RWJ/Pottersville UMC 10/28/12 Sermon - “They sacrifice for the greater good” (Qualities of a Good Leaders Series, Part 3 of 5)

Sunday 10/28/12 RWJ/Pottersville UMC

Sermon: “They sacrifice for the greater good”                                                              (Qualities of a Good Leader Series: Part 3 of 5)

Scripture Lesson: Job 42:1-6, 10-17

Gospel Lesson: Mark 10:46-52

          Good morning brothers and sisters! I greet you in the name our risen Lord and savior Jesus Christ! I hope and pray that you have all had a blessed week and I am happy to be worshipping with you here this morning!

          This morning, I am continuing on with my sermon series on the qualities of a good leader. In light of the presidential election that we have every four years, I thought that this would be a good opportunity for us to think about leadership. This leadership is not only leadership that is needed in the government, but all kinds of leadership. While leadership is needed everywhere, leadership is also very much needed here in the church. Once again, there are many qualities of good leadership, and I hope to highlight but a few of these many qualities with this sermon series.

          In my first week of this series, I talked about how good leaders are “humble before there people.” If we really want to serve the Lord, we must be a humble servant to each other. Last week I talked about how Christian leaders must be “Amongst the people.” If we are truly going to serve people, than we must be amongst them. Jesus was amongst the people, eating with sinners, healing the outcasts, loving the lost, and etc. To really be good leaders we must be amongst the people like that.

          This morning however, I want to talk about another quality of good leaders. This biblical quality is one “who sacrifices for the greater good,” or one who gives to others of themselves. By this, I mean one who truly understands that “it is better to give, than to receive.” For the next two weeks, I will be highlighting additional qualities of good leadership, and will finish this series the Sunday just after the presidential election. While we have all no doubt been going through various emotions and feelings through this president election cycle, I hope that we have also been able to dream about what our ideal leaders could and should be. Further, what kind of leaders can we ourselves be? Romans 12:1-2 says, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will." Ephesians 5:1-2 says, "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

You see then in order to be a good leader we must sacrifice for God, for others, and do so in name of Jesus. By giving, we truly receive. One of my favorite writings on the topic of sacrifice was written by our late President Abraham Lincoln. President Lincoln wrote the following letter to a Mrs. Lydia Bixby of Boston, Massachusetts in 1864 during the Civil War. Here is what the late president said: “Nov. 21, 1864. Dear Madam, I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.  I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom. Yours, very sincerely and respectfully, A. Lincoln.”

Sacrificing for others. Jesus calls us to sacrifice for others. Jesus calls us to live for others, and give of ourselves, even when it is hard. 1 Peter 2:1-5 reads: "Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, the living Stone - rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him - you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." In sacrificing for the greater good we should not do this just for blessings from God, but because it is the right thing to do. By giving of ourselves, of our resources, of our time, and of our gifts and talents, God uses us to transform the world for Jesus. Hebrews 13:15-16 says, "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased."

Whenever we deny ourselves and give to others, we imitate Jesus Christ. By taking the time and by doing what is needed to help others we are offering ourselves as sacrifices to Jesus. By loving others and serving others, we are living the way Christ taught us to live. In the scripture reading from Job this morning, God restored all that Job had lost. Job felt like everything he had been taken or sacrificed. Job learned that God is faithful if we really trust Him. In the Gospel reading this morning the blind man had faith. He believed and sacrificed for Jesus, and Jesus said after he made the blind man see, “Go; your faith has made you well.”

The famous writer Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Self-sacrifice is the real miracle out of which all the reported miracles grow.” Here is another really good quote: "You and I know and do not believe that life is so dear and peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery. If nothing is worth dying for, when did this begin...? ...Should Moses have told the children of Israel to live in slavery under the pharaohs? Should Christ have refused the cross? Should the patriots of Concord Bridge have thrown down their guns and refused to fire the shot heard 'round the world?" Anyone here know who this quote is from? This quote is from our late President Ronald Reagan.

You see brothers and sisters, we are redeemed by the blood of Jesus, but Jesus wants us to sacrifice for Him. He wants us to make the hard decisions, and to serve all people. To fully serve Christ, it involves sacrifice. It involves hard work, late nights, and plenty of coffee. We do we what do though, because Jesus Christ has died for us, and because He changes lives. May we seek this week to do for others, and to sacrifice for others, because Jesus calls us to make disciples for the transformation the world. With the power of Christ and in continually seeking Him, our sacrifice will pay dividends. It will pay dividends in growing congregations, in hearts changed, in lives made new, and in people living for the Lord. When I go to bed at night even if I am dog tired, I would hope that the Lord would say “Well done today, good and faithful servant.”

I would like to close with a story about sacrifice. Here is the story: There was once a bridge which spanned a large river. During most of the day the bridge sat with its length running up and down the river paralleled with the banks, allowing ships to pass thru freely on both sides of the bridge. But at certain times each day, a train would come along and the bridge would be turned sideways across the river, allowing a train to cross it. A switchman sat in a small shack on one side of the river where he operated the controls to turn the bridge and lock it into place as the train crossed. One evening as the switchman was waiting for the last train of the day to come, he looked off into the distance thru the dimming twilight and caught sight of the train lights. He stepped to the control and waited until the train was within a prescribed distance when he was to turn the bridge. He turned the bridge into position, but, to his horror, he found the locking control did not work. If the bridge was not securely in position it would wobble back and forth at the ends when the train came onto it, causing the train to jump the track and go crashing into the river. This would be a passenger train with many people aboard. He left the bridge turned across the river, and hurried across the bridge to the other side of the river where there was a lever switch he could hold to operate the lock manually. He would have to hold the lever back firmly as the train crossed. He could hear the rumble of the train now, and he took hold of the lever and leaned backward to apply his weight to it, locking the bridge. He kept applying the pressure to keep the mechanism locked. Many lives depended on this man’s strength. Then, coming across the bridge from the direction of his control shack, he heard a sound that made his blood run cold. “Daddy, where are you?” His four-year-old son was crossing the bridge to look for him. His first impulse was to cry out to the child, “Run! Run!” But the train was too close; the tiny legs would never make it across the bridge in time. The man almost left his lever to run and snatch up his son and carry him to safety. But he realized that he could not get back to the lever. Either the people on the train or his little son must die. He took a moment to make his decision. The train sped safely and swiftly on its way, and no one aboard was even aware of the tiny broken body thrown mercilessly into the river by the onrushing train. Nor were they aware of the pitiful figure of the sobbing man, still clinging tightly to the locking lever long after the train had passed. They did not see him walking home more slowly than he had ever walked: to tell his wife how their son had brutally died. Now if you comprehend the emotions which went this man’s head, you can begin to understand the feelings of our Father in Heaven when He sacrificed His Son to bridge the gap between us and eternal life. How does He feel when we speed along thru life without giving a thought to what was done for us thru Jesus Christ?

So this week brothers and sisters, may we seek to sacrifice for Jesus, may we give to others, may we help others, may we love each other. For good leaders, Christian leaders, sacrifice for the greater good of all people. May we serve the Lord sacrificially for each other in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

 

 

RWJ/Pottersville UMC 10/21/12 Sermon - “They are amongst the people” (Qualities of a Good Leaders Series, Part 2 of 5)

Sunday 10/21/12 RWJ/Pottersville UMC

Sermon: “They are amongst the people”                                                                 (Qualities of a Good Leader Series: Part 2 of 5)

Scripture Lesson: Job 38:1-7 (34-41)

Gospel Lesson: Mark 10:35-45

 

          Good morning brothers and sisters! I greet you in the name our risen Lord and savior Jesus Christ! I hope and pray that you have all had a blessed week and I am happy to be worshipping with you here this morning!

          This morning, I am continuing on with my sermon series on the qualities of a good leader. As I said last week, if you are not already aware of it, we are in the midst of a presidential election season. As I also said last week, I don’t know how you could not be aware that it is a presidential election season! For some of us, this every four-year cycle of electing a president is exciting, for some it’s not exciting, for some of us it’s overwhelming, and so on and so forth. Many of us have all sorts of emotions around this and all presidential elections. Since it is a presidential election season though, I thought that it would be good to do this series on qualities that we as Christians should look for in a good leader. Specifically, as Christians what sorts of qualities, attributes, and characteristics do we want to have not only in a president, but all leaders.

          What sorts of qualities, attributes, and characteristics do we want in church leaders, community leaders, and etc.? I am asking all of us in this sermon series then, to think about of the all kinds of leadership that we want, and to think about developing further leadership in this church. Once again, this 5-week sermon series could not possibly cover everything that makes a good leader or a good president, so I have just picked some of these qualities to get us thinking.

          Last week, I talked about how as Christians we should desire a president or any leader who is humble. Jesus was humble, and Jesus calls us to be humble. When we get egotistical and all puffed up, we fail to be like Jesus, and most people are really repelled by such behavior. I think for all of us, we want leaders who are strong and courageous, yet humble. I think we want Leaders who are honest, open, and humble, whether we realize it or not.

          In continuing on then in this series this week I want to talk about leaders that are “amongst the people.” When we look at the four Gospels in the Bible, we do not see Jesus going to just the powerful and the affluent. Instead, we see Jesus going to the woman at the well, whom nobody wanted to talk to, we see Jesus spending time with the homeless. We see Jesus healing, raising people from the dead, and declaring a new way to God. In fact, before the followers of Jesus became known as “Christians” in the city of Antioch, in the Book of Acts, they were simply known as The Way. This term “The Way,” simply meant, “The Way of God.”

Jesus I think never conducted an opinion poll of his favorability, before spreading His good news to a city. He never said, “Well Jerusalem is a swing state, so I will spend more time there.” I don’t know about you, but I seem to see presidents and a lot of leaders showing up when it matters, but I would like to see a president if even for 1-2 days a year, showing up when it doesn’t matter. I want to see a president go to a poor community that is not a swing state to be with the people. I mean are those people in that little community, in that state, any less significant than the folks in a big city or a swings state? In this way, I would argue that Jesus did not care about polls, or swing states, instead Jesus cared about people. 1 John 4:7-8 says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 Peter 4:8 says, “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

People have jokingly said to me before, “Paul why don’t you run for political office?” I say, “that’s simple, because I would never get elected.” That person might then say, “well why do you say that?” I might then say, “because I want to be among the people, and I don’t care about smear campaigns, fund raising dinners, and etc.” In our Book of Job reading this morning, God in Job’s distress said, don’t you trust me? Did I create everything that ever was and ever is? Job’s love and his trust was being tested. In the Gospel of Mark reading this morning, Jesus said “whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be among you must be slave of all.” We must be amongst the people.

          I don’t know about you, but I want a president who is amongst the people. You might say, “Well pastor is that really possible?” Obviously our president, whom ever that may be at the time, cannot possibly be amongst 320-million Americans in 50-states. What I want though, is to see just one a president or any high up leader, do something not for press, not for camera time, but because they want to be amongst the people. I want to hear the accolades and good deeds of a president or a presidential candidate not from them, but from those who know them. I want to hear all the great things that they do for people that they themselves never talk about. I want a president who is amongst the people, like Jesus Christ was amongst the people. Hebrews 13:1-3 “Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.” We must be amongst the people. Galatians 6:9 says, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Mathew 5:16 says, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

          You know whenever there is a calamity or a natural disaster we see leaders showing up surveying the damage, giving speeches, and helping. Are these leaders doing this though to be amongst the people, or to keep their poll numbers up? Do our leaders really care about the common people? I personally think that some do and some don’t, but if you think about past leaders, the one’s we tend to respect the most, are the leaders that were amongst the people.

          There is a good movie with Mel Gibson I saw a while back, called “We Were Soldiers.” Has anyone ever seen this movie? In this movie Mel Gibson portrayed an army officer named Colonel Hal Moore, a man who was a deeply religious Christian. In very first battle of the Vietnam War, the character that Mel Gibson portrayed, Colonel Hal Moore, said before the battle to all the soldiers, “when we go into battle, I will be the first to step foot on the field, and I will be the last step off, and I will leave no one behind. Dead or alive, we will all come home together, so help me God.” The first time I heard that speech in this movie I had chills run down my spine. I thought to myself, “I would sign up and fight for Colonel Moore.” You see Colonel Moore was amongst his soldiers, and was the first on the ground, and the last one off. I am also sure that his men’s allegiance to him in battle was paramount compared to many other Army officers due to him being amongst the people.

          I think of church leaders like Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who was always amongst the people. I think of leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was constantly amongst the common people fighting for equal rights and opportunities. I think of church leaders like many of you here, who serve the Lord, and with most of us not even knowing half of what you do for people. When I think of other leaders that go amongst the people, I think of the first president of our republic, George Washington, who went amongst his soldiers, ensuring their well-being and care. Is there any wonder why George Washington was so popular? I know that we are all probably planning on voting in a few weeks, and I think we all should consider if our chosen leader is amongst the people. 

I would like to close today with a story. This is a story about being amongst the people, and sharing our time. Here is the story: A man came home from work late again, tired and irritated, to find his 5 year old son waiting for him at the door. “Daddy, may I ask you a question?” “Yeah, sure, what is it?” replied the man. “Daddy, how much money do you make an hour? “That’s none of your business! What makes you ask such a thing?” the man said angrily. “I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?” pleaded the little boy. “If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour.” “Oh,” the little boy replied, head bowed. Looking up, he said, “Daddy, may I borrow $10.00 please?” The father was furious. “If the only reason you wanted to know how much money I make is just so you can borrow some to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you’re being so selfish. I work long, hard hours everyday and don’t have time for such childish games.” The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even madder about the little boy’s questioning. “How dare him ask such questions only to get some money.” After an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think he may have been a little hard on his son. Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10.00, and he really didn’t ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door. “Are you asleep son?” he asked. “No daddy, I’m awake,” replied the boy. “I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,” said the man. “It’s been a long day and I took my aggravation out on you. Here’s that $10.00 you asked for.” The little boy sat straight up, beaming. “Oh, thank you daddy!” he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled up bills. The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at the man. “Why did you want more money if you already had some?” the father grumbled. “Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,” the little boy replied. “Daddy, I have $20.00 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?”

This week brothers and sisters share some time with those who need you. They need our time more then we will ever know. Let us as we continue on into this presidential season, to seek leaders and seek to be ourselves amongst the people. Amen.

 

RWJ/Pottersville UMC 10/14/12 Sermon - “They are Humble before there people” (Qualities of a Good Leaders Series, Part 1 of 5)

Sunday 10/14/12 RWJ/Pottersville UMC

 

Sermon: “They are Humble before there people”                                                    (Qualities of a Good Leader Series: Part 1 of 5)

Scripture Lesson: Hebrews 4:12-16

Gospel Lesson: Mark 10:17-31 

 

          Good morning brothers and sisters! I greet you in the name our risen Lord and savior Jesus Christ! I hope and pray that you have all had a blessed week and I am happy to be worshipping with you here this morning!

          As I am sure you are all too well aware, we have a presidential election coming up in less than one month. It seems to me that every four years when we have a presidential election cycle that many things happen within us. Some of us get excited, some of us get apathetic, some of us get angry, and some of us feel a whole variety of other ways. I think for most people though, even though they may disagree on politics, even though they may disagree on the issues, what they really want is good leaders. How many of you here want good leaders?

So to throw a disclaimer out about this sermon series that I am starting today, I am not trying to give a stump speech for either presidential candidate, but instead I am talking about qualities of good leaders.

          While many of us are focused on the presidential election coming up, we need good leaders in all capacities. We need good leaders in the military, our local governments, our schools, our businesses, and etc. Good leadership is something that most people want. While there are many qualities of good leaders, I have isolated for this sermon series, just some of these qualities. Hopefully, as we enter into this presidential election, this sermon series will make us more reflective on what qualities as Christians we think make a good leader. As Christians we have unique perspectives on what a good Christian leader is. While not all leaders are Christian leaders, we often as Christians still look a good leadership through our Christian moral and ethical lens. This is largely how we establish just what a good leader is.

          This morning, I put forth that from a Christian standpoint, a good leader must be humble before there people. A good leader is able to be at the level of the people whom they are serving. A good leader is not egotistical and above there people. In fact, scripture tells us that humility is actually a great form of strength and leadership. James 4:10 says “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” Matthew 18:4 says, “Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” The Lord when he looks for leadership wants humility. The Lord wants leaders who will humbly follow Him.

          Did anyone happen to watch the vice-presidential debate this past Thursday night? I did, and I really enjoyed the debate. There was something I noticed though, that was of great interest to me. What I noticed, was that Vice-President Joe Biden laughed out loud at Congressman Paul Ryan, who is running against him, I think over 80-times. He laughed at him, in almost a mocking or a condescending way. Whatever your personal views on either of these candidates isn’t really where I am trying to go here, but I personally felt after the debate, “Wow Vice-President Biden wasn’t very humble in this debate.” It is unarguable that the Vice-President has many more years in government that Congressman Paul Ryan, so shouldn’t he have been more humble in this debate? Whenever I hear Senator John McCain speak, I am always humbled myself at how humble he is. When God calls leaders, scripturally, God is calling leaders who are humble.

          In the scripture reading this morning, Job struggled with being humble before the Lord. In fact, Job seemed angry with the Lord, and was filled with complaints. Job was a good man, but sometimes even good men and good women struggle to be humble. I am not saying we will all be able to do this every day, all day, but the Lord wants leaders who are humble. In the scripture reading this morning from the gospel of Mark Jesus said his famous scriptural quote “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” So given this scripture, was Jesus anti-rich people? I don’t think so necessarily. Instead I think Jesus was saying that many people who are wealthy are not humble. Many who are wealthy are not humble, because there wealth is there value. So when the rich man told Jesus all he had done, Jesus praised him. The rich man then pushed and said “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth,” speaking of the commandments. Jesus then responded, by basically saying do you really want to know me? Do you really want to follow me fully? Jesus then of course tells the man to sell everything he owns, give the money to the poor, and follow him. You see I think this just might have been a test in humility. Some people I know that have a lot are quite generous, and some that I know are not. I think that if the Lord blesses us with financial wealth we need to be generous, humble, and thankful for all that God has done for us. I think that the rich man was almost trying to negotiate his way into heaven. He sort of was saying, “I have done everything on the salvation check list.” I would like to think that Jesus was then thinking, “This man just doesn’t get it.”

          We need to be humble before our Lord. And make no mistake we need humble leaders. Not only as the president, but this church need humble leaders. I firmly believe that the Lord has big plans for this church, but He needs humble leaders to accomplish these plans. So with this said, I ask you this, “will you humbly serve our Lord?” By this, I mean what do you feel God is calling you do for Him? What ministries do you think you would be gifted for? God has gifted all of us differently, and I am asking you to reflect this week on your gifts and graces, and ask yourself “How can God use me?” Pray about it.

          I believe God has big plans for this church. Whether we start a 4^th Day Group, a Movie Night, a Covenant/Bible Study Group, Sunday School, or etc., the church needs humble leaders to build the kingdom of God.

          If you feel called to run a movie night, to leader a prayer group, to be a Sunday School teacher, to preach a sermon, or any other ministry, let me or one of the church leaders know. The pastor does not own the leadership of God’s church. We all are in the role of leadership in God’s church. You, my brothers and sisters, have great gifts and talents, and I ask you too humbly to go before the Lord and ask Him to use you, and He will. The church needs leaders, just as this country need leaders. Will you serve God? Will you take up the mantle of leadership in His church? Will come along side of me and the other leaders of this church to build a better community, build stronger families, build stronger bonds, and build a better life for us all? Won’t you come serve with us?

          Proverbs 3:34 says, “He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble.” When considering other leaders that I myself have always found humble, I think of President Jimmy Carter. Now once again, I am not getting into the politics of this particular president, but I have always admired his Christian faith. I have always felt that President Carter was and is a humble Christian. Last time I checked, President Carter was still building habitat for humanity houses and serving in many ways. I think of many of the instances of humility of President Abraham Lincoln. President Lincoln once said, “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day.” The Lord wants humble leaders. Proverbs 15:33 says, “The fear of the LORD teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor.”

          I want a president who is humble. I want leaders of all things who are humble. The Lord wants leaders for this church who are humble. You will you humbly serve Him?

I want to close today with a story on humility. Here is the story:   

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion’s guest room. Instead, the angels were given a space in the cold basement. As they made their bedroom up out of the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied…. “Things aren’t always what they seem.”

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had, the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good nights’ rest. When the sun came up the next morning, the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole source of income, lay dead in the field.

The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel “How could you have let this happen!? The first man had everything, yet you helped him,” the angel accused. ” The second family had so little, but was willing to share everything and you let their cow die.”

“Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angel replied.” The Older angel then said, when we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so arrogant, so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the hole in the wall so he wouldn’t find it. For the owner was not humble before the Lord. Then last night, as we slept in the farmer’s bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave her the cow instead, because the farmer and his wife are humble before the Lord. “Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angel said to the younger angel.

Sometimes we get frustrated, sometimes we don’t trust the Lord. We forget to realize that “Things aren’t always what they seem.” As you go forth this week, consider the gifts and grace that the Lord has given you. Ask Him how you can serve Him. Then come along side of us and build His kingdom, this family, and this community in the name of Jesus Christ. For the Lord needs humble leaders, and needs humble leaders all the way up the level of the president. Amen.

           

RWJ/Pottersville UMC 10/07/12 Sermon - “Do you serve Him when all is lost?” (Growing in faith series, Part 6 of 6)

Sunday 10/07/12 RWJ/Pottersville UMC

 

Sermon: “Do you serve Him when all is lost?”                       

(Growing in faith series, Part 6 of 6)

Scripture Lesson: Job 1:1; 2:1-10

Gospel Lesson: Mark 10:2-16                         

 

          Good morning brothers and sisters! I greet you in the name our risen Lord and savior Jesus Christ! I hope and pray that you have all had a blessed week and I am happy to be worshipping with you here this morning!

          This morning I am concluding my six part “Growing in faith series.” In concluding this series, I am going to quickly touch upon what I have talked about thus far. In my first week of this series, I talked about “Walking our Faith vs. Talking our Faith,” and how if we had big and strong Christian Churches, that we could do incredible things for this community and the world with all our pooled gifts, time, and resources. The second week of this series, I gave a message called “Faith without works is dead,” and in this message I talked about the need to live our faith through doing kind and generous things for others. After all, what good is our faith if we don’t share it? In the third week of this series, I gave a message called “Would you deny Him?” In this message I talked about how we need to treat all people as if there were Jesus Himself. We need to try to love and care for all people, and when we fail to do so, we deny Him. In week four of this series, I preached a message called “Who is the greatest amongst us?” While we all are at different points on our faith walks, God equally loves us all, and we all need His saving grace. In this way we are all the greatest before God. Last week I gave a message called “What are our stumbling blocks.” In this message, I talked about how we are all struggling with different sins and different struggles. I then talked about how we must identify our struggles and our stumbling blocks, and help one another to not stumble.

          This week, I am going to be concluding this series of growing in faith, by asking you, “Do you serve Him when all is lost?” By this, I mean to you trust God and serve the Lord when it seems you have hit rock bottom? For many of us, we arrived at this point in our lives at different time for many different reasons. Maybe we lost a good job for no reason. Maybe we experienced the death of loved one. Maybe we went through a painful divorce. Maybe our plan for our lives has not turned out to be our reality. It is easy for us to get bitter, to blame God, and to turn from God. We also can turn from God when we have unrealistic temptations. I would argue here this morning that the devil is always tempting us. Maybe he is tempting us with money, relationships, power, houses, cars, and etc. I want you to listen to this thing I am about to say very closely though. This thing is the devil cannot tempt with you with something that you do not want. Did you here that? The devil cannot tempt you with something that you do not want. Sometimes, in my flesh I get stressed over money, I get stressed over material things. In reality though I don’t want the money or the material things really, I just want to know that God will take care of me. You see God will provide for us, but the devil whispers to us, “Do you have enough money?” The devil then says, “Do you own a big enough house?” The devil then says, “You have not amounted to much in life?” Or maybe the devil says, “Since you are divorced, can anyone really ever love you again?”

          I think that these deceptions and temptations from the devil are the cause of much of our sorrow. I mean if the devil tells me that I need to buy a big house and I do not want a big house, then how can the devil tempt me with a big house. This is because the devil cannot tempt with something you do not want. In my Christian walk, I am learning to want nothing but the Lord. This as we all know is very hard. If we truly wanted nothing but the Lord though, this really narrows the margin on what Satan can tempt us with doesn’t it?

          When we experience extreme loss, we sometimes ask God, why did this happen? It is so easy to start to blame God, to blame others, and to feel empty angry inside. Sometimes we go through spiritual droughts; sometimes we are on the mountain top. The question I try to ask myself in everything that I do though is “where is Jesus Christ in all of this?” “Do we serve Him when all is lost?” Do we realize how much God loves us when we feel empty? Do we realize how much the family of God loves us when we feel empty? Would we serve God with nothing but ourselves?

You see when we are empty this is the best time for the devil to tear us down. This is when the devil will tell us that we are worthless. The devil wants us think that we are unlovable, that we are rotten to the core, but Jesus Christ always love us. In fact, God loves you so much, and there isn’t a thing that you can do about it. Even when we feel like He isn’t there, He loves us. When we feel empty and broken, we don’t need to stop at just prayer to be healed, but we also have each other. Believe me when I say that the devil doesn’t like the fact that we are in worship right now. God loves us, and the devil cannot tempt us with something we do want.

 In the scripture reading from Job today, Job lost everything and at time was angry at God. In this scripture Job did not sin with his lips, but he at times in the book of Job had anger, frustration, and doubt. In this way God was testing him. In our lives we will have times that we feel empty, broken, and weak, and God is there. We have each other to lift us up, as we are broken. God’s love then shines not only from Him to us directly, but He shines that loves to us through others.

In the Gospel of Mark reading this morning, Jesus talked about the way we should aspire to live, and talked about having hardness of the heart. You see, when are broken, we need to believe that Jesus is there for us, but He won’t necessarily fix us immediately or make everything better right away. Sometimes in the great mystery that is our faith Jesus wants us to struggle and to tarry so that we may know Him better. Sometimes bad things happen and the mysteries of God are beyond us, but He still loves us and has a plan for us.

I think of the story I heard on the news a few years ago of when a person went into an Amish school house and shot and killed several Amish children. I remember that the families of these murdered children forgave the killer and I think ever might have went to visit and love the man in prison who did that. To me I wondered how could people trust God this much in the face of such calamity and loss? I mean he murdered their children? There served Him when all was lost? How can you and I serve Him when all is lost? If everything is lost and we trust God, I mean truly trust Him, will he be faithful? I think He will, because God is always faithful. He might not be faithful in the way we think he will be, but he is always faithful.

About a two years ago, a family that my wife works with where a couple of hours away for Thanksgiving dinner, and enjoyed Thanksgiving with their extended family. After a great and blessed Thanksgiving dinner, the family drove home, and when they approach there house, they realized that while they were at Thanksgiving dinner, that there house had burnt to the ground. This occurred, due to some old wiring. Luckily, the fire department was able to get all of animals out alive, but the family lost virtually everything. They had no insurance to cover a fire. They lost everything. Quickly clothing drives and fundraisers got together a great deal of things for the family. Interestingly enough, when this mother came into my wife’s office a couple of weeks later, she seemed calm and pleasant. You see this woman is a devout Christian, and even through this she trusted God. The family now has another house they live in and God has provided everything that they need to be successful. Do we trust Him like this?

Do we really trust and serve God when all is lost? Do we really trust that God will carry us through? Can stop losing sleep over stress and worry at night? Maybe we should just give God our problems and go to bed. After all, God is going to be up all night anyway.

I would like to close today’s message with a story. This story is about a terrible storm. Here is the story: A terrible storm came into a town and local officials sent out an emergency warning that the riverbanks would soon overflow and flood the nearby homes. They ordered everyone in the town to evacuate immediately. A faithful Christian man heard the warning and decided to stay, saying to himself, “I will trust God and if I am in danger, then God will send a divine miracle to save me.” The neighbors came by his house and said to him, “We’re leaving and there is room for you in our car, please come with us!” But the man declined. “I have faith that God will save me.” As the man stood on his porch watching the water rise up the steps, a man in a canoe paddled by and called to him, “Hurry and come into my canoe, the waters are rising quickly!” But the man again said, “No thanks, God will save me.” The floodwaters rose higher pouring water into his living room and the man had to retreat to the second floor. A police motorboat came by and saw him at the window. “We will come up and rescue you!” they shouted. But the man refused, waving them off saying, “Use your time to save someone else! I have faith that God will save me!” The flood waters rose higher and higher and the man had to climb up to his rooftop. A helicopter spotted him and dropped a rope ladder. A rescue officer came down the ladder and pleaded with the man, "Grab my hand and I will pull you up!" But the man STILL refused, folding his arms tightly to his body. “No thank you! God will save me!” Shortly after, the house broke up and the floodwaters swept the man away and he drowned. When in Heaven, the man stood before God and asked, “I put all of my faith in You. Why didn’t you come and save me? And God said, “Son, I sent you a warning. I sent you a car. I sent you a canoe. I sent you a motorboat. I sent you a helicopter. What more were you looking for?”

You see when we serve and trust God when all is lost, we not only can trust in God, but we need to realize that sometimes our hope is found in each other. I saw a shirt a couple of years ago that said, “Sometimes God performs miracles, but the rest of the time He sends me.” When all is lost God has promised that He will be faithful either directly or through His people. Let us this week look to God and each other when we feel lost. Amen.