Foolish Things

March 7, 2021 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 Psalm 19 Third Sunday of Lent Year B Opening Song Welcome (don’t print) Call to Worship (from Psalm 19) One: Welcome to this time of worship! Today, the Psalmist reminds us Many: “The heavens are telling the glory of God!” One: We look to the heavens and rejoice, for God’s decrees are sure, Many: making wise the simple. One: So let the words of our mouths Many: and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to our Rock and our Redeemer. Opening Prayer We’re grateful, God of all life, for these 40 days of Lent. As we walk on this journey with Jesus, even knowing we’re moving toward the devastation of his death on the cross, may we seek awareness of our own sin (transgressions) and assurance of your greater love, AMEN Stewardship Moment Stewardship is an important part of our faith. Every week, as we listen to the word, as we pray and as we sing the songs of faith, we should also be challenged to put our faith into action. Stewardship is giving a part of ourselves in order to build the kingdom of God here in our world but it is so much more than that. Stewardship is giving of our gifts, our time, our service, our support, and our witness in the world. Today we begin our intentional stewardship campaign, in order to allow all of us to create our church budget in order for the church to do ministry. Our theme for this year is selah – this word is found primarily in the psalms. It means take a break and stop what you are doing. Take some time to listen to God. In the coming weeks, we will be taking some time to listen to what God wants us to do as a church. You will receive the Easter letter in the mail during the week of the 15th. Along with it will be a pledge card for you to ponder what you will give to the church this year. You are welcome to send both your Easter offering and your pledge back in the mail. We will have activities to encourage us to think about what our church means to us in the coming weeks. You can bring your Easter offering to church on Easter, and your pledge card on celebration Sunday on April 11th. Our theme for today – pause and ponder. Pause and ponder the goodness of God in your life. How do you define goodness? If you were to explain it to someone what would you say? We don’t know what it means, but we do know when it has happened to us. The bible explains the goodness of God – people can only experience the goodness of God through our actions. How we treat them, how we understand their needs, how we are willing to give what we have to make a difference. Stewardship is our chance to pause and ponder – the goodness of God and to be willing to be a part of it. When we give – God uses our gifts to bless us and to bless others. Let us pray for God’s goodness to be manifest in our lives. (you can give in person, online or through the mail) Moment for Stewardship (John 2 connection) Every time I hear or read the story of Jesus going ballistic in the temple, evicting the money changers and stampeding the ritual animals out of the courtyard, I wonder: what would happen if Jesus were to walk into our time of offering? I wonder if he would question how people who have so much still find it difficult to give? I wonder if Jesus would find us too passive, too emotion-less? I wonder if he would rejoice over those among us who truly offer themselves and all that they have back to God, who gives us life? Imagine how we would respond if Jesus were standing beside each of us, whether we’re in the sanctuary or in our own living room. With this Christ as our companion, let us share our tithes, our offerings, our monetary gifts, all as symbols of offering God our whole selves. Prayer of Thanksgiving Loving God, with these gifts we declare we are yours! May this money be translated into bringing your Realm more fully on earth, through the many ministries of this congregation. Use our tithes and offerings as symbols of our lives, and use US to proclaim you as Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer of all the earth. AMEN Scripture 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 Common English Bible Human wisdom versus the cross 18 The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are being destroyed. But it is the power of God for those of us who are being saved. 19 It is written in scripture: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will reject the intelligence of the intelligent.[a] 20 Where are the wise? Where are the legal experts? Where are today’s debaters? Hasn’t God made the wisdom of the world foolish? 21 In God’s wisdom, he determined that the world wouldn’t come to know him through its wisdom. Instead, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of preaching. 22 Jews ask for signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, which is a scandal to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. 24 But to those who are called—both Jews and Greeks—Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom. 25 This is because the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. Sermon There is a story of a man from a third world country who came to this country. He went with a friend to a restaurant. They ordered tea. The waitress brought them a pot of boiling water and set cups and some tea bags in front of them. The third world man poured a cup of hot water. Then he picked up the tea bags and tore them open and proceeded to dump the tea into the cup of hot water. The man with him gently explained to him that this was not how the tea bags were intended to be used. They were made so they could be put in the water and the water would seep through the tea bags and there would be no messy leaves in the cup. Well the newcomer thought that was a great idea and so he took two packets of sugar which also had been provided and drop them in his cup of hot water, unopened. That makes sense, doesn’t it? He wasn’t supposed to open the tea bag, so why open the packet of sugar? The man had good logic, but still he got it wrong. (1) We all have done foolish things at times. I’ve done foolish things; you’ve done foolish things. But we would never attribute foolishness to God. God is perfect. However, St. Paul says that some of God’s actions may look as foolish to those who do not understand as putting unopened packets of sugar into a tea cup. He writes, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.’ One of the foolish things that we can do is to carry this thing here around. Who in their right mind would carry a symbol of ancient torture around. Who would want to be reminded of a man speaking out against a corrupt government, and hanging for hours until his death? Most of us want to separate ourselves from gruesome events. But some people want to carry this around as a symbol of our most sacred faith. Who does that? Those who want to follow the pathway of God. One theme that is prevalent in all of Paul’s teachings is the two pathways of life. There is a pathway that seems to make sense on the surface, but in the end leads to death, sorrow and the perishing of the soul. And there is a way to seems strange to those who don’t understand, but it leads to life. Paul’s point is that the pathway to God never makes sense to those who don’t know God. Both the Jewish culture and the Greek culture have contributed to our present understanding of God. But Paul points out that the true way to God doesn’t even make sense to them. When those of the Jewish faith here about Jesus it does not make sense with what they have been taught all along, and they dismiss it. When Greeks hear it they cannot find God in a book, so he must not exist. Paul’s point is that true faith is always in the opposite direction of what we have been taught anywhere. God works in ways that go against our expectations. The way up is down The way in is out The way first is last The way of success is service The way of attainment is relinquishment. The way of strength is weakness The way of security is vulnerability The way of protection is forgiveness The way of life is the way of death. if you want to be first, you must be . . .last; if you want to find yourself, you must . .. . lose yourself; if you want to be exalted, you must . . . be humbled If you want to be happy you have to sacrifice. If you want to be free, you have to be willing to be disciplined. The importance of the counter-intelligence engendered by self-discipline and daily disciplines of life is reflected in this “inside” story of the great African-American theologian Howard Thurman. Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, founder and spiritual leader of the Jewish Renewal Movement, tells this personal account about his meeting with the African-American theologian and writer Howard Thurman: “Howard Thurman once came to visit me in Winnipeg. I asked whether he wanted to visit the Trappists, and he did. I asked, ‘Do you want to see the abbot?’ he said, ‘No, the abbot is just a manager. I’d like to talk with the master of novices.’ So we see the master of novices and Howard asks him, ‘What’s the novices’ biggest complaint?’ The master says, ‘they have to be up at 2:30 in the morning to attend matins and lauds. They aren’t too happy about it. They tell me that it’s so much better when they’re out in the fields and they feel ecstasy and love for God and hallelujah and so on. So I say to them, ‘I forbid you to come to any services now except for the obligatory masses.’ Well, after a while they came back and said, ‘We didn’t come here to be farmhands.’ ‘What happened to your ecstasies?’ the master asked. ‘They dried up,’ said the novices. So the master told them, ‘Of course, now you realize that what you are doing at 2:30 in the morning is what gives you the ecstasy in the fields.’” As cited in “Great Teachers on Teaching,” Spirituality & Health, March-April 2007, 57. Paul’s challenge to each of us is not to just hold this cross, not just depend on this cross, but to use it to guide our lives. In spite of all of the suffering that the cross represents, it also represents our salvation through Jesus Christ. There is the crucifix and the cross. Both are valued symbols with a valued message. The cross tells us that Jesus rose from the dead and is no longer there. He has risen. What was a symbol of death is not a symbol of salvation. Life always offers us a choice – the obvious or the spiritual. One leads to life one to death. In order to choose life, we have to be willing to look deeper than our cultural understanding and see God. The foolishness of God is still wiser than any human thought. Psalm 19 gives us a wonderful lesson on how to find the pathway of God. We should hold God in reverence and awe. When we think of the word Torah – we think of the law. And we are told to walk away from the law. But the word Torah is deeper than that. Torah means pathway to God. In psalm 19 All we have to do to find God is look up at the sky and marvel at the sun. The sun is like the glory of God – it shines everywhere on every one, without then doing anything to receive it. All we have to do to find it is to be willing to look up and see it. Even if you can’t see, you still know that sun is there. Just like God. God’s way is the source of all good things in life. Nothing in life can escape God’s touch. God’s word is beautiful, delicious, reviving, clear and priceless. God’s way is beyond anything that we can come up with in our culture or our minds. The cross is the pathway to leads us to the wonderful saving grace of God. In this interview Rogers told of an incident that helped him to see what this meant. He and his wife were vacationing with friends. They went to church one Sunday morning. Rogers said the sermon was terrible. As the minister was preaching, Rogers was listing all of the things the preacher was doing wrong. When the sermon was over, he turned to his friend to tell her what he thought of the sermon. He saw tears running down her face. She whispered to Rogers, "He said exactly what I needed to hear." God continues to work in mysterious ways. Prayer of Confession and Assurance of Pardon Prayer of Confession Almighty God, we are a sinful people. We always want to control things – like the Jews in Jesus time who tried to control their lives by placing the temple at the center of their adoration. Jesus threatened their temple and all their customs because he called them to worship you only. You are the one who is really in control. How many times do we worship our building, our clique, or something besides you? Help us to focus only on you. Help us to bow down before you and submit our lives and fortunes to your gentle control. Only Christ can open the door to eternity for us. Assurance of Pardon Take heart brothers and sisters For Jesus cleansed the temple and Jesus has cleansed your soul. And as a sign of his truth and power, Jesus offers us the temple of his body. Rejoice and be glad because God has given Jesus control over our destinies. Amen. Lord’s Prayer Song for Reflection Take Time to Be Holy UMH 395 Communion (just print the first paragraph of the invitation) Invitation to Communion (I Corinthians 1 connection) In the season of Lent, Christians around the world recognize we are traveling ever closer to the cross. Paul calls that a “stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” When we come to the table of the Lord, we recognize God’s power and wisdom shows up in a new symbolic form: bread and juice. What is ordinary becomes extraordinary. What is simple becomes elaborate. What is tiny becomes huge! For Jesus, knowing he was gathered for the last time with his disciples, offered them new meaning for familiar objects. Bread from their meal = “this is my body”. The wine they’d shared = “this cup is the new covenant in my blood”. Let us feast, for when we eat this bread and drink from the cup, we proclaim Christ’s death until he comes. Announcements We will have a bible study on the psalms – and how they get us to pause and ponder. It will premier on facebook on Wednesday at 7:00 pm. We will study Psalm 23 – how the psalm gets us to pause and ponder – God’s caring, God’s comfort, God’s generosity and God’s love. I will send out the study guide on Tuesday. Next week is the end of Daylight Savings time for the year – so we will spring forward and lose an hour. Set your clock so that you can be ontime for church. Benediction Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up, is the sign that Jesus gave his critics. Now go and tell others that Jesus has kept his promise. That and all other signs point to Jesus. May you always remember Jesus words and believe the holy scriptures. Such faith will be rewarded. Go in peace! Children’s Time Key Verse: For God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. Props: A handful of sand, and a piece of coal (if you can gain access to them, a pearl and a diamond) Lesson: Today I want to show you something that I got once for my wife as a gift. Would you like to see it? It was her birthday and I wanted to get something real special for her. Here it is! Hold out a handful of sand. Do you think she liked it? (Of course the kids will say, 'No') Why not, what is it? (They all will say, 'sand') Oh, I see why you are confused. You think this is sand. Well, I didn't give her sand. I gave her something that used to be sand. Actually, did you know that there is a pearl in this sand? If you have a pearl, hold it out for them to see it also You see, there is an animal called an oyster, and it gathers sand inside of its shell. And because of a lot of things happening in that shell, God has made it to where a pearl comes out of the shell. Isn't that neat? I gave her another gift at our wedding. What do you think I gave her? (some of them will probably say, 'a ring') And do you know what kind of ring it was? Hold out the piece of coal Do you think she liked it? (No) Why not? (Because it's coal) Oh, you think it's coal. Well did you know that inside this coal is hold out the diamond if you have one is a diamond? You see, God takes ordinary coal like this. And over a long, long time the earth moves a little and it gets real hot, and after a while the coal becomes a diamond. Application: St. Paul once said that God takes very simple things and makes them great, so that everyone will know what a great God he is. And do you know who he makes into wonderful things for his kingdom? You and me, if we let him. You might think right now that you're little or not as strong as other people, or maybe you don't know as much stuff as other people, but God can make you into something beautiful and wonderful. Just trust him, love him, and pray to him, and he promises he will. Remember, just like coal becomes diamonds and sand becomes pearls in the hand of God, you are never too simple for God to love and make into something great! Prayer: Gracious God, thank you for making us, and thank you for letting us know that none of us are too small, too weak, or too simple for you to do great things with. In Jesus' name. Amen. Additional Illustrations Sermon Opener - The Outlandishness of Lent - 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 Lent is a solemn season in the Church calendar. Supposedly, it’s not meant to be fun, but rueful. It is a penitential time when devout Christians have typically “given up” some earthly pleasures — meats, sweets, parties, television, movies — to focus instead on spiritual growth — Lenten Bible studies, prayer groups, singular meditation-time. In the words of Lord Williams of Oystermouth, from a 2012 sermon in Rome at St. Paul’s Within the Walls, "Every Lent, we ought to be looking at the various ways in which we get involved in manufacturing the gods that suit us. Every Lent is a time to get that little bit further beyond the idolatry that constantly keeps us prisoner and draws us back to the old world. When Jesus has cleared out the temple, when he has thrown out those people involved in manufacturing religion, there he stands with his friends in a great silence and a great space." But this week’s epistle text from Corinthians finds us reading about a topsy-turvy world, a ditzy divine scenario, which suggests the Lenten season is the time when Christians should be preparing themselves not to go all centered and solemn, but to go flat out “crazy.” Paul’s declaration in 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 is not about rising to be super spiritual, but about daring to be super strange. Lent is the season in the church when we actively “celebrate” Jesus’ doomed entry into Jerusalem and anticipate his criminal conviction and his cruel crucifixion upon the cross. Talk about weird holidays... Some of you will remember Aesop’s fable about an old crow who was out in the wilderness and was very thirsty. The old crow had not had anything to drink in a long time. He came to a jug that had a little water in the bottom of it. The old crow reached his beak into the jug to get some of that water, but his beak wouldn’t quite reach. So what did he do? He started picking up pebbles one at a time and dropping them into the jug. What happened as those pebbles accumulated in the bottom of the jug? Why, of course. The water rose until finally the old crow was able to get a drink. My friends, that is my understanding of the way God has chosen to work in this world. Each of us dropping in our own little pebble teaching that Sunday School class, making that visit, working on the finance committee and on the church board, making that special gift to missions, serving as an usher, etc. Each of us serving in his or her own special ministry doing that little task that may not seem so important at the time but pebbles are accumulating in the bottom of that jug, and the water is rising, and one of these days God is going to bring in His own Kingdom. That is God’s plan for creation. It is centered in this group of people. There’s an old, old story of a small country church that was given a big gift of money. They had a board meeting to decide how to spend this money. You know how church board meetings can be sometimes not here in our church, of course but in other churches. One little lady stood up and said, “I’d love to see us put a new chandelier in our sanctuary.” One old brother got up and protested. “We don’t need any new chan-de-leer in this sanctuary!” he said. “In the first place, I doubt that there’s anybody in this church who can even spell chan-de-leer. In the second place, even if we had one, I doubt there’s anybody here who could play it. And in the third place, what we really need is more light for this room!” Rapper Snoop Dog coined a phrase “Church on the move” which was the new word for last week. In Snoop Dog’s world the announcement of “Church on the move” meant it was time for him and his entourage to make an “en masse” exit from the club where they were “partying.” So in popular parlance, to say “church on the move” is to say, “it is time to leave” or “it’s time to head for the EXITS”. .

The Spirit of Christ

“The Spirit of Christ” 1 Corinthians 2:1-16 Matthew 5:13-20 Year A Fifth Sunday after Epiphany February 9, 2014 What is the meaning of truth? I have been dealing with the question for a few weeks. How do we come to know the truth? What is the ultimate truth? and where can I find the real truth. I bet you know where I am going with this. God is the one true truth. and the one way to find the truth is to read the bible. Truth: The Most Powerful Idea Marilyn vos Savant, the brilliant woman who reportedly has the highest I.Q. ever recorded, writes a syndicated column in which she answers tricky questions from people who want the benefit of her intelligence. Someone wrote to ask what she thought is the most powerful idea. Marilyn vos Savant replied that "truth" was the most powerful idea she knew of, because it is not affected by how we relate to it. Whether or not we know it, or whether or not we agree with it, doesn't matter, because truth is still true. Ms. vos Savant is right on target. Truth is powerful. You and I believe that truth is from God. What is the Gospel the Good News anyway? I believe it can be summed up in three verses: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1); "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16), and "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:27). You and I may believe this thing and that about Scripture and about life in general, but these three statements are incontrovertible! They are true. They don't need to be defended; they only need to be lived. There are people in our society who spend too much of their energy and time defending God as if God needed it. Adapted from Max Anders, God The Good News Never Conflicts with Truth The esteemed space scientist Dr. Werner von Braun received many cards and letters over the years from people who believe that space exploration is against the Creator's wishes. "Scripture mail," NASA calls it. These correspondents warned the scientist to cease this dangerous godless folly. "One lady wrote that God doesn't want man to leave Earth and she was willing to bet me $10 that we wouldn't make it," said Episcopalian von Braun. "I answered that, as far as I knew, the Bible said nothing about space flight but it was clearly against gambling." Why are some people so threatened by scientific discoveries? Don't they know that truth is from God wherever it may be found? The notable church father Justin Martyr settled the matter once and for all when he wrote, "Whatever has been uttered aright by any [person] in any place belongs to us Christians." Christian faith does not need defenders, for it is never in conflict with truth. Adapted from Bob Ward, The Light Stuff Today I want to deal with the lesson of 1 Corinthians. Paul has come to Corinth in order to correct the teachings of other preachers. Paul’s message in both books of Corinthians and in everything that he teaches is our salvation is in the cross of Christ. And since Christ died for our sins, we don’t have to spend a lot of time trying to comprehend what that means. But we do have to believe it. Paul’s point is that who we are as Christians, should be based on what Christ has done for us. It is time for us to give up our own reasoning to get through life, but to trust the reasoning of Christ in everything that we do. But today, I wanted to talk about Corinthians, because Paul wants us to understand that you put on the mind of Christ, you have the thoughts of Christ – not through anything that you do but through the spirit of Christ. We have been reading Corinthans for a few weeks now, and if you have noticed Paul speaks a lot about the spirit. The spirit that gives us the mind of Christ. We have to be conscious of the spirit, the holy spirit and what it is teaches us. People who know too much Interestingly enough – the problem that Paul was trying to address in Corinth – was not the people who were ignorant and needed to be taught. He was talking about the people who were too smart for their own good. They couldn’t listen to what the spirit was trying to teach them – because they had their own wisdom. They had read all of the books, they knew all of the techniques, and yet they knew nothing about the spirit. And without the spirit, they knew nothing. Going against the spirit I went to do some evaluation of a teacher of kindergarten kids—at the teacher’s request. For the fifty minutes I was there this teacher tried to lecture. Finally, the bell rang, and she cranked out the memory verse. Afterwards she sighed, “Boy, I got over the lesson.” When she came to see me, I said to her, “Did it ever occur to you that you’re really competing against the Holy Spirit?” “I certainly don’t intend to do that.” “But did it ever occur to you that God made this child with an attention span of about four to five minutes? And all the time you kept saying to the child, “keep quiet,” “sit still” and God kept saying, “Wiggle.” And what did he do? He listened to God every time.” About 85% of the discipline problems in school, in church, in home come because we do not understand the pupil with whom we are working. —Howard Hendricks Two types of people – spiritual and worldy Greeks believed that there are two types of people in the world – there are people who only see things at face value, everything in life is what it is, and there are those who have to ability to see beyond outward appearances and who can see the spirit, and who have a sensitivity to the spiritual world. An Empty shell I remember when I saw a program showing how they used to film Gunsmoke, one of my favorite TV shows as a kid. I learned that Dodge City was really just a place in the middle of nowhere not even close to the real one. There was no Longbranch Saloon, no stores or jail, it was all front with nothing behind it — a facade, a wooden structure that only made it look like a city on television. If you looked through the door you would only see more of the prairie. Kittie, Doc Adams, Chester, Festus and Marshal Dillon were sitting on a set somewhere, not the Longbranch where you thought they were. The Gunsmoke set is like many people. They only have a front with nothing behind it. They are all facade. That is why they cannot afford to be transparent — people would see right through them. But an important part of the Christian life is the development of something behind the facade. It is the growth of character, and a spiritual life that supports who we are. Only when we really come to Christ and have a relationship with God do we begin to have substance. We are not just keeping up appearances, we are developing a quality of character. Being a Christian means being real. We never know enough There are two type of people in the world, those who are spiritual and those who only see things at face value. And if we have been in the church for a little while, we have heard all of the biblical stories, we have heard all of the sermons – it is easy for us to think that if there are two type of people – then we must the right kind of people right? The people that Paul wants us to be right? If we are here then we must be spiritual. And I think I want to challenge that belief. If we spend too much time in church, then we start to think that we know everything that there is to know about Christ. A group of Christians gathered in a church auditorium for an evening Bible Study. Some were talking while waiting for the study to begin. One man began to share with the leader about a church breakfast he’d attended. A well known Bible scholar had been invited to speak at the breakfast. During the course of his remarks the scholar stated that he had recently gained new insight into a verse of Scripture that had puzzled him for years. “When I heard this,” the man said to the Bible Study leader, “I thought to myself, ‘If this scholar who has written commentaries and books and who has studied the Bible for years is just now understanding a verse of Scripture, how can I, an ordinary church member, understand the truth?”’ “You know,” replied the leader, “rather than being discouraged by the scholar’s remarks, I’m encouraged. It just goes to show that understanding God’s truth doesn’t depend on our intellectual ability or number of theological degrees earned. Rather, God’s truth is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. My message for the day however, is that the more we learn – it is important to realize the less that we know when it comes to the spirit. We never stop learning about God. And no matter how much we have studied, we still need to know more. Because the spirit is alive and always moving us forward. If we hear something one thing about Christ, when we hear it again, it teaches us something new. If we have read the bible once, then we need to read it again. If we gave one sermon, then we need to give another. Whereever you may be in your knowledge of God – commit to go forward – to know more, to serve more, to be challenged more. I think that sometimes we are just like those building facades for a movie scene. We may have the foundation, but we never bother to fill in the rest. – Paul is challenging us not to be satisfied with the basics, but to go further, go deeper into the mind of Christ. As a matter of fact, I don’t think it is about there being either spiritual or worldly, but that we have to have both. There has to be combination. We have to study to show ourselves approved, and we have to trust the working of the spirit. The spirit is alive and well. And if we have the knowledge, the spirit will help us to use it. Paul says that there are two types of people, but there are two types of learning – there is kerygma and didache. Those are good seminary words, but to break it down, didache means bible study – we need to know what the bible actually says. Kerygma – is spiritual learning – what is God really trying to teach us in our lives with these stories? There is no substitute for studying the word of God. but we have to realize that if we have never studied – then there is no opening for the spirit to teach us the true meaning of the words for our lives, and for our spiritual journey. We will never truly understand resurrection and how God bought Jesus back to life. All of the study in the world will not explain that mystery. But if we know the basic facts, and leave the door open – we come to believe in the power of Christ and what he can continue to do for our lives. Paul says – those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s spirit, for they are foolishness to them and they are unable to understand them because they only come from the spirit. Changing the World It was during the early days of television. A workman was placing television transmitters at the very top of the Empire State building in New York City. Seeing him at work up there, so far off the ground, a reporter thought this would make a fascinating human interest story. So, when the workman had completed his task and had returned to the ground, the reporter approached him and asked, “Aren’t you frightened to work under conditions like that that? Isn’t it dangerous to work so high off the ground?” The workman replied, “Yes sir, it is dangerous.” Then he added, “But then, how many people can say that they have changed the skyline of a city like New York!” God offers us the privilege of changing the skyline not of a city, but of the world. We can help make this world healthier, more humane, more harmonious, and more blessed. God made a good world. Now He wants us to help Him make it good again. We can do that. By God’s grace, we really can do that. If we can, surely we must. James McCormick, Selected Sermons, www.Sermons.com We change to world, by changing ourselves. By understanding the spirit and not so much how it fits into the world – but how we fit into what it is already doing. The spirit is alive and well – the spirit is moving in the world as we speak. Let us move along with it. – Paul’s last word to us in this passage is But we have the mind of Christ – we have all that we need! Let us pray….. ________________________ __________________________________ Lesson: But we speak God's wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. Object: A box full of play money (or real money) Lesson: Good morning, boys and girls. I'll bet you can't guess what I have in this box! (Let them try.) No, it's even better than all of that. Here, let me show you. (Take lid off of box and show them the money.) That is really a lot of money, isn't it, boys and girls? (Let them respond.) What could we do with this much money? (Let them answer.) Yes, we could take wonderful vacations, buy new clothes and toys and other good things. We could really have a good time, couldn't we? What would you think if I were to give all of this money away? (Let them respond.) Some people might think I was a little bit crazy or dumb if I gave all my money away. Well, one day a very rich young man came to see Jesus. He probably had even more money than this. Anyway, he asked Jesus what he had to do to get to heaven. Jesus told him to keep the commandments. But the young man said that he had already been keeping the commandments for a long time. So Jesus told him that he should give all of his money away to the poor and come, follow him. Would that have been a hard thing to do, boys and girls? (Let them answer.) I guess the young man thought it was too hard to do because he went away very sad. But there are many Christians who have given away all of their money and other good things just so they could follow Jesus. The Apostles and other disciples did that. Many people probably thought that they were pretty dumb for giving up their homes and other belongings, but sometimes that is what it means to be a Christian. Paul tells us today that Christians don't always seem too smart (wise) to other people because they do strange things like sharing their money with the poor, loving their enemies, and staying close to Jesus. But Paul says that real Christians are the smart people because they are following God's word. They are living the way God has asked them to live. So, boys and girls, if your friends ever think you are a little stupid for coming to church or for being nice to people who need your help, just remember what Paul tells us today. You are being a smart Christian. You are being wise -- just like God. God bless you all. Amen. British poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge once had a discussion with a man who firmly believed that children should not be given formal religious instruction, but should be free to choose their own religious faith when they reached maturity. Coleridge did not disagree, but later invited the man into his somewhat neglected garden. "Do you call this a garden?" the visitor exclaimed. "There are nothing but weeds here!" "Well, you see," Coleridge replied, "I did not wish to infringe upon the liberty of the garden in any way. I was just giving the garden a chance to express itself." Daily Walk, March 28, 1992