Pop Goes the Weasel
Preached on October 2nd, 2005 at 11:00AM by Bishop Brian Greene - 00:38:29
Part of the "Philemon" series
Listen to the sermon: Pop Goes the Weasel
by Bishop Brian C. Greene
Philemon 4-7
Let’s play a little game! Can you recite the nursery rhyme “Pop Goes the Weasel?” (answer at the end)
What’s interesting is that this rhyme was created during the 1700’s and made popular during the 1800’s. What’s even more interesting is that the word “Pop” does not mean “to make a short, sharp, and explosive sound” like popped corn. Pop was British slang for “pawning an item.”
And weasel? Weasel was slang for a coat. The whole rhyme basically describes how a wife would pawn her husband’s coat on Thursday in order to buy enough food for the family to eat for the remainder of the week. Once they were paid on Saturday, she’d buy his coat back from the pawn shop in time for Sunday’s church service. So “Pop Goes the Weasel” is a Church song (just kidding).
But what if “weasel” was not slang but actually meant what the dictionary describes as “a treacherous, deceitful, false hearted and misleading person.” Then it’s going to take a good P.O.P. to make the weasel go, as in leave. Jeremiah 17:9 describes the source of this treachery which is our hearts by stating that “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? I the Lord…”
The factor that determines whether collaboration (process of working together) is successful or not, is usually not expertise, but the condition of heart. Pride, arrogance, intolerance, self-centeredness, selfishness, impatience, etc. are all destructive factors when it comes to collaboration.
Paul tells Philemon, “…Your kindness has so often refreshed the hearts of God’s people.” Using the definitions of the names of Paul, Onesimus, and Philemon, let’s describe the characteristics a church, organization, or family needs in order to have a successful collaboration that brings results.
- P (Paul) is Greek name which means “small” or “HUMBLE” (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5-6).
- O (Onesimus) is a name which means “useful”, as in being a SERVANT (Philippians 2:3-9).
- P (Philemon) is a Greek name which means “LOVING”. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
It’s going to take humbleness of spirit, a servant’s heart and a loving heart to eradicate the deceitfulness that readily lurks within us which obstructs us from accomplishing the purposes of God.
Pop Goes the Weasel
All around the mulberry bush
The monkey chased the weasel
That’s the way the story goes
Pop goes the weasel
