Category: Sermons

There is the story of a new priest who came to town. The first Sunday he preached one of the best sermons folks had ever heard. Everyone was excited, believing that things were looking up for their church. They all complimented him on his wonderful and inspiring words. The following Sunday the new priest preached the exact same sermon to the letter. Folks looked a bit bewildered, but it was so good, they all thought it was worth hearing a second time just not two Sundays in a row. However, since he was new no one said anything other than that enjoyed the sermon. The third Sunday, once again the priest preached the exact same sermon. The Sr. Warden didn’t think they could take a fourth Sunday of this sermon, so after everyone had exited the church she had a word with him. “Father,” she said, “that’s a good sermon you preached.” “Thank you,” he replied. “However,” she continued, “you have preached the same sermon three times now. We’ve all heard it and were wondering when you were going to go on to a different subject.” “Ma’am,” he responded, “when you all start acting like you’ve heard it, I’ll preach something else.”

Each year at this time we start over in telling the story of Jesus. Beginning with his birth, we enter into his ministry, his death, resurrection and ascension. Along the way we will look at the various miracles, teachings, and events in the life of Jesus. Each year we get a different Gospel writer’s perspective – over the next year our Gospel readings will come primarily from the Gospel of Mark.

Mark probably received most of the information for his Gospel from Peter, while Peter was imprisoned in Rome. What we will discover about Mark and or Peter in this Gospel is that Mark is straight forward and to the point. He doesn’t sugar coat anything and can sometimes seem hard and even offensive to some, even though God’s Word is never offensive.

Yet, as we start the story again we might get the impression that we are a part of a nursery rhyme, “The wheels on the bus go round and round….” However, the Church understood something then that maybe we don’t consider in this context: repetition is the mother of all learning. Repetition is the mother of all learning. Repetition is the mother of all learning… Sorry.

Musicians know repetition. How many times do they play the scales? After playing those scales long enough, they don’t have to think about how to play a D-flat, their fingers just know. Athletes call this muscle memory. If you hit the exact same backhand hundreds of times in tennis practice, then when that same backhand shot comes at you in a tournament, then you don’t have to think, “Oh, how am I going to hit that?” Instead, the muscles simply respond.

In a similar manner, we cycle through the Gospels. Not just because they are the story of our Savior but so that we begin to live and respond in a manner that is consistent with His teachings without having to stop and ask ourselves every step of the way, “What would Jesus do?” Like the musician or the athlete whose muscles respond instinctively, our souls will respond in a similar fashion so that we may be like Jesus. Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death.” It is why we study the events of Jesus life over and over again, so that we might become like him in all things.

Is there a danger of falling away, of thinking we don’t really need to cover the same ground again – “Oh, I know this story. I know how it ends.”

No one knows exactly who said it first, but it is most often attributed to some classical pianist and now restated in various forms by everyone from golf pros to ballet dancers, “If I don’t practice for a day, I know it. If I don’t practice for two days, my wife knows it. If I don’t practice for three days, the world knows it.” Is there a danger of not staying engaged with Holy Scripture? Yes there is. Without remaining engaged, things begin to fall apart.

The opening stanza of the poem The Second Coming by William Yeats:

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

The poem is not speaking of the Second Coming of Our Lord; Yeats was one who thought Christianity had run its course and was therefore irrelevant, yet the poem does seem to speak a great deal of truth – “Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold.” That is a truth for a world and a life without God, for under those circumstances, the center is nothing more than what we can cobble together with our own clumsy hands and try to keep spinning like a clown at the circus trying to spin all those plates on sticks. At first it looks good, but after a while it all begins to crash. Broken plates and broken dreams.

“Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold.” True for a godless world, but not true for a world or a life with Christ at the center. Jesus says, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” And it is through Christ that things do not fall apart and the center does hold.

Paul wrote to the Colossians, “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

Christ is the center that holds all things together; therefore, we must not only annually repeat the cycle of entering into his life and teachings, but daily seek Him where He can be found within the pages of Holy Scripture.

The collect for the day a few Sundays back stated, “Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ.” The way to accomplish this is repetition, repetition, repetition. It’s not the “same old, same old.” It is new every day. And every day we can draw closer to Him.

St. John the Baptist declares in our Gospel reading today, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” Seeking God in His Holy Word is one of the greatest ways we can prepare the way of the Lord and make straight paths into our own souls.

A priest tells the story of the time during the 70’s that he was living in a monastery in New York. It seems that while living there he had numerous millionaire friends who enjoyed his company and would invite him out. He recalls on one occasion being invited to a swank restaurant and a Broadway play. During the intermission, he and his friends went out for some fresh air and engaged in a rather highbrow conversation regarding the play.

As he was going about trying to impress his friends with his intellectual savvy he noticed someone walking toward him who was “not one of the beautiful people.” Her clothes were a bit tattered, her shoes worn, and her nylons had holes. As she approached he also noticed that she was peddling the Variety magazine for $0.75, so in a gesture of extreme generosity he handed her a dollar and casually waved her away, eager to wow his friends a bit more.

And then she said, “Father?” The priest writes, “In those days, I knew I couldn’t distinguish myself by my virtues, so I distinguished myself by my clothing; I always wore the collar, ‘Father, could I talk to you a minute?’ I snapped, ‘What? Can’t you see I’m busy? Do you make a habit of interrupting people in the middle of a conversation? Wait over there and I’ll speak to you when I’m done.’ She whispered, ‘Jesus wouldn’t talk to Mary Magdalene like that.’ And then she was gone.”

Later, he wondered what this young woman would have thought if she had wandered into his church the following Sunday to hear him preach on the love of God. He asked, “How could she believe in the love a God she can’t see when she couldn’t find even a trace of love in the eyes of a brother wearing a clerical collar whom she could see?” He noted, “A shriveled humanity has a shrunken capacity for receiving the rays of God’s love.” (From The Furious Longing of God, Brennan Manning)

Cindy Jacobs, self described Prophet to world influencers, conducted a prayer service for the economy in New York and in twelve other locations around the country. As part of that prayer service, she and many others gathered around and laid hands on the 7,000 pound bronze bull near Wall Street. Never mind the fact that the picture gave me the willies when I saw it (images of another “Golden Calf” in the time of Moses popping into my head) and never mind the fact that nowhere is Holy Scripture does Jesus ask us to go and pray for banks and what not, but I had to ask myself: how many of the poor and dispossessed of New York did they literally have to step over in order to get there?

In another event, a church raised tens of thousands of dollars to send a dozen members on a mission trip to New Orleans to help rebuild after hurricane Katrina. A worthy cause, yet within their own community there are literally hundreds of homeless people with over 25% of them being children. In their 100 year history, that church never raised anything for a mission trip within their own community. How many could have benefited from such an outpouring of Christian good will?

“Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, `Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’”

Today is the feast day of Christ the King. It is the last Sunday of the Season of Pentecost and of the church year. This day completes the Christian journey through the life of Jesus Christ on earth and in heaven, which began with the preparation for the birth of Jesus in Advent.

When you and I think of Kings, we often think of absolute rulers. They attain power by raising and leading armies into war against other countries. They demand obedience. They are the lawmakers and enforcers. They expect to be served and waited on hand and foot. In many respects we see them as tyrants. A quick glance at the history of monarchs will only confirm this. Yet the King we come to worship today is not like this.

Jesus said, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” I am among you as one who serves. That is our King and that is the example he sets for you and I to follow.

As a Christian people, I watch you all serve everyday in many different capacities. You are following the example of Christ; however, there is one very important aspect of this serving we must keep in mind: so often we think in order to serve Christ the King we must go to the ends of the earth and fulfill great schemes – lay hands on the Wall Street Bull or go on mission trips to far off places – however, I would suggest to you today that Christ the King, Christ our King, is no further away than the next person you encounter. I can take ____ hand and at the same time take the hand of Christ the King – for the Kingdom of God is within them.

The problem arises when we get so wrapped up in our own lives or doing those things that we believe are serving the King that we miss him when he is standing right in front of us.

The first summer of seminary for almost all seminarians usually involves taking CPE, Clinical Pastoral Education. For almost all seminarians this is a dreaded experience, lots of complaining and rolling of eyes. When I entered into my CPE class, I brought this attitude with me. New age hocus pocus that’s going to get me in touch with my feelings. Bleh!

The idea of the course is to put you in the context of pastoral ministry and caring for those in need, while at the same time hopefully teaching you to not bring your own set of issues, opinions, prejudices, etc. to ministry events. Some of you may think I need to retake the course, but I did learn a few things. One event in particular shaped a good bit of how I approach every opportunity God presents to me for ministry. It was a routine visit to the hospice unit – if you can call what I did a visit.

It was expected that we would spend at least a half hour on each call, so when I arrived I spoke to the patient briefly, read a Psalm, and said a prayer. However, when there was no response from him, I sat back in my chair and spent the next twenty-six of my mandated thirty minutes planning my weekend and preparing a shopping list. When my time was up, I stood briefly at the foot of his bed, said “God bless you,” and got on with my life. He died a few days later. Other than the nurses that were caring for him, I was his last visitor.

Now, if you have a couple of unpleasant names running through your mind that you would like to label me with because of my actions, then feel free, but I can assure you that every time I recall that event, I call myself much worse. Each time I recall that event, I also beg the man’s forgiveness.

CPE may be some new age hocus pocus, but it taught me perhaps the most valuable lesson in ministry: when you are with someone, you must be fully present to them – they are Jesus. They are Christ the King. To be present is much more than sitting in a room and consuming oxygen. Being present means emptying yourself for the sake of the other. It means sacrificing your life for the life of another. Remember the words of Archbishop Ramsey, “You will never be nearer to Christ than in caring for the one man, the one woman, the one child.”

Therefore, instead of seeing the people that God places in your immediate path as obstacles or hindrances to you obtaining your own goals, be present to them, take them by the hand, and see them as Christ the King. Like Jesus, be among them as one who serves. See those souls as an opportunity for you to pour out the love and grace of God upon them in the same manner that God has poured out His love and grace upon you.

The former Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey stated, “The glory of Christianity is its claim that small things really matter and that the small company, the very few, the one man, the one woman, the one child are of infinite worth to God.” He goes on to say, “Amidst a vast world with its vast empires and vast events and tragedies our Lord devoted himself to a small country, to small things and to individual men and women, often giving hours of time to the very few or to the one man or woman.”

Have you ever noticed this? How Jesus spends a good bit of time with individuals or just a couple of folks? Sure, there are the large crowds, but think of the hours alone with one or two people. There was the Lady of Samaria, Nicodemus, Lazarus, Mary and Martha, the man at the pool of healing, Simon Peter. Jesus, God, spent one-on-one time with all of these.

For a God that desires for none to perish and all to be saved, this might seem an odd way of going about it; however, upon closer inspection, it seems to be working.

In the beginning of his ministry, Jesus called Peter and Andrew, two fishermen. Today it is estimated that there are more than 2 billion Christians in the world, not to mention all the ones between those first to today. It would seem that Jesus does not need and advertising firm or slick marketing campaigns to increase his flock. He needs only one person that cares and believes and is willing to tell another, who in turn is willing and confident enough to speak to a few more.

Many believe this work of conveying the Christian faith is the exclusive responsibility of the ordained. Those who supposedly have the proper credentials for engaging in this type of work.

There is a story about one of the many Billy Graham crusades. Apparently Reverend Graham was to speak at the revival on a Tuesday, but he arrived on a Monday so he attended the Monday night service incognito and sat on the grass at the rear of the crowd. Because he was wearing a hat and dark glasses, no one recognized him.

Directly in front of him sat an elderly gentleman who seemed to be listening intently to the Monday night preacher. When the preacher invited people to come forward as an open sign of commitment, Billy decided to do a little personal evangelism, some one-on-one as Jesus did. He tapped the man on the shoulder and asked, “Would you like to accept Christ? I’ll be glad to walk down with you if you want to.” The old man looked him up and down, thought it over for a moment, and then said, “Naw, I think I’ll just wait till the big gun comes tomorrow night.”

This story underlines how, in the minds of many, ministry and evangelism are the tasks of the “Big Guns,” but it is truly the ministry of us all to make the Kingdom of God known. One person at a time.

In our Gospel reading today, the king said to his servants, “The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.”

Today, we are the King’s servants. We are the ones who are to go into the streets and invite others to the banquet. The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, “‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’  But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?  And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’”

You are the King’s servants, therefore, go into the main streets and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet. By so doing, you will be caring for and loving the one man, the one woman, the one child who are of infinite worth to our God.

Back when the telegraph was the fastest method of long-distance communication, a young man applied for a job as a Morse Code operator. Answering an ad in the newspaper, he went to the office address that was listed. When he arrived, he entered a large, busy office filled with noise and clatter, including the sound of the telegraph in the background. A sign on the receptionist’s counter instructed job applicants to fill out a form and wait until they were summoned to enter the inner office.

The young man filled out his form and sat down with the seven other applicants in the waiting area. After a few minutes, the young man stood up, crossed the room to the door of the inner office, and walked right in. Naturally the other applicants perked up, wondering what was going on. They muttered among themselves that they hadn’t heard any summons yet. They assumed that the young man who went into the office made a mistake and would be disqualified.

Within a few minutes, however, the employer escorted the young man out of the office and said to the other applicants, “Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming, but the job has just been filled.”

The other applicants began grumbling to each other, and one spoke up saying, “Wait a minute, I don’t understand. He was the last to come in, and we never even got a chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job. That’s not fair!”

The employer said, “I’m sorry, but all the time you’ve been sitting here, the telegraph has been ticking out the following message in Morse Code: ‘If you understand this message, then come right in. The job is yours.’ None of you heard it or understood it. This young man did. The job is his.” They weren’t listening. They weren’t listening to the message that was right in front of them the entire time.

Our parable today could be summed up in one simple phrase, “How many times do I have to tell you ____?” Little Johnny got in trouble once by answering that question. His response, “Once more might do the trick.”  We’ve all heard it or said it, “How many times do I have to tell you to turn off the lights?” “How many times do I have to tell you to clean your room?” “How many times do I have to tell you that chocolate and peppermint don’t go together?” Maybe that one is just me.

In the parable, Jesus is talking to the Pharisee, the religious leaders. We have the owner of the vineyard who is God the Father, the vineyard that represents the people, and the caretakers of the vineyards who are the religious leaders.  The parable tells us that God gave the care of the vineyard – his children – into the hands of the caregivers – the religious leaders.  He gave them freedom. He entrusted the people’s spiritual well being to them, but over time, the religious leaders got it wrong, so God sent His prophets to bring correction. Yet, like the applicants for the telegraph job, the religious leaders weren’t listening to the message that was right in front of them the entire time. So time and time again they didn’t properly respond to that message.  God says, “How many times do I have to tell you?”  When they failed to listen to the prophets, God sent His one and only Son to say it again.  But as we know, the religious leaders will end up killing Him.  So what was this message that God kept trying to get across to His children?  We heard it this morning in our Old Testament lesson: The Law. The Law given to Moses and written on the tablets of stone by the very finger of God was the message, but they did not hear it as it was intended.

Instead, the religious leaders took the Law of God and interpreted it. For example, we have the US Constitution. Even with the amendments its not that long of a document, but all the various laws that come from the interpretation of the Constitution go on for volumes and volumes. The religious leaders of Jesus’ time and before did the same thing with the Law of Moses. Instead of teaching it as God intended, they interpreted it and used it to enslave the people and get around the true intent of the Law. Today, Jesus spoke to the religious leaders using a parable to condemn them for their actions. In two more chapters, He is crystal clear, “Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!… Woe to you blind guides!… You snakes!  You brood of vipers!  How will you escape being condemned to hell?”

I can’t imagine the religious leaders intentionally unleashing this kind of wrath upon themselves, but it happened just the same.  Why?  Because they weren’t listening.  Jesus said to them, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written, ‘The people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’  You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.” “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.  You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.”  God asks, “How many times do I have to tell you?” The Law is not about rules and regulations that can be numbered and written down in books. The Law is about justice, mercy, faithfulness. The Law is  about the heart and that is what the religious leaders were not hearing.

Now you may be thinking to yourself, “This is the religious leaders problem. This here is Fr. John’s issue – not mine.  God will smite him if he goofs, but I’m off the hook on this on.” Please allow me to retort: 1 Peter chapter 2, “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Peter goes on, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

The things of God are not secret knowledge locked up in the heads of the ordained. As Luke says, “The kingdom of God is within you.”   This is not just an issue for religious leaders. It is for God’s chosen people, His royal priesthood, His Holy Nation, and His special possession. It is for you and it is within you. The Gospel of Thomas has been classified as heretical by the church and perhaps by quoting from it I make myself a heretic, but it would seem to contain some truth.  In it, Jesus says, “The Kingdom of God is within you, not in buildings and mansions of stone.  When I am gone, split a piece of wood and I am there, lift a stone and you will find me.” Understanding the things of God is not some secret knowledge. The knowledge of God is within the heart of every believer – you need only to listen.

The words of Jesus teach us that the Law of God was not originally intended for scholars and theologians, for books, and ivory towers. The Law was for the heart.  It was not about whether you could recite it verbatim, but can you live it. Paul said in the letter to the Philippians, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection.” He wants to know Christ by listening to the things of God, not up here – in his head – but here – in his heart. The boxing great Rocky Marciano reportedly once said, “Hit the heart and the head will follow.” He also said, “Why waltz with a guy for 10 rounds if you can knock him out in one?” We can try all sorts of ways to know God, but the quickest way to this knowledge is to listen with our hearts.

Thomas a Kempis wrote, “O God, You Who are the truth, make me one with You in love everlasting. I am often wearied by the many things I hear and read, but in You is all that I long for. Let the learned be still, let all creatures be silent before You; You alone speak to me.”

Say to God, “You alone speak to me.” Then listen.

In the Far East the emperor was growing old and knew it was time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or his children, he decided to do something different. He called young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, “It is time for me to step down and choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you.” The children were shocked, but the emperor continued. “I am going to give each one of you a seed today–one very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next emperor.”

One boy, named Ling, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his mother the story. She helped him get a pot and planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it, carefully. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Ling didn’t have a plant and he felt like a failure. Six months went by–still nothing in Ling’s pot.

He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Ling didn’t say anything to his friends, however. He just kept waiting for his seed to grow. A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for inspection. Ling told his mother that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But his mother asked him to be honest about what happened.

Ling felt sick at his stomach, but he knew his mother was right. He took his empty pot to the palace. When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other youths. They were beautiful–in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other children laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, “Hey, nice try.”

When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. “My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown,” said the emperor. “Today one of you will be appointed the next emperor!”

All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. He thought, “The emperor knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!”

When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. “My name is Ling,” he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, “Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!”

Ling couldn’t believe it. Ling couldn’t even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor?

Then the emperor said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds that would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!”

“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.  The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.  Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.  Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Many read the Book of Revelation and are frightened by things like the dragon, the woman in the desert, the crashing star, Wormwood, not to mention the Four Horsemen, but this little section toward the end should really grab our attention. Everything that takes place before is leading up to this event. It is the time of God’s final decision with regards to our soul’s eternal destination.

Now, you’ve probably picked up on the fact by now that I’m not a “Hellfire and Brimstone” kind of preacher, and I’m not going to start today, but it was the passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans that we read today that made me consider this. Paul writes:

“We will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written,
‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall give praise to God.’
So then, each of us will be accountable to God.”

During your lifetime, whether you confess Jesus as Lord or not, on this day of judgment, you will, for Paul and John both state that we will all come before the throne of God. Therefore, the question for us is: what will we present?

In the story of the Emperor, all the children had been given the same opportunity and the same place to begin. Each had the command to take what they had been given and care for it. Each experienced the same frustration when their seed did not grow. Each had the choice to persevere, even though they believed they had failed, but only one chose to be true and faithful to the Emperor.

Jesus says, “many are invited, but few are chosen.” Why is that? The Book of Genesis states, “The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostril the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” God has placed within each of us the gift of his breath, of life, of spirit – a soul. Although our external circumstances may be different – some are rich others poor, slave or free, male or female, American or Zambian – we all have different external circumstances, but internally regarding the matters of the soul, we all have the same opportunity when presented with the knowledge of God. Our soul is ours to care for and to nurture. It is also ours to corrupt and neglect. In light of our failures, we all have the choice to persevere and remain faithful, or abandon what God has place within us for something that is unfit for the Kingdom of Heaven. So, coming back to the question: what will you present?

Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

What will you present? “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.” By doing so, on the day of God’s final decision, He will say to you, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”