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The Power of the Spoken Word
Have you ever thought of how powerful a word spoken at just the right time is? It is said that on some of the Alpine slopes at certain times in the year guides forbid travelers to speak a word. They fear that the mere tremor of the human voice will l...
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shark and a whale.
There is a story of a shark and a whale. Both were swimming in the sea when the shark swam up to the whale to engage in conversation. As they swam along, the shark said to the whale, "You are so much older than I, and wiser too. Could you tell m...
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Live in the Light
I love a quotation and paraphrase of Martin Luther: "Can a rock that has been in the sunlight all day not fail to give off warmth and heat at night?" Can a rock that has been in the warmth and heat of the sun light all day not fail to give off warmth...
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Intentions
We are judged by our actions, not our intentions. We may have a heart of gold, but then, so does a hard-boiled egg
Intentions
We are judged by our actions, not our intentions. We may have a heart of gold, but then, so does a hard-boiled egg
He Knows Our Names
There is an old story of a census taker who was making his rounds in the lower East side of New York, who interviewed an Irish woman bending over her washtub. "Lady, I am taking the census. What's your name? How many children have you?" She replied, ...
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Interesting read and rating should be 5 not as shown
Sunday, 29 January 2017 17:28
A Job vs. A Ministry
Someone has said there is a huge difference between having a job at church and having a ministry at church.
... If you are doing it because no one else will, it's a job. If you are
doing it to serve the Lord, it's a ministry.
... If you're doing it just well enough to get by, it's a job. If you're
doing it to the best of your ability, it's a ministry.
... If you'll do it only so long as it doesn't interfere with other
activities, it's a job. If you're committed to staying with it even when
it means letting go of other things, it's a ministry.
... It's hard to get excited about a job. It's almost impossible not to
get excited about a ministry.
An average church is filled with people doing jobs. A great church is
filled with people involved in ministry.
A preacher tells of the time when a woman, her arms filled with Christmas presents, came out of a department store and bumped right into him. It was a good, solid bump, and all of her parcels dropped on the footpath. As he bent down to help her pick them up, she said, more to herself than anyone else, "Oh, I hate Christmas. It turns everything upside down." And so it does. Christmas turns the world topsy-turvy because it is centered in a baby, and babies change everything! Just watch a doting grandmother or grandfather and you'll see how life is changed!
The Christ child is no exception. This child will change the world! This child is God's son, the one foretold by the prophets. As the gospel writer put it: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God."
I don't know where life may be defeating you this Advent. I don't know how Jesus may be disappointing you this Advent. But I would suggest to you this Advent that any disillusionment you feel may not necessarily be a bad thing. For what is disillusionment if not, literally, the loss of an illusion? And, in the long run, it is never a bad thing to lose the lies we have mistaken for the truth.
Did Jesus fail to come when you rubbed the lantern?
Then perhaps Jesus is not a genie.
Did Jesus fail to punish your enemies?
Then perhaps Jesus is not a cop.
Did Jesus fail to make everything run smoothly?
Then perhaps Jesus is not a mechanic.
Over and over again, our disappointments draw us deeper and deeper into who Jesus really is ... and what Jesus really does.
The 1960's pop singer Joe South wrote a song that had these words:
Oh the games people play now
Every night and every day now
Never meaning what they say now
Never saying what they mean
And they wile away the hours
In their ivory towers
Till they're covered up with flowers
In the back of a black limousine
Games...we love to play games. Board games, video games, computer games, word games, mathematical...the list goes on and on. As human beings we are fascinated by our games. Games are good-for games can and do provide physical exercise and mental stimulation as well as develop coping skills, management skills-not to mention providing a respite from the pressures of everyday life. We all love games-some of us too much. It has been said of Americans that we "play at our work and work at our play." Yes, there are times when even the best of us take our games too seriously.
There are games we play that we should not. These are the games that we use to avoid life, to avoid dealing with the harsh realities that life can bring us. Back in the sixties Eric Berne wrote Games People Play--an analysis of the ways in which people relate to each other and why we do so. His basic thesis is that "games are substitutes for the real living of real life." We play games because we do not want to get down to the real human business of honest to God interaction. We would rather live at a superficial level of societal games than to talk about who we are and what we feel.
In our text, the Sadducees were playing games with Jesus. On the way to the cross, Luke says that Jesus' critics engaged him in a number of examinations. Of course, his critics aren't really looking for answers. His critics are not earnest inquirers, but rather sly, cool and calculating interrogators who are seeking to entangle Jesus in his answers.
Oh the games people play now
Every night and every day now
Never meaning what they say now
Never saying what they mean
And they wile away the hours
In their ivory towers
Till they're covered up with flowers
In the back of a black limousine
Games...we love to play games. Board games, video games, computer games, word games, mathematical...the list goes on and on. As human beings we are fascinated by our games. Games are good-for games can and do provide physical exercise and mental stimulation as well as develop coping skills, management skills-not to mention providing a respite from the pressures of everyday life. We all love games-some of us too much. It has been said of Americans that we "play at our work and work at our play." Yes, there are times when even the best of us take our games too seriously.
There are games we play that we should not. These are the games that we use to avoid life, to avoid dealing with the harsh realities that life can bring us. Back in the sixties Eric Berne wrote Games People Play--an analysis of the ways in which people relate to each other and why we do so. His basic thesis is that "games are substitutes for the real living of real life." We play games because we do not want to get down to the real human business of honest to God interaction. We would rather live at a superficial level of societal games than to talk about who we are and what we feel.
In our text, the Sadducees were playing games with Jesus. On the way to the cross, Luke says that Jesus' critics engaged him in a number of examinations. Of course, his critics aren't really looking for answers. His critics are not earnest inquirers, but rather sly, cool and calculating interrogators who are seeking to entangle Jesus in his answers.
One of the most famous composers had a rebellious son who used to come in late at night after his mother and father had gone to bed. And before going to his own room, this rebellious son would go to his father's piano and slowly, spitefully... and loudly would play a simple scale, all but the final note. He would play, "Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Ti..." and then he wouldn't strike that final "Do." Then leaving the scale unfinished, he would retire to his room.
Meanwhile, his father (great musician that he was) hearing the scale minus the final note,... would twist and turn and writhe on his bed, his mind unable to relax because the scale was not finished.
Finally, not able to stand it any longer, the father would crawl out of bed, stumble down the stairs and strike that final note of the scale. Only then could he relax and be at peace.
Now, that's an interesting parable because it reminds me of the way we so often treat God. We play around with some of the notes of faith, but we don't play the full scale...
- We forgive, but not completely.
- We love, but not completely.
- We serve, but not completely.
- We accept Christ, but not completely.
- We live the Christian life-style but not completely.
- We commit our lives to God, but not completely.
But then, even when we treat God shabbily, in his infinite patience and amazing grace, he continues to reach out to us and he continues to love us.
Meanwhile, his father (great musician that he was) hearing the scale minus the final note,... would twist and turn and writhe on his bed, his mind unable to relax because the scale was not finished.
Finally, not able to stand it any longer, the father would crawl out of bed, stumble down the stairs and strike that final note of the scale. Only then could he relax and be at peace.
Now, that's an interesting parable because it reminds me of the way we so often treat God. We play around with some of the notes of faith, but we don't play the full scale...
- We forgive, but not completely.
- We love, but not completely.
- We serve, but not completely.
- We accept Christ, but not completely.
- We live the Christian life-style but not completely.
- We commit our lives to God, but not completely.
But then, even when we treat God shabbily, in his infinite patience and amazing grace, he continues to reach out to us and he continues to love us.
Listen to me. If you are being bullied in school, God knows about it and God hates it. If you are being harassed in the workplace, for any reason, God hates it. If you are being taken advantage of--or if you are taking unfair advantage of someone else--there will be a day of reckoning. If there is anyone anywhere praying for God to intervene and put an end to their oppression, eventually that prayer will be heard and that which is wrong will be set right. That's the promise of Scripture.
Now, where does that leave us? Let me tell you a story.
A young black man asked his minister why their people had to suffer so much poverty, hardship, and oppression. "Why doesn't God do something?" he wailed.
"He has," said that wise pastor. "He has created you."
And so Desmond Tutu, now the archbishop of South Africa, became the answer to his own question.
That's a good lesson for you and me. While we are waiting for God to bring in a perfect and just society, you and I are God's answer to the injustice in our world. That's what it means to take up a cross and follow Jesus. It's not a comfortable position to be in. It's not popular. But it is Christ's way.
James Byrnes, who was Secretary of State under FDR, said that the difference between successful people and average people can be summed up in three words. Here are the three words, "and then some." He said, "Average people do what is expected. Successful people do what is expected, and then some." Our widow did what was expected, and then some.
Why did only one man cleansed from leprosy return to thank Jesus? Someone has made a list of nine suggested reasons why the nine did not return:
One waited to see if the cure was real.
One waited to see if it would last.
One said he would see Jesus later.
One decided that he had never had leprosy in the first place.
One said he would have gotten well anyway.
One gave the glory to the priests.
One said, "O, well, Jesus didn't really do anything."
One said, "Any rabbi could have done it."
One said, "I was already much improved."
That's not surprising, is it? I doubt that more than ten percent of us are ever truly grateful to God. In fact, it often seems that the more we have, the less gratitude we feel.
One day my wife brought a jar and asked me to open it for her. I tried and tried to open that jar, but my hands just weren't strong enough to hold the jar tightly and turn the lid. It is a little embarrassing to a man when a woman asks him to open a jar and he can't do it, so I decided that I needed to increase the strength in my hands. I got this hand exerciser to help me. You have probably seen one of these. You just squeeze the two sides together, like this. If you don't have one of these, you can do the same type of exercise by squeezing a rubber ball. By exercising my hands every day, they will get stronger and stronger. Then maybe I won't be embarrassed the next time my wife asks me to open a jar for her.
Faith is believing and trusting in God. Faith is like a muscle, you have to exercise it every day to make it strong. Sometimes we say that we have faith in God. We say that we believe that He can do anything, but then we act as if everything depends on us. That isn't a very strong faith, is it?
Jesus told his disciples that if they had as much faith as a tiny mustard seed, they could tell a tree to move from one place to another and the tree would obey them. Now, that is a strong faith, isn't it? I wish I had as much faith as a mustard seed. Maybe I will if I keep exercising it. I do know my faith will grow stronger if I exercise it by trusting in God each and every day. How strong is your faith? Does it need a little daily exercise?
There was a beautiful lake that lost its zesty freshness. The water formerly had been clear. It was alluring to animals and people alike. But it became covered with a green scum. The farm animals became ill from drinking the water. Finally someone came by the lake who understood the problem. Debris collecting from the hard spring rains had stopped up the dam and prevented the free flow of water, not into the lake, but out of the lake. The spillway was cleared, and soon the lake was fresh and clean again. The flow in and out was necessary to keep the water pure!
Doesn't the same principle apply to you and me as human beings? The blessings of life flow to you and me, but we fail to realize that most of these blessings are not meant just to flow to us, but through us, for the good of others around us, especially for those in need.
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