Thank you Rev. Myron Smith
The Unclaimed
Deut 6:1-11
Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:
2 That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.
3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
10 And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,
11 And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
I. Unclaimed Luggage.
In Scottsboro, Alabama, stands a retail outlet named The Unclaimed Baggage Center.
This is the final resting place for lost and unclaimed luggage from the airlines of the world.
Bags that have been mishandled.
Bags that have been lost.
Bags that have been overlooked.
Bags that have been damaged in their journey.
They are all there.
Here the contents of these bags are sorted, placed upon racks and sold.
It is a bargain hunter’s paradise!!
Every attempt is made to find the owner, but in the event that no one lays claim to the luggage, it is sold to the Unclaimed Baggage Center.
Shoppers from all over the world come to browse through the items in hopes of finding treasure.
These testimonies of failed journeys are unclaimed, so their contents are sold at discounted rates to those willing to make a journey of their own.
How much like life is this store?
How many lives, much like these journeys began with hopes and dreams of fun filled days and nights?
Bags filled with vacation attire.
The clothing of few worries has now become orphaned and awaits someone to claim it.
The items which were designed for leisure and recreation now long for an owner to come and bring purpose to their existence again.
Business suits that never saw that contract signed.
Sunglasses that never looked at Mickey Mouse.
Laptop computers that never created contracts that sealed business agreements.
They are all there.
Items that no one has claimed.
Once they had a purpose, but, in the midst of the hectic traffic and hustle & bustle, they were somehow abandoned.
Now they are all alone.
The baggage carousel has stopped turning.
Tearful reunions have taken place all around them.
Bags that they sat next to on the plane, comparing plans and schemes, have been lifted from the conveyor and carried on toward their intended purpose.
The red light on the carousel has ceased to blink, and excuses as to why you have not been retrieved run rampant through your mind.
You have reasons why you have not reached intended destinations.
You have reasons why no one has accessed the usefulness of your life.
Why has no one taken advantage of my talents and abilities?
Why has no one seen the good in me?
Why has no one acknowledged me?
Why has no one lifted me from my current position?
Here I am waiting, watching others be promoted all around.
I have seen smiles and tears, heard laughter and cheers.
Banners have been waived.
Welcome home parties have been given.
Yet I sit here Unclaimed.
Unclaimed. . .
Useless. . .
Underachieving. . .
Hopeless. . .
Unclaimed…
No matter how lost you may feel, Jesus knows what you are going through.
The one lost sheep. . .
II. Unclaimed Souls
Recently I looked into the Association of Religious Data statistics for our area.
You would think that of the hundreds of thousands of people in this area, the majority would belong to the major denominal movements.
Surely the majority in this area would be Catholic.
A great number of them would be possibly Mainline or Evangelical Protestant.
As I looked into this, I was amazed by what I found out.
More than any other Religion of Denomination, by far the largest category of people was classified Unclaimed.
The Unclaimed outnumber any other group.
The biggest lie the devil has told, is that he has control of the lost souls in this city.
This is a lie!! They are simply unclaimed!
Until the Blood of Jesus covers them in a watery grave of baptism, they are just Unclaimed.
Until this church reaches the lost of our city. . .
Until we search under every bridge. . .
Until we drag them out of the bars and crackhouses. . .
They are simply Unclaimed.
III. Unclaimed Territory.
The Old West.
Land was free for the taking.
You had to be brave enough
Tough enough
Strong enough
There is land out there that is unclaimed.
Are we going to stake a claim?
Just like the Israelites in our text, there wells out there that will soon have our name on them,
There are vineyards out there that we will soon be eating from…
Unclaimed!!!
It is time to stake our claim!!
