Ephesians 4

Weathervanes

Carried about with every wind. Ephesians 4:14.

Our text today is one very high up in the world. It is something that is not mentioned in the Bible, yet five words from the fourteenth verse of the fourth chapter of Ephesians describe it exactly. Here are the words “Carried about with every wind.” Have you guessed the text? Yes, it is a “weathervane,” as we call it in Scotland, or a “vane,” as they often name it in England.

Weathervane, as you know, are not always in the form of a rooster, although that is said to be the original pattern. Sometimes the piece of metal which shows the direction of the wind is shaped like a dragon or a fish or a pig; sometimes it is made like an arrow or a banner. On a ship the vane is usually a small streamer flown at the mast-head; and that is as it should be, for the old English word * vane” just meant a “flag” or “banner.”

Now the sermon today is not only about weathervanes. It is also to weathervanes. I want to speak to all the little weathervanes who are sitting in the pews. You see, there are plenty of weathervanes inside the church, although there is only one outside on the top of the steeple.

A weathervane is a most excellent thing on the top of a steeple or a flag-staff, but it is not at all a nice thing inside a house. There it is a regular nuisance, always asking advice and never taking it, always saying “Shall I do this?” or “Shall I do that?” “What do you think?” etc., etc. Poor little weathervane! They have no minds of their own. They are facing one way one minute and whirling round the opposite way the next. They are never settled themselves, and they are always unsettling other folk and making them uncomfortable. So I want to talk to the weathervanes this morning and I want to give them three pieces of advice.

1. The first is Don't he a weathervane in small things. I wonder how many of you do something like this? You set out on Saturday to spend a few dollars which someone gave you, say on Tuesday. You have had four days to decide what you will spend it on, but you can't quite make up your mind, looking at toy after toy.

Once upon a time there was a little maid exactly like that. She was always chopping and changing and worrying herself and others. She became so undecided that an old lady whom she was visiting took her aside and said, “My dear, I'm sorry to see you can never make up your mind. Remember this. It is better to decide wrongly than never to decide at all.' That sounded strange advice; but the old lady was right. The little girl tried the plan and it soon cured her of her indecision in small things.

So the next time you can't make up your mind about a small thing say to yourself, “It's better to decide wrongly than never to decide at all.” And choose then and there.

2. The second piece of advice is Don't be a weathervane in big things. For instance, don't be undecided as to what you are going to be when you grow up. When you were very tiny I expect most of you boys wanted to drive a big truck, or a drive a train, or a policeman, or a fireman. In the half-dozen years from six to twelve you chose about a dozen and a half different professions. Well, that is very interesting; but when you come to the age of twelve or fourteen it is time to make up your mind in earnest and stick to it. The boy who is first in a warehouse, and then in a bank, and then thinks he'll study medicine, and after a year of that guesses rubber-planting is the job for him and goes off to the tropics that boy may be a success; but the chances are two to one that he'll be a failure and a rolling stone all his days.

Boys and girls, think well before deciding on your future career, but, having decided, stick to your decision and make your life what it ought to be a success.

3. The third piece of advice is Don't be a weathervane in the biggest thing of all. What do I mean by that? Just this: don't be undecided about following Christ. Don't be half-persuaded that it would be a fine thing to be a Christian, and then hold back from becoming one. Don't say to yourself one day, “I'm going to follow Christ,” and the next, “It'll be time enough to do that when I grow up.” Don't tell yourself one minute, “Christ is the only Master worth serving,” and the next be whispering to your heart, “What if serving Him means giving up all my fun and turning pious?”

If the last idea is the one that is keeping you from deciding, then all I can say is that you never made a greater mistake. Why! You only begin truly to enjoy yourself when you decide to follow Christ. Following Him does not mean pulling a long face and looking “holy.” It means being jollier than before because you have a contented sort of feeling at your heart, and everything seems the same, only better. Don't tell me you need to give up anything except except the love of evil. Throw that away and put the love of Christ in its place. That's all.

Then why be a weathervane about what grown-up people call “the great decision”? The very name “great decision” sounds terrifying; but there is nothing to be terrified about. It may be great, but it is easy as easy, and the younger you are the easier it is.

So, determine today, boys and girls, that about this at least you will be no weathervane. Make up your mind on the spot that you are. going to enlist on the side of Christ, that you are going to scorn meanness, shun evil, and fight like a knight of old for God and the Right.