"The Importance Of The Nail

All Saints Sunday

Luke 6:20-31

"The Importance of the Nail"

20* ¶ And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

21* "Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. "Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh.

22* "Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man!

23* Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

24* "But woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation.

25* "Woe to you that are full now, for you shall hunger. "Woe to you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

26* "Woe to you, when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

27* ¶ "But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

28* bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

29* To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from him who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt.

30* Give to every one who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again.

31* And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.

As the story goes, they built a new church building and people came from far and wide to see it. They admired its beauty! Up on the roof, a little nail heard the people praising everything about the lovely structure-except the nail! No one even knew he was there, and he became angry and jealous.

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen

As the story goes, they built a new church building and people came from far and wide to see it. They admired its beauty! Up on the roof, a little nail heard the people praising everything about the lovely structure-except the nail! No one even knew he was there, and he became angry and jealous.

“If I am that insignificant, nobody will miss me if I quit!” So the nail then released its hold, slid down the roof, and fell in the mud.

That night it rained and rained. Soon, the shingle that had no nail blew away, and the roof began to leak. The water streaked the walls and the beautiful murals. The plaster began to fall, the carpet was stained, and the pulpit Bible was ruined by water. All this because a little nail decided to quit!

But what of the nail? While holding the shingle, it was obscure but it was also useful. Buried in the mud it was just as obscure, but now it was useless and would soon by eaten up by rust!

The moral of the story – every member is important to the church! You may, like the nail, feel obscure at times, but just like the nail, your absence is felt. When you are not present for worship, in some way the body of Christ hurts. We are ALL a part of the Lord’s ministry.

The importance of the nail is the idea of our sermon this Sunday. A small nail holding one shingle on the church roof has a very important part to do in the body of Christ. And if that nail has an important work to do, imagine what you and I have to do in the body of Christ.

Jesus in our gospel lesson this morning to speaking about the body of Christ. This is Luke’s version of the Beatitudes speaks about those who are in the body of Christ. He says: And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

21* "Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. "Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh.

22* "Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man!

23* Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

The body of Christ, the church is made up of people who have experienced the brokenness of this world. For Jesus said that if you are poor, in sorrow, if you hare hated, then you are in the body of Christ. The body of Christ is made up of those who have experienced the brokenness of this world, sorrow, grief, hunger, poverty, all those things that remind us that we are not perfect, those are the people who are in the body of Christ.