Luke

BLESSINGS AND TROUBLES
Luke 1:26-38
Introduction:

THERE IS A LOT OF INFORMATION THAT IS MISSING IN THIS STORY. A whole lot of missing details that could shape the story. For instance what time was it when the angel visited Mary? Was it morning, noon or night? Where was Mary when the angel came to her? Was she in her bedroom? Was she washing clothes at the river? Was she maybe taking a walk after a date with Joseph and what did the angel look like? Was he dressed in white like the scriptures sometimes described angels, or did he have a spiritual supernatural look like some kind of ghost or spirit? For all we know he could have looked just like John Travolta in the Movie "Michael." And what about Mary, how old was she? For that matter how old was Joseph? And was that day special in any other way? What was on Mary's mind when the angel appeared to her? What was she thinking? The story of the angel appearing to Mary doesn’t provide us with any of this information, does it? In fact, we know that there is a whole lot of information that the angel doesn’t give Mary. The angel says nothing about everything that Mary's pregnancy will bring with it; the talk and the scandal, the reaction of Joseph, the reaction of Mary's parents, or Joseph's family. The angel says nothing about what it will be like to Mother the son of God. At least as far as we know, Mary’s not told, what’s in store for her future child. Nothing about his struggle with the religious authorities. There's no mention of his arrest, his trial before Herod the King, and Pilate the governor. No mention of his being beaten by Roman soldiers, no talk of the cross. You would think that Mary had a right to know these things before she consented to be the Mother of God. And who knows maybe she did know, maybe in the midst of all the details that we don't have there is a much broader account of this angelic visitation. All we can do is wonder at the details, but then again, maybe this morning we can do more than just wonder. What if we filled in some of the details just to give the story a little more pizzazz?

THE VISITATION. It was the 4th month, the month of June...
It’s unseasonably hot for this time of year especially in Nazareth. A young teenage girl named Mary has just turned 16 years old. Mary is lying on her bed and she can't sleep, for two reasons; one, because of the heat and two; because of what her father told her tonight. "Mary", he said, "I have spoken to Jacob, the father of Joseph, and we are in agreement, you and Joseph are to be married." At first she was shocked. She hardly knew Joseph. He was several years older than her, 19 years old, a grown-up, while she was still a girl. Or at least that's how she felt, like a little girl who has been just told that she only has a few months to grow up. What's it like to be an adult? To be called by your name, instead of being referred to as "the daughter of Matthias." And what about marriage? Am I ready to be a wife? Am I ready to fulfill all of the responsibilities that go along with being a wife? Am I ready to be a mother? And as these thoughts are going around and around in her head as she lays on the top of her covers in the heat of the night, out of what seems to be a dream she hears a soft voice coming out of the darkness, from the corner of the room, soft and yet full of conviction and purpose. "Greetings you who are highly favored, the Lord is with you." Mary froze! Could this be the angel from the Tobit? Every young Hebrew has heard the story of the jealous angel in the writings of Tobit, the angel who had fallen in love with a young girl, and who appeared to her on her wedding night each time she got married to kill her bridegroom. "What do you want?" Mary whispers, her voice trembling. "Do Not Be Afraid Mary" the voice said. "My name is Gabriel, I am an angel of the Lord your God." And with that the angel stepped into the light. He was the most majestic figure Mary had ever seen. She could see his face but the rest of his body was a swirling, mist luminous, and yet it didn't seem to give off any light of it's own. It reminded Mary of the story that she had heard of the luminous cloud that led the children of Israel through the wilderness to the promised land. And his face, it was the face of an angel, full of peace and joy and assurance. Mary hopped out of her bed and kneeled down before the angel, "I am your servant most favored one," she said. The angel then smiled and the room seemed to grow brighter, "It is you who are favored, Mary." The Lord is with you and has chosen you for a sacred and Holy purpose." "You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus." "The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will have no end." But Mary didn't hear this, because her mind stopped listening when the angel said, "you will be with child." This was confusing, and this was not how it worked. She was a virgin, she had never even held hands with a boy, never kissed a boy, true she was engaged but she had been led to believe that you had to be married to have a child. And she said as much to the angel, "How can this be?, since I am a virgin?" Once again that knowing smile that seemed to suggest that everything was under control and Gabriel says, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high God will overshadow you." "And so the holy one to be born to you will be called the Son of God." "Even Elizabeth your cousin is going to have a son in her old age." "Mary, nothing is impossible for God."  How glorious, how wonderful, I am chosen to be the Mother of God. I am the mother of the Messiah. What a glorious blessing. What a wonder to be favored and loved by God as much. Though she said nothing, these thoughts raced through her mind, the angel must have read her thoughts and he smiled at her joy. Mary looks up at the angel and her awe at the news is written all over her face, "It's going to be an incredible blessing isn't it!" "All of the troubles of life will be over won't they?" And for the first time since his arrival the smile leaves the angels face, it is replaced by a look of pain. Mary's joy is replaced by fear, "There's something you're not telling me isn't there?" The angel nods and looks off into the distance, as if contemplating whether or not he can tell her.

DO YOU THINK THAT SHE KNEW? Do you think that the angel told Mary that her great blessing would bring with it great troubles. That her fiancée Joseph would find out that she was pregnant and plan to divorce her, until God intervened and sent yet another angel to Joseph, to assure him that Mary had committed no sin against their marriage, that she was still a virgin. Do you think that the angel told Mary that her son would die a young man? Did he describe to her the events that led to his death, the kind of death, the pain that he would endure? Did she know ahead of time the troubles that would accompany the Blessings of being the mother of God's Son? There is a painful truth about blessings. They often bring troubles; the blessings of children bring the pain of eventual separation, the pain of watching your child struggle through life. In fact the blessings of any kind of love relationship brings with it the eventual reality of death, or loss of the relationship through separation, or divorce. Even the blessings of this wondrous Christmas season brings its troubles; an increase in highway traffic, crowded malls and stores, the struggle to find the perfect gift, the bills that will come in January. And it was not different that first Christmas, because amidst the blessings of the manger, there looms in the distance the trouble of the cross.

BLESSINGS OFTEN COME WITH TROUBLES. God seldom if ever extends a blessing without asking for some kind of response or commitment on our part. God sent us the blessing of God's son, but asks that we believe in that Son, and that we commit ourselves to the same sacred task that was his. That we spend our lives living to complete what Jesus has started. That we work to build God's kingdom here on this earth. And as we undertake the construction of the Kingdom we will be blessed, but we will also experience troubles. God has made us a part of the body of Christ, we are connected to each other through Jesus. But God has also called us to be the church, to become an extension of God's love outside these four walls, and invite the world to join us. And when invite the world to join us, when we witness and share our faith we will be blessed, but we also experience troubles.

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WHAT THE GIFT SAYS....
Luke 2:1-14
Introduction:

THERE ARE PERILS TO CHRISTMAS GETTING. Now notice I didn't say giving. Some of us think that this time of year the toughest job is to find the perfect gift, the perils of Christmas giving. But if we're honest we will admit that there are perils to Christmas Getting. It requires a certain talent to be able to give just the right gift, but it also requires a great deal for someone to be able to receive Christmas gifts in just the right way and here's why. A Christmas gift represents someone's ideal of who you are, or who they wish you were. Now we can usually handle that wild and crazy inappropriate gift from a stranger, but what happens when it comes from someone else? Someone who really and truly knows you! You see yourself as dignified with a sharp mind, and then one year your wife gives you a pair of singing underwear that performs "O Tannenbaum" every time you sit down. Or a battery powered bank in which a small toilet flushes every time you put in a coin. I actually bought one of those for my Dad one year. Getting the wrong Christmas gift can cause an identity crisis. You'd like to get a gift that aims high, that says something about your character, and your usefulness as a human being. Instead of those bedroom slippers with lights on the toes so your can see your way to the bathroom at night. A Christmas gift tells us very little about who we are, but it tells a whole lot about who some other person thinks we are, or wants us to be!

IT'S ALL PART OF THE PERILS OF CHRISTMAS. In all the gift giving and receiving, we are stunned when we realize somebody whom we love and who apparently loves us sees us in a different light than we see ourselves. One of the toughest parts about Christmas is on Christmas morning, opening up gifts in front of the giver and you are shocked and stunned by what you get. And what can you say? Oh, look at this! How interesting! Who would have thought?! You can't tell them what you're really thinking, what on earth have you done? Who do you think I am? Are you crazy? And you put the gift where you put all such gifts, and then the church rummage sale rolls by and you hope the person who gave you the gift doesn't come.

BUT THERE ARE TIMES WHEN THESE UNWANTED, UNEXPECTED, UNDESERVED GIFTS CAN BE A BLESSING. They can turn out to be just what we needed. Think of the gifts that you have gotten over the years, that you never asked for, that you didn't expect, and certainly didn't want. Sometimes those gifts turn out to be just the right gift. When I was 8 years old my Dad bought me a baseball and a glove. I didn't ask for a ball and glove for Christmas. I didn't play baseball. I didn't want to play baseball, my Dad wanted me to play baseball. I hid that ball and glove in the bottom of my closet, in the bottom of an 8 year old boys closet, things can get really lost. One summer about a year and half later I found it again. I took it outside and began to throw the ball in the air, next day I played with it again, and the day after that. Then when the little league season rolled around that ball and glove became a part of me. It was not the gift I wanted, but somebody knew that it was the gift that I needed. Truth is, sometimes others are better suited to know what you really need. I believe that is what happened at Bethlehem. All of our Songs this night are songs of Joy, complete and unrestrained joy, echoing the gratitude of the wondrous gift we've received in Christ. But the scriptures do much to remind us, that the birth of Jesus was not seen by all as a great and good gift. When the birth was announced to Joseph he was given to doubts about his fiancé. Mary's told she's going to have a baby out of wedlock and the text says, "She's greatly troubled." Today, when you heard the angel telling the Shepherds that they were to be in great joy because of the birth of Jesus. Do you remember the first thing the angel said, "Don't be afraid!"

The Gift Of Christ Was Not What Anyone Expected And what few thought that they wanted, there were many in Judea who wanted a military leader. What they got was someone who said things like, "turn the other cheek" and "if someone steals your shirt give him your coat as well" and "pray for your enemies." There were others who wanted a great religious leader, somebody who stuck to the articles of the faith, and stayed out of politics. Who had sweet uplifting sayings, someone who made them feel better about their religion without changing it, but that's not the gift that they received! And it's not the gift that we received. At BETHLEHEM WE RECEIVED THE GIFT THAT WE NEEDED. We got our heart's desire, but not in the form we expected or even wanted. We got a baby!! In a world that worships power and success and strength, our Christmas gift was a gentle, vulnerable, meek and mild baby. And when that child grew up he became for many even less of what they wanted, he spoke biting and challenging words to the establishment. He challenged our conventional notions about who God was and what God wanted. He called us from a life of secure smugness, to a life of high rebellion and adventure. And even at the end, particularly at the end, even after he had been with us for a number of years, even after we'd heard his teaching and seen his work, we rejected this gift. We took God's gift and we nailed it to a cross, but still God kept giving and keeps on giving even today.

There Are Many Skills That One Needs To Be A Faithful Christian.  Certain things we need to know. You need to know something about the bible, you need to know your way around the scriptures. You need to know something of what the church has taught throughout the ages, and how to think and live like a Christian. But I think on this day we are reminded that one of the qualities of a Christian is the ability to be surprised by the gifts God gives us. We need to expect that God will send gifts our way. Gifts that we did not ask for, gifts that we didn't expect, gifts that we may not want, but gifts that we need. I know that this past year some of you have received many challenges, many difficulties that you did not desire, that you did not ask for. The promise of the manger is that by the grace of God, even some of our worst difficulties can be seen and transformed as gifts.

NO JESUS WAS NOT THE GIFT THAT ANYONE EXPECTED. Here was the one who, as the Scriptures said, "Would bear the government on his shoulders." "Would be like a prince unlike any prince of the world, a prince of peace" But he would also be a disturber of the status quo, a critic of the religious establishment, one who would call the people to help him turn the world upside down. This is the gift they got, even though it was not the gift they wanted. It's been said that the best gift of all is the gift you give yourself. Many times the things I want are not the things I ought to have. I cannot really be trusted to draw up my gift list for myself. Can you? I tend to be dishonest about myself, deceitful about who I really am, and who I ought to be. Having received the gift of the babe at Bethlehem, a gift we did not ask for or expect, but a gift that changed the world for us. We can live with the expectation that God will bring things into our lives that at first may seem like great burdens, but by the grace of God become deep blessings. God has given us the greatest gift of all the unexpected, largely unwanted, unasked for gift of Christ. Think about it, God has given the gift of himself to you. That is God's Christmas present to you. What does the gift say about how God sees you? Or who or what God sees that you can be? Read Luke 2:11 He is God's greatest gift! He is the one who, though we did not desire him, is a sign of God's great desire for us! And what do we say when confronted with this incredible but sometimes seemingly inappropriate gift? Merry Christmas!

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WHAT IF CHRIST WE BORN.....TONIGHT!
Luke 2:8-14
Introduction:

AT CHRISTMAS WE CELEBRATE THE BIRTH OF CHRIST AS IT TOOK PLACE A LONG TIME AGO, A LONG WAY AWAY. We see this miracle through the filter of 2000 years. We have a knowledge of Christ that the people of that time didn't have, and we probably also have a more romantic picture of the story than reality allowed them to see. At the same time, can we truly appreciate the experience of those people at that manger? Separated by the event by 2000 years? Separated by a completely different culture? What if by some grand cosmic design Jesus was not born 2000 years ago? What if Jesus were born, tonight? What if it were happening right now, not thousands of miles away in Bethlehem, but in a place not too far from here?

IF YOU EAT AT THE DENNY’S, AT I-10 AND UVALDE YOU’VE PROBABLY SEEN MAGGIE. She's a waitress from Glenville, Kentucky. Maggie came to Houston about five years ago, when her divorce became final. She left her whole life, everything she grew up with in that small town, to start a new life. When she first moved to Houston she was picturing herself working as a receptionist, or a secretary, in a high rise office complex downtown, wearing attractive business suits, riding up in an elevator every morning. But none of her interviews panned out, at one of her interviews they told her she sounded too country. And Maggie just quit interviewing after that. She went back to work being a waitress, it's what she knew! It's what she'd been doing since High School, and nobody ever really cares if a waitress sounds too country. It was a disappointment, but Maggie has known a lot of those. She'd loved other men since her husband and she really did love her husband. She grieved when he left her as if a part of her had died. She decided not to do that anymore, not let herself love like that again, but the world is such a lonely place sometimes. Jake prides himself on his work. Flipping an egg or grilling a steak, getting it right is real important to him. Funny as it may sound, he feels a kind of power in front of the griddle, it's the only place where he's in control. He can work 10 orders on the grill in his head at the same time. Jake puts on a show when he cooks and people notice. When you're hungry and he's cooking, he matters, he's significant, at least until the shift is over. Lester walks in carrying a cardboard box and takes a seat at the counter. Lester is a Knick-Knack salesman, selling stuff from the trunk of his car, sometimes he ends up at the Flea market. He pulls his wares out of a box and places them on the counter top, ceramic knick-knacks, festive ornaments, miniature brass watering cans and tea kettles, oversized coffee mugs with little stuffed animals inside. One holds a moose with a rack of stuffed antlers hanging over the brim. Lester stacks all the stuff neatly in front of him handling each piece delicately, as if a caress might enhance it's value. It's all junk! Maggie pulls 3 dollars from her apron pocket and buys the moose, "It's cute", she says. "Do you have a box for it?" "Lady", says Lester, "If I had room in my trunk for boxes, I'd trash the boxes and get more merchandise." "I'm a businessman." "I don't do gift wrap." For Lester his car is his hotel, his office, his warehouse. And the New Year season is a cash cow, you milk it for all its worth! Abundant life? He's never heard of it!

A GANG OF HOMELESS MEN HAVE GATHERED OUTSIDE THE DOOR. Two of them come inside, a stooped skinny guy, kind of old, and a guy with a beard. They stand by the cash register in raggedy coats, they smell bad. Lester pinches his nose and stares down the counter in their direction. "What Do Ya Want?" Jake asks point blank. The bearded one looks up, "Three cheese burgers, three orders of hash browns, and three coffees to go." He says with a tremble in his voice. "Oh Yeah! Well, what are ya payin with?" The man produces a wadded red bandanna and empties it's contents onto the counter, one gray button, two bottle caps, four dollars and fifteen cents change. "That ain't near enough", says the cook. The bearded man then turns to his friend, "We gotta take something," the stooped one says. "They probably been traveling, may be hungry." "We can't go empty-handed." About that time Lester climbs off his stool and walks on down toward the men, "Say Fellas, what's the emergency?" The bearded man looks afraid to talk, but then says, "We've been told that there's a child born near here, this night." "We're going to go see him, and we wanna take some food with us, for his folks." "They just got in town, didn't go to no hospital, we reckin they might be needing something." "Say that's a sad story", says Lester, "where they at?" The stooped one then speaks up, "they're in a boarded up old gas down on Sheldon road." "That's what we was told any-ways." "Oh yeah, who told you?" At this the bearded man's face hardens, he draws himself up tall and looks straight ahead he says nothing. The stooped man raises his eyes from the floor and looks across the counter his eyes meet Maggie’s, for just a moment, then he looks away. "Angels!", he says softly, looking at nothing. Now Lester looks like he's just found a prize, "Angels?" "Did he say Angels?" Lester sits back down on the stool and laughs out loud. "I bet they had their little wings just a flappin didn't they?" "And little halos, and plucking on little gold harps?" "Or maybe they was them little naked baby angels. You know what I think, I think them angels came out of a bottle, didn't they? A bottle of cheap wine." Lester laughs some more and then recovers himself and starts in again, "were they dressed in white robes? Did they sing to ya?" The stooped bum, still looking at nothing says, "Yeah, music like I never heard before. One sweet voice like a Momma's lullaby, growing into an army of voices, it echoed like the ocean, it shook the ground, it trailed away like a marching song." "And the thing is, it made me want to sing too. It made ME wanna sing." "Can't remember the last time I wanted to sing about anything." His eyes are suddenly full, and the tears trickle down his cheeks. He grabs the counter with one hand, covers his face with the other and sobs. His whole body shakes, while Lester stares speechless and Jake stands mesmerized.

"GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT," MAGGIE SAYS I'LL PAY THE DIFFERENCE. Jake looks at Maggie and then shakes his head. Maggie moves closer to the homeless men, "tell me what else did the angel's say?" The bearded man smiles and gently nods, the stooped one then begins, "They said it was good news they was bringing. That this baby is a Savior, that his name is Christ the Lord, and they gave us a sign too, they said we would find him sleeping in a cardboard box, on a bed of shredded newspapers." Lester laughs some more. Jake finishes the order, and Maggie helps them put everything in take out boxes. They don't know if the Lord's parents like cream or sugar or both. So they fill one large cup with black coffee, the other with cream, and they sent some sugar packets and empty coffee cups. So they can fix it the way they like it. When it's all ready, Maggie rings it up. Sweeping the coins off the counter and into the till, making up the difference out of her apron pocket. The stooped man gathers the food in his arms, "Thank you Ma’am, this means more than I can tell ya." He looks like he could cry some more, Maggie stuffs the bandanna, the bottle caps and the button in the old man's pocket. "Don't forget your change." The bearded man picks up the coffee and smiles. "Thank you miss, thank you for your kindness," the two men turn to leave. Lester has just finished packing up his junk. He spins around on his stool to face the men, "Say, you guys said this baby is a savior, a savior of what? What's he gonna save you from?" The bearded man pauses at the door, he looks out the front of the restaurant, and then points out into the darkness. "I think maybe mister, to save us from that." The two then rejoin the gang of men outside, and they move off down the street. Leaving Maggie, and Lester and Jake staring off into the darkness. "What did they mean by that?" Jake asks, "Who knows", Lester says, "I just think that there goes a free meal for a bunch of drunks." "Maggie you should have been somebody's Momma." Maggie says nothing, still staring out into the darkness. She stares out of the glass into the dark night, she sees the lights of the city, she sees a neon sign across the street, that says, "No vacancy." She sees her own reflection, small and dark and distorted in the glass, she runs and grabs her coat. "Now where you going?" Jake hollers from the other end of the counter, "we're gonna have half of Interstate in here inside of 20 minutes." "I'll be back in a little while", she says, "but I gotta see him. What if he is the savior? What if he is sent from God?" "I just realized I've been looking for Him for a long time." "I just got to see him. I just got to look on his face."

IF JESUS WERE BORN TONIGHT IS THIS HOW IT MIGHT HAPPEN. Would the angels appear to homeless bums? Would the birthplace be a run-down gas station? Would a loveless waitress be there to greet him? All good questions, but questions we can never answer, because that's not the way it happened. But perhaps the most important question might be, if we were in that restaurant, what would we do? Would we scoff like Jake? Make jokes like Lester? Or would we leave everything just to look at his face like Maggie? You probably haven't given it much thought. But maybe you should. Maybe we all should! Because a truth of our faith is that as Christ came once, on a night, in a way that no one expected, He’s coming again. And regardless of what people might say, even what the left behind books say, we don't know how or when. The only thing we can be certain of is that he will come, and that it will not be where or how or when we expect. And we can also be certain of something else, Christ is with us here tonight. Waiting to make his presence known to you, in the eating of the bread, and in the drinking of the cup. Come and let us look on the face of Jesus!

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DID YOU SLEEP LATE YESTERDAY?
Luke 2:22-40
Introduction:

THERE IS SOMETHING SPECIFICALLY UNIQUE ABOUT THIS TEXT IN LUKE. Something that makes this text special. The 12th chapter of the Gospel of Luke is the only place in the whole bible that tells us anything about the childhood of Jesus. Exclude this chapter from the bible and we have no record what-so-ever of Jesus as a little child. The Gospels tell of his infancy at his birth and then 33 years of his life is skipped and we once again encounter Jesus at the Jordan river. As we witness the beginning of his ministry and His baptism by John the Baptist, with the exception of two stories in the 12th chapter of the Gospel of Luke. This stirring account of the infant Christ and his introduction to two aged pious Jews, Simeon and Anna, and then another story found later in this chapter.

NOT THAT THERE ARE NOT OTHER ACCOUNTS OF THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS. At the time the early Church was compiling what we know of today as the canonized Bible, there were several books that never made it in. One of these books was known as the Gospel of Thomas. In this account of the life of Christ we find several stories about Jesus as a little child. There's the story of the clay pigeons, Jesus is a young toddler and he's making pigeons with his hands out of the clay on the banks of the river. Of course, being the son of God these pigeons are exquisite in detail. When Joseph his father finds out what he's doing he orders Jesus to stop before the neighbors realize that there is something out-of the ordinary about, and with a clap of his hands Jesus turns the clay pigeons into real pigeons and they fly away. There's the story about the bed consignment, Joseph the carpenter is hired by King Herod to build him a bed. But when the king sends someone to pick up the bed, Joseph realizes that he has built the bed with one leg 6" too short. Jesus, being the son of God just reaches down and stretches the leg of the bed. Or the really bizarre story of the first Lazarus, Jesus is about 5 and gets into an argument with his little friend . In the course of their disagreement, Jesus angrily pushes his little buddy off the roof of his house and kills him, but then realizes what he has done and out of a sense of guilt raises the little guy from the dead. Not really difficult to see why this gospel didn't make it into the modern day Bible is it. But what about the rest of Jesus childhood? Where is it?

WHERE IS THE REST OF JESUS LIFE? This we know, Jesus was circumcised, ritually dedicated at the temple in Jerusalem, and was taken back to Nazareth to grow up. About his first 12 years, his hidden years as scholars call them we only know that. read verse 40. That's it! Luke gives one more story of his childhood, his visit to the temple, and his somewhat precocious performance before the teachers there. But this event is not so much a part of Jesus' childhood as a signal to the reader that his childhood was over. At 12 he was on the threshold of adulthood, ready to move beyond the simple treasures of a child. I don't know about you but I find it sad that there is no record of Jesus as a child. Because Jesus himself so often used childhood as one of the most basic images of a correct relationship with God. (Matthew 11:25) "At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children." (Matthew 18:3) "And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Again and again Jesus urged his followers to take on the identity of a child in order to become fully a part of the family of God. I know you agree with me, I can see several of you doing the Methodist equivalent of "Amen" you're nodding your head. But let me ask you those, those of you who are nodding, those of you who recognize the truth of our necessity to become like little children.

DID YOU SLEEP LATE YESTERDAY? It goes without saying that anyone with kids between the ages of 2 and 12 did not sleep late on Christmas morning. Does anyone who has young children ever have to depend on an alarm clock to get going on Christmas morning? In fact, don't we all, whatever our age, get a little flurry of joy in the pit of our stomach as we smile that inner smile and say "It's Christmas!" On Christmas morning we're all children, anxious to enter the experiences that awaits on this magical day. And Good friends this is the way that it should be . Every Christmas, we should embrace that little child within in us and marvel at the wonder of the day. But Christmas should never just come once a year. Should It? Not for the Christian! And we shouldn't only become like little children once a year. Think about who we are as children of God, because we are not born literal sons and daughters of God. We can only join this family of faith through adoption. Adoption is a remarkable act of love, but it is a procedure limited only to children once someone reaches adulthood they no longer need to be adopted, legally at least. An adult can designate any other adult as an "heir," but they can never be a true son or daughter. God risked everything in Christ that we might become true sons and daughters of God. Jesus paid the price of suffering death that we might receive three free gifts. Justification the opportunity to be justified before the throne of God. Sanctification the opportunity to be made better than what we think we are through the power of God's Holy Spirit. Glorification the opportunity to rise with Christ one day in glory. All we have to do to enjoy these gifts is to become like little children and receive adoption. As one Theologian once put it, "verily, verily I say unto you, there will be no grown-ups in heaven."

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BLESSED ARE THE CHEESE MAKERS
Luke 6:17-26
Introduction:

SEVERAL YEARS BACK HOLLYWOOD PRODUCED A MOVIE INTENDED TO POKE HUMOR AT THE LIFE OF CHRIST. The movie was entitled, "The Life of Brian." And it really didn't deal so much with the life of Christ, as much as it did with the life of a messiah wanna-be whose name was Brian. Throughout the movie Brian is just close enough to Christ when miracles happens, or when God speaks to Christ, to begin to believe that he's doing the miracles, and that the voice of God is talking to him. At one point in the movie Jesus goes up on the mountain side to teach the people. There's a huge crowd gathered around him so large that some of the people on the outer edge of the crowd can't hear his words, and have to ask others what the master said. As Jesus pronounces what we know as The Sermon on the mount, or the beatitudes, one of the characters in the movie, desperate to know what Jesus is saying, asks a man ahead of him in the crowd, "What's he saying? What's he saying?" The man checks with the person ahead of him, who in turn checks with someone else, and the message is relayed back, "Blessed Are The Cheese Makers!"

SOMETIMES WE GET WRONG WHAT JESUS HAS SAID. Take this passage in Luke, this section of beatitudes. Who are the blessed ones? Who is it that God favors? Who should rejoice? Who is it that God warns and threatens? Are the blessed those who succeed in life? Those who gather in three piece suits and nice dresses, in churches made of stained glass and brick, and who have a smile in their face, money in their pockets, and two well-behaved children beside them, and a nice car in the church parking lot. Are these the blessed? What about those who live in ghettos? Those who work when they can, in a menial job making menial money, those who serve rather than living as equals, whose children make less than perfect grades in school. Are these the cursed and afflicted?

It Would Seem, Wouldn't It, That The Author Of This Text Thought A Bit. About the way we get mixed up about whom God blesses and who God does not! And all you have to do to realize that Luke wants us to see this, is look at how different Luke's account is from Matthew's account. Now Luke's account doesn't contradict Matthew's, but he gives us a different view of Jesus' sermon, and in some ways perhaps a more helpful and clearer view. In Luke The sermon is not set on a hillside, as it is in Matthew (Mat 5:1). Where Jesus can look over the top of the crowd and hand down the word of God from on high. Rather, it's set on a plain, on a level place where a large crowd has gathered and has pressed in on him, and where Jesus has been walking among them, healing their diseases, and curing their afflictions. And there's a difference between Luke's and Matthew's blessings. Luke's list is more graphic, and more tangible. And Luke adds a list of curses or woes to go with the blessings, that Matthew's account doesn't have. read 20b – 22. What does this list say about us? About our dreams and aspirations? About our rushing out in pursuit of wealth? What does it say about the value of our sorrow? Our pain? And our hunger?

And What Does This List of Blessings And Woes Say About What God Is About.  About who God is for? Someone once said, "For Jesus there was something more dangerous than tears and sorrow. It was the dangerous deception that our world is stable and secure. the best of all possible worlds! And that we should not worry but be happy." Jesus warns of that deception saying, "Woe to you who laugh now, Woe to you who feel too good and are settled too comfortably with the way things are..." To hope too soon and to laugh too easily is self deception, and it reduces the Christian hope to election campaign fluff. You see Jesus reverses what is common, he reverses expectations. And that is because God understands our pain. God understands our poverty and despair, our sin and our fear. God is with us the way that we really are, and that image of the perfect self and life that is portrayed on television 24 hours a day, that image that none of us can make real for ourselves, with God it's a false image of blessedness. You see God is with us on that plain, right beside us where we live. God's right there where you're sick and in need, where you struggle to do what's right, where you fight sometimes just to keep your faith. God is so close that we can touch him, we can touch him even though we don't know all the answers, or understand all the mysteries. Do you know when we feel God the most? It's not in the good times or the happy times, the easy times, the times when we're blind to the pain around us, or the pain within us. We feel God's Presence and Power the most when we are helping someone else to be blessed. We feel it the most when someone touches us and by their love helps us to realize, that when we're in pain Jesus is where we are, that he had doubts and uncertainties and fears, that he wept and cried and got angry.

THE WORDS OF JESUS IN LUKE TELL US THAT HAPPINESS AND BLESSEDNESS ARE NOT FOUND IN WEALTH. That blessedness is not boiled down to being well-fed, or being well-liked. It's not about good credit or a new car. It's not about being the best parent, or the life of the party. But we are blessed whatever our state and whatever our condition. When we are trusting in God, and doing the works of God, the works of loving and caring, the works of healing and forgiving.

BLESSED ARE THE CHEESE MAKERS! Perhaps there is some wisdom in this miss-hearing. Blessed are the cheese makers who make a small fraction of what a professional sports figure makes. Blessed are the single mom's who struggle to feed and clothe their children, and to teach them self respect. Blessed are the lonely widows and widowers who weep, and who visit those who have suffered the same kind of loss as they have. Blessed are the sons and daughters who love their dying parents and befriend them in their last days, rather then leaving them friendless and in the care of strangers. Blessed are the fathers who spend time at home with their children, rather than extra time at the office trying to get ahead. Blessed are you who are rooted in your faith, and who share what you have materially and spiritually with others. Blessed are you who know your needs but who trust in God and follow in His way. Blessed are you, "Saints of God"! On this All Saints Sunday! Bless you for all the little things you do that might seem small, but are done from a pure sense of love for your God. Blessings to you normal hard working cheese makers. You who are poor and sometimes hungry. You who weep and are not always well-liked. You who are insulted and rejected and excluded. You are blessed more than all people, because you know, whatever you're situation, wherever you are, when you're hurting and in need, you are blessed! Because God is there!

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THE COST OF AMAZING FAITH
Luke 9:51-62
Introduction:

WHAT KIND OF PASTOR IS THIS NEW PREACHER? There's probably not a soul in this room who doesn't have questions about the new pastor. Is he a liberal or conservative? Does he preach the bible? Is he going to come in and try to change everything? How often does he color his hair? Just how many kids does he really have? Will he let us out by 12:00? So we can beat the Baptists to the Luby's! Will he visit the sick? And truth is, I can't answer any of those questions, because at this point in the game anything I say, might just be lip service. Only time will answer the questions you have, only in time will you know. Will he be amazing or mediocre? Only in time will you be able to decide for yourself, if this new preacher is going to be a good parish minister. But while you're pondering my possible pastoral abilities, or lack thereof, think about this.

JESUS WOULD NOT HAVE MADE A GOOD PARISH MINISTER. Primarily because he was too full of hard sayings. Those who lose their life for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. Whoever comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, even life itself! Cannot be my disciple. I mean can you imagine bringing your friend to church, to hear your new preacher. Jesus steps into the pulpit and says, right before the offering, "Oh, by the way it's harder for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven then it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle." Tough Words! No doubt about it! And although I can't answer your questions about my effectiveness as a pastor, you can rest assured that I am NOT Jesus! And if you did know me better there would be a chorus of "Amen's" echoing through the church now, In fact, I'm somewhat surprised that my wife didn't shout out "Amen" because if anyone knows I'm not Jesus. She does! I can be controversial, but not nearly as controversial as Christ.

Body:

THE THINGS JESUS SAYS TO THE WOULD-BE DISCIPLES IN THIS TEXT ARE SHARP, TOUGH, UNREASONABLE WORDS! The first comes and says, I will follow you anywhere! Jesus says, read verse 58. In other words, if you come with me there will be no home, no security, but only a dislocated life on the move. Now the second would-be disciple is not a volunteer but a recruit. Jesus approaches the man and says follow me! Lord, first let me go and bury my father, the man says. Now surely an obligation to the family takes precedence, we're talking about a funeral, we're talking about a son and his father, but no, Jesus gives some of his hardest words. "Let the dead bury their own dead!" There's no hint of sympathy and understanding. How soon do you think it would be before the PPR committee met after that one!? And with good cause! What kind of parish minister is this?! The third would-be disciple says, "I will follow but let me say goodbye to my family first." Another reasonable request! Jesus' response is anything but reasonable read verse 62. Do you see what I mean? Jesus would not make a very good parish minister. But He's Right! And there is truth in this text that we so often overlook in the Christian faith.

WE TRY HARD TO MAKE THE CHRISTIAN LIFE APPEALING. We advertise the Christian faith in as positive a light as we can. We attempt to make the church easy and accessible for seekers. We are to proceed, the church growth experts tell us, along the same lines as politicians preparing for campaigns, along the same lines as businesses marketing their product. Find out what people want by identifying with what they care about. And the church that prospers is not only one that makes it easy for people to get in the door, but also one that makes them want to stay! So we offer worship that is meaningful and interesting. We make sure that children and youth find ministries that are not boring. We have exciting and vibrant music. We make sure that we invent plenty of ways for people to engage in the ministries of the church. That can fit into their busy schedules without inconvenience. And it's not that any of this is bad, it's just that what Jesus says is so different, so strange, so unreasonable. Instead of making it easy, he seems to want to make it hard. And it makes one want to ask the question why? Why does Jesus seem to want to make discipleship so difficult? Why can't it come easy? Doesn't Jesus care about us? He cares so much about us that he wants us to know how important it is to give ourselves in such a manner that nothing is left over. He wants us to know what it is like, how truly alive we feel, when we're following Christ with everything we are. When I first answered God's call into the ministry I was working for a small business. I began to pastor a church part-time, and I didn't tell my boss because I was afraid that if I did, he would realize my future was not with his business and he would fire me. And until I began to pastor full-time I needed the income. He was not a religious man by any stretch of the imagination. Of course things finally got the point where I had to tell him. And I'll never forget his reaction, he was supportive and encouraging, in spite of the fact that he was losing his best salesman. I said to him, "It's kind of like sales, except that what I'm going to be selling doesn't cost anything." And he looked at me in a way he had never looked before and he said, "you're wrong!!" "What you're going to be selling cost everything!"

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THE CREAM OF THE CROP...
OR THE SKIMMED MILK OF THE EARTH?
Luke 14:1,7-14
Introduction:

EVER NOTICE THAT THE FIRST THING YOU DO, AFTER YOU GET A HAIRCUT, IS GO FISHING? Not with a rod and reel, but with a question? And you might be able to get what you're after with just a single cast, you look at that significant other in your life and you say, "well, what do you think?" Now that's the way most men do it, women are little less straightforward in their technique. They might look in the mirror while you're in the room and say something like, "Oh, I don't know if this looks very good?" And woe to the man who doesn't know how to respond to that one. Better to take the bait in one swallow, "Honey, you look absolutely wonderful, it makes you look ten years younger, as a matter of fact, it makes your face look thinner." The thing is that when we fish, we're not really fishing for the truth. We're fishing for compliments! Nobody likes to be seen as a braggart or conceited, but regardless of what we say, we all desperately crave to be complimented, praised, admired. You might say that it is the way of the world we want people to think well of us, we want to be the "Cream of the Crop." And that is why everybody is not Christian, because as soon as we begin to feel too good about ourselves, as soon as we reach that place where we begin to take a measure of pride in who we are, what people think about us, what we accomplish, the social circles we travel in, Jesus steps in and says, "take the lowest place."

WHAT'S SO HARD ABOUT THOSE WORDS IS THAT WE SPEND OUR WHOLE LIFE TRYING TO GET AWAY FROM THE LOWEST PLACE. It's that self-seeking, upwardly mobile spirit that drives us. A little girl is playing on the neighborhood playground, "Mommy, see how high I can go!" That's the motivation of Life, for children or adults, "Look at me! See how high I can go!" And this push to the top is something that is ingrained into us by almost every ad on television. Have you seen the automobile commercial, I don't remember which car company, they show a young couple just married. They've got some sort of tiny "Used" car, stuffed with their belongings, as they move into their first apartment. Then we see them a few years later with a small baby, taking their belongings out of another car, a little bigger, but still an old car moving into another apartment. Then there are more scenes with old cars scenes of the children growing up, and now the music changes, their hair is tinted gray now and they're getting into a shiny, new car. They've made it! They've arrived in the land of their dreams, and they have a shiny new black car to prove it. And it's not hard to see what the commercial is saying, that the new car, moving up in life, is the ultimate validation of your success. And nowhere is our self-seeking, upwardly mobile spirit expressed more vividly then at the dinner table. Did you know that the Whitehouse has someone called the Chief of Protocol. Who does little more than worry about just where certain people are to sit for state dinners, and only the most appreciated, the most admired, the most praised, only the "Cream of the Crop", get to sit at the head table.

And Then Here Sits Jesus At The Dinner Table Pointing Us In Another Direction Today's Gospel is one of those, "You've heard it said, but I say to you", sort of sayings, by Jesus. You have the world going this direction, Jesus, going in another. Counter-cultural! We don't sit down at the table with just anyone this is true! It's truth, not just for an ancient people, a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, but it's true today. There is something sacred about sitting down and breaking bread with somebody. Many years ago I had a job that required me to live in Alabama for a time. A time when segregation was still enforced, at least in some small rural towns. I once walked into a Restaurant with signs that read, "White Only." On the other side was a sign that said, "Coloreds." The "Whites Only Side" was nicely decorated, checkered table cloths, bouquet of flowers on each table, clean and fresh. While the "Colored's side" had stools on one side, and a shelf for standing on the other side. The colored side looked dingy and dirty, like it hadn't been swept. And the thing is there's not three feet between them, the two sides. Segregation was more strictly enforced at the table than anywhere else. White segregationists knew that some sort of unholy mixing went on at a table. To admit a person to a table with you is to admit that person is a full, equal human being, just like you! Something happens when people sit next to one another at a table, a bond is formed, community, communion. And if that's not something you want, you better not sit too close to someone at a table. And perhaps that's why we so rigorously enforce social divisions at the table, and this is the really hard part.

IF WE WOULD BE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS, WE MUST EAT AND DRINK AS HE ATE AND DRANK. Now we sit here, we hear this and we say, this is fine I can do that. But how often do we sit down with someone of lowly status? How often do we invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame. Those who stand at Sheldon road. and I-10, not a mile away from here, holding signs that read "Hungry." Do we invite "them" to our table? No we don't! And it's because we're selfish, might not be safe, and because, we like to be praised, we like to be admired, we like to eat with the "cream of the crop." They're not the "cream of the crop." They're the skimmed milk of the earth and associating with people of lesser social stature is just not safe! It can lower our stature and worse, they might try to be our friends. But it gets back to the question of what we are about as the church, because although concern of social status is human nature, God calls the church to transcend the ways of the world. And then God gives us the power of the Holy Sprit to answer that calling to live a life of humility when that's what the faith calls us to do.

Thank God Jesus Doesn't Look For Perfect People. Jesus spent more time at the table with the skimmed milk of the earth. Than he ever did with the "Cream of the crop," we know this and that's not the hard part. What's really tough is that deep down we know, if we would be followers of Jesus, we must eat and drink as he ate and drank. We must be willing to lower ourselves for the sake of the other, with the love of Jesus and for the glory of God's coming kingdom. There was church in a large city where some of the people began to show some concern for the plight of the homeless. So the church began a soup kitchen that operated three days a week, and was soon feeding over 60 persons for lunch, three days a week. Now on every-other Sunday it was this church's custom to have a family meal. And yes it was a Methodist church! This meal was like any covered dish meal in any Methodist church, after morning worship, in the fellowship hall, for the members, and the occasional visitor. Then someone said, "Why don't we invite the folks who gather here during the week to come eat with us on Sunday too!" There was a rather heated debate, it was one thing to feed the hungry, quite another to invite them to the table to eat with the family! Then someone flipped open a bible turned to a particular text in the gospel of Luke and read it! There was silence. The next word, "I move that we have a meal after church every Sunday and invite everyone to join us," particularly the people on the street who show up here on weekdays. The motion passed! Attendance at that church was doubled, one woman said, we have the Lord's Supper every Sunday now. We don't call what we do in the fellowship hall, the Lord's supper, but that's what it is, and what was the crucial text that was read from in Luke? Luke 14:7-14

AND THE THING IS, IT READS THE SAME IN OUR BIBLE AS IT DID IN THEIRS. What kind of church are we? Are we a church that wants only the cream of the crop or if not the cream at least the whole milk? Do we walk in the direction of the culture that says only those who are healthy, or whole, or clean, or beautiful, can be blessed? Jesus STUNS his listeners by telling us that when God's kingdom is fully come, the outcast, pathetic, humbled persons would be among God's favorites, the most exalted. Our bible is challenging us this morning to pray this prayer, "Lord Send Us The People Nobody Else Wants." Are we a Church that wants only, "the cream of the crop?" Or are we a Church that can host, "the skimmed milk of the earth?" Can we pray the prayer, "Lord send us the people nobody else wants!" and mean it!? Lets try it, have congregation pray together, Lord, send us the people nobody else wants! That was the easy part, the prayer, here's the hard part., are we prepared for the changes to come to this church and to each of us, if God answers our prayers?

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IT’S TEN O’CLOCK, DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR SHEEP ARE?
Luke 15:1-10
Introduction:

IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF THIRTY THEN, YOU MIGHT NOT REMEMBER TELEVISION THE WAY IT USED TO BE.  For those of you who are over thirty, let’s get nostalgic; do you remember when every show was in black and white? And you could buy a colored plastic screen to place in front of your television? The bottom was shaded green, the middle was shaded red, and the top was shaded blue, which meant that occasionally you had color TV. When there was a show that had grass on the bottom, Indians in the middle ground and sky at the top. Do you remember when shows started to air in color? At the beginning of the show were the words and an excited narrator’s voice that said, “In Living Color”! Do you remember when there were only three networks and every network went off the air at 12:00 midnight? And you had that Indian head picture that looked like a Parcheesi board that appeared with the obnoxious beeping noise, after the national anthem played showing that statute where the soldiers are lifting the American Flag at Imo Jim. Do you remember when there was no digital televisions, and you had to actually get up out of your chair and change the channel? But you could buy these extend 0 arms, that fit nicely over your channel changing knob, if you could just nail the knob right from 10 feet. Which was usually more difficult then just getting up and walking to the TV. Do you remember the public service announcement? That came on every night at 10:00 PM? “It’s Ten O’clock, do you know where your Children are?”
Yes, it’s been a long time since those days, and much has improved.   Now we not only have color TV, but we have digital and high definition TV. Now instead of three networks there are hundreds. There’s a network for every interest under the sun. Even a golf channel, God Bless America! Today nobody ever changes the channel by hand. In fact, I doubt that most people today would even know how to change the channel from the box. And today there are not only public service announcements reminding parents to check on their kids, and make sure they are not running the streets. But there are public service announcements today telling parents the importance of talking to their kids about drugs, or smoking, unprotected premarital sex.  Yes we have come a long way in the past 30 years, but to be honest I still miss that 10 O’clock Public Service Announcement. It’s 10 O’clock, do you know where your Children are? You know I bet it worked. I can see a Mother and Father watching television, then comes the announcement. Mom looks over at Dad and then walks outside and calls the kids in to baths and bed. I know for me, it was a source of security, because I can remember when that announcement came on television, I felt secure that my parents did know were I was. I was not neglected. I was not lost. Listen to me today church, and lets see if you can tell where I’m going with this.

Body:

IT’S TEN O’CLOCK, DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR SHEEP ARE?  Sometimes Jesus told stories, or Parables, in order to give us a better insight into the nature of God. At other times, Jesus not only told the parables, but he also became a parable, a revelation of the nature of God. In this text, he is both. He is the one who tells the parable, and he is the parable. Virtually every parable that Jesus tells has multiple meanings. These parables are no exception. Jesus has more then one message in these parables. Possibly, because he is speaking to more then one type of audience, and most likely because these different peoples are lost in different ways. Truth is that today, we, as the church, will often need to hear the multiple messages. Because we can often identify with more than just one figure in the parable.  We should all be able to identify with the lost sheep. We have all been lost, either in actuality or just figuratively. Perhaps as a child, you wandered away from your mother on a trip, or at the supermarket. Or maybe you took a wrong turn on your path back from the lake on a summer vacation. Do you remember what that felt like being lost? All alone. Not knowing which way to turn. Did you remember thinking about what your parents might be thinking as they searched for you? Do you remember what it felt like to be found? When at last you were discovered. Claimed! Embraced! Something like that has happened to each one of us. God, in Jesus Christ, has beat a path to our door. God went looking for you and did not stop until you were found. For most of us, that is why we are here in this place right now. We are here because we were lost, but now we are found. We are the lost sheep who was found. We are the lost coin. The thing of great value. The treasure that the woman turned her whole house upside down to find. God cares most about finding the lost, and we can relate to this parable. Because we were the lost. 

IT’S TEN O’CLOCK, DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR SHEEP ARE? See here is the other side of this parable. Here is the other message. Here is where we really need to pay close attention to the text, because it is here where we often fail to be what God calls us to be. Good friends, we are also the shepherd. We as the church, together, we are the shepherd, and each one of us, individually. We are the shepherd. We are the woman who must turn her house upside down, if that is what it takes to find the lost treasure. But the thing is that we have a hard time identifying with either of these figures in the parable. It is difficult for us to identify with the Shepherd. It’s not easy for us to identify with the woman. One reason for this is that many of us are still sheep. When it comes to our Christian faith we are Sheep. Think about it. We want a God who cares for us and watches over us. We like the comfort of the flock. We want to be well fed and we would love to spend all our days lying in the green pastures. Listening to humorous interesting Preaching. Listening to wonderful music and uplifting prayers. Not giving much thought or effort to anything outside the flock. And we also like to be the coin, we like to be cared for and treasured. We like to look good. We want to be that thing of value that no one can do without, and because this is where the great majority of the church of today is. Because we only hear half of these parables, we are losing sheep. In fact, many sheep are dying. 
It’s ten o’clock, do you know where your sheep are? We have lost sheep that Jesus found and sent to this place. Did you even know they were lost? Since I have been here at this church a little over three years now, we have taken in 146 members. Look around you, do you see them? Did you even know they were missing? 25 of them have moved away, 9 of them have joined with other churches, 3 of them have died, 25 are just missing, and another 25 are beginning to disappear and are hear very infrequently. Of course, that’s nothing, new statistics tell us that 5 out of 10 people who join a church will be lost out of the back door within one year. If someone in the church has not made a concerted effort to involve them in more then just morning worship.

IT’S TEN O’CLOCK, DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR SHEEP ARE?  Now there are two words that apply here. Compassion and responsibility. You may believe that you have no more responsibility then a sheep, but God has made it clear that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. We are to care about the lostness and the pain of those around us. We are our brothers and sisters keepers. How can someone be redeemed by the power of the cross? Experience the saving love of Jesus Christ? Be made into a new creation? Be born to a life of hope? And not care about those around them. The answer is simple friends, you cannot. If you care nothing about anyone other then yourself, your friends, your family. Then your salvation and your faith are in serious question. It is true that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. It is true that it is not what you do that saves you. But Jesus also says, “By their fruits you shall know them.” He says that there is no such thing as a lukewarm faith, a mediocre faith. He says through the apostle Paul in Corinthians that good works are meaningless without love. The sheep are lost. The coin is lost. It’s 10 ‘clock, do you know where your sheep are?

Conclusion:

DO YOU GET EXCITED WHEN YOU SEE SOMEONE COME TO GOD?? When people stand right up here and confess their faith in Jesus Christ, does it stir something in your soul? Jesus says, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents, then over ninety-nine righteous persons who don’t need to repent. In other words, God gets excited when someone is found. All heaven throws a party when a soul turns to God. I don’t know about you, but this verse alone is enough to convince me that there is nothing more important than this. Our mission is to find the lost sheep. Turn our house upside down if that is what it takes to locate that lost coin. Everything we do must point to that. Must, in some way, be working to that Holy mission. If we build new buildings and repaint and do needed repairs, without this mission at the forefront of all we do. We are wrong! If we start new, ministries and meet together as the church, without this great and holy mission as the center of what we do. These ministries will be meaningless. If we build the biggest and most successful Child Care business in all of Houston, but do nothing to win souls to Jesus Christ. What good is it? If we come into this worship place and lift songs to God, take communion, hear the word proclaimed, but then leave through those doors and never do anything to fulfill the mission of saving souls. Of what purpose is our worship? Good friends, it’s ten o’clock, do you know where your sheep are? In fact, I’m not so sure that it may not be later then that. It may be eleven O’ Clock, it may be just about midnight.
Someone once said that there are four basic attitudes that a church can take toward the lost. Hate them and believe we are better then they are; be indifferent to them, know they are there, but live as if they are God’s problem and not ours; welcome them when they seek us out; Or be passionately and purposely seeking the lost, with the best news of all time. Finding them in the midst of their lostness, placing them on our shoulders, and bringing them home.  Do you remember the picture of Christ standing at the door and knocking? Have you seen that picture? It used to be that the understanding of the picture was that Christ stood at the door knocking, hoping that someone would come and open the door and invite Christ in to their lives, remember? And much was made of the fact that there was no door knob on the outside of the door. Christ was counting on us to open the door and invite him in.
In this culture, today, in a world that has more sheep that are lost then found. I believe that the meaning of that picture has changed. Christ stands at the door knocking, hoping that someone will come to the Door, and open the door. So, that Christ can invite them out! Into his life, into the mission of seeking the lost. It is no longer a matter of our inviting Christ in. It is now that Jesus invites us out. Where does Christ live and die and is risen again and again? Among the human hurts and hopes of the unchurched planted of God all around us. When I first came here, someone said something to me that was profoundly true. As I drove up to this church which at the time was next to a Bikini car wash, and a tattoo parlor and a slot machine warehouse, next to market street which has never been known as a bedroom community. I wondered if there had ever been talk of moving the church. Someone said to me, a Saint who has since gone on to be with his God. “ Why would we ever want to move, this is a perfect location for a Church?” Dr. Smith was right wasn’t he!? So, let me say to you, you children of God, you lost sheep who were found, you shepherds, “it’s getting late, do you know where your sheep are?”
 

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THE BIG PIECE OF CHICKEN!
Luke 15:11-31
Introduction:

THERE'S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MOTHER'S DAY AND FATHER'S DAY. Mother's Day has always been a much bigger deal. Comedian Bill Cosby, in his book, Fatherhood provides an explanation as to why Mother's Day is a bigger deal. He says, "It's because women are more organized than men!" Mother's say to their children, "Now here's a list of what I want. Go get the money from your father and surprise me on Mother's day!" Cosby then says, "For Father's Day I give each of my 5 kids $20 so they can go out an buy me a present, a total of $100 . They go to the store together and buy two packages of underwear, each of which costs $5 and contains three shorts. They tear them open and each kids wraps up one pair, the sixth going to the salvation army. So there I am on Father's day walking around with new underwear and my kids are walking around with $90 of my money in their pockets They wouldn't dare do that to their mother!" Another comedian, Chris Rock talks about the difference between Mothers and Fathers. He says, "Everybody loves their Momma, especially in a black family. Momma gets all the respect. Everybody on TV. all the time saying, "Hi Momma!" "I love my Momma." I want to thank my Momma for raisin me!" He says, "You never hear anybody saying, "Hi Dad." No professional football player ever says on national TV., "I Love my Dad!" Dad works all day, puts a roof over your head, pays the bills! Nobody ever says, "thanks for this nice place to sleep Dad, I really appreciate all this electricity. Thanks dad for the nice hot water!" No Dad doesn't get any of these things. All his hard work and all dad gets, is the Big Piece of Chicken! THERE's some TRUTH IN THAT. All dad gets is the big piece of chicken! And most fathers are O.K. with that, we don't need affirmation like Mom. We don't need to be fawned over and appreciated like Mom. Just give us the big piece of chicken. Recognize our right as breadwinners to get that big piece of chicken, but what happens when our kids take that away from us? What does a father do when his children demand the big piece of chicken? To some degree, that is what is happening in today's text.

THE SON APPROACHES HIS FATHER AND WANTS THE BIG PIECE OF CHICKEN! Father, give me my share of the estate! Now Dad's what would you do if your son or daughter approached you and said, "I'm tired of having to deal with you!" "I'm ready to be out of this family." "Give me what's mine and I'm gone!" "Sure son, let me write you a check!" "Let's see, there's three of us, here's my retirement, savings account, checkbook balance, divided by three your share comes to....NEVER HAPPEN! Now think about it Dad's what would really happen If one of your children stepped up demanding their share of the inheritance, "Excuse me, I didn't here you right you want what?" "I tell you what, how about I make a bill for 19 years of raising and feeding you." "You pay me, then I'll settle up with you!" I mean isn't that closer to the reality of real fathers, but not this father. He's willing to let his children go and he gives up the big piece of chicken, he doesn't try to force his son to remain home. Maybe because he recognizes that it's more important for children to find home in their hearts than in their bedrooms.

BUT THIS FATHER RESPONDS IN MANY WAYS THAT ARE NOT CHARACTERISTIC OF REAL FATHERS. Look at how he responds when his son returns home. The father must have heard the rumors, he's probably expecting that his son will return home some day. And he knew what the reaction of the village would probably be. In the culture of that time there were few things worse than to disrespect your father. In fact, Dueteronomy says that if a son is rebellious and does not listen to his father, the son should be taken to the city gates and stoned to death by the elders of the city. So this father watches for his son, then one day, there in the distance, Yes, it's him! Ancient eastern writers tell us that a man's manner of walking tells you who he is. Great men never run in public, for a man to run in public was considered foolish and shameful. This Father knew the gauntlet this boy would have to run, the humiliation, the anger, and the outrage of the crowds. Perhaps he could have sent a posse of servants and snuck him in the back way, but look what he does. He gathers his dignified robes around himself AND HE RUNS. The father becomes a disgraced fool in the eyes of the community, he is humiliated in place of his son. And he makes his reconciliation public, he hugs and kisses his son while he's still on the edge of his estate. He throws a party with food, music and dancing, and I have to ask again, Is this the way of real fathers? Or would a real father say, "Son I'm gonna let you come home but you got to prove yourself." "Maybe next time you'll listen to your old man." "I want my inheritance!" "What a bonehead!" "Where's all the money I gave you? Gone? Isn't it?!" "I guess Dad's not so stupid after all, huh?" "Maybe next time you'll let your old man have that big piece of chicken!"

AND HOW ABOUT HOW THE FATHER DEALS WITH THE OLDER SON. You know there must be a whole lot left out of this text. I imagine the older son said more than the text said that he did. "Why did you do it?" "What about all the things he did, those stupid parties, his gambling habit, the people he stepped on?" "Don't you remember all the gossip around town when he was gone?" "Didn't that hurt you? I know it did I saw you cry!" "Don't you have any pride or any principles?" "You let that bum back in like he's the star of the show." "And what do you suppose what you're doing says to the rest of the kids in the village?" "It's O.K.. to treat your family like that." "What if every son did what that idiot did?" "Is every father supposed to throw a party every time one of em comes home crawling on his belly?" "You've gone soft and caved in!" "And what about me!!!" "How do you think I feel?" "Worked my tail off and never spoke a word against you, put more time than anyone else into this farm. Been here for years helping to make this place what it is today, and what do I get? Nothing!" Now most of what I just said is not in this text, I'm just imagining what this older son might have said, but I don't believe I'm too far away from where this older son is coming from. Because what he actually does say speaks volumes about the way that he feels. Listen again to verse 29. Did you catch it? SLAVING! He sees himself as a slave, a workman, rather than a son of his father. And his motivation, "I want a goat to have a party with my friends!" There's no relationship, no attachment to the family, or to his father. The older son lives there and works there, but that's all! And what does the father do? He pleads with the older son, he assures him that everything he has is his. Again, probably not very much in line with the response of a real father, but that's the mistake many people make with this text.

THIS IS NOT A TEXT PROVIDING AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT A GOOD FATHER SHOULD BE. This is a text that explains the kind of father that God is. A Father who lets his children go when they need to be let go. Who allows them to learn on their own but is always ready to pick them up when they fall. A father who loves his children so much that he will humiliate himself by his love for them. A father who is compassionate when his children are angry and disrespectful. A father who is patient when they are confused or when they don't understand. Real Dads often have trouble letting go. We don't want our children to learn the hard way, and sometimes we can be overly forceful, and even harsh in an attempt to keep our kids from learning the hard way. Real Dads can sometimes allow their pride to get in the way of their parenting. We can respond with anger when our kids are angry, and we're not always as patient as we should be.

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MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
Luke 16:1-13
Introduction:

THERE ARE FEW THINGS IN THIS WORLD AS HUMBLING OR AS EMBARRASSING AS MISJUDGING SOMEONE. We've all done it. Made snap judgments about people, their personality, their social status, their intelligence. Only to realize later that we were completely wrong. It doesn't matter how good a judge of character we think we are, we will judge people wrongly. And this Can go two ways, we can judge them too negatively and lose a potential friend and ally, or we can give them too much benefit of the doubt and put our trust in someone we shouldn't trust. Because the simple truth is, there is much more than meets the eye to most people. The Story of the President and the little boy. THERE'S GOT TO BE MORE TO THIS TEXT THAN MEETS THE EYE. Or at least, we better hope there is. Because if we take this text at face value.

THIS TEXT APPEARS TO BE PRAISING DISHONESTY. Tell The Story: A rich man is being ripped off by his manager. He goes to the manager and says to him, basically, "Son I know what you've been doing, you're fired!" The manager, is too lazy too work and too proud to beg, so he contacts some of the rich man's accounts payable. He says to one, "You owe my boss