloved companion animals in little cages, and ate them, and wore their fur?

If such a thing would really bother us to the depths of our souls, then we are beginning to understand how God feels about what we have done to His beautiful creation.

And, if we truly love God, we would do everything in our power to end the destruction, pain, and suffering, so that we would give the Lord a truly Happy Father’s Day that will last forever and ever.

Will you bring joy to God, little child?
Will you do what God wants?

Will you end the suffering, my child?
Will you do what God wants?

Will you help change this world, little child?
Will you do what God wants?
Will WE do what God wants?

The way we answer these questions will also tell us whether or not we are giving our Father in heaven a truly Happy Father’s Day.

Amen.

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