10/22/2024
Leftovers Continued…
It’s not just the fact that God is un-impressed by our leftovers, it actually goes deeper than that. In a sense, Jesus is passionately and purposely opposed to anything leftover. To be a follower of Jesus Christ is to work diligently to make sure that in the end nothing at all is left over.
You might have heard various voices in our society say, He who dies with the most toys wins. But Leonard Sweet says for the faithful follower of Jesus today it’s the opposite--it’s He who bounces his last check wins. In other words, when I’ve used everything that has been entrusted to me faithfully, joyfully, generously—there will nothing left over. The leading indicator of a well-lived life will not be a collection of fine things, a weighty stock portfolio or an impressive estate, but the legacy of love we leave behind.
In a very real sense, we will know we have ‘made it’ if we have used what we’ve been given not to make our own lives easier or more comfortable, but if we’ve used what we have been given to make a difference in our world. When the time comes for us to go and be with our God—and that time will come for all of us here--it makes sense to have nothing left over. Because at that point, we can’t use it. God doesn’t want it. So it’s our job to get rid of it—to provide a feast of grace here and now.
One day I know I will stand before my Lord and God as naked as the day I was born. I will be left with only two things: empty hands and a joyful heart. I want to be able to stand there and know with some confidence that I have used what I have been given mindfully and faithfully. I want to be able to stand there knowing that the best of what I had was what I shared with those I love, with the Lord I serve, and those who needed even more than myself. What a moment that will be, but it will only be wonderful if I share what I have been given now, today. I know that tomorrow will take care of itself, because I know that my God will always take care of his child.
Archived Posts
If Not Higher
Here’s a story I wanted to use when talking about ‘what you do when no one is looking’ yesterday. It’s a wonderful illustration of what Jesus was saying in Matthew 6:1-6—do what you do because of who you want to be, not so that others will take notice and praise you.
The Perfect Church
There is an old joke about the perfect church. We talked just a little about the perfect pastor, but turnabout is fair play. It goes like this:
The Clothes You Wear
Sunday I talked about Joshua the High Priest having his filthy clothing replaced by a cleaned and beautiful garments. I also used the illustration of a boy becomes a dragon—who ‘wears’ dragon scales—and is stripped of those scales in order to be restored to a boy. In fact, I could have done the whole sermon around all the clothing imagery in scripture.
What just missed the cut for Sunday’s Sermon
Naaman’s servants may actually become one of the hidden gems of the sermon. They say, essentially: “If the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it.”
One of the Longest Benedictions I Ran Out of Time to Share
Maybe you know the story of how Joseph and Mary accidentally left Jesus at the gas station on their way home from Jerusalem. Well, not the gas station bathroom in Jesus’ case. Joe and Mary are far down the road before they realize Jesus isn’t with them...
So many quips and quotes...
So little time to preach
I wonder what Mary and Martha’s phones might look like:
* Martha = the open browser with 27 tabs
* Mary = the single window that matters
* Psalm 46 = God saying, “Close the tabs.”
Quotable Outtakes That Didn’t Make the Sermon This Week
“When you try to control everything, you don’t just exhaust yourself—you quietly replace trust in God with trust in you.” & more