Adorned with the Beauty of Life - Deborah Bercot | KFW 2021

Lesson Transcript

Adorned with the beauty of life, this is our topic this afternoon, and welcome. I'm Deborah Burceau, and I love you, Sisters in Christ, and what a delight to be here this August of 2021. It's also daunting. I know we've all commented on what a unique year we've had, both in 2020 and continuing this year. We actually have a wonderful opportunity to use this year, or should I say last year and this year, as school for ourselves, as daughters of our God and King, and being adorned with the beauty of life.

We'll be looking at four core points this afternoon. These are essential for being adorned with the beauty of life. Look at your handout, and there they are, along with some other things. Number one is loving God and Christ with all our heart and our neighbor as ourself. Number two, deciding to firmly follow Christ. Number three, having eternity constantly in our eyes. Number four, being childlike, knowing all that God tells us is truly good for us.

The hymn, "The King of Love My Shepherd Is," on our song sheet handout has impacting verses. Think about the core points. When Christ is the real King in our lives, then we can be adorned with the beauty of life. The King of Love My Shepherd Is, whose goodness faileth never. I nothing lack if I am His, and He is mine forever. Where streams of living water flow, my ransomed soul He leadeth. And where the verdant pastures grow, with food celestial feedeth.

Perverse and foolish, oft I strayed, but yet in love He sought me, and on His shoulder gently laid, and home rejoicing brought me. In death's dark veil, I fear no ill with Thee, dear Lord, beside me. Thy rod and staff, my comfort still; Thy cross before to guide me. And so, through all the length of days, Thy goodness faileth never. Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise within Thy house forever. Now, picture a girl. She has a ponytail.

Is in a school auditorium with about 800 other people, both fellow students and teachers. Because she'd given her allegiance to Jesus Christ, she felt she could not pledge allegiance to the flag or sing the national anthem. She and her classmates are all sitting in their assigned homeroom spots as they go through dress rehearsal for eighth-grade graduation. Now, you are with her in that cool, air-conditioned auditorium. It's so nice to be inside and not in PE.

You're getting comfy in the upholstered chairs that even have armrests. The lights are slightly dimmed, but you can see very clearly. And then the principal begins to speak. At first, his words are just normal, regular words, typical for the ears of a graduating class. But then he continues and speaks clearly, saying that there has come to his attention that there is a student who does not salute the great and glorious flag of the United States of America and does not sing the national anthem.

All the slight murmur of students' voices whispering disappears, and eyes begin to shift toward the girl with the ponytail. His voice becomes stronger, and he then says, "The student does not deserve to live in the United States," and that this student does not deserve to live. There is dead silence in the auditorium as his words ring strong and clear. There is no failure or shutting down of the sound system. All through this, this girl is fixing her gaze on the principal.

At the end of his speech and after the dismissal of the whole school assembly, the girl goes to her homeroom teacher who gives her a hug. The girl asks if she could be allowed to go to speak to the principal. She is given an immediate yes and then heads to the office. There are many eyes on that girl as she leaves the auditorium. And the girl was 13 at the time. What is the point of my telling you this true story of the girl with the ponytail? This is no story off of the internet.

This is the school of real life, the school of God's kingdom. This was an opportunity to be adorned with the beauty of life. Think of our points. Loving God and Christ with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Following Christ even as a teenager, not far out of childhood. Keeping eternity as our goal and knowing all that God tells us is for our benefit, for our good. This girl was in a real school, God's school right then. And so are we today. This is God's training school for eternity, and you and I are in it.

Actual, real, nitty, gritty life every day. Right now is our school time. This is no fake school or subjects that we groan about saying, "When will I need to know that?" What we choose to learn now takes us into eternity. This school is for all ages. This is the school of being adorned with the beauty of life, whether you're 7, 10, 13, 18, 22, 35, 45, or even 70 like I am. It doesn't end until we die. You and I are in God's school, whether we realize it or not.

And the results depend highly on what we do and do not do. Some of us may say, "This is how I want to be in this or that area when I grow up," and we should still be saying it at my age, as there's always something to grow in or improve in or see in our own lives that maybe we've not seen before. Hopefully, we are still saying this and seeing ways we can be more beautiful for Christ. It's when we don't see that we must still be growing that there is a problem. Not a tiny problem, a big problem.

As our school helps teach us to focus on Christ, on eternity, to be beautiful and adorned in Christ. I think as girls and women, we start thinking of adorning when little. Just brushing our hair and getting the tangles out and putting a headband in or hair tie backs is adornment in one way. And I can guarantee you that I know about tangles in hair. Hard to believe, but I had blonde ringlets that just loved to tangle, and there were no detangling sprays then.

So finally, after many tears on my part, my mother cut my hair, which made hair care a lot more pleasant for both of us. I did not grow up Anabaptist. Adorned can be in the past, present, or future tense. It's for now. Whatever age we are, adorned is to enhance appearance, especially with beautiful ornaments. This can even be people. I have the choice to enliven, to adorn the kingdom, God, and people around me.

This may start in childhood or anywhere throughout our life with deliberate decisions that we ourselves make and remake, especially if we slip into a mucky mess of sin with our heart or words or face a tough situation like the ponytailed girl. We know that she had decided to firmly follow Christ, was looking at eternity and loving God and Christ totally. A major thing first, I would encourage each of us to think, "How can I be adorned?

Not my sister at church or Nancy in another congregation or a neighbor or someone else, but me. I need to look at the log in my own eye. Let me look at my heart and innermost attitudes and actions, not someone else's heart, eye, and soul." Core point here, loving our neighbor as ourselves. I don't like weeds in our yard, and I have a billion of them in the actual dirt. But it's far worse to have weeds in our souls that can strangle us spiritually if we don't pull them out. Far, far worse.

Keep in mind the loving God and Christ with our whole mind, soul, and strength. Core points as we move along. And don't forget the resolving, the decisions that we follow Christ in all circumstances to the best of our ability. We follow Him as a child with utmost confidence. We can learn much in God's school if we choose to.

Questions to think about could include things like, "What if there's persecution and I'm arrested and then I'm told, 'We'll kill your husband, your children, your grandchildren, or your parents or your siblings unless you denounce Christ or beat you or do things that ladies shudder at'?'" The Romans were recorded as condemning Christian women to the pimp instead of the lion. Think about these things now, whether we face these actual things or not. Prepare spiritually and mentally now. Core points.

Make decisions now to keep our eyes on Christ. Remember, we are looking at eternity and loving God and Christ with all we are. And persecutors don't keep promises. They're most likely going to kill you or your loved ones even if one recants. We're pilgrims in this life. This is not our eternity. We might not face actual death, but Christians through the ages have. 500 years ago, Anabaptist women were often drowned if they didn't recant, and our brothers died horrific deaths.

They joined the ranks of martyrs or witnesses for Christ, the same as the youth and young women that Mark Minutious Felix commented about saying, "Youth and young women among us scorn crosses and tortures and wild beasts. There is nobody who is either willing to undergo punishment without purpose or is able without God to bear tortures." This was about the year 200, and yet they bore those tortures. They were with God. They adorned themselves with the beauty of their faithful lives, even with their physical deaths.

We need to prepare for anything in front of us the best we can with absolute confidence in God. Do you and I see the pattern? They had several of these fundamental core points in mind. They loved God and Christ totally. They firmly followed Christ, and eternity was in perfect focus. Do we have the same core strength? When we do, we are being adorned in the true beauty of life. Now, let's head over to 1 Peter 1:22 and ponder a little more on the beauty of life.

"Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart." We've got purification of our souls involved here. When we obey the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren and love one another and not just a little bit or when we're all happy with them or not hurt about something, but fervently with a pure heart—no hypocrisy here—this gets to our guts.

This is very connected with purifying our souls and being adorned with the beauty of life. God sees our total insides. We cannot hide from Him. We say we want a pure heart, a clean heart, but these are dependent on our obeying the truth, a powerful thing. We must love fervently with a pure heart. What if we feel hurt by a sister or a brother? Does this mean this scripture doesn't count now? No. This scripture counts 100%, and forgiveness is for real, and reconciliation is absolutely essential.

I did the wrong thing. Apologies have to happen. Our voice tone, body language, or our words can help convey if our forgiveness is really the deep-down real thing. For instance, "I'm sorry. If I did anything to offend you, I'm sorry." We might even cry. But I think most of us have seen real tears from someone who is more sorry that they've been caught in doing something wrong than in being truly repentant and wanting to change.

I think most of us have seen fake tears from a little one who is hoping to maybe get someone else into trouble or even an adult who is hoping to soften someone. There has to be a repentance, a resolve to turn around from that wrong, which could even be a heinous sin. Forgiveness is tied in with our own forgiveness from God, and we know that. But somehow, at times, we think it is not.

And if children around us see that we don't forgive, then they easily can come to the conclusion that we must not think it's very important. So why should they forgive? Ooh, ouch. What a horrible lesson to teach. Remember, we don't want our life to be saying, in effect, "Do what I say, not what I do." Loving God and our neighbor—core point again. One thing that has helped me is simplistic but helps me on hurts. It's a very feathery illustration. Really, it's feathery.

I think of what ducks do, and they do it all the time. They preen their feathers. They get some of the oil near their tail and spread this all over the rest of their feathers. Why? God put this instinct into them, and this preening enables them to float. Ducklings with down on them aren't great floaters from our experience. They need to get their feathers and start preening. When the wrong type of oil, such as oil from an oil spill, is on waterfowl, they can die unless helped.

So as a person, I need to constantly preen myself with God's Word, with prayer, following Christ with every ounce of me, thinking of eternity so that what could be real or perceived harmful words or actions don't penetrate and hurt too much in any way. We definitely don't want to use a bad oil like the oil of self-righteousness that the Pharisees were slathered in. Yes, I do know that words and actions can be very painful, but it is my choice as to how I respond.

Do I respond in the beauty of life, in forgiveness, in letting those words roll off of me and roll off of me and even roll off of me some more? Do I walk in God's way or in man's way? And ducks preen their feathers as long as they live. Then there's the emphasis of loving fervently with a pure heart. This is no light thing. This gets to our innermost selves. We cannot be backstabbing our sisters and brothers and growing healthily in Christ. Our mindset is essential.

Scripture tells us that we are to lay aside all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking, and all malice. It doesn't say some or just about all of the malice or wrath or part of the gossip. That's evil speaking or whispering, but all needs to be put away.

And oh, that evil speaking, that gossip is so, so unbelievably easy to fall into, even under the guise—and yes, it is a guise of spirituality—we can so easily get into the habit of saying, "Let's pray for whoever." We say, "I am having or they are having such horrible problems with my husband, mother, father, mother-in-law, father-in-law, a child, someone at church, or a neighbor," and the list goes on. And then it gets even more specific on details on what this other person did.

Of course, the details are shared that make us look good or mainly innocent, but it definitely does not make the other person shine. And if we fall into this trap, we have just assassinated or murdered the character of that person we are supposed to be praying for. How can we do that and follow Jesus and love our neighbors as ourselves? If it is in our place to know the details like a church leader, then both sides of the story need to be heard and by the right person, not in a gossip chain or a prayer group.

Since childhood, I've loved this scripture in Philippians 4. It's on your handout. It's one that has helped me for years in molding my heart, mind, soul, and actions, and I'm still in the molding process. I taught childbirth classes for years, starting in 1976.

And one of the things that helped me personally was that my response to a contraction needed to be an automatic positive response where I didn't have to have a big-time fight the contraction or "What do I do now?" response, but a ready response, a call me to action, a signal for a good response of breathing and relaxation to work with contraction rather than fighting it. And that's how I want it in my life with Christ.

The more disciplined, the more ready response of not going into the critical mode or the gossip mode or the unforgiving mode, the griping mode, the better it is. And Philippians 4 helps me with this. Pull your Bibles out, or you can look on your handout sheet. "Rejoice in the Lord always." Again, I will say rejoice. "Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.

Let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and mind through Christ Jesus." Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. Isn't that beautiful, gorgeous, and practical?

We are getting the core points of life so as to be adorned in the beauty of life. I am being adorned as I follow Christ, love God, and our neighbor when I put into practice Christ's teachings. We follow Christ as an obedient child. We are adorning ourselves as we meditate on things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, things of good report, anything with virtue and praiseworthy. Look at these familiar verses again.

"Rejoice always." Again, Paul says, "Rejoice." I need to ask myself, do I rejoice or do I grumble, complain, whine, gripe, and more? When I am complaining, what heart, mind, soul change needs to become real in my life where I don't just say, "Oh, I should rejoice, but I'm too tired. Everything has gone wrong today. The washing machine broke." Or it could even be, "I'm upset with my husband." I actually need to rejoice from the inside out.

Do I stop myself from complaining when I think about complaining, or do the words start flowing out? Do I bridle my tongue? These scriptures really contain core points for us, for me, for you, for our children. And yes, we will make mistakes, and we don't need to beat ourselves up. We come to God like children and ask forgiveness and to the person we snapped at and ask their forgiveness. Am I using words to be sort of "in"?

That if I looked these words up in what's called an urban dictionary, I would be horrified to see what I was saying. Am I keeping my mind set on all that is true, pure, and lovely? Keep going in the verses. Gentleness. Do other people, especially my family, see the gentleness that should be there? And yes, that does include great strength and firmness in the application of gentleness. Be anxious for nothing—another tricky one—but in prayer, supplication, which is to humbly and earnestly ask or beseech.

I think of a child beseeching a parent for a dog like I did, and also a granddaughter did. Plus, we give thanksgiving to God as we talk to God, as a child does to his father. The results? We shall have the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding. Plus, our hearts and minds will be guarded through Christ. And remember, He has defeated the strong man, Satan. This is staggering, isn't it? As we follow, we receive great benefits.

I'm going to throw in here something that I've seen for years in many prayer groups. Am I praying like a child talking to God, or am I praying to impress the others in the group? Just something to think about. And then we have another clincher scripture in 1 Peter 3. "Wives, likewise be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the Word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.

Do not let your adornment be merely outward, arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel. Rather, let it be the hidden person of the heart with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted God also adorned themselves, being in submission to their own husbands as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, "Whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror." Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another. Love as brothers. Be tenderhearted. Be courteous, not returning evil for evil or reviling, but on the contrary, blessing, knowing you were called to this. And why?

That you may inherit a blessing. And then it quotes Psalm 34:12-16, which is 33:12-16 in the Septuagint. "Come, you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man who desires life, who loves to see good days? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Shun evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their supplications.

The Lord's face is against those who do evil." What an example we have in Sarah who trusted in God and was in submission to her husband Abraham, even calling him Lord. She was called a holy woman. What a tribute. We can join the ranks of the holy women of old, truly adorned with the beauty of life, as she was by doing what she did. Her attitude toward Abraham gives both married and single women an example to follow. The Apostle Peter said that we are her daughters if we do good and are not afraid with any terror.

Paul specifically mentioned Sarah and said, "By faith, Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age of childbearing because she judged him faithful who had promised." Clement of Rome also mentions Sarah as he says, "She who imitates Sarah will not be ashamed of the highest of ministries," helping travelers. A good reminder.

Clement of Rome, around the year 96, mentions Esther also being perfect in faith and exposing herself to great danger to deliver the 12 tribes of Israel from impending destruction. Rebecca, Miriam, Deborah, and the women who followed Christ are others mentioned as godly women. Adorned with the beauty of life. There's much more than clues in how this happens. So the hidden person of the heart with the incorruptible beauty of a quiet and mild spirit is what to God? Unimportant? Sort of important? Important? Good?

Precious? Or very precious? We see it clearly. Very precious. And our conduct is powerful to the extent that it can even win over a husband who does not obey the Word. Our obedience to Christ, our conduct, our conduct can conquer without a word. Incredible. But we have to be teachable and follow Christ like a child. We have to love Christ and his Father with every ounce of everything we have in us. These core points are here again, and the big picture is surely in view: eternity.

There are tools in scripture, in prayer, in not thinking too highly of ourselves, being submissive to our head, not just by wearing a head covering, but by truly viewing him with the deepest respect and love. We can wear a head covering and be anything but submissive.

When we are ruling the roost, when we say or act in a way to control or manipulate by tears, sulking, words, or in any way that shows that we think we ought to be running the lives of our husbands and families over what our husband says, because maybe we're just a little bit more spiritual than he is, then we are not adorning ourselves with the beauty of life. We may even speak very softly and quietly and in godly tones. We may be speaking with smooth, silky words, yet those words of silk are made of steel.

And woe to the husband or people around when those words are not followed. This isn't to say that the wife is not given major responsibilities in running the household. We certainly are, and single gals have the same type of responsibilities. Yet it is wise for them to call on a father, brother, uncle, or church leader, someone that can help them in situations. We know this. We read it in God's Word. We can repeat it in our sleep almost. And many of us wear a head covering, a veil.

But do we really believe, really, really believe that the head of woman is man, that the head of man is Christ, and the head of Christ is God? This is a non-changing truth even as feminism gets stronger and stronger. And this is happening in our circles, too. We must show our absolute belief in this fundamental truth of headship so that we may be adorned with the beauty of life. When we belittle or tear down our husband or men in authority to others, we have shown our disregard for God's authority.

And we, children, as the psalmist says, are admonished to listen and learn, watch our tongues and lips, shun evil, do good, seek peace, pursue it. And let this sink in. The Lord's eyes are on the righteous, and his ears hear our supplications. But woe is us if we do evil. Tertullian, who lived around 198, said, "Submit your head to your husbands, and you will be sufficiently adorned. Busy your hands with spinning." I think of the modern-day equivalence that many of us do.

"Keep your feet at home, and you will please better than by dressing yourself in gold. Clothe yourself with the silk of uprightness, the fine linen of holiness, and the purple of modesty. If you are adorned in this manner, you will have God as your husband." So back to the girl with the ponytail. I'm going to suggest that she was on the path of being adorned with the beauty of life. There was a firm following and loving Christ and his Father God.

I can assure you she had eternity in focus and that she had a childlike yet determined faith in God. Without reservation, she had resolved to follow Christ no matter what. And I know that she continues on that path through many adventures, as I'm the girl with the ponytail. And PS, I waited to talk to the principal for about 20 minutes and was finally called into his office. We both exchanged hellos, and I asked if what had been said about me had really been intended. There were hymns and haws as a reply.

We spoke a bit more, but I never got an answer. I grew in Christ through this faith-strengthening time in junior high and beyond and had more experiences like this. Some adorning that started on a teen in the beauty of life. And it just keeps happening. Keep our core points in mind. We want to love God and Christ along with our neighbor wholeheartedly.

We want to, with great determination, follow Christ, keeping eternity in front of us as pilgrims and always not just saying we are, but really being daughters, children of our heavenly King. He always has our good at heart in his commands and words. Always. Thank you so much for listening. God bless you. And I'm so thankful that we can be sisters together, encouraging each other and praying for each other to be adorned in the beauty of life. May we take to heart these verses from Take My Life and Let It Be.

"Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee. Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love, at the impulse of thy love. Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for thee. Take my voice and let me sing always, only for my King, always, only for my King. Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from thee. Take my silver and my gold. Not a might would I withhold, not a might would I withhold. Take my will and make it thine. It shall be no longer mine. Take my heart.

It is thine own. It shall be thy royal throne. It shall be thy royal throne. Take my love, my Lord, I pour at thy feet. Its treasure store. Take myself and I will be ever, only all for thee, ever, only all for thee. Amen."