This is a very important topic, in my view.
I am going to focus on the need for each one of us to always act responsibly and I am glad that you've spared some time to read this sermon.
I believe that people were created to be responsible citizens in their various communities. I am convinced that God never intended that people would act irresponsibly, for whatever reason.
God is a God of integrity, He's a God of excellence, and nobody could grow into a mature child of God if they continued to act irresponsibly.
When I look around today, I see that I have been a victim of irresponsibility, in some way. Several areas of my life have been negatively affected by somebody else's irresponsibility, and the same surely applies to you. Just look around you and see for yourself!
But now is our chance for us to rectify things! And we should never waste any opportunity to rectify our errors!
When I realized that a number of people were acting irresponsibly, even some who are supposed to be esteemed people in society, I decided to recheck my definition of the word “responsible” for I had begun to think that I could have been using the wrong definition.
I said to myself, “If these people, who are supposed to know better, knew the meaning of the word ‘responsible’, surely they would not act the way they do.”
English is a second language for me; I, therefore, need to rely on the dictionary a lot. I suppose that even those who are really English do consult the dictionary from time to time.
So, I consulted the only dictionary I had, The Random House College Dictionary. What I found out struck me. This is how the dictionary defines the word ‘responsible’: answerable or accountable, as for something within one’s power or control. Having a capacity for moral decisions and therefore accountable.
Read the definition again. After you do, you should take a minute of silence to consider the question: “Am I a responsible person?” Be honest. Are you accountable for the things within your power and control? Do you always apply your capacity for moral decisions?
I now request you that you pause reading for a while. During this break, write down just three occasions in which you acted irresponsibly. If many of them come to mind, write down all of them.
After you are done take some time to look at your list. What picture do you see? What were the consequences of your irresponsibility either to you or to the next person? Looking back, don't you wish you had acted (more) responsibly?
You need to keep in mind that the picture that you see of yourself is the same picture that the world sees in you.
I have come to believe that most, if not all, of the problems that every person faces today arise out of either their own irresponsibility or that of somebody else.
I think that the world would be a much better place today if everybody had acted responsibly in the past.
In the same vein, our children and grandchildren will only live a great life if we act responsibly in the now. Think about it.
The call to act responsibly is getting louder and more ear-piercing by the day, and as you read this sermon, you must find it in your heart to heed the call.
It's an urgent call. Now is the day when hearts should burn for what is noble, transparent, constructive, right, and morally correct.
You and I have several areas that are within our power and control. In each of these areas, we need to ensure that we conduct ourselves with integrity; we should demonstrate a strong sense of responsibility.
We shouldn't have anything to hide. Instead, we should be in a position to explain all our actions or omissions without stuttering. As you read this sermon, you can be sure that there are lots of people who are busy hiding information regarding the actions that they have taken, simply because such actions cannot stand scrutiny! Any action that cannot stand scrutiny borders on selfishness, and irresponsibility.
Let me quote from the Bible.
Paul gave Timothy the following instruction: "Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care" (1 Timothy 6:20). Paul was teaching Timothy to be accountable for his actions - to make maximum use of the capacity given him to make moral decisions. Timothy heeded the instruction and went on to become a great leader in the service of the Lord.
What is it that has been entrusted to your care?
There surely is at least one thing that you act guardian over. I have; you have. What are you doing with or about it? Are you guarding it? Are you abusing it? Are you plundering it? Are you neglecting it? Are you acting irresponsibly towards it?
If you are a Pastor, you have the congregation in your care.
If you are a teacher, you have the students in your care.
If you are a parent, you have the family in your care.
If you are a health professional, the patients have been placed in your care.
If you are a driver, the passengers are in your care.
If you are a mayor, the city has been entrusted to your care.
If you are an employer, your employees are under your care.
If you are a ruler, the nation has been placed in your care.
I think that you now appreciate why I think that most of our problems arise from irresponsibility.
So many people have died on the roads simply because the driver acted irresponsibly and even ignored rebuke by the passengers. Road accidents are sometimes caused by motorists speeding through red robots, pedestrian crossings, or junctions at which they must give way to other traffic.
Drunken driving is also a major contributor to road accidents. One day I overheard two men engaged in a conversation. They were laughing and I thought that they were talking about something really exciting. One of them said, “My friend, I still am at a loss how on this earth I managed to drive home yesterday evening. I was so drunk that I could not get out of the car after parking it. My wife and children had to pull me out of the car and carry me into the house.”
What do you make of this? Sounds familiar?
I also know of a number of cases in which teachers were either sacked or imprisoned for sexually abusing students in their care and children who have taken to the streets because parents failed to take proper care of them.
These are just examples. The cases of irresponsibility are too numerous to mention.
If we fail to act responsibly in the here and now, then we certainly do a great disservice to future generations.
With our actions or omissions, we shape the future. Let us not underestimate the power that we wield in determining the kind of future our children will possess. They look at us, they witness our actions and omissions, they listen to us speaking and sometimes they judge us.
How beautiful it would be for us to be guided by noble principles! How marvelous it would be to be real role models in society! How pleasing it would be for the future generations to look back and conclude that their elders taught and raised them up right!
We need to preserve the environment so that we bequeath it to our children in a condition that they would enjoy.
We need to build our economies and the social sectors to a condition that is better than we found them, if our children are to see us as builders, not demolishers.
We need to leave a legacy of honesty, love, work and peace.
It is within our power. It is within our means. Yes, we can. I believe that we have sufficient willingness to do so. So let us work together. Let us be of service to the human race. Let us think progress.
Above all, let us strive to act responsibly, always.
Are you guarding that which has been entrusted to your care?
Do you have a clear conscience regarding how you have conducted yourself in the past? Can you stand with your chin up and shoulders high, without shame? Would God and man describe you as noble, and responsible? Would they take you to be a person of integrity? If that is not the case, then you've some serious work to do, and now is the time to act!
Guard whatever is entrusted to your care. Act responsibly. What a powerful instruction!
Proceed to: Setting a good Christian example
DEVOTIONAL PRAYER
Prayer Point for Today: That I may always act responsibly toward fellow humans.
I admire the example of Jesus Christ, Holy Father. I admire His concern for people, that it might be well with them.
I aspire to that example, so help me, Holy Father.
Jesus came so that the human race might not just have life, but that we might have it in abundance. That is a heightened sense of responsibility, for One to be so concerned about the wellbeing of others to the extent of making a supreme sacrifice for them.
Help the world, Holy Father. Selfishness is killing us. Consider the suffering that the human race faces right now, and it looks like without Your intervention it will only get worse. All this because of irresponsibility originating from selfishness!
May you raise up a different kind of generation, Holy Father; a generation that is more concerned about the wellbeing of the next person more than they are concerned about their own.
May this generation erase all old habits from the face of the earth and introduce a new world order for which Jesus Christ is the architect.
Father, the human race needs Your help, otherwise irresponsibility will wipe us from the face of the earth.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Father I beseech You.
Amen.