Luke 17:5-10 & II Timothy 1:8-12
Movement One:
There is a movie that came out
several years ago called AIndependence
Day.@ It was one of the early movies in Will Smith=s career. It is probably one of the classic SiFi movies
of that time. As the moving opens, it is
July the 2nd, and large alien ships settle in and hover over
critical sites all over the world. Mass
hysteria spreads over the world as this happens. One man, who is a computer nerd and we later
learn is named David, discovers they are using our satellites to communicate
and the clock is ticking down to the time they will act. He communicates this to the president, and
the White House is evacuated. The clock
ticks to zero, and the alien ships begin to incinerate cities all over the
world.
As July the 3rd dawns,
Los Angeles, Washington, and New York are left in ruins. The president regrets he didn=t evacuate hours before when the ships
first began to hover. An attack is
planned where our Air Force will launch a full blown missile attack on the alien ships. Will Smith is one of the lead pilots! Our missiles are ineffective against their
shields. The aliens counter attack with
little space ships who also have shields, and we are dropping like flies! The attack is aborted. Will Smith ejects under attack and captures
an alien by hand-to-hand combat and drags him back to base. Meanwhile, David has evacuated on Air Force
One with the president. The president’s
advisors are telling him to launch a Nuclear Attack on alien ships; David
advises against it. The president learns
of a secret research project that has been going on for years after catching a
small alien ship before. He visits there
and finds it is an identical ship to the small ones that fly out of the mother
ship who is attacking them now. Everything
they try doesn=t work
against the invasion! They can=t seem to penetrate the shields with
anything they try.
July 4th comes, and
David comes up with a plan to plant a virus on the mother ship to destroy the
shields, giving them a few minutes to launch an attack with the shields
down. David and Will Smith will fly onto
the mother ship using the captured alien fighter ship from years ago, release
the virus, and the countries across the world will launch an attack on the
invaders while the shields are down.
This worked, except our little missiles were not causing much damage to
the alien ship, even with the shields down.
We were running out of ammo and still had only slightly damaged the
ship. It looked like the mission would
be a failure. Only one man had a missile
left. If he could shoot the missile up
into the ship, instead of into the hull of the ship, maybe that would
work. He proceeded to do that, but his
launching device failed, and he could not launch the bomb. In a moment of self-sacrifice for the greater
good, he radios for command to tell his children he loves them and flies his
plane up into the ship to deliver his cargo to its destination personally. The mother ship is destroyed! He is a hero!
Now the rest of the world knows what to do to the rest of the ships, and
the invaders are destroyed! There are
several heros in this story, but the one who stands out above them all is the
one who delivered the bomb to the alien ship, knowing he would loose his life
in the process. He knew he would not
live to receive any words of thanks or praise.
He knew he would not live to tell his children the stories himself, but
he did what he felt needed to be done anyway!
Movement two:
In our scripture today from Luke,
Jesus asks his disciples, AWho
among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending
sheep in the field, >Come
here at once and take your place at the table=?@
He says rather you would say, AFix
me something to eat,@
and when the servant is done, you don=t
thank the slave for doing what is commanded, because he is only doing what he
should do! Jesus says, so it is with
you Awhen you
have done all that you were ordered to do, say, >We
are worthless slaves: we have done what we ought to have done=!@
This is a hard one for us, because
we are so used to not doing something for someone unless they say thank
you. Or not doing something for someone
unless they pay us. We live in a world
where the world owes us rights, a living, and many other things, but we too
many times are taught we do not owe anybody anything, even God! Even God owes us something, if we serve
God! Isn=t
that what we think! God is suppose to
take care of us, bless us, and not let any bad thing happen to us if we serve
God; right? If God doesn=t, we don=t
have to serve; right? If we do something
at church and aren=t thanked
for it, then we don=t have to
do it anymore! They should be more
appreciative! Isn=t
that really how we sometimes think? This
scripture says we do what is right, even if we do not receive thanks from
anyone and sometimes even when it seems we are not getting anything from God,
because we are God=s!
We have to get over this need to be
thanked to serve! This doesn=t mean we don=t
need to say thank you, but we will look at that next week. Being willing to serve whether or not we are
thanked and being a person who says thank you to others and to God is two
different things! This scripture is
about being willing to serve because it is the thing to do, whether or not we
are thanked for it! Just like the man in
our story did! We aren=t all called to physically give our
lives for the common good or God, or are we?
How much different is it to sacrificially and totally give ourselves to
God in service, to present our bodies a living sacrifice? God is the ultimate good! God loved us when we were unlovable! We serve because of that! We serve God because of who God is! We serve God to be a part of what God is
doing in the world! We serve God as a
part of our worship of God! So find your
place in the Kingdom of God! Match your
gifts with the opportunities that are out there! Is it teaching? Is it preaching? Is it folding bulletins? Is it taking out the trash? Is it cleaning the carpets? Is it taking care of the physical grounds of
the church? Is it singing? Is it playing a musical instrument? Is it helping with the tech or sound
booth? Is it serving on one of the teams
in our church? Is it gathering
information so the church can make a decision?
Is it coordinating an event to reach out into our community? Whatever it is, do it for God! Do your best, and do it for God! Whether or not anybody even notices! That is what this scripture is about!
This is a hard one, even for
me! I like to have positive
feedback! I like to be thanked or
appreciated, but sometimes people leave in a spirit of thinking about the message
and may not be sure if they want to thank me or not for the message! Sometimes people feel what I do is just what
is expected and why say thank you, so I really have to hear this message from
Luke! I have to look at the big
picture! I am called to lead God=s people to reach out beyond themselves
to those around them with God=s
gospel of grace and love and make disciples!
Sometimes that pushes us!
Sometimes we want it to be about us, but it isn=t
about us! We have to constantly keep the
goal before us of making disciples! It
is about keeping us focused! Hunters
know that if they shoot at nothing, if they have nothing in their sights, that
is exactly what they will get. So we as
a church need to know what we are shooting for: sharing the love and grace of
God and thereby making disciples!
I think it is from this attitude of
service that Paul says, ADo
not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner,
but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, who
saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but
according to his own purpose and grace.
This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, but it
has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who
abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the
gospel. For this gospel I was appointed
a herald and an apostle and a teacher, and for this reason I suffer as I
do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the
one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until
that day what I have entrusted to him.@ (II Tim 1:8-12)
Movement Three:
I challenge you then today as we
take communion to give yourself wholly and totally, without reservation for
service to the one Awho saved
us and called us with a holy calling!@ I challenge you to join with Paul in
suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God! I challenge you to trust in the one who is
able to guard until that day what we have entrusted to him! Amen!
As we prepare to take communion this morning, let us pray
Wesley=s
covenant prayer:
Let me be your servant, under your command.
I will no longer be my own.
I will give up myself to your will in all things.
Lord, make me what you will.
I put myself fully into your hands:
put me to doing, put me to
suffering,
let me be employed for you, or laid
aside for you,
let me be full, let me be empty,
let me have all things, let me have
nothing.
I freely and with a willing heart
No comments:
Post a Comment