My Last Sermon Before I Learn How To Preach

This was the sermon that I gave at my home church on Sunday, August 12 before I headed to LTSG. The lessons were: Genesis 15:1–6; Psalm 33:12–22; Hebrews 11:1–16 and the Gospel lesson, Luke 12:32-40.

I have been working on this sermon for a while. Mostly because I knew I would be spending most of the last two weeks driving between Saginaw and Gettysburg. I knew I needed to get it done early. I knew I didn’t want to realize I had left the copy on my computer in Gettysburg. Also, I think writing a paper before it is due is a habit I should get into.
As I was working on this, I had a series of events or incidents happen to me. Some people believe that God is too busy to be involved in the details of their daily lives. I believe the opposite. I know that God is so big and so vast, that He is involved in the smallest details of our lives, from a story by a friend, to a song on the radio or room assignments or someone volunteering. I want to point out some of the little happenings that have happened to me.
I started before the 4th of July and went onto the Internet to search for resources that went into detail about the lessons. One of the commentaries lumped all of Jesus’ parables about servants and masters together. While reading it, the phrase that stuck out for me was from the Parable of the Pounds from Matthew’s gospel. This is the parable where the master leaves each of three servants a varying amount of money. When he returned, the master praised the one who had the largest return by calling him “my good and faithful servant.”
I realized this is what I want to be: God’s good and faithful servant. This is what I want to do with my life. I think it is something to which we can all aspire. I want to use today’s lessons to illustrate what a good and faithful servant is.
Now, these are my thoughts on what is is to be ”good,” “faithful” and a “servant” BEFORE I enter the seminary. I wouldn’t be surprised if my views change on these concepts over the next four years. Or four months. Or four weeks. But as of now, this is what I think.

I think we all know what good means. One definition is well behaved. I want to share an analogy that a friend of mine from high school who has also gone into the ministry recently shared with me. What type of dog would you enjoy more? Would you enjoy a dog that strains at the leash, constantly disobeying your commands, going where it wants to go? Or would you prefer a well-behaved dog, one that follows your directions, which sits even though squirrels are running around just feet away? Both dogs love you unconditionally. Both dogs are devoted to you. Both desire and live for your attention and approval. Both wait for you to give them their daily bowl. Both want you to love them and play with them, but which one are you more inclined to want to play with? You still love the one who trashed the house while you were away, the one who thinks they are the master and hops up on the furniture, the one who takes you for a walk rather than the other way around. But you take joy, you rejoice in the one who follows your commands. To further strain this analogy to its breaking point, we have all chased squirrels, growled and snapped at strangers and made a mess in the house. And God loves us. We don’t get hit on the nose with newspaper, or made to stay outside. Despite being a “bad doggy,” He still loves us. But wouldn’t you love for Him to be proud of how we suppressed our instincts and habits to obey His teachings and commands.
When I was growing up, I had just a few incidents when I was a bad doggy. My parents figured out the way to readjust my behavior wasn’t yelling, or spanking or grounding me (although they did try those methods); but to tell me they were disappointed in me. When I did something good (which was more often) they told me they were proud of me. I think they shared that with my college football coach. When I missed a block (and there were many) he would walk up to me, and say so that only I could hear, “I thought you were better than that.” That was the button for me. Avoiding disappointment was the only motivation I needed to do better. Appealing to wanting him to be proud of me got more out of me than all of the yelling and screaming could.
I know I am pride driven. But it is having others be proud of me. I want my friends and family and co-workers to be proud of me. I want my mother and father to be proud of me. I want my Father in Heaven to be proud of me. To accomplish that, I, and we, act so that “Thy will be done, on Earth as in Heaven.”

We must be faithful, that is, full of faith. But what is faith?
I do not know how a car engine works. I have read about how the fuel under pressure ignites, which moves pistons and cams and rods and gears. I sort of understand, but I accept that it works. I believe that you turn the key and the engine starts. I sort of understand, but I accept that it works. I believe that I can drive back to Gettysburg tomorrow.
I do not know how the human body works. I have read about how these stem cells can become any cell in your body. I don’t understand how the brain tells the heart muscles to contract while the lungs inhale and exhale and the nerve cells tell the brain that it’s hot so get the skin to start sweating. I sort of understand, but I accept that it works. I believe my body will keep going for another few minutes.
I do not know how an omnipotent, benevolent deity created the heavens and the earth. How He could create all life on the planet, and care deeply about every person from the beginning to the end of time. So that we may be able to live with him after we die, He took part of Himself and became the human being, Jesus of Nazareth. That human part of God allowed himself to be humiliated, tortured and killed as a way to atone for our sins. Through His resurrection, we can be saved because of our faith in Him. I sort of understand, but I don’t just accept that it works. I trust what God has said. I have faith that God loves each of us, and just wants us to love Him.

Faith is not believing in God. Faith is believing God. Faith is not believing in Jesus, but believing Jesus’ teaching. Faith is following His charges and commands.
My favorite band is the Irish rock band, U2. Their music is written from a Christian perspective while not overtly religious. There is a line in their song, “Walk On,” where the lead singer, Bono, is addressing his father, who was dying. “You're packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been. A place that has to be believed to be seen.” He is speaking of heaven. For us to reach heaven, to receive the kingdom we must believe it in order to see it. St. Augustine said, "To have faith is to believe what you can't see and the reward of faith is to see what you believe." Faith is trust. Trusting God’s Word and following his instructions.

The author of the letter to the Hebrews illustrates a number of people who had faith. We are not really sure why Abel’s sacrifice was pleasing to God and Cain’s was not. We are not really sure what Enoch did that found favor in God’s eyes. But I think it had to do with their hearts. Like David, who could be a real bad doggy, they had faith; they believed and trusted God. When God called, they did what God wanted them to do.
Noah listened to and believed God. He didn’t just hear “build a boat.” He listened and heard the dimensions and what material to use. Sometimes we are guilty of partial listening. You kind of, sort of pay attention. You get the gist of the information, but you are already deciding what YOU are going to do with it. “Build a boat, got it. You know, I’ve always wanted a sailboat.” While you aren’t really listening, you miss the details. The speaker becomes Charlie Brown’s teacher. If you’re not familiar with that, imagine your spouse or parent.
I do that. I listen, but only until I think I know what to do. When I first started looking at seminaries, the seminary at Gettysburg just jumped off the screen at me. From the beginning, it struck a chord. When time came to apply, I applied to both Trinity and Gettysburg. I received my acceptance from Gettysburg right away, but didn’t hear from Trinity. Both had weekends for prospective students to visit. Trinity had their weekend just before Ash Wednesday. Gettysburg’s was the weekend after Easter. I visited Trinity and was thrilled. I loved it; I was ready to move down there right away. But I hadn’t been accepted yet. All through Lent, I was sure I was going to Trinity. I was thinking about canceling my visit to Gettysburg, but no word came from Trinity. Finally, Easter came and I drove out to Gettysburg. I didn’t want to go because I was sure Trinity was the place for me. Then I got to Gettysburg. I felt as if I had been there forever. It felt like that favorite pair of shoes. I felt like I was home. The Tuesday after I got home from Gettysburg, I received a phone call from the Trinity director of admissions. I had been accepted at Trinity. But I had already found where I should go. While I had heard, I had not listened. God put that first feeling for Gettysburg in me. When I started to stray, he put a detour in my way to get me back on His path. No matter which seminary I chose, I could not go wrong. But one is more right. One is where God wants me. God works in ways to ensure His will is done, even if it is in spite of ourselves.

Because Abram believed, God fulfilled His promises. Abram acted by faith, took God at his word and acted upon it. Abram owned no land, and both he and his wife were in their eighties and nineties. But when God said your descendants will outnumber the stars, and this land shall be theirs, Abram believed. He believed God and acted upon God’s instructions. He was faithful and willing to serve. The letter to the Hebrews says, Abraham “set out for a place that he was to receive … not knowing where he was going.” (Heb 11:8) He was packing a suitcase for a place that has to be believed to be seen. The author of the letter says the land Abraham was promised was not the promised land of Israel, but the Promised Land of Heaven. What Abram was promised was a land where he, and his descendants could be in God’s presence.

Jesus instructs us being a servant in the Gospel lesson, Jesus tells His followers to sell their possessions. Jesus asks his disciples to give up everything: possessions, money, any and all modes of security. Sell your belongings and give the money away. Be dressed for action and be ready.
The sermon notes from the Sundays and Seasons website says, “Any experienced travel guide will tell you that the lighter your load, the easier the journey. But it is also true that if we reduce the burden of the "stuff" we carry, we enable ourselves to move on in life with less fear. After all, what motivates us to go on a trip with everything but the kitchen sink? Answer: we want to be prepared for every possibility, to have a solution for every anticipated problem. Over-packing arises from fear and uncertainty about what the future will bring.”
With all of the moving and hauling I’ve done in the past month, I think I should have paid more attention to that commentary. That was driven home to me on August 1. I drove to Gettysburg to see the apartment I would be living in. I knew it wasn’t the type I had requested, but I didn’t know how big (or small) it was. When I opened the door, my heart sank through my chest, legs, feet, floor and beyond. The dorm room is 16 by 13. My living room is that big. And it doesn’t have a refrigerator, bed, desk, stove and dining room table in it. As I spent an hour sulking around the campus, trying to figure out what I was going to do, I came to realize I was having this lesson illustrated for me. The dimmer switch that controls the idea light bulb in my head slowly turned on. You don’t need all of that stuff. I want my “toys,” but I don’t need them. When I got in my car to head back to Saginaw after my first trip to Saginaw, a song came on the radio. It was the Rolling Stones (not a group that gets quoted often in church), but to quote the song I heard, “You can’t always get what you want, but sometimes, you get what you need.”
I think it is an instruction to not hold fast to the possessions of this world, but to concern ourselves with the baggage with take to the next. What is in the suitcase you’re packing for the place that has to be believed to be seen? Do you want to be remembered for all of your goods and things, or all of the good things you’ve done?

I want to quote someone else who isn’t quoted much in church, George Carlin about possessions and stuff: "Your house is a place to keep your stuff. If you didn't have so much stuff, you wouldn't need a house. You could just walk around all the time."
Christ tells us to not be greedy or worry about our stuff. Stuff, he says, is not to be stored up and enjoyed. Stuff is to be given away, used for others. We should use our stuff to live simply and not have so much stuff. We should take our extra stuff and either give it to the people who don’t have enough stuff or sell our extra stuff and use the money to help those who are stuff challenged. We are to use our stuff for the common good. There is nothing wrong with earning as much as you can. But with those earnings, do you buy stuff for yourself, or stuff for those in need. Don’t live to work, work to live and give.

The second part of being a servant is to be ready to serve.
From a commentary I read, The Greek of verse 35 reads: "the loins having been girded," which means tying up around the waist the lower parts of one's robe so as to be ready to run. NRSV has "be dressed for action;" NIV: "be dressed ready for service;" CEV: "Be ready." I think the most understandable translation comes from The Message translation of the Bible, Keep your shirts on; keep the lights on!” I guess that the different translations show why I will be in a classroom on Friday learning Greek. So that I can refer to the original texts to help bring the message of the original content to people.
To return to a previous analogy, we should be the dogs waiting by the door, or with our nose pressed up against the window, waiting for our master to return. We must have done all of the preparing for His return. We should not have trashed the house or left a surprise on the floor, but we are to have followed His commands and have the house clean and ready for company. We need to be ready to defend the house against burglars. When someone other than the Master tries to enter the house, we must bark and growl and show our teeth to resist the one who would take from our Master.
For if we are ready for His return; if we have been a “good and faithful servant,” our Lord and Master will serve us.
If we have a “good and faithful doggy,” when our Master returns He will play with us. He’ll scratch our ears and rub our bellies and throw the tennis ball for us to fetch. He’ll serve us food from the wedding feast. But if we’ve fallen asleep, He will quietly step over us. Or if we have been disobedient, we’ll be sent outside, and be away from Him.

We must be ready for our Master’s return. We do not know when. Actually, when he was walking around on the earth, Jesus himself did not even know when he would come again. Matthew 24:36 says “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” We also do not know when our Master will call us to serve in His house. In preparation for His return or our being called home, we must be ready to do things that we may not understand, or whose significance is lost on us.
I attended a football coaching clinic a few years ago. At coaching clinics, a variety of vendors set up booths to provide samples and catalogs for coaches to take back to their schools. I was in line to get to one of the booths. It had some new equipment that I wanted to see. While waiting, I spoke with a young lady staffing a booth for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. We talked for awhile and she gave me a copy of the New Testament and encouraged me to read it. She said in there, I would find the strength and guidance I was seeking.
At the time, I wasn’t attending church. God wasn’t at the forefront of my life. He wasn’t in the top 50 things I was thinking about. But in between sessions, I took the opportunity to thumb through the book. I found I couldn’t put it down. I found passage after passage that spoke to me. Line after line that addressed the issues in my life. When I came home, I couldn’t put it down. It was if this had been written for me. The Sunday I came home from the clinic, I attended worship at St. John. Since then, I have regularly attended worship services. I realize I was finally ready to return to God, and He put someone in my way to direct me back to Him. Now, I’m leaving my life here at St. John, and here in Saginaw for a new life of sharing and spreading His word.
I do not know who that young lady was. I do not know if she was a committed member of the Toledo FCA, or got talked into showing up on a Friday morning. I do not know if she was a devout Christian, or if she was involved because a friend invited her. I do know God worked through her to save my soul. She has no knowledge of how our brief encounter changed my life. She has no knowledge of how the little nudge she gave me created a snowball rolling down the mountain, gathering speed and power.
But God called her to staff the booth on that day, and speak to a man who was drowning and didn’t know it, and give him a lifeline. She did, not knowing what her role was in changing my life. She heard and obeyed; she was good. She believed; and was faithful. She gave of herself and worked; and served.
At this point, I wanted to hold up the FCA New Testament she gave me. It has been either in my book bag or on my desk ever since that day. And it still is. On my desk, in my book bag, in Gettysburg. But while I, and my possessions, are scattered in between Gettysburg, a storage unit or wherever God sends me, my treasure is the people who love me, and the One who loves me the most. My treasure is you and my heart will always be here with you. My treasure is a loving and merciful God, and my heart will be with Him when He calls.

We do not know what little event in our life can be a major event in someone else’s. When you hear God’s call, answer it. Even if you do not understand, do it. Be a good and faithful servant. Don’t strain at the leash. Listen to and obey God’s Word. Don’t let your stuff run your life. Give stuff to people in need of stuff. Do as He asks. Prepare for His return. Start packing your suitcase.

Well, I did include the topics I linked to here. I hope I was successful.