The Prophecy of the Summer Fruit

July 20, 2025

Amos 8:1-12

The Prophecy of the Summer Fruit

Year C

 

Prelude

 

Greetings

 

Call to Worship

God calls us here to worship. We carry many worries and are distracted

by many things, but here, in this time and place, we are invited to set

them aside, to be fully present. Let’s pause and take a deep breath.

We remember who we are:

We are the body of Christ.

We remember whose we are:

We are God’s beloved children.

We remember our chief purpose:

To glorify and enjoy God forever.

Let us worship God!  (Presbyterian Outlook, Stephanie Sorge)

 

Invocation

Abiding God, we invite you to inhabit our space. We long to renew our minds, restore our souls, and rest our presence before you. Still, we bring the burdens we carry into this gathering. We hold our responsibilities, cares, and concerns. Let us bind ourselves in your love and strength and the community of faithful and curious. We affirm that this time with you and one another equips and fortifies us for the journey and helps us discern the better way. Be glorified in our worship. Be honored by our praise. Be known by your people, O Creator, Teacher, and Friend. In your many names, we pray. Amen.  (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Cheryl Lindsay)

 

 

 

 

Song

 

A Sermon for All Ages

 

Responsive Reading    Psalm 52 (Common English Bible)

Hey, powerful person!
    Why do you brag about evil?
    God’s faithful love lasts all day long.
² Your tongue devises destruction:
    it’s like a sharpened razor, causing deception.
³ You love evil more than good;
    you love lying more than speaking what is right. Selah
⁴ You love all destructive words;
    you love the deceiving tongue.

⁵ But God will take you down permanently;
    he will snatch you up,
    tear you out of your tent,
    and uproot you from the land of the living! Selah
⁶ The righteous will see and be in awe;
    they will laugh at those people:
⁷ “Look at them! They didn’t make God their refuge.
    Instead, they trusted in their own great wealth.
        They sought refuge in it—to their own destruction!”

⁸ But I am like a green olive tree in God’s house;
    I trust in God’s faithful love forever and always.
⁹ I will give thanks to you, God, forever,
    because you have acted..
In the presence of your faithful people,
    I will hope in your name because it’s so good.

 

 

Scripture     Amos 8:1-12

 

Sermon the Prophecy of the Summer Fruit

 

I am so excited!  It is summer time and things are starting to grow.  And I get to enjoy all of the wonderful fruits and vegetables that are available fresh this time of year.  Corn, zucchini, blueberries, cantelope.  I picked my first tomatoe of the year, and more are starting to grow.

 

When you think about it, a bowl of summer fruit tells us everything that we need to know about God.  The bible is full of life lessons about fruit.

Strawberries are my favorite fruit. I even love strawberry plants, for once they preached a powerful sermon to me which I've never forgotten. I was on my hands and knees in my garden pulling weeds, when suddenly I noticed something I had seen hundreds of times before but never caught the lesson. It was the "runners" on the berry plants. From the main vine a number of slender shoots extend like arms in all directions. They are thin, green stems creeping along the ground, being pushed out by that mysterious power in the mother plant. After reaching out about 6 inches, the end penetrates the ground and developes roots. Then the leaves of the new baby plant shoot upward. All the while, before the infant plant is able to sustain itself, it receives nourishment from the parent through the "runner."  When the new growth is fixed in the ground, the "runner" resumes its journey and reaches out another 6 inches, still nourished by the original clump of berries. Then the process is repeated. And while one plant is multiplying, there are several others doing the same thing in different directions. I forgot all about the weeds and saw only that mother plant sending out its runners. This caused me to cry out, "O God, make me like those strawberries, reaching out in a effort to multiply and bring forth fruit."

Source: Unknown

Fruit represents our faith, we are called to be faithful by being fruitful.

 

For instance, summer is the perfect time to talk about stewardship.  We are called to take care of the things that God cares about.  Also the assurance that God will provides for us.  We can plant the seeds, we can care for the plants, but only God provides the fruit.  This summer we are having a mini stewardship session to encourage us to think about the needs of the ministry.  During the days of the Bible, people were encouraged to bring their first fruits of harvest to the temple.  Today our first fruits can be  our money, our time, our talents and skills.  It can be other things like paper products, cleaning supplies, office supplies or helping with a ministry of the church.  First fruits are proof of God’s love for us, it is also an obvious sign of our faith and what is inside of our hearts.

 

Two Fruit Trees - Different Fruit

      A farmer one planted two fruit trees on opposite sides of his property.  The one he planted to provide a hedge hide the unsightly view of an old landfill; the other to provide shade to rest under near a cool mountain stream which ran down beside his fields.  As the two trees grew, both produced began to flower and bear fruit.  One day the farmer decided to gather the fruit from the tree nearest his house " the one used to provide a hedge from the landfill.  As he brought the fruit inside the house, he noticed that it was a little deformed " the symmetry of the fruit was not very good, but still the fruit looked edible. Later that evening, while sitting on his porch the farmer took one of the pieces of fruit for a snack.  Biting into the fruit, he found it to be extremely bitter, and completely inedible.  Casting the fruit aside he looked across the field to the other tree over by the mountain stream.  After walking across the field, the farmer took a piece of the fruit from the other tree and bit into it.  Find the fruit to be sweet and delicious he gathered several more pieces of fruit and took them to the house.

      The fruit was greatly affected by the nutrition of the root.  Just as the tree grew by the landfill to be bitter, and the tree by the stream produced sweet fruit, so the Christian has a choice.  He can either put down his roots into the soil of the landfill of fleshly pursuits, or into the cool refreshing stream of the person of Jesus Christ.  We must understand that the root bears the fruit.  The fruit of the Christian is the outward evidence of the inward motivation. 

 

      Psa 1:1-6, "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish."

 

A fellow I was reading enjoys telling something that he and his brothers did as children (my notes did not record his name; sorry).

When they misbehaved and were sent to their room, they were secretly pleased. Just outside their window stood an old fruit tree. The boys would softly raise the window, climb down the tree, and play in the field behind the house. After a bit, they would climb the tree, slip inside and close the window. Then, they’d call downstairs to mom and dad, asking if they hadn’t suffered enough.

One day they heard Dad tell Mom he planned to cut the tree down. “It hasn’t borne any fruit in years.” The boys panicked and went into action.

Pooling their money, they ran to the village market and bought a sack of apples and a spool of black thread. That evening, they slipped out the window and tied the apples onto the tree.

Next morning, they waited eagerly for Dad’s reaction.

Soon they were pleased to hear him call out, “Mary! Come see! It’s a miracle! That tree is covered with apples.”

The boys were congratulating themselves. Then they heard Dad say, “It really is a miracle…because that’s a pear tree!”

(The parents had the wisdom and good humor to allow the tree to survive.)

Just as a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and vice versa, pear trees do not bear apples. We reap what we sow.

 

It is Jesus who says that we are known by the fruit that we produce.  Another fruit lessons in the bible is in the book of Galatians.  Paul says that the fruits of the spirit are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”

When those things are present in our lives and our actions then God is near.  The new testament just builds upon the aspects of God listed in the Hebrew bible.  The main aspect of God are love, mercy, holiness and justice.  When we talk about giving first fruits, we are talking about love and mercy.  When we talk about the fruits of the spirit we are talking about holiness.

Our scripture in Amos teaches us about the important aspect of justice.  God has a soft spot for the poor, the vulnerable, those who are suffering because of unjust systems.  In Amos 8 – Amos sees a vision of summer fruit.  There are a lot of positive lessons to learn from a bowl of fruit – it is nutritious, good to eat, and a sign of summer growth and abundance.  But fruit does not last very long.  If one fruit goes bad, it affects all of the other fruit around it.  Once it goes bad, it smells and is inedible.

If fruit represents faith – Amos’ message to us is that good faith can turn to bad faith pretty easily.  Amos is concerned that people have stopped caring for others, people have gotten greedy, they chose to take care of themselves at the expense of others.  People even come to church to look good on Sunday and are very cruel people during the week.

God is not pleased.  Fruit can look good on the outside and be rotten on the inside.  Amos warning is that when summer is over, and fruit goes bad it is thrown out and destroyed.  Amose gives us another warning – our stomaches may be full, our bank accounts may be full, our calendars may be full, but in reality our life will be empty – unless we put God first.

In the scripture, God speaks to Amos and asks him what does he see.  God says  Hear this, you who trample on the needy and destroy
        the poor of the land, Surely I will never forget what they have done.

Back in 2002, Rick Gillespie-Mobley gave a sermon on stewardship that I thought was pretty good.¹ It was more of a devotional. But he gave an illustration that I thought was outstanding. At the beginning of that sermon he shared a story that I think beautifully illustrates a major problem in Evangelical Christianity.

He told about a father who wanted to do something special for his five year old son, Jimmy. He asked his son to get ready, and said that they were going to go out for treat. The son was very happy, but when his dad said that this time he could pick anything he wanted, Jimmy was very, very excited. Jumping up and down he said he wanted McDonald's French Fries. Now, keep in mind that he's a five year old, so those of you who are jaded by McDonalds can hold your horses and not spoil the story.

Anyway, they went to the local McDonalds. And Jimmy was expecting a small sized French Fries, but his eyes lit up as his dad told the cashier that he was ordering a super-sized French Fries and a coke. After dad had paid for the snack, Jimmy was almost dancing with anticipation. Even during prayer he could hardly wait to start digging into those fries. As soon as prayer was done, Jimmy started eating the French Fries with obvious delight. And of course, it delighted the father that his son was enjoying such a simple treat. How easy was that be? It didn't cost much to bring delight to his son's heart. And enjoying the moment, dad reached over the take a couple of fries. And to his surprise, the son pulled the fries close to his body, quickly put his arms around the fries, building a kind of fort, and sad, "No, these are mine."

And dad was a bit shocked. But he pulled back his hand and kind of stared at his son for a bit. And during those moments he had an epiphany of how God must feel when God asks for a couple fries from the container of our life. He was thinking to himself, what is this little rascal thinking? I just wanted a couple of the fries. And after all, I am the source of these fries. I was the one who offered to take him out, I super-sized the order so that I could share it with him, I paid for it, and gave it to him. And he doesn't want to share anything. And apparently my little pip-squeak of a son has forgotten that I am stronger than him, so building a fort with his arms seems rather silly. I'm not going to force him, but it seems kind of silly.

And then he thought, “Why did I even want a couple of fries? It's not like I was hungry. And if I was, I could have bought my own. For that matter, I could buy ten containers of fries. It's not that I need the fries. I just wanted to share in his moment of joy and I wanted him to include me in his moment of joy.” One or two fries would not have made much difference to him as an adult. He just wanted Jimmy to invite him into this wonderful little world that he had made possible for his son, rather than excluding him.

And I think that is such a wonderful metaphor of what often goes wrong with our stewardship. God has given all of us a metaphorical bag of French Fries. Some of us have small bags, and others have big bags, and some even have super-sized bags. Some of your bags might have curly fries, and others might have jalapeño flavored fries. But God has given every one of you some things.

And like that dad, God desires to sit down at the table with us for some fellowship and connection time. When He reaches over to use some of the blessings he has freely given to us, far too often we say, "No God, these are mine. Go get your own fries." And it hurts God's feelings (speaking anthropomorphically, of course). It's not as if God needs our French Fries. He doesn't need anything. He has made all things. He made us, and gives us strength, and enables us to find employment, and prospers us in so many different ways. And God doesn't ask us to give because He is hurting. He could just utter the word and there would be billions of French Fries. So why does He ask us for any? He asks us to give because he wants us to find the delight of what it means to become more like Him.

David and the men in this chapter had it right. God had prospered them with super-sized French Fries, and it was their absolute joy to share those French Fries with God and to offer God more. And rather than looking at every word of this chapter, I thought I would give a rapid overview of 20 verses that show 15 right ways of engaging in stewardship that are better than Jimmy's hoarding.

 

 

What gifts has God given to us, What did God ask for us in return? When were we not willing to share with God? How can we share our fries with God?  What greed is rampant in the world today? What does God want us to do about it in faith?

A bowl of fruit teaches us all that we need to know about our faith.  Let’s enjoy our fruit while it is summer!  Let’s Pray!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Song

 

Prayer of Intercession

O Christ, your cross speaks both to us and to our world.

In your dying for us,
You accepted the pain and hurt of the whole of creation.

The arms of your cross stretch out
Across the broken world in reconciliation.

You have made peace with us.
Helps us to make peace with you
By sharing in your reconciling work.

May we recognize your spirit
Disturbing and challenging us to care for creation
And for the poor who most feel the effects of its abuse.

O Christ, the whole of creation groans.
Set us free and make us whole. Amen.

From the Iona Community’s Iona Abbey Worship Book (Wild Goose Publications, Iona Community, 2001). Re-posted on the re:Worship blog at https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2013/10/prayer-of-intercession-colossians-1-15.html.

 

 

Lord’s Prayer

 

Stewardship Moment

Life is all about choices and how we allow God to be present in our choices.  Banana here – represents something that you received recently – present, money earned, something weren’t expecting.   Lesson for today, is first fruits and putting God first in everything that we do.

Peel banana – peel off a tenth and put it aside.

Most of the banana left.   Life starts to happen.  Friend stops by and invites your out for ice cream – spend a dollar. Still have 8 dollars left.

Next day, your family goes to Catfish days – want to eat out – spend 3 dollars.  How much left?

Go to the store and you want a candy bar – 1.50. how much left

End of the week spent it all – but we set aside a tenth – still have money to put in church

Many people do it the opposite – so excited to get their gift – that that can’t wait to dive in – and in the next week. Nothing is left for God.    That stewardship calls us to put god first in everything that we do – not just money – but time talents, gifts.  Give our first fruits to God – have left to be blessed.  Everything else falls into place.

Have that opportunity to give first fruits to God.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Loving God, you have given us life and called us to new life as disciples of Jesus Christ.  In gratitude and thanksgiving, we offer back to you our lives, symbolized in these gifts of coin and check.  Help us continue to offer “the better part” not only today but each day of our lives.  AMEN (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving)

 

 

 

Announcements

 

Closing Prayer for Facebook

Many tasks await us and distractions abound. Having been fed by the

Word of God and refreshed and inspired by the Holy Spirit, we go from

this place, renewed by our call to witness to and share God’s love in a

world that so desperately needs it.

As we do so, may the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the love of God,

and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you, now and always.

Amen.  (Presbyterian Outlook, Stephanie Sorge)

 

 

Community Time Joys and Concerns

 

Benediction

As you go,
Boast in the goodness of God
Live in the abundance of God’s love.
Remember that you are more than enough.
Find rest and joy in the day.
Know hope and safety in the night.
Go, in peace to love and to serve.  (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Cheryl Lindsay)

 

 

 

Additional Illustrations

Many Christians spend six days a week sowing wild oats and then come to church and pray for crop failure.

Source: Unknown

False Advertising

“Recently I saw a bag of potato chips with a bold declaration splashed across the front: ‘Zero grams of trans fat.’ I was glad to know that I wouldn’t be consuming any trans fat, which research has shown is detrimental to my health. But then I flipped the bag over and read the ingredients list, which included things like ‘yellow #6’ and other artificial colors, and partially hydrogenated oil (which is trans fat, just a small enough amount that they can legally call it ‘0 grams’). I thought it was incredibly ironic that these chips were being advertised in a way that makes me think they are not harmful, yet were really full of empty calories, weird chemicals, and, ironically, trans fat. It struck me that many Christians flash around their ‘no trans fat’ label, trying to convince everyone they are healthy and good. Yet they have no substantive or healthful elements to their faith” (Francis Chan, Crazy Love [Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2008], excerpted in Charisma Leader, November 4, 2008, https://ministrytodaymag.com/index.php/features/17801-serving-leftovers-to-a-holy-god).

 

 

 

 

 

Get it While you Can - Repreach of 09/30/07

Rev. Harriette Cross First United Methodist Church of Wilmington Repreach of 9/30/07 Luke 16:19-31 1 Timothy 6:6-19 16th Sunday after Pentecost Year C September 29, 2019 Children’s Time Warning! Luke 16:19-31 "And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.' " Object: A warning device, like a siren or buzzer. (Begin with your warning device.) What was that, boys and girls? How many of you have heard something like that before? (Let them answer.) Do you know why we use a siren? (Let them answer.) That's right, we want to warn people to get out of the way, to tell them someone is coming who needs to get somewhere in a hurry, and that they want everyone else to get out of the way until they get there. Ambulances use them, fire departments use them, and sometimes the police use them. A siren is a very important thing, and it keeps us from having big wrecks and hurting other people. Of course, you must listen to the warning and pull over if you are driving. A warning is not any good if you don't pay attention to it. Some children do not pay attention to the warnings that their fathers and mothers give them, and they get hurt. I know a child who was warned not to play with matches, and he did. Do you know what happened? (Let them fill in the answer.) That's right, he was burned. Jesus tells us about the warnings that we have gotten in the Bible from God about the way that we should behave, and what will happen to us if we do not listen to the teachings. He said that the reason these things were written was not to scare us, but to warn us so that something terrible would not happen to us. I think that this is a very loving thing for God to do. He warns us about the bad things so that they will not hurt us and cause us great harm. Jesus told stories like this to the disciples and to everyone else who wanted to listen. Some people listened and did what he told them not to do anyway. Those people did not listen to the warning. They suffered what they thought was an awful accident. But it was not an accident, because they had been warned. If you hear a siren and still try to drive down the middle of the street where the fire engine or ambulance is coming, you will have a terrible accident and cause other people to get hurt as well. The same thing is true about not listening to God's warnings that he gives us in the Bible. If we hear the warnings and still cause the trouble, then it is not an accident. We will be hurt, and others will be hurt also because we did not listen. When you read the Ten Commandments, and they warn you about how to live, then you should pay attention to them the same way that you do to a siren. They are God's warning to teach us how to live safely. C.S.S. Publishing Co., CALL IN THE CLOWNS!, by Wesley T. Runk Stewardship Time There are two types of people in the world – those who are rich and those who are poor. This is another stewardship text. We are stewards of our lives and what God has given us. Story of two men, one well off, one suffering. Rich person never took care of the poor. Their fates reversed in afterlife. Rich is not about money – about how we treat others and what we do for them. Are you rich or poor in life, in death, in eternity. What does God call us to do? Luke 16:19-31 Common English Bible (CEB) 19 “There was a certain rich man who clothed himself in purple and fine linen, and who feasted luxuriously every day. 20 At his gate lay a certain poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. 21 Lazarus longed to eat the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Instead, dogs would come and lick his sores. 22 “The poor man died and was carried by angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 While being tormented in the place of the dead, he looked up and saw Abraham at a distance with Lazarus at his side. 24 He shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I’m suffering in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received good things, whereas Lazarus received terrible things. Now Lazarus is being comforted and you are in great pain. 26 Moreover, a great crevasse has been fixed between us and you. Those who wish to cross over from here to you cannot. Neither can anyone cross from there to us.’ 27 “The rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, Father, send Lazarus to my father’s house. 28 I have five brothers. He needs to warn them so that they don’t come to this place of agony.’ 29 Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets. They must listen to them.’ 30 The rich man said, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will change their hearts and lives.’ 31 Abraham said, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the Prophets, then neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’” Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible There was a man, who spent his whole life dreaming of spending time in heaven, there were so many questions that he had of God, all he wanted in life was to sit at God’s feet and to listen to God’s word everyday all day. Well eventually his dream came true, he died and went to heaven. It was all that he had imagined it to be. He was so happy to see his Lord face to face and to be able to talk with him. There was just one concern that he had in the back of his mind. He noticed that on the first day, when it came time for dinner he was served a bologna sandwich and potato chips. And when he looked down on the people in hell, he could have swore that they were having lobster. The next day he was served a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and the people in hell had steak. And on the third day, while eating his hot dog- he noticed that the people in hell had a full blown buffet - with every good food that he could imagine. Finally, after dinner on this day he thought he would question God – God it seems that the people in hell seemed to have these fabulous meals. I am so happy in heaven, this has been a wonderful time – but I don’t quite understand why the meals are so bland – when the people in hell have a feast every night. God replied – well you know – it is just so hard to cook for two people. I told that story once at a meeting, and a really strict Christian woman looked at me in horror – how dare I talk that way about heaven. But that joke has special meaning for me- because I find that it really is difficult to cook for two people. At least when my son was home – I never really shopped for what I wanted because I knew that he would eat it before I got a chance. But at least when we had leftover – I could force him to eat them until they were gone. Now that it is just me, I get all of these cravings for all of the food that I really want. But after one day – it sits in the refrigerator forever, because I don’t want it anymore, I am not going to force myself to eat old food and it goes to waste. It is just so hard to cook for one or two people. But I guess that really religious woman at the meeting was right – the real point is about heaven. How do we live our lives in order to get there, what happens when we get there, and doesn’t going to heaven give us certain rights and priviledges over the people going to hell? (by the grace of God I am expecting to go to heaven, and I am expecting each of you to be given that same grace – but really, does that mean that we have more rights and priviledges over the people who are going to hell? I think that is a question that could be debated over and over again. Both 1 Timothy and Luke talk about the rights and priviledges of those who are going to heaven. In Timothy, Paul is giving advice to his mentee Timothy. He is addressing those preachers in Ephesus who loved to stir up controversy and to keep the people confused. We have all heard Paul’s advice whether we know anything about the bible or not. Most of us have heard to advice as money is the root of all evil. And yet that is not what Paul says – Paul was not talking about money at all. He actually says the love of money is the root of all evil. Your attitude toward money and all of your wordly possessions is what leads you to heaven or hell. Jesus would agree with that point. It is that craving inside to have more, to be better, to create bigger that drives us to steal more than our fair share of resources intended for all. It is our need to maintain the lifestyle that we think we are entitled to the leads us to forget about the needs of other people. We have to fill up our gas tanks on a regular basis. I have heard stories that in less than fifty years the world will have used up most of the natural oil supply. But when you depend on your car every day to get to work and there is no direct route of public transportation – using up all of the oil in the world is a very distant reality. What we need to get through our everyday lives – is just one example of how our needs and our desires and our cravings control our life. There is just no room for us to think of the big picture of how we affect others and our own future. The media thrives on creating needs in our lives – we are told everyday that it is time for us to buy a new car, - have you seen the Honda commercial where the man actually knocks on the tv and tells you that if you are seeing this commercial that its that time of year again – time to new car. We are also told that we need to update our wardrobe, and that if you really want to be cool – you need to drink Miller beer. These companies spend so much money creating needs for us because they depend on our attititude toward money to survive. They need us to need more, bigger, better, improved. The love of money is not the root of all evil, it is the feeling that what I have is not enough- so I need to get more that is the root of all evil. It is the root of our jealousy, our anger, our disappointment, our need to put our needs before the needs of other people. Because our needs are not only immediate, they are also important. It is 1 Timothy that reminds us that there is great gain in learning to be content with what you have. You came into this world with nothing and you will leave with nothing and God will supply what you all that you really need in the meantime. Paul says that there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment. There are many of us grace filled Christians, who think that God fulfilling our basic needs is a special blessing. When we are given extra money, when we are given more than what we need to survive, when we get that house that we have been praying for – we look at that as a sign that God really loves us, that God has given us special favor. Forgetting that on the day that we were given more, that there are countless others who don’t have enough money, who don’t have enough food, who were not cured of that illness that God loves just as much as God loves us. It is not what we possess that is evil, it is our attitude toward it that is. There is great gain in godliness – not in what we have- but in learning to be content with what we have. God had provided for us as a gift not at a special priviledge over others. Ephesus, where Timothy lived was a very wealthy town. I have walked down the streets of Ephesus myself – the sidewalks are made of marble, and each house actually had heated floors so that you could keep your feet warm in the winter. Paul reminds that people of Ephesus to take the blessings that they had been given to be rich not in possessions, but in good works generosity and the willingess to share. It is okay to have things, as long as you also have the right attitude. Paul would later point out that God blesses us, not because we are special – but so that we can cheerfully share with others. I read a quote from a bishop who put the concept of sharing in a very powerful way. To the hungry belongs the bread you keep, to the naked belongs the clothing in your closet, to the barefoot the shoes you leave to rot, to the needy, the silver you buried. I thought that was a harsh way to encourage us to share – yet definitely something to think about. Actually I learned that in greek the word for community and the word for generosity are the same root – koinania. Being the people of God means to live in both community and generosity. To be willing to not only see our needs, but also see the needs of others around us. There were two men who were in a second story apartment. One of the men encouraged the other to look out the window and to report what he saw. Well I see a woman playing in the park with her children. I see a couple taking a walk – I see, a man sitting on a bench. They walked away from the window – and there was a mirror directly opposite the window and he asked the man to look in the mirror and to once again report what he saw. The man reported – I see a reflection of myself. The other man responded – isn’t that interesting a window and a mirror – both are made on glass. It is just that one has a little silver behind it, and in the presence of that silver all that you see is yourself – when the reflection of all of the people that you saw in the mirror is still there- but you were not looking for them, so you didn’t see them. It is not the love of silver that is the root of all evil – it is our attitude toward silver that is the root of all evil. And I know that most of us here consider ourselves to be grace filled Christians – we think that we don’t have a problem with our giving – we give what we can – but let me ask you, How many of us look in the mirror everday – looking only for ourselves – being totally blinded by what we see. How many of us look in our lives everyday – looking at only our concerns, our needs for the day – never thinking to look for the presence of others. Jesus drives the point home by telling the story of Lazarus and the rich man. This is actually a very old story told in a new way. The Egyptian god of the underworld – Osirus was the one who would give the cup of life to the favored dead – so that they could indeed be renewed and refreshed with new life. Jesus takes this old concept and instead of Osirus giving the cup of life – it is Abraham the father of all of the faithful who gives the cup of new life to Lazarus who had a very tough life, but now that he is in heaven finds rest and comfort, while the rich man who had it all in life finds discomfort and painful realizations. The switching of fate that we expect in heaven. Now in life- the man was not mean, he didn’t do harm to Lazarus, he was not responsible for Lazurus suffering. As a matter of fact, he didn’t even see Lazurus – he didn’t even know that people like Lazurus existed. It wasn’t wrong – but when he got to heaven it was enough to make him feel connected to God. Hell is longing for something that you realize that you can never have. He missed an opportunity of grace that will never be offered to him again. In getting caught up in fulfilling his daily needs – he never even thought to listen to the call of God to be in generous community.- to share what he had with those who asked. Last week a man came into the church to ask for money to get back to Gary Indiana. He had been stuck in Oak Park for 48 hours and no one would give him the money to get home. I gave him $10 to get home and asked that when he got it that he be sure to give $10 to someone else. The day care director chastised me for giving the money – saying that he could have used it for drugs. I explained that I did not give him the money because I thought that he needed it. After 48 hours he could have walked to Gary Indiana, if he was that interested in getting home. But I gave him the money – because I am trying to change the way I see people in the world. How do I respond to people in need. When people are on the street asking for a donation – I make a point not to have anything to give. If I give it all to them – then there won’t be enough to take care of my own needs. Is it God who supplies for my needs or my money. Money is not the root of all evil – our attitude toward it is. How do we determine who much we spend on others and how much we spend on ourselves. How do we determine to trust God in our lives to bless us, not because we are special, but so that we can bless others. The rich man realized that in caring for his daily needs, he had forgot to care for his relationship with God. And now there was no fixing that gap in his life. The man realizes what he cannot redo, but he asks that Lazarus go to warn his brothers who are living the same way. Jesus responds with one of the most ironic lines in the bible – if they are not willing to listen to Moses and the prophets, then neither will they be convinced by someone who rises from the dead. It is Ironic because Jesus is that person for us, who has risen from the dead to give us a message of generous community. It is never too late for us to realize how we have been blinded in life by the things that we look for – and if we look for him, Lazarus is sent to us each and everday to give us a message of God’s love for us. Who is that Lazarus in your life?

Living Beyond Our Divisions

August 2, 2019 Colossians 3:1-11 8th Sunday after Pentecost Year C Living Beyond our Divisions Exegetical Aim: To demonstrate that there is no partiality in Christ. Key verse: 11. Props: A bowl of plain M&M's. Lesson: Today I want to share with you some of my favorite candy. Show them the candy. What kind is it? (M&M's) Right! M&M's! Let's all say, yea! (response) I'm going to give each of you some of this, but first you have to tell me which color you like the best. (response) I personally like the brown ones. Who likes green? (response) Red? (response) Orange? (response) The new blue? (response) Well, here's what I want you to do. Each of you can get three. But when you get them, close your eyes or turn your head away and reach into the bowl and don't look at them. Keep them closed in your hand. Okay, come and get them, and remember, don't look at them. When everyone has their M&M's: Now on the count of three, without looking at your M&M's, open your mouth, and eat them. 1, 2, 3! Make sure everyone follows the instructions. After the children have eaten: What colors did you eat? Who ate a red one? (response) Who ate a green? (response) Keep asking until someone says, "We don't know," or "They all taste the same." Application: That's right. Inside the different shells they all taste the same. Did you know that in a way Christians are like those M&M's? That's what the Apostle Paul said. He said that when Christ is in you and you are in Christ, there are no differences between us. We're neither black nor white, rich nor poor, or even male nor female. It doesn't make a difference to God what kind of shell we have -- the inside is what counts to him. And it shouldn't matter to us either. We should treat everyone the same no matter what color their shell. Let's Pray: Dear God, thank you for loving us no matter the color of our shell, and thank you for Jesus Christ, who makes us all children of God. Amen. CSS Publishing Company, Children's Sermons A to Z, by Brett Blair Colossians 3:1-11 New International Version (NIV) Living as Those Made Alive in Christ 3 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your[a] life,appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature:sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[b] 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander,and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised,barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Footnotes: a. Colossians 3:4 Some manuscripts our b. Colossians 3:6 Some early manuscripts coming on those who are disobedient New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Three Kinds of Givers There are three kinds of givers: the flint, the sponge, and the honeycomb. Which kind are you? To get anything from the flint, you must hammer it. Yet, all you get are chips and sparks. The flint gives nothing away if it can help it, and even then only with a great display. To get anything from the sponge, you must squeeze it. It readily yields to pressure and the more it is pressed, the more it gives. Still, one has to squeeze it. To get anything from the honeycomb, however, one must only take what freely flows from it. It gives its sweetness generously, dripping on all without pressure, without begging or badgering. The honeycomb is a renewable resource. Unlike the flint or the sponge, the honeycomb is connected to life; it is the product of the ongoing work and creative energy of bees. If you share like a honeycomb giver your life will be continually replenished and grow as you give. When we share we freely give and we acknowledge that all we have is on loan and others have as much right to the things of God’s creation as we do. Keith Wagner, But, I Need It! It has been said before that we are not flesh and blood beings seeking a spiritual life, but that we are indeed spiritual beings seeking and earthly life. God made a point to come into our lives through Jesus Christ to remind us of who we really are. We are all children of God with enormous power, given an amazing gift to give to the world, and when we are done, we return to the spiritual realm. That is the point that Paul makes for us in the book of Colossians. Paul gives us two important messages in all of his writings. First there is a difference in the quality of life of those who think beyond this world and those who are convinced that this is all that there is. Paul says that when we follow Christ, we should be the first of these. Putting spiritual things before earthly things. The second message that Paul gives us is that Christ is our life. For some people their life may be baseball, or their life may be their job, or their family, or their appearance. And it is nothing wrong with being involved in any of those things – but they are not our life, being a Christian is an all encompassing life. it touches everything it affects everything, and ultimately it changes everything. Because when we follow Christ, we not act differently, we respond to life differently. It was popular in Paul’s time for teachers to give list of virtues to live by. The virtues that Paul list are carefully chosen, they are the virtues that were present in the life of Christ. He says that we shouldn’t be unfaithful to people or our task, and that we should not be greedy and think only of ourselves, how do our actions affect other people. Oh and we should not respond to people in anger, but in understanding. We should be pure, kind and true in all that we do. Sometimes it gets hard to preach on the letters of Paul. Paul has a poetic way of explaining some very lofty beliefs. He is a genius in the ways that he convinces us that Christ should consume our life. I always choose these Paul text, and then when I am writing the sermon I get stuck, because I can never find any good stories to demonstrate his points. Today was not any different. I searched all weekend, and came up with nothing. But sadly I think that the reality of our life – is the best story of Paul’s last point. The one I wanted us to focus on today. Paul says that Christ was radically inclusive – he made a point to include everyone in what started out to be an pretty exclusive circle. Paul’s last point is that the differences that we create amongst our earthly life, all disappear in the spiritual world. In our visioning session, our last conversation was about who was welcome in our church – we decided that we would welcome all races, genders, ages, sexual orientation,economic backgrounds – because these are the people who Jesus would welcome into the kingdom of God. we still have a little work to do before we can adopt that as its own, we want everyone to be aware of the statement – and to think about what it means to be an inclusive church. But I think that none of us would argue that we live in a divided world. The headlines seems to show our differences each and every day. We go to a divided church, we have divided families, we have a divided community. Divisions are every where. But Paul tells us that when we follow Christ, those divisions disappear. Christ is life for all of us. What would that world look like? Until we are all united in spirit – we pray. Amen.

Seek Christ in all Things

August 4, 2013 Colossians 3:1-11 Luke 12:13-21 Year C 11th Sunday After Pentecost “Seek Christ in all Things” What does it mean to be rich? No I am really asking that question? As the bill continue to come in the mail, I am really asking myself what would it be like to be able to pay everything and to still be comfortable. I have really always challenged that notion that money can’t buy happiness. I challenged God to give me that opportunity and to let me be the judge. Money may not buy happiness, but it can buy enough comfort that it doesn’t matter. Or does it? I guess that depends on your answer to the question, what does it mean to be happy? What is happiness truly? Jesus answers that question in today’s lesson. The rich young ruler had a happy life. As a matter of fact, things were going so well, that he needed to expand his storage barns. He needed more space to hold all of his abundance. It is God himself that reminds the man that happiness wrapped up in the things of the world is only temporary. We are temporary – we all go back into the box The problem is not so much the things – the things don’t go away, they stick around. The problem is in us – we are only temporary. We are here for awhile and then we are gone. God reminds the man that you cant every well enjoy your things- when you are not here. Things will sitck around for awhile, but your life is not guaranteed. So where should you be looking for happiness? Here on earth or in heaven? One of my favorite pastors, John Ortberg compares life to a monopoly game. You can spend hours playing the game and moving the men, but when the game is over all of the parts go back in the box. You cant take anything with you, not even yourself. C.S. Lewis wrote, "It is he who thinks most of the next world that does the most in this world." Where there is no faith in the future, there is no work in the present. (From a sermon by Donald McCulley, Got Hope? 12/21/2010) Advice from Colossians The scripture in Colossians reminds us that when we are baptized in Christ, then all of our life is in Christ. If we die with Christ then we rise with Christ. Paul encourages us to make sure that we stay focused on things above, not here on earth. Our happiness is focused on the things of Christ – not on earth. Happiness is a Perspective Do you sing because you are happy; or are you happy because you sing? You’ve met the person. They always seem to have a positive attitude about nearly everything. They’re the people you see on the freeway in the midst of rush hour, bumper to bumper with frustration and impatience, singing sweetly inside their car as they slowly inch their way through traffic. You glance over at them and watch their lips moving and their head swaying back and forth as they watch the road, hit the brake and tap the accelerator. Your first thought might be, are they all there? How can they be singing when everyone else around you is pounding the dashboard and muttering under their breath? What makes some people better at coping with tension; coping with the multitude of everyday stressors that afflict us all? Are they possessed with a special gift that few people have or have they unearthed the secret to being calm when others are frantic that took them a correspondence course and several sets of behavioral modification tapes to discover? Over the years I have discovered a dusty old truth here and there. One that I perceive to be a real keeper is this. People who are happy are people who have made the decision that this is the way that they want to live their lives. Indeed they have discovered a great secret, but one that is not difficult to find. It is our choice to be happy or to be glum. People who can sing in traffic, however, have taken another step beyond just acknowledging that happiness is a choice. They have also discovered one additional maxim, the catalyst for singing when others are cursing. And this is the truth is not always what it seems. On the surface a traffic jam is an obstacle. In reality it may really be an opportunity. It is a matter of perception. Dr. John Maxwell writes: “When we become conditioned to perceived truth and closed to new possibilities, the following happens: We wee what we expect to see, not what we can see. We hear what we expect to hear, not what we can hear. We think what we expect to think not what we can think. (Take) the case (of) Henry J. Kaiser’s construction crew. While building a levee along a river bank, a violent rainstorm flooded the earth-moving machinery and destroyed the work that had been done. As Kaiser approached the work site to assess the damages, he found his crew bemoaning the mud and the buried earthmoving equipment. As his workers surrounded him, Kaiser asked, ‘Why are you so glum?’ ‘Can’t you see the disaster?’ they asked. ‘Our equipment is covered with mud.’ Smiling, Kaiser asked, ‘What mud?’ ‘You must be kidding. Look around you. We are surrounded by a sea of mud. How can you say you don’t see any?’ ‘Well,’ said Henry Kaiser, ‘what I see is clear blue sky filled with bright sunshine. I’ve never known mud to sustain itself against the powerful sun. Soon it will be dried up and then we will be able to move our equipment and start over. Furthermore, our attitude will not only affect how we see reality but will also affect the reality itself. Sun or mud, the choice is yours.’ The difference between sun or mud is a matter of perspective. Again, what we expect to see we see. This delightful story involving Henry J. Kaiser reinforces our choice to look at any situation from more than one point of view.”(Speaker’s Sourcebook II, page 50) People who sing in cars while others are cursing are not happy because they are singing, they are singing so that they might become happy. Where others perceive obstacles, they discover possibilities and opportunities. Singing takes them there and carries them beyond the perceived into the possible. These people are driving from their hearts and their heads, a pretty good combination. Where others see only mud, they see blue skies. Now they possess an attitude that is hard to put down. It feels too good. When the man in the crowd shouted out to Jesus to “make his brother share the inheritance” this is an example of mud-looking, not sky-gazing. He saw only the material implications of the situation, not the relationship possibilities that our Savior had on His mind. It was a matter of attitude. The man could choose to see greed and stinginess or he could, by overcoming the perception of these things, discover the possibilities that fixing the relationship with his brother was more important and far more satisfying. It simply was a matter of opening his heart to other opportunities. Values to put aside Colossians encourages us to put aside earthly values – which Paul names as fornification, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the last one he names if greed. In Luke, Jesus also talks about greed. A specific ugly kind of Greed. In greek the word used is pleonexia - pleon means more, echeion means to have – to get in the habit of having more and more. It is not just the sin of having more then you need, it is the sin of the more you get, the more you have to have. You start to seek more things to make you happy. The problem with that is that the things will last, you wont. Jesus advises us to be rich in the things toward God. What does it mean to be rich? To heavily invest in God’s will for your life and for the world. Happiness is a perspective – it all depends whether we are looking up or down. A Man focused in the things of the earth An article in a San Francisco newspaper reported that a young man who once found a $5 bill on the street resolved that from that time on he would never lift his eyes while walking. The paper went on to say that over the years he accumulated, among other things, 29,516 buttons, 54,172 pins, 12 cents a bent back, and a miserly disposition. But he also lost something—the glory of sunlight, the radiance of the stars, the smiles of friends, and the freshness of blue skies. I’m afraid that some Christians are like that man. While they may not walk around staring at the sidewalk, they are so engrossed with the things of this life that they give little attention to spiritual and eternal values. Perhaps they’ve gotten a taste of some fleeting pleasure offered by the world and they’ve been spending all their time pursuing it. But that is dangerous. When God’s children, who are “seated with Christ in the heavenlies,” give their affection and attention to a world that is A family rich in the things of God I'll never forget Easter 1946. I was 14, my little sister Ocy 12, and my older sister Darlene 16. We lived at home with our mother, and the four of us knew what it was to do without many things. My dad had died five years before, leaving Mom with seven school kids to raise and no money. By 1946 my older sisters were married and my brothers had left home. A month before Easter the pastor of our church announced that a special Easter offering would be taken to help a poor family. He asked everyone to save and give sacrificially. When we got home, we talked about what we could do. We decided to buy 50 pounds of potatoes and live on them for a month. This would allow us to save $20 of our grocery money for the offering. When we thought that if we kept our electric lights turned out as much as possible and didn't listen to the radio, we'd save money on that month's electric bill. Darlene got as many house and yard cleaning jobs as possible, and both of us baby sat for everyone we could. For 15 cents we could buy enough cotton loops to make three pot holders to sell for $1. We made $20 on pot holders. That month was one of the best of our lives. Every day we counted the money to see how much we had saved. At night we'd sit in the dark and talk about how the poor family was going to enjoy having the money the church would give them. We had about 80 people in church, so figured that whatever amount of money we had to give, the offering would surely be 20 times that much. After all, every Sunday the Pastor had reminded everyone to save for the sacrificial offering. The day before Easter, Ocy and I walked to the grocery store and got the manager to give us three crisp $20 bills and one $10 bill for all our change. We ran all the way home to show Mom and Darlene. We had never had so much money before. That night we were so excited we could hardly sleep. We didn't care that we wouldn't have new clothes for Easter; we had $70 for the sacrificial offering. We could hardly wait to get to church! On Sunday morning, rain was pouring. We didn't own an umbrella, and the church was over a mile from our home, but it didn't seem to matter how wet we got. Darlene had cardboard in her shoes to fill the holes. The cardboard came apart, and her feet got wet. But we sat in church proudly. I heard some teenagers talking about the Smith girls having on their old dresses. I looked at them in their new clothes, and I felt rich. When the sacrificial offering was taken, we were sitting on the second row from the front. Mom put in the $10 bill, and each of us girls put in a $20. As we walked home after church, we sang all the way. At lunch Mom had a surprise for us. She had bought a dozen eggs, and we had boiled Easter eggs with our fried potatoes! Late that afternoon the minister drove up in his car. Mom went to the door, talked with him for a moment, and then came back with an envelope in her hand. We asked what it was, but she didn't say a word. She opened the envelope and out fell a bunch of money. There were three crisp $20 bills, one $10 and seventeen $1 bills. Mom put the money back in the envelope. We didn't talk, just sat and stared at the floor. We had gone from feeling like millionaires to feeling like poor white trash. We kids had such a happy life that we felt sorry for anyone who didn't have our Mom and Dad for parents and a house full of brothers and sisters and other kids visiting constantly. We thought it was fun to share silverware and see whether we got the spoon or the fork that night. We had two knifes that we passed around to whoever needed them. I knew we didn't have a lot of things that other people had, but I'd never thought we were poor. That Easter day I found out we were. The minister had brought us the money for the poor family, so we must be poor. I didn't like being poor. I looked at my dress and worn-out shoes and felt so ashamed that I didn't want to go back to church. Everyone there probably already knew we were poor! I thought about school. I was in the ninth grade and at the top of my class of over 100 students. I wondered if the kids at school knew that we were poor. I decided that I could Quit school since I had finished the eighth grade. That was all the law required at that time. We sat in silence for a long time. Then it got dark, and we went to bed. All that week, we girls went to school and came home, and no one talked much. Finally on Saturday, Mom asked us what we wanted to do with the money. What did poor people do with money? We didn't know. We'd never known we were poor. We didn't want to go to church on Sunday, but Mom said we had to. Although it was a sunny day, we didn't talk on the way. Mom started to sing, but no one joined in and she only sang one verse. At church we had a missionary speaker. He talked about how churches in Africa made buildings out of sun dried bricks, but they need money to buy roofs. He said $100 would put a roof on a church. The minister said, "can't we all sacrifice to help these poor people?" We looked at each other and smiled for the first time in a week. Mom reached into her purse and pulled out the envelope. She passed it to Darlene. Darlene gave it to me ,and I handed it to Ocy. Ocy put it in the offering. When the offering was counted, the minister announced that it was a little over $100. The missionary was excited. He hadn't expected such a large offering from our small church. He said, "you must have some rich people in this church." Suddenly it struck us! We had given $87 of that "little over $100." We were the rich family in the church! Hadn't the missionary said so? This is a family that is truly rich in the things of God? What is your story? Let us pray…… There have been times when we have gone to a high school football/basketball game and the kids asked for some money to buy candy. I gave them $5 and they returned with some candy. I ask for a piece and their answer is “no.” Here is what they don’t realize. First – I could take the candy away and eat it all my self. Because I am bigger and stronger I could do that. Second – I gave them the money in the first place, I paid for the candy so really it is mine. Third – I could have bought so much candy that they couldn’t have possibly eaten all of it. Now look at this from God’s view when He blesses us with His power and everything else for that matter. 1st – He has the power to take it all away if/when He wants. 2nd – He gives us everything. 3rd – He can supply endlessly. This goes for our finances, health, and His power. He supplies power to the believer endlessly if we seek Him. "Self adaption from an Ed Young Illustration" By Susan Sauer I've learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them. I've learned that no matter how much I care, some people just don't care back. I've learned that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it. I've learned that it's not what you have in your life, but who you have in your life that counts. I've learned that you can get by on charm for about 15 minutes. After that, you'd better know something. I've learned that you shouldn't compare yourself to the best others can do, but to the best you can do. I've learned that it's not what happens to people that's important. It's what they do about it. I've learned that you can do something in an instant that will give you a heartache for life. I've learned that no matter how thin you slice it, there are always two sides. I've learned that it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be. I've learned that it's a lot easier to react than it is to think. I've learned that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them. I've learned that you can keep going long after you think you can't. I've learned that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel. I've learned that either you control your attitude or it controls you. I've learned that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences. I've learned that learning to forgive takes practice. I've learned that there are people who love you dearly, but just don't know how to show it. I've learned that money is a lousy way of keeping score. I've learned that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time. I've learned that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down may be the ones to help you get back up. I've learned that sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel. I've learned that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love. I've learned that just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have. I've learned that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated. I've learned that you should never tell a child her dreams are unlikely or outlandish. Few things are more humiliating, and what a tragedy it would be if she believed it. I've learned that your family won't always be there for you. It may seem funny, but people you aren't related to can take care of you too. --from my wise Uncle Bill Morgan & Aunt Carroll, about to celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary. John Tillotson said, "He who provides for this life, but takes no care for eternity, is wise for a moment, but a fool forever." “Mud-Gazing?” Luke 12:13-15 Key verse(s) 13:“Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, The Scottish preacher John McNeill liked to tell about an eagle that had been captured when it was quite young. The farmer who snared the bird put a restraint on it so it couldn’t fly, and then he turned it loose to roam in the barnyard. It wasn’t long till the eagle began to act like the chickens, scratching and pecking at the ground. This bird that once soared high in the heavens seemed satisfied to live the barnyard life of the lowly hen. One day the farmer was visited by a shepherd who came down from the mountains where the eagles lived. Seeing the eagle, the shepherd said to the farmer, “What a shame to keep that bird hobbled here in your barnyard! Why don’t you let it go?” The farmer agreed, so they cut off the restraint. But the eagle continued to wander around, scratching and pecking as before. The shepherd picked it up and set it on a high stone wall. For the first time in months, the eagle saw the grand expanse of blue sky and the glowing sun. Then it spread its wings and with a leap soared off into a tremendous spiral flight, up and up and up. At last it was acting like an eagle again. Perhaps you have let yourself be comfortable in the barnyard of the world—refusing to claim your lofty position as God’s child. He wants you to live in a higher realm. Confess your sins, and “seek those things which are above.” You will soon be longing to rise above the mundane things of this world. Like the eagle, it’s not too late to soar to greater heights again. – P R Van Gorder Look … • Look around and be distressed. • Look inside and be depressed. • Look at Jesus and be at rest. --Corrie Ten Boom OLOSSIANS 3:2 "VULTURE" APPETITES While driving along a highway, I have often seen vultures soaring high overhead, swooping down, and then rising up again with the air currents. Every so often, a small group of them can be seen sitting right on the roadway, tearing apart and gobbling up the carcass of some unfortunate creature. I get the impression that these ugly birds are on the lookout continually for what is loathsome and repulsive! Some people are like that. Nothing seems to satisfy them more than feasting on what is sinful, corrupt, and immoral. The books and magazines they read, the TV programs they watch, the conversations they engage in, and the activities they pursue reveal a vulture-like appetite. How much better is the spiritual diet the Bible suggests: "Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy -- meditate on these things" (Phil 4:8-note). What kind of "food" do you prefer? Don't be like the vulture. Rather, "as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby" (1Pe 2:2-note).-- Richard W. De Haan passing away, they lose the upward look. Their perspective becomes distorted, and they fail to bask in heaven’s sunlight. Taken up with the baubles of this world, they become defeated, delinquent Christians. Buttons, pins, and pennies, but no treasures laid up in heaven. The apostle Paul said, “If ye, then, be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above” (Col. 3:1-note). To live for the things of this world is to miss life’s best. Let’s set our sights on the heights! P. R. Van Gorder