“Excuses, Excuses, Excuses, What’s yours?”
Hebrews 10:22-25
Central Baptist Church
August 26, 2001
“No Excuse Sunday”
To make it possible for everyone to attend church, how about
having a special "No Excuse Sunday?"
Cots will be placed in the foyer for those who say "Sunday is my only day to sleep in".
There will be a special section with lounge chairs for those who feel that our pews are too hard.
Eye drops will be available for those with tired eyes from watching TV late Saturday night.
We will have steel helmets for those who say, "The roof would cave in If I ever came to church."
Blankets will be furnished for those who think the church is too cold, and fans for those who say it is too hot.
Scorecards will be available for those who wish to list the hypocrites present.
Relatives and friends will be in attendance for those who can’t go to church and cook dinner, too.
We will distribute "Stamp Out Stewardship" buttons for those that feel the church is always asking for money.
One section will be devoted to trees and grass for those who like to seek God in nature.
Doctors and nurses will be in attendance for those who plan to be sick on Sunday.
The sanctuary will be decorated with both Christmas poinsettias and Easter lilies for those who never have seen the church without them.
We will provide hearing aids for those who can’t hear the preacher and cotton for those who can!!
A husband and his wife woke up one Sunday morning and the wife dressed for church.
It was just about time for the service when she noticed her husband hadn’t moved a finger toward getting dressed.
Perplexed, she asked, “Why aren’t you getting dressed for church?”
He said, “Cause I don’t want to go.”
She asked, “Do you have any reasons?”
He said, “Yes, I have three good reasons.
First the congregation is cold.
Second, no one likes me.
And third, I just don’t want to go.”
The wife replied, wisely, “Well honey, I have three reasons why you should go.
First the congregation is warm.
Second, there are a few people there who like you.
And third, you’re the pastor!
So get dressed!”
I. There are many Excuses why people don’t attend church regularly.
Listen to some of the ones that I have heard.
Now that the nice summer weather is here I think we will stay home today and enjoy the beautiful day.
Oh do I not to get dresses up to go to church, I need a break from dress clothes, I think I will stay home.
We slept late this morning and Sunday School is over what will the kids do?”
The building gets so hot this time of the year.
The building is kept so cold.
Every time I go to church they are asking for money.
The people I sat next to didn’t talk to me and they didn’t seem very friendly.
The pews were too hard; they hurt my back and are so uncomfortable.
That choir director sang Hymns that I did not know and the music was just not my style.
The service times just don’t fit into my schedule.
That place is filled with a bunch of hypocrites.
I was forced by my parents to go to church every week when I was a child and now it is time to take a break.
That church made some decisions that I don’t agree with, so I am just not going to attend.
That pastor is so long winded that by the time he is done the restaurants have a long wait just to get a table.
People have so many reasons for not attending Church.
Even in Jesus’ day people gave excuses why they could not commit themselves to Him.
Jesus’ call to the people of his day was that the kingdom of God was at hand, repent of your sins and follows me.
And yet people made excuses, reasons why they could not follow Him.
A man replied, “Lord first let me go and bury my father.”
Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Another said, “I will follow you Lord, but first let me go back and say good-bye to my family.
Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Many may think that Jesus’ repose seems rather cold, odd, and cruel.
Jesus was not concerned about social or political correctness.
These people were ready and able to commit, but on their on terms!
They would commit, but as long as the cost was not too high.
Jesus’ was calling their bluff to see how serious they were about their commitment.
II. Why is it so difficult for some people to commit themselves to Christ and His Church?
The cost of commitment is still a problem for the church today.
Yes we will are willing to commit, but on our terms and if a lot is not expected out of us.
Every reason imaginable is given why people are not willing to commit themselves to the life that Christ has called us to live.
One reason we often hear is that we are busy.
Or so we would like to think we are.
We are busy with our families.
We are busy with our friends.
We are busy with our work.
We are busy with sports.
We are busy volunteering.
We are busy cleaning.
We are busy cooking.
We are busy with vacation.
We are busy sleeping.
We are just busy.
We are just too busy to be bothered by God.
We are too busy to be faithful to His Church.
We are too busy to bother with the ministry of Church.
But the question we need to ask ourselves is, “Is God every too busy for me, especially when I am in need of His help?”
The issue that the church faces today is still the same one that Jesus faced, people are ready to commit, but on there own terms.
Being a faithful follower of Christ comes with a price.
The cost of discipleship may be a cost that many are not ready to pay.
It requires us to give of our whole self and not just part of who we are.
We have been conditioned that we should receive something in return for our faithfulness.
We feel it is our right.
We have been told that we don’t get something for nothing, so why should God get our total self, loyalty, our money, our lives?
A 73 year old Iowa resident Aldin Straight needed to visit his ailing brother, who lived on the other side of the state.
There was no one who could drive Mr. Straight to his brother’s house.
He himself didn’t feel capable of driving there he can’t read road signs when he drives faster than 20 M.P.H..
So, Mr. Straight did what he could.
He rode his lawn mower 240 miles across the state of Iowa to be with his brother.
Talking about being commited.
So why should we give our whole self to God?
What has he done for me?
In one single word, grace.
III. Thank God for His grace!
God has given us something that we could not earn.
Something that we could not go downtown and buy at the local grocery store.
He has given us a gift a very special gift.
And He is the only one that has the ability to give us this priceless gift of grace.
A gift that goes beyond measure or any monetary value.
God gave us this gift at the very moment that we opened our life up to the Lord Jesus.
At that moment in time that we confessed our sins and professed Jesus as God’s one and only Son.
I’m so glad that the blessings of God and His Mercy are not depended on my faithfulness to Him and His Church.
He does not treat me the same way that I may treat Him.
He has accepted me unconditionally even when others have turned up their noses to me.
God has and is always ready to forgive even when others think we have gone beyond forgiveness.
Do you remember ever being invited to a picnic, a social gathering, or a family reunion?
Maybe you were told something like, "You bring what you want to eat and we’ll furnish the tea."
On that day you got home late from work.
All you had to pack for your lunch was one dried up old piece of bologna and just enough mustard in the jar so that it got all over your knuckles when you tried to scoop it out of the jar—and two stale pieces of bread [the heals].
S-o-o-o-o-o-o you made a bologna sandwich, wrapped it in wax paper, put it in a brown paper bag and went to the picnic.
When it came time to eat, there you sat at the end of the table opened the brown paper bag and took out your pitiful sandwich.
Now the folks sitting right next to you had a real spread.
The woman was a great cook and had worked all day preparing the meal.
There was fried chicken, baked beans, potato salad, green beans, home make rolls, sliced tomatoes, pickles, olives and celery.
To top it off were two great big homemade chocolate pies [your favorite].
They arranged the whole meal right beside you, and there you were…with your bologna sandwich.
But they smiled warmly and said to you, "Why don’t we put it all together?"
You stammered a bit, embarrassed, and made excuses, but they insisted.
"You know, there’s plenty of chicken, plenty of pie, plenty of everything.
And we just love bologna sandwiches.
Let’s put it all together."
So you did…and you ended up eating like a king, even though you arrived like a pauper.
You began thinking about your relations with God.
And when we think of how little we have to bring and how much he offers and that he invites us to share with him, we should be shouting from the rooftops.
We do not have enough love, or faith, or grace, or mercy or wisdom.
But God does.
He has all those things in abundance, and he says, "Let’s just put it all together.
Everything that I possess is available to you, and everything that I am and can be to a person I will be to you."
You see, it’s not that God needs your bologna sandwich, it’s that you need his everything.
God’s grace is worth our daily devotion, our weekly attendance, and our financial contributions, our blood, sweet and tears to the work and mission of Central Baptist Church.
So what will be our response?
Excuses Excuses, Excuses or a resounding yes to our commitment to Christ and His Church.
There is not an excuse that Jesus has not heard.
On this Sunday don’t let an excuses stand between you and the Lord Jesus Christ.
