Things Are Not Always As They Seem
Based on: And The Angels Were Silent, Max Lucado, Chpt. 19—The People with Roses
Scripture Ref: Matt. 25:31-46
Heb. 13:1-3
James 2:1-9
Matt. 10:40-42
Matt. 11:2-6
1. Introduction
a. Last night we observed a total lunar eclipse:
(1) Ultimately, was the moon any different than what it always is just because of what we saw?
(2) What caused us to see it differently? The earth came between the sun and the moon.
(3) Isn’t that what often causes us to see people as something other than what they really are? The things of the earth get between the Son and us.
b. Read John Blanchard’s Story:
John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Navy uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but who face he didn’t, the girl with the rose.
His interest in her had begun 13 months before in a Florida library. Taking a book off the shelf he found himself intrigued, not with the words of the book, but with the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind. In the front of the book, he discovered the previous owner’s name, Miss Hollis Maynell.
With time and effort he located her address. She lived in New York City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond. The next day he was shipped overseas for service in World War II. During the next 13 months they grew to know each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart—a romance was budding.
John requested a photograph, but Hollis refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn’t matter what she looked like.
When the day finally came for him to return from Europe, they scheduled their first meeting—7:00 p.m. at the Grand Central Station in New York. “You’ll recognize me,” she wrote “by the red rose I’ll be wearing on my lapel.”
So, at 7:00 he was in the station looking for a girl whose heart he loved, but whose face he’d never seen.
John tells us what happened.
A young woman was coming toward me, her figure long and slim. Her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears; her eyes were blue as flowers. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. I started toward her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not wearing a rose. As I moved, a small provocative smile curved her lips. “Going my way, sailor?” she murmured.
Almost uncontrollably I made one step closer to her, and then I saw Hollis Maynell.
She was standing almost directly behind the girl. A woman well past 40, she had graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump, her thick-ankled feet thrust into low-heeled shoes. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. I felt as though I was split in two, so keen was my desire to follow her, and yet so deep was my longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned me and upheld my own.
And there she stood. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible, her gray eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle. I did not hesitate. My finger gripped the small worn blue leather copy of the book that was to identify me to her. This would not be love, but it would be something precious, something perhaps even better than love, a friendship for which I had been and must ever be grateful.
I squared my shoulders and saluted and held out the book to the woman, even though while I spoke I felt choked by the bitterness of my disappointment. “I’m LT John Blanchard, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?”
The woman’s face broadened into a tolerant smile. “I don’t know what this is about, son,” she answered, “but the young lady in the green suit who just went by, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should tell you that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!”
c. Henry Houssaye, a French historian, wrote in 1904, “Tell me whom you love and I will tell you who you are.”
2. How you respond is how you are.
a. How do you respond to the ugly, the unkempt, and the socially unacceptable? Do you agree with Houssaye’s quote?
b. Read Matthew 25:31-46
(1) The groups represented in this passage are the righteous and unrighteous. However, we can skew that to include: the intelligent and the unintelligent; the good and the bad; the talented and the untalented; and the beautiful and the grotesque.
(2) Even the manner in which the groups are separated is significant. The sheep are placed on His right, which is an exalted place, a place of honor. The goats, however, are placed on his left. The left is considered a place of disgrace.
(3) The time frame mentioned for both in V. 46 is: ETERNAL.
(a) The wicked go away into eternal punishment. The sentence will be executed swiftly with no reprieve. The punishment is never-ending and unalterable. They did not avail themselves of His grace while on earth, and it will not be offered to them in eternity.
(b) The righteous will go away into life eternal with God.
(1) There is no death to make it a finite relationship.
(2) There are no infirmities of old age to destroy the pleasure of it.
(3) There are no sorrows to dim its beauty.
(4) God can do this because he is separating the righteous from the unrighteous. However, we cannot, because we are not given that authority. We are instructed to love all even as we love ourselves. We are to see all even as Christ sees us.
3. Here’s your sign
a. Several years ago, country comedian Bill Engvall had a huge success with a comedy routine entitled Here’s Your Sign.
(1) It was based on our view of and response to seemingly stupid questions or acts.
(2) He would tell of one these and for each one the punch line was a sarcastic, “Here’s your sign;” meaning that by this act the individual had just proclaimed themselves to be stupid.
b. We have a sign too—our response to the distasteful or disagreeable.
c. So again, I ask “do you agree with Houssaye’s quote?”— “Tell me whom you love and I will tell you who you are.”
d. Read Hebrews 13:1-3.
(1) Verse 1: “loving each other as brothers”—not only a general affection to all men, as our brothers by nature, all made of the same blood; nor that more limited affection that is due to those who are of the same immediate parents, but that special and spiritual affection which ought to exist among the children of God—agape love.
(2) Verse 2: Exhortation—don’t forget to entertain strangers for Christ’s sake, we may be entertaining angels in disguise.
(a) Abraham did in Gen. 18 when he provided food and rest to the three strangers outside his tent.
(b) Lot did in Gen. 19 when he entertained and protected the two strangers in his house.
(3) Verse 3: Can be a different version of Houssaye’s quote. Being one body, if one suffers, all suffer. It is unnatural for Christian’s to not bear each other’s burdens. We should not be focused just on Christians, but on the whole world.
e. Read James 2:1–9.
(1) James is reproving a corrupt practice—respect of persons—a growing evil in the churches of Christ in the early years and a growing evil in today’s society. It was, and still is, a case of the “haves” vs. the “have-nots.”
(a) God’s remnant is among all sorts of people—those that are richly attired with the latest fashions, and those that wear poor and disgusting clothing.
(b) In the matters of God, both the rich and the poor stand level; no man’s riches puts him any closer to God, nor does any man’s poverty set him at a distance from God. With God there is no respect of persons, and therefore in matters of conscience there should be none with us.
(c) As the standard bearers for Christianity, we should be especially mindful of showing favoritism based on social status and/or wealth.
(2) In this passage, James is not encouraging rudeness or disorder.
(a) Civil respect must be paid, and some difference is allowed in our actions toward persons of different ranks.
(b) However, this respect should never influence our actions in carrying out the offices of the church, or in passing the censures of the church, or in any thing that is purely a matter of religion.
4. You must give to receive.
a. Read Matthew 10:40-42.
(1) In prior verses of this passage, Christ has been preparing the disciples for their ministry for after He has ascended to heaven.
(2) In this verse He speaks of charity in His name, and its reward.
(a) Is this reward material or spiritual?
(b) Is it based on great sacrifice?
(c) Expound.
b. Read Matthew 11:2–6.
(1) In verse 3, John does like we often do today, he focuses on the personage of Jesus and what he represents, rather than what he does or has been doing.
(2) In verses 4-6, Christ reports to John that he has been doing what all should have been doing. He has been ministering to the outcasts.
(3) Verse 6 is particularly important in that Christ says a man is blessed if he is not misled or misguided by the fame or the title afforded Christ, but rather stays true to what Christ represented.
5. Summary and Close
a. Things are not always as they seem.
(1) When we either care for or reject society’s outcasts, we may be caring for or rejecting angels in disguise.
(2) If we are going to broadcast or display the title of “Christian,” our actions give others their impression of what Christianity represents.
b. Read Darts
A young lady named Sally relates an experience she had in a seminary class given by her teacher, Dr. Smith. She says Dr. Smith was known for his elaborate object lessons. One particular day, Sally walked into the seminary and knew they were in for a fun day. On the wall was a big target and on a nearby table were many darts. Dr. Smith told the students to draw a picture of someone that they disliked or someone who had made them angry, and he would allow them to throw darts at the person’s picture. Sally’s girlfriend drew a picture of a girl who had stolen her boyfriend at the person’s picture. Sally’s girlfriend drew a picture of a girl who had stolen her boyfriend. Another friend drew a picture of his little brother. Sally drew a picture of a former friend, putting a great deal of detail into her drawing, even drawing pimples on the face. She was pleased with the overall effect she had achieved. The class lined up and began throwing darts. Some of the students threw their darts with such force that their targets were ripping apart. Sally looked forward to her turn, and was filled with disappointment when Dr. Smith, because of the time limits, asked the students to return to their seats. As Sally sat thinking about how angry she was because she didn’t have a chance to throw any darts at her target, Dr. Smith began removing the target from the wall. Underneath the target was a picture of Jesus. A hush fell over the room as each student viewed the mangled picture of Jesus; holes and jagged marks covered His face and His eyes were pierced. Dr. Smith said only these words…”In as much as you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto Me.” No other words were necessary; the tear-filled eyes of the students focused only on the picture of Christ.
6. Invitation
