Fifteenth Sunday after pentecost
Sun 12, 2004
Proverbs 25:6-7
Connection to Luke 14
Hebrews 13:1-8
Entertained angels. Remember those who are in prison.
Luke 14:1,7-14
Psalm 119:161-168
"Seven times a day"-source of Islam?
Childrens sermon-Heidi Kohler
Who do you invite to a wedding? Normally we invite `nice people.' But Jesus tells us to invite all people to church (the unwashed masses, she means)
Sermon-Pastor Eberhart-"Now Hear This":
We're the body of Christ. All denominations. There was an article in the paper entitled `the wonder of Christianity.' Dullness is a pressing problem of the church. We seem to forget our astonishment. We see it as so-so news. "Christ comes to enhance our being." A lot of us interpret that to mean "Christ came to make us nice." We are a "don't make waves" type of culture. We tend to want to join the world, to be accepted. We are afraid to look like fanatics. A study was done on groups of ten adolescents. They were shown three lines of varying lengths. As a group, they voted on which line was the shortest. One kid was taught to always vote for the second shortest line. 9 out of 10 in the group voted that the second shortest line was the shortest, because of that. 75% of the time, the #10 kid gave in and agreed with the rest of the group. We don't want to hear Jesus' words sometimes. "Love thy enemy." What does `love' mean? "Forgive as you have been forgiven." "Invite the unwashed masses." Banquets, weddings and suppers used to be considered private parties of first class clubs. The wealthy are concerned about being important. There's a pecking order. The left hand, and the right hand. We are so concerned about being the same as everyone else that we often embarass ourselves in the process. A couple went to a prestigious dinner. They were talking about Mozart, but the wife didn't know who Mozart was, so she said, "I saw Mozart take a bus to Coney Island." The husband was so embarassed that he said, "C'mon, honey, let's go." And on the way home he told her, "Everyone knows that the number 5 bus doesn't go to Coney!" Some people have an attitude of, "Please ask me about my life." Other people are more like, "I hope nobody notices." Often, the great man in highschool is the fry cook at Burger King later in life. We call it "equalization." Everyone wants to feel good about themselves. In the church, Jesus tells us to be instruments of peace. Jesus never says anything he doesn't mean. Jesus is looking for one type of person, one who needs him. People that have a pulse. Jesus lets people trip over his feet, then picks them up. What kind of person do you want to sit next to you on Sunday? Those that always pay their bills? Or those who are not emotionally draining? Or are we looking for troubled job hoppers that need Jesus? "The cream of the crop" or "skim milk"? Jesus ate with sinners. We get proud of finding little faults in people. Did Jesus want pretty people who made little confessions, or people you lose sleep over? Jesus is a radical, not just a sweet story for people who have it all together or beautiful people. Where were you when Jesus called you? Are we going to be dull? Or radical?