At the Top of My List
Colossians 1:3, 12-20
Humor: “The Only Prayer I Know”
Two men were walking through a field one day when they spotted an enraged bull coming straight toward them. Instantly they darted toward the nearest fence. The raging bull followed in hot pursuit and it was soon apparent they wouldn’t make the fence in time to reach safety. Terrified, one shouted to the other, “Put up a prayer, John. We’re in for it!” John answered, “I can’t. I’ve never made a public prayer in my life.” “But you must!” implored his companion. “The bull is catching up to us.” “All right,” panted John, “I’ll say the only prayer I know, the one my father used to repeat at the table: ‘O Lord, for what we are about to receive, make us truly thankful.”
If I were to ask each of you to write down on a sheet of paper the things that you are most thankful for, it would not be surprising to find out how different our lists would be or what was at the top of the list. Each of us has different ideas about what we should be most thankful for, based largely upon what we value in life.
A third grade teacher asked her class to make such a list and one little boy wrote down for number one, his glasses! Well, needless to say, she was very impressed. Many young people resent wearing glasses. Here. Obviously, was a young man mature enough to appreciate the value of glasses. “Johnny,” she said, “I see that you put your glasses down at the head of the list of things you are most thankful for. Is there any special reason?” “Yes, ma’am. My glasses keep the boys from hitting me and the girls from kissing me.”
Well, most of us are mature enough in our faith to understand that there are certain things in life that are more important than others---and these should be at the top of our lists. For example, I’m thankful for my health, my education, and my citizenship.
These are very important to me but they are not at the top of my list. Why? Because they have to do with this world, this life on earth. They are not eternal. They are temporal.
Let me share with you today, the top three things on my list---the three things that are most important to me. And they are not my family, my church, or my friends. These would probably be number 4, 5, and 6. God has helped me to distinguish between what is important and what is most important. They can be found in our scripture passage. In fact, they can be summed up in three words:
Inheritance (vs. 12-14)
Paul chooses his words very carefully. An inheritance is not pay for a job well done. It is not an award for outstanding merit, is it? It’s not something one earns or deserves or creates.
An inheritance is a gift—a gift of love—a gift that is dependent on someone else’s efforts. You may receive a large inheritance, not because you are smart or energetic, but because you had an uncle or grandfather who was!
Wasn’t it Mark Twain who said he spent a large sum of money to trace his family tree and then he spent twice as much trying to keep his ancestry a secret?
A little baby can come into a large inheritance simply by accident of birth. One of the consequences of the New Birth in Jesus Christ is that we automatically, immediately, at just that moment, become heirs of all that God has in store for His beloved children.
What exactly is this inheritance? It is salvation---the free gift of God to all who will believe. It is deliverance from Satan’s kingdom of darkness and transference to God’s kingdom of light. This inheritance is both present and future. We are in His kingdom right now! We shall live with Him in eternity!
Illus.: “God’s Loving Son”
A certain rich man died and left no heirs. When his household goods were auctioned off, an elderly lady dressed in shabby garments was the only one to bid on the picture of the dead man’s son. It had been greatly cherished by the wealthy father because his only child had died at an early age. But the crowd that had gathered for the sale showed no interest in it. When the woman who bought the portrait was asked why she wanted it, she said she had been the boy’s nurse many years before and had loved him dearly. Later, she examined the picture closely and noticed a bulge in the heavy paper on the back. Making a small cut, she removed an envelope which turned out to be the man’s missing will. The document very clearly stated that he wanted to leave his property to the person who still held dear the memory of his beloved son.
This woman is representative of any child of God, who because of love for His beloved Son, Jesus, receives the greatest inheritance known to humanity. Certainly every believer can give thanks for that today.
My inheritance---it’s at the top of my list of thank-you’s to God.
Second word:
Incarnation (vs.15-18)
Without the Incarnation---God becoming flesh and reconciling the world unto Himself---there would be no inheritance. If God had not come to this earth in the person of Jesus Christ, there would be no atoning sacrifice, no resurrection, no salvation.
Illus.: “He Died For More Than Apes”
Diane Forsey, a zoologist, left her home in California to live for 18 years among the gorillas, an endangered species in Africa. But in 1985 she was stabbed to death by a poacher as she tried to protect her animal friends. It’s a long way from California to the jungles of Africa. But it’s much farther from the throne of God to a stable in Bethlehem. Yet Christ made that journey in our behalf. He gave His life for us---not to protect us but to deliver us. And although He died doing it, He didn’t stay dead. PTL!
Illus.: “The Road of a Loving Heart”
Robert Louis Stevenson, the great author, had to retire to the Samoan Islands for his health. He became a kind and generous friend to the natives there. He was concerned that there was only a narrow path leading from the harbor to the interior. With his own money and personal efforts, Stevenson had a good road constructed for his people. In gratitude the Samoans called it, “The Road of a Loving Heart.”
I know of another road of a loving heart, don’t you? It led from the abode of God to a tiny Roman province in the Middle East. We call it the Incarnation. He made that long walk to come to where we are. When it was impossible for us to reach out to Him, He reached out to us.
There may be differences among Christians on a host of other things. We may be divided by theologies, how we baptize people, what communion means, and even what the main function of the church is, but on one point we all agree: GOD BECAME A HUMAN BEING AND LIVED AMONG US.
He walked another road, called the “Via Delarosa,” the way of suffering---all the way to Calvary.
He died that we might live. He rose again that we might have new life. If there was no Incarnation, there would be no inheritance.
Third word:
Inclusion (VS.19,20)
Inclusion in the family of God…”I’m So Glad…”
Dr. Claude H. Barlow, a medical missionary to China and one of the most revered foreigners to work in that land, conducted research in an effort to find a remedy for a strange disease which was killing thousands of people. He studied the disease, filling a notebook with his observations. He got ahold of a vial of these bacteria and sailed for the U.S. Before he arrived, he took the germs into his own body, than went to John Hopkins University Hospital to be observed.
Within a very short time he became very ill. He allowed his old professors at the hospital to use him for experimentation. A cure was found and a healthy Claude Barlow took it back to China. His efforts saved countless lives. When asked about it, Dr. Barlow replied, “Anyone would have done the same thing. I just happened to be in the position of advantage and had the chance to offer my body.”
I doubt that just anyone would have done that, don’t you? Only a person with a special kind of love in his heart would make that kind of sacrifice---take that kind of risk. He is one of the many heroes of God! This special love had to proceed out of the heart of God! Its that kind of love that holds this old world of ours together. Without that love we are all orphans in a hostile world.
Ron Hutchraft relates the following:
Tom is an acquaintance of mine who just became a daddy. Now, he didn’t go to the local hospital for his baby - he and his wife went all the way to China. She’s a little girl - and since families are restricted to one child in China, little girls can have a pretty rough time. This one did. She was found by a doctor, abandoned on a doorstep in the middle of a cold night. She was taken to an orphanage where they named her "Precious Treasure" in Chinese. It’s almost ironic in light of her being abandoned, isn’t it? It took several months, but Tom and his wife were eventually able to arrange the adoption of this precious treasure. She’s got a mom and dad now who love her very much - who will never forget the first moment they took her from the folks at the orphanage and held her in their arms. Believe me, she’s not an orphan anymore.
There are a whole lot of folks who had a mother and father - but have felt orphaned, in a way, for much of their life; abandoned, left behind, misunderstood, left alone. Maybe you know the feeling.
Well, just like that little "precious treasure" baby, someone went a long way to get you, someone who chose you because He wants you to be His,
Someone who loves you with a love you can’t imagine and no one else can give you. He’s adopted a lot of spiritual orphans into His family, and He’s ready to adopt you.
In John 14:18, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus Christ made this hope-filled promise: "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." He wants to do that for you. We’ve all been cut off from the Heavenly Father we were born to belong to. God didn’t abandon us - we abandoned Him. We were created to live for the One who created us and we haven’t. We’ve done things the way we want and in the process gone out of His bounds more times than we could ever count. Our sin has left us spiritually fatherless in this world - orphaned.
But God’s Son came a very long way to rescue you - all the way from heaven to that awful cross where He gave His life to pay for every wrong thing you’ve ever done. Don’t ever doubt that He loves you beyond measure. The Bible tells us that God’s Holy Spirit is the "Spirit of adoption and by Him we cry, ’Abba, Father.’" (Romans 8:15) "Abba" means "Daddy." When you let Jesus remove the wall between you and the Heavenly Father, God literally becomes your forever "Daddy."
Your adoption into God’s family begins when you reach out to Jesus and tell Him you’re giving yourself to Him - to forgive the sins He died to forgive, to bring you into God’s loving arms. That could be today, if you’ll tell Jesus that you’re ready to begin your personal relationship with God through Him. If you want that, then I want to send you the booklet I wrote about belonging to Him - it’s called "Yours For Life." (Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, “Abandoned No More,” A Word With You Transcript, Feb.6, 2003, used by permission).
If you have received the Lord Jesus into your life, then you have been adopted into His forever family.
To be included in God’s family means that we have received a new name (we belong), a new home (church), a new destiny (heaven), and most importantly, a new heart.
Say, what’s at the top of your list this Thanksgiving?
