The Lost Sheep

17th Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture: St. Luke 15:1-10

There is no other scripture in the Bible that speaks of the love of the Lord and the depth of His love for the lost sheep.

We find in 1 Timothy 1:12-17 that we have been saved by our Lord to not only serve Him but to also seek the lost sheep of His Flock. Have you ever thought or considered that you have gifts and graces that the Lord has given to you that only you can use to call the lost sheep back into the flock of the redeemed? What special gift do you have to offer Him?

At the bus stop in front of the church sits an old man, waiting for his ride down to the library, where he will spend yet another day searching for a friend in the loneliness of the day.

In the corner of the coffee shop, perhaps a Starbucks, a single mother sips her non-fat mocha latte until closing time. She glances up every time the door opens for someone to come in, to see if hope has walked in and spotted her.

Hidden in a group of friends, walking the corridors of the mall, a teenager waits for this parents to call. It’s the call that will let him know that his parents really care for him.

You have 100 places to be and a million things to do, but are you willing to step up to the plate and search for these people, simply smile, and say “I love you and the Lord loves you.”?

Now we can begin to grasp the true message in the parable of the lost sheep as we sit comfortably, cuddly warm, and safe with the 99 who did not stray.

Do you identify with the old man sitting on the bench waiting on the bus? Did you know his wife of 50 years has recently died? All of his family is miles away. They never send cards or letters or call him on the phone. He longs for a relationship, even with a stranger. Will you respond to his need?

Do you identify with the single woman sitting at Starbucks who longs for conversation?

Do you identify with the teenager, lost in the crowd?

Yes, I know we have hundreds of places to go and millions of things to do before the end of day, but can’t we let these things wait for an hour or two and allow the Lord to use us in making others aware that someone cares about them? We are the hands and heart of God in this vast world in which we live. Do you feel a sense of urgency to reach out and touch someone with the love of God today?

I sense that is why the Lord placed so many churches across this great land. Each and every one of us has something special, a gift, to carry the message of the Lord to the lost sheep. Once we find the lost sheep, let us offer them the most precious gift possible, the Lord Jesus Christ!

I didn’t grow up in an active church. I was lost and wandering in the wilderness of sin and spiritual death. Over many years, many offered me a glimpse of the presence of the Lord, but until I became open to feel the Lord’s presence in my life and His personal invitation to be His servant I was lost in the wilderness. Each time we offer the Lord’s love and blessings to someone, He rejoices. Have you felt those blessings in your life as you talk to friends and strangers sharing your personal journey with them?

If you sense the feeling of the Lord as part of the 99, that is wonderful. But it is nothing compared to the joy you will receive when you offer someone who is wandering in the wilderness of sin, the Love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen!

A Devastation is Planned

16th Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture: Jeremiah 18:1-12
As we take up Jeremiah’s text today, we see that God is planning a devastation. The information we have is an excellent 3-point sermon.
1. The pottery shows the presence of God as the divine Potter. He may turn at any moment and change the circumstances of our lives if we repent from our evil ways.
2. The clay represents mankind being made as the potter has desired. He will remake mankind when we fall by the wayside. He created us in His own image, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply.”
Mankind is the clay, which is warped as we stray from His love and grace. Still, He is willing to remold us and make us able to walk in the fullness of His love and grace. I sense that mankind has strayed very far from God’s presence today. God desires to remold and make us as the potter did the clay when it was not perfectly formed.
Jeremiah’s mission was to call the stray ones back to the fold of God’s care.
We must repent of our sinful ways and return to our Lord, Jesus the Christ. No matter how far one has strayed, nor how far the depth of that straying, Father God has the power and the will to lift us up from the miry clay of our sinful acts.
In the story of the prodigal son, our Lord is the Father in the depth of the Father’s love for us. We all know the story, but have we really grasped the depth of God in the earthly father’s actions of love for his fallen son? There’s nothing that compares to the love of Christ the way the love of that father does. He yields the return of his fallen son, and when he sees him coming down the road (a sight no parent wishes to see their offsprings in), he doesn’t hesitate. Rather, he runs to meet him, throws his arms around his neck, and hugs him. I imagine there are tears of joy streaming down his face.
He calls one of his servants, saying, “Bring a robe for his body and a ring for his finger. Kill the fatted calf. We’re going to have a celebration.”
The scripture states, “There is more joy over one sinner who repents than for 99 who do not stray from the fold.” One of the greatest sins in the world today is that we do not celebrate the returning sinner coming home as the scripture tells us to.
Many of us in the fold think we are really good because we did not stray. We have completely lost sight of the depth of our own sinfulness before the Lord touched our own lives and made us whole in His loving grace. The Christian churches today are full of retired Christians. They believe they are right with God and that they have nothing more to do for the assurance of their spot in the kingdom of God in heaven.
They are equipped by the Lord, but they have strayed from the path of righteousness because there’s no retirement for the faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. We don’t sing out in our lives and our souls, “Savior, like a shepherd, take my hand and lead me that I may be a faithful worker in your vineyard today.”
The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
Tomorrow we will celebrate Labor Day, thanking the Lord for all the joys and riches we have obtained with the different gifts God has equipped us with in labor. Still, when was the last day you prayed and asked the Lord to give you wisdom and strength to labor for His faithful kingdom? We pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
May we pray that the love and actions of our lives will be offered in God’s laboring, drawing others from the wilderness of sin and death that He has drawn us from. We should pray that they may glimpse the blessed love of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!

Israel Forsakes God

15th Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture: Jeremiah 2:4-13

Jeremiah was a young priest who God sent to His fallen children, the Israelites, seeking to draw then back into His fold.

They had strayed far, far from His presence and He longed to have them back.

Jeremiah’s whole ministry was a challenge and an opportunity to draw them back into a covenant relationship with God. God promised them, “I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.”

Throughout Israel’s long history, time and time again they strayed from God’s loving presence. Still, God always kept a remnant of them, offering them chance after chance to be redeemed. He offered them the promise land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Praise God! He is slow to anger and full of patience with them, as well as with you and me yet today.

I believe that God allows us to stray not because He wants us to, but because He created us with free will. And because of that free will, we want to do our thing, our desires and not the will of God; however, there will be a day of judgment for our behavior.

I’m going to take a big step here and ask this:

Are we so busy today with the world so full of noise that we don’t hear the voice of God speaking to us?

Paul was so bent to destroy the Christian movement that he was seeking Christians to take back to Rome to be crucified. As he was traveling, God struck him down on the road to Damascus. Paul’s words were, “Who are you, Lord?”

I sense with all my heart that we are a special chosen vessel of the Lord today, intended to share His message of love and forgiveness to the whole world. He has planted us in his promised land. But like the chosen people of Israel, we have forsaken God’s desire for our own. We have raped our land of its rich minerals for the sake of a profit while not doing God’s will. We have allowed society to cripple the church’s witness and time with God for one or two hours of time a week in our lives. Look at the church’s services today compared to what it was 50 years ago.

Commerce today is 24/7 today. The church has no control or voice in our world. If someone goes to the corner of our streets, crying out the love of God, they are labeled a religious freak or fanatic.

Yes, I know the Lord is slow to anger and patient, but let us wake up to the potential to see the judgment that I spoke of. It is more than 2000 years closer to us than when Christ walked among us on the earth.

Let us pray!

Not Peace, but Division

13th Sunday of Pentecost
Scripture: St. Luke 12:49-59

We all love a gentle Jesus. Recall these images of our Lord:
· A soft, glowing headshot
· A man holding a lamb on His shoulders
· Jesus sitting among the little children, holding one on His lap
· A tiny baby cuddling in His mother’s arms

Yet there are also the images of Jesus being crucified and suffering and dying on a cross. We don’t often envision Him as an angry, irate, and temperamental one, but there is the image of Him chasing the money chargers from the temple with a raised whip in His hands. He used a raise voice to call the Pharisees and Sadducees a “brood of vipers.”

And we gloss over these words of our Savior: “Do you think I have come to bring peace to the world. No, I tell you, but rather division.

We don’t care for a Jesus who stirs up divisions and irritates us, yet He speaks truth to the power of this world, both political and religious, and to all others. For there will be a final judgment for all our human actions.

Life can be a terrible experience through one must pass, a life full of decisions until we pass through and emerge triumphantly from them, until we climb the golden stairs to the heavenly kingdom.
Jesus had the cross ever before His eyes and mind.

Oh yes, there will be divisions between mankind, even members of our family and members of the world’s family.

The story of the vineyard in Isaiah 5 comes to mind. Even when the vinekeeper does everything right, the outcome might not be a harvest one hopes for.

A man built a vineyard on a fertile hillside and removed the stones from it, dug in the soil, and planted choice vines. He hoped for a harvest and built a fence around it and a winepress for the fruits. In the fullest of times, he went to see the fruits of his labors. The grapes were unfit for wine.
We are God’s chosen ones today, and we have a choice: whether to accept Him and engage in a spiritual rebirth and “Awakening” to encounter a new life with Him.

But created with free will, our lifestyle may be like that vineyard’s, producing unfit grapes or unfit actions by our behavior for the Lord. We yield to the lower side of humanity and its lifestyle.
Satan slips in and drives a wedge between us and our Lord, rendering us unfit to produce blessings for our Lord.

May we see that divisions between us are not always bad, for it may be division that awakes a spiritual awakening and revival in our lives. The Lord can open the doors of our lives open to deeper love in Him.

It’s like the person who said cancer was the best thing that ever happened to him. Not the illness, but the awakening to what is important in his life: his loved ones and realization of love and need for his Lord.

May we take the divisions that happen in our life not to separate us from one another or the Lord, but as a spiritually awakening growth that happens in our lives, awaking us to the fullness of this life and the life that awaits us in the heavenly kingdom.

Let us pray!

No Room in Heaven for Earthly Things

12th Sunday after Pentecost

Scripture: St. Luke 12:13-21

Two things stand out about this rich man in our scriptures in this parable.

First, he never saw beyond himself. Second, he never saw the need for the eternal kingdom that is open to all who believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

We go into God’s closet and are shown a brand new pair of threads that are made just for us. Are we lost in the material things of this world?

In Christ, we are dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item in our new way of life is custom-made by our Creator with His label. A new Easter outfit cannot be worn with our old, smelly tennis shoes. Our new clothes of renewal cannot be worn out with our shoes and stinky socks of anger, malice, and slander. Once we put on the garments God has created for us, we must rid ourselves of the filthy garments of this world.

The image of filthy rags works for this present world only. We think very highly of our closets overflowing with the latest styles for today. However, in this parable Luke turns our attention away from our earthly positions to the eternal treasures that are meant to define our labors for the Lord. Even new Easter clothes don’t make it into the eternal kingdom of God.

We are to turn our hearts to labor to cultivate the true eternal gifts of our Lord. The scriptures from Luke and 2 Colossians 3:1-11 could not be more aligned in their meaning. The scriptures tell us to set our minds on the things that are above, not on the things of this earth. We are, therefore, to store treasures that are rich in God’s love for us in abundance.

The rich fools’ total lives and labors are totally centered on the material labors of this life.

His words were on himself: I, me, my, mine

A schoolboy was asked what part of speech is “my” or “mine.” He answered, “Aggressive pronouns.” The rich fool was aggressively self-centered.

· “my crops”

· “my barn”

· “I know”

· “I’ll tear down”

· “my small barns and build bigger ones”

· “then I’ll sit back and live the good life”

But the Lord said to him, “Fool, your life will be taken from you this very night. Then, who will get all your earthly treasures.”

While not many of us think we are rich fools, when we are compared with people in our community and the world who have little or nothing, we are living in abundance. How have we used our blessings to express our love unto the Lord? Are we still using our blessings for earthly things?

What is wrong is that there are more rich fools still seeking to tear down their little barns and build bigger ones to store up more? Jesus tells us not to be concerned about what we will eat or wear. If He feeds the flowers of the fields and the birds of the air, who neither sew nor reap, how much more are we taken care of than these creatures, us who were created in Jesus’ very image.

Let us pray!

Miracles of Jesus

Here's an really cool list of where to find records in the Bible of the miracles Jesus performed on earth. I scanned and uploaded it (with some help from my descendants and their new-fangled technology).

Clash of Temperaments

10th Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture: St. Luke 10:38-42
 
When there’s a clash in temperaments, we need to stop and recall this old Indian proverb:
“Don’t condemn a person until you have walked a mile in their moccasins.”

Jesus knows what is about to happen as He is on the way to Jerusalem. This is a stop of rest and relations with two precious friends, Martha and Mary. He is beginning to realize the intensity of inner battle in His heart. He prays, “Father, not My will but Your will be done.”

As we come to the reality today of a large number of friends are coming to our house for dinner, Martha is excited about this event. As the lady of the house, she has prepared for this in-gathering.
· She has cleaned the house from top to bottom.
· The best china has been polished.
· A beautiful tablecloth made by her mother drapes the dining room table.
· The table has been prepared with the best silverware.

Now it’s time to prepare the food. There will be between 20 and 25 guests. The potatoes are ready to be cooked. The meat of the day, lamb and goat, is slowly roasting in the oven. There is gravy to be made and there are several veggies to prepare. Martha has baked apple and cherry pie for dessert. As she walks by the kitchen door, she sees her sister Mary among the men as she is speaking. And her temperament boils over! She says, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me alone to prepare this large meal? Tell her to give me a hand.”

Jesus says, “Martha, Martha, you are worried about the little things, yet only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better thing, and that shall not be taken from her.”

One person may say, “Lord, of all the pots and pans and things, since I have no time to be a saint by doing lovely things or walking late with Thee or dreaming in the dawn’s light or storming heavy gates. Make me a saint by getting meals and washing up the plates.”

Now think, once again, where Jesus is about to go. To Jerusalem, where He will be crucified.
May we all open our hearts and minds and quietly meditate on who we are: Martha or Mary.

May we pray unto the Lord, asking Him, “Heavenly Father, have mercy on me, a sinner, and save me by Your grace.

“Open our hearts and lives to see that divinity is possible for each of us when we center down and hear your low, soft voice whisper.”

God calls us all. Insert your name into this statement: “Richard, I love you and will use whatever you offer me to bring peace to you and all others. I need a kind word and helping hands to show and to spread My love for and to a sinful world today.”

Help me to be faithful to my commitment to You. Let us pray!

4H

Today, we did not have a regular session in the church building. Rather, we answered the call to be the arms and feet of Jesus in our community and volunteered at the local 4H. Check out the pictures Katie posted on Facebook!

Who is My Neighbor?

8th Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture: St. Luke 10:25-31

One hot North Carolina afternoon, a family is going home from a family outing. Then they came upon 2 Native American teenagers selling watermelons at a 4-way crossing.

They stopped to get a melon. They immediately started to barter about the price. After several unfruitful tries with no luck…

…one of the teenagers stated, “Sir, these are the only things we have in this world.” The man was so touched with the words of the teenager tears appeared in his eyes and began to run down his cheeks. They bought all the melons the boys had.

In a movie, the interaction between these 2 white men in their 30s and these 2 young native boys would not look like that.

This is a good example of a story about who my neighbor is.

Luke 10:27 reads that we must love the Lord our God with
· all our heart
· all our being
· all our strength
· all our mind and love
· our neighbor as ourself

Our scripture for today tells us the story of the good Samaritan who stopped to help a bleeding and beaten man left on the road to die.

As one views this scripture, one is told that our neighbors are not just the person who lives on either side of us, nor the person who crosses the street, nor the one who lives behind us.

ALL of these are our neighbors. Any of us should be ready to reach out to anyone who needs help.

One side of my family tree has a real problem with alcohol.

A cousin at age 18 or 19 was arrested by the Illinois state police in 1957 for driving 100 miles an hour, seeking to get away from it all. He was fined and classified as a drunken driver.

Another, my own brother, became an alcoholic. Praise God that today he is a dry alcoholic, but he is still an alcoholic. His drinking took its toll on his body, and at 84 years old he struggles daily with his health.

Consider:
· A man who beats his wife and children
· Another one who abuses his little children

All these and countless of millions of others are a serious problem to our social environment, yet each one of them is our neighbor. We must help them any way we can to correct their addictions.

Like our Lord, we need to reach out to these individuals.

All too often, the good Christians in our world don’t see or sense people with these social problems as neighbors, and we either fail to reach out or flatly refuse.

Our Lord has reached down to see and touch each one of us.

Likewise, we need to reach out and embrace each one of these people with the same love and compassion and concern that Jesus gave to each one of us.

All too often the church’s population stays safe and secure within the confines of the church structure.

God, help us and forgive us, for we have almost completely lost Christ’s ministry of searching out and reaching real needs of others who so desperately need to be understood and loved.

Anyone who would lower themself to aid the suffering like our Lord Himself did as a suffering servant, dying for each and every one of us, offering each of us forgiveness. We need to do the same.

For all humanity is the offspring of the church of Jesus Christ.

Let us pray!

Laborers for the Harvest

7th Sunday of Pentecost
Scripture: St. Luke 10:1-11

Today’s text includes the labors of the 12 Jesus sent out before sending a 2nd group of 70.

The number 70 is the number of how many were chosen to help Moses in leading the Israelites in the wilderness.

70 is also the number of Sanhedrins, the supreme counsels for the Jews.

If we relate these 2 groups of men as the helpers of Jesus, we are talking about laborers for the harvest.

Luke, in chapter 10, is nothing short of emphasizing the amazement and terror these men experienced.

Jesus, sending his followers out 2 by 2 ahead of Himself, showed all His faithful disciples the things that may be required of them in serving. He provides a kind of traveling checklist that includes danger, dependence, and the deeds of His power.

Today we have a big picture understanding of where that may take us. That’s hindsight 20:20 theology. The 70 came back with joy and surprise. They were amazed at the power He had given them.

Does this mean that they might have power like Jesus Himself? Absolutely yes!

There is one essential thing we must do to find the Lord: One has to leave home.
• Adam and Eve, for disobeying the Lord, were sent into the wilderness.
• Abraham and Sarah became wanderers.
• Jacob journeyed far from his family.
• Jonah ran away to the sea. There he found wisdom inside a whale.
• Elijah lived in the wilderness.
• Ezekiel was alone with the people of Israel, living in exile.
• The oldest Biblical law, found in Exodus 22:21, states: “Don’t mistake an oppression for punishment, because you were once an immigrant in the land of Egypt.
• Jesus also includes Himself in the stories because He wandered from heaven to earth.

Wanders in sin, the lost sheep, and a despised woman are all at home in the realm of God’s love.

I believe that God sends out you and I yet today to gather the lost sheep of His flock. The decline in the Protestant church in the United States is because we all stay in the church building

Meanwhile, the harvest for sinful brothers and sisters wander in the world for each passing day. At the same time, laborers for harvest grow smaller and smaller. Some Christians stay in the safety of the church, afraid that the sinful world may engulf them if they leave it, yet someone left the church building to harvest and seek each of us out so that we may encounter God’s love.

The greatest love one can experience is the living presence of Jesus in their heart and life.

Father God, help us to cry out for mercy as sinners. Have mercy on each one of us so we will step up from the plate and serve You.

One local church I served a while back when I was reappointed has stepped up to the plate to gather in the harvest.
• A certified accountant with many years of experience. (Ed)
• A professional typist for several lawyers. (Judy)
• A chemist, who experienced 2 tragic deaths in his family: his father and his sister. (Tim)
• A church janitor, who became a layspeaker and now serves as a laypastor. (Linda)

Who among us will be the next one to step up to the plate and hit a home run for God with Jesus guiding us?

Let us pray!