Today's Gospel text can be difficult to understand.
The disciples ask Jesus to increase their faith, and He responds:
BIBLE " If you had faith the size of mustard seed you could say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and planted into the sea." END
Then Jesus speaks about a servant doing his duty.
(Slow) He is to do his duty ..... not seeking .... praise or glory.
He tells the disciples you are doing what is expected of you ..... no more .... and no less.
It seems to me Our Duty is to live by faith in Christ Jesus ..... and to be performing that duty each and every day.
We are not to expect praise or glory from God.
Beloved ...... we must never seek the glory. We must not ever ..... touch the Glory (Pause).
Living the Christian Life is what is expected of those, .... who have been saved through Christ Jesus.
So.....How do we unravel these words this morning?
I would like to help unravel these words by sharing with you a poem written by Edgar Guest as found in "Doing the Gospel."
Keep these words in mind ..... for they are a key to Some understanding of our Lord's words in our Gospel text from Luke.
(1) "I would rather see a sermon than to hear one any day:..
I'd rather one should walk with me .... than merely tell the way...
(2) The best of all the preachers are the ones who live their creeds...
For to see good put to action,..... is what everybody needs...
(3) I soon can learn to do it ......if you'll let me see it done.....
I can watch your hands in action, but your tongue, too fast may run...
(4) And the lecture you deliver may be very wise and true,...
But I'd rather get my lessons ..... by observing what you do;...
(5) For I might misunderstand you, ..... and the high advice you give... But there's no misunderstanding ...... how you act ..... and how you live...
(6)When I see a deed of kindness, ..... I am eager to be kind...
When a weaker brother stumbles .... and a strong man stays behind...
(7) And all travelers can witness, that the best of guides today...
Is not the one who tells them ..... but the one who shows the way...
(8) Who stands with men of honor, learns to hold his honor dear,...
For right living speaks a language ..... which to everyone is clear...
(9) Though an able speaker charms ..... with his eloquence I say... I would rather see a sermon than to hear one, any day. " (Pause)
I have shared this poem with some of you in the past .... It Speaks to my heart AND It speaks so clearly to our text today.
I would rather see a sermon than to hear one, any day. " (Pause)
The followers of the Christ must not just talk the talk, ..... they must walk the walk.
That is what Jesus is saying when he speaks about duty.
We have a duty ...... a glorious Duty .... to be faithful to Him in our daily life, ..... not just speaking about Christ, ..... but living in Christ.
Are you living in Christ? Are you producing the fruit of the Spirit?
Are you overflowing with Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self control?
Beloved ...... you should be.
How faith is applied in service to others, ..... is what Jesus is proclaiming to us.
And A servant's task, ..... a servant's duty is never done.
If the servant thinks that he or she has a compliment coming From God .... for this work, ..... they are mistaken.
For He or She ..... is only doing ..... what is expected.
If the disciples wanted to ask for an increase of anything, ..... it should not have been faith, .....but the energy ..... to apply the gift of faith ..... to the world around them.
Beloved ..... Regardless of how much we do ...... we cannot do more than what is expected of us."
Hear me on this ..... We cannot do more ..... than what is expected of us, God's favor and blessing are matters of grace -- they cannot be earned.
When we assume that we can deal with God on the basis of what God owes us, ...... we have made a big mistake.
We in essence ......have rejected grace as the basis of our relationship to God ..... and have based that relationship on our own worth and merit.
Grace is and always will be .... a free gift ..... A Free Gift from God.
Jesus is saying that kingdom people are expected to serve others, .... to worship God, ..... to fulfill the two great commandments He gave in the New Testament.
You are To.... "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
Those are the basics.....That is what is expected.
We cannot do more than .... What is expected of us.
God acts, ...... we respond.
I would rather see a Sermon then to hear one any day.
This response is possible ..... How?..... through a strong and vibrant faith life.
This response is what Luther and other theologians call sanctification, ..... growing spiritually.
Being transformed into the image of Christ!
Life in Christ is not static, ..... but alive and changing, ....... growing and maturing.
Salvation is assured, ..... but how we live with that assurance of salvation ..... is the challenging and growing part ...... of our Christian journey.
Salvation is God's work alone, ...... but sanctification, living and growing in God's love ..... requires ...... being a disciple of the Lord.
It requires an effort.
It is not a work ..... it is an effort by us ..... to be open to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.... Who lives... who resides in Kingdom People.
Remember these words from the Baptismal Covenant: ...... If you will join me Your Response is....... "I will with God's Help."
Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?........ I will with God's help.
Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself? .........I will with God's help.
Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, ..... and respect the dignity of every human being? ......I will with God's help. ...... Indeed.... Amen!
We are to Proclaim by word and example; ..... We are to Seek and Serve....and This is accomplished .... by striving.
Beloved, ....they are not works .... they are efforts.
Paul states very clearly in Romans that the Holy Spirit ...... works with our spirit .....so that we might cry ..... Abba Father.
This process happens to kingdom people, ...... people who are now living out their response to that great gift ..... of salvation.
Paul shares with us in Ephesians 4:15,
BIBLE "...... By speaking the truth in a spirit of love, we must grow up in every way to Christ who is the head." END
We are called as kingdom people .....to set an example, .... not for a reward, ....not for a praise,
Beloved.....it is our response to God's saving grace ..... in our lives.
And as we live in this response to God's grace, ..... we have a peace ..... A Glorious Peace.... that lets us live out our faith.
Let me share this story of true Peace with you .... It is entitled "WHEN THE WIND BLOWS"
A young man applied for a job as a farmhand.
When the farmer asked for his qualifications, .... he said, ...... "I can sleep when the wind blows."
This puzzled the farmer. But he liked the young man, ..... and hired him.
A few days later, ......the farmer and his wife were awakened in the night ..... by a violent storm.
They quickly began to check things out to see if all was secure.
They found that the shutters on the farmhouse ...... had been securely fastened.
A good supply of logs ...... had been set next to the fireplace.
The young man slept soundly. The farmer and his wife then inspected the rest of the property.
They found that the farm tools had been placed in the storage shed, ..... safe from the elements.
The tractor had been moved into the barn. And....The barn was properly locked.
Even the animals were calm. ...... All was well.
The farmer then understood the meaning of the young man's words, ...... "I can sleep ..... when the wind blows."
Because the farmhand did his work loyally and faithfully when the skies were clear, ..... he was prepared for the storm ..... when it came.
And... (SLOW) He could sleep in peace.
There was nothing dramatic or sensational ..... in the young farmhand's preparations.
He just faithfully did .... what was needed each day.
Consequently, peace was his, when the winds blow..... when the storms come.
It isn't the things you do; ..... it is the things you leave undone, ..... which will give you heartache.
At the setting of the sun. What are you leaving undone?
Those who know Jesus as their Lord and Savior ....can sleep ..... when the wind blows ...... their salvation is assured.
We live for Christ, and do his will. Not for reward, not for praise, not for gain.
But because ..... I am to Love God ..... and to love my Neighbor as myself.
I would rather see a sermon then to hear one any day!
BIBLE "So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do ..... say, 'We are worthless.....; we have only done what we ought to have done......" we have only done our duty. END
Have you done what you ought to have done? Have you done your duty?
When Leonardo da Vinci, ...... in his boyhood, ..... saw caged birds exposed for sale on the streets of Florence, ...... he would buy them and set them free.
It was a rare trait in a young boy, ..... and spoke of a noble heart ...... a heart full of genuine sympathy.
As we go about on the streets of life, ..... we too will find many who are caged .... which we too may help set free.
O' I would rather see a sermon then to hear one any day!
Naturalists say that a stork, ......will sail under their young when they first attempt to fly, ..... and, if they begin to fall, ...... will bear them up and support them.
And that, when a stork is wounded by a sportsman, the able ones gather about it, ....put their wings under it, ..... and try to carry it away. These instincts in the birds ..... teaches us a lesson.
We should come up close to those who are overburdened, or weak, or faint, And putting our own strength underneath them, ... .support them; And when another is wounded or crushed, .... whether by sorrow or by sin, ..... it is our duty, ..... it is our privilege ..... to gather about them and through the power of Christ lift them.
Our lives ...... Our Lives may be the only Sermon ..... that those around us will ever hear Or will ever See.
Show Grace, ..... to the world around you, ..... to those that God sends into your life ...... And Beloved make your life a glorious sermon.
"I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day:"
Amen and Amen!
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