03/26/2024
Using Your Blessings to Bless Others
Sunday I talked about this passage from Luke 19:28-40:
Jesus sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village opposite, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat; untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this, ‘The Lord has need of it.’”
So those who were sent went away and found it as he had told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their garments on the colt they set Jesus upon it.
I made the point that ultimately Jesus doesn’t want our most precious possessions. Jesus wants us—our bad as well as our good. Jesus wants to free us from our brokenness and guilt but in order to do that we need to be able to untie those things from our lives and turn over the reins to him.
But it’s important that you don’t get me wrong. When I said that’s not what Jesus wants from you, I didn’t mean that Jesus doesn’t want your car, home, pans, phone, and TV. He still has need of those things, it’s just that he is waiting for you to offer them up in his name and out of the incredible grace he’s shown to you. Nothing would please him more than to see you pass that grace onto others.
You can use your car when the Lord has need of it. There are always folks who would love a ride to worship Sunday mornings. There are always friends who need to be picked up from doctor appointments, driven to the airport, or who are looking for a pick up truck.
You can always offer your home as an act of hospitality for a small group, to get to know those who are new to the church, to invite neighbors in for dessert and to welcome them to the neighborhood.
You can use those pans and that induction stove to create meals to be brought in for the recently hospitalized or for new parents or for single friends who might enjoy a serving of whatever great menu you’ve got planned for next weekend.
You can use that fancy iPhone to make calls for the church, to check in on those who’ve lost a loved one or who need to hear a friendly voice.
Oh yes, the Lord does have need of it too. Our generous God would not have given you those gifts in abundance if God didn’t expect them to become pass through gifts in your grateful and appreciative hands.
May you hold onto what you’ve been given with a looseness that allows you to be God’s blessing to others.
Archived Posts
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
There is a challenge when it comes to preaching the Word of God.
Preachers are called to open up and interpret the word—inspired and written down thousands of years ago—and make it relevant to a very different world. On top of that there’s a degree of persuasion that goes along with the process.
What Jessica Really Meant to Say in Her Sermon…
When Jessica or Rick or a guest preacher takes the pulpit it’s hard for me to write a One More Thing Blog. I can’t share with you what didn’t make it into the sermon because I have no idea, not having written or delivered it.