17 Be Careful What You Get

"Be Careful What You Get!"

Strange that in the last two weeks, just before we tackle today's
Scripture together, the stock market should take the biggest tumble in a
very long time - the text: "Sell the things you have and give that
money to those who need it. This is the only way that you can keep
your riches from being lost."
And in addition to giving thought to what we may lose, we must
also have some concern about what we gain - what we get.. That's why
the title of this sermon is BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU GET!
Let me illustrate as is my custom. I'll never forget going to pick
out my new puppy after my beloved Rocky died. The new puppy, a toy
poodle was a gift even though she cost $300 a pound. I had done my
homework and this puppy store had another Rocky - an apricot , male
poodle. I found him immediately or rather, he found me - he reached his
little snout through the bars of the cage and grabbed my shirt. I opened
the cage and took him out and took him to the cashier. "I am so happy
you had this apricot male" I said to the cashier. "We do have one, the
cashier said, but that little bundle of love you have in your arms is a
female!" But the little puppy had picked me and she was mine. We
had already bonded. Nevertheless, she was trembling, so when we got to
the car, I opened my shirt and put her next to my heart and held her there,
hoping that its steady rhythm would soothe her. It did, but have you have
tried to drive a stick shift car with one hand? It wasn't easy, but I did it.
And it was worth it. Princess has been close to my heart ever since!
And she was free!
Now let's say that YOU are given a cuddly new puppy, with a
slurpy tongue and a happy gleam in his eye. He's free, right? No. You
know better - but how much better do you know? Over the lifetime of
the dog, how much will you spend on him? - food, tags, shots, vet visits,
boarding etc - $5000? $10,000, $15,000? Well that's a little over the
average - $14,000 is what your new best friend will cost you.
My "free" puppy is worth a lot more than whatever she costs me
over the years. She is unique. When she wants a treat, hops up on the
piano bench and plays a tune on the grand piano. Little dog. Big piano. It
is really a sight - and a sound. If the performance is a little pallid, I say,
"Play some more!" Then she really hits the ivories. And she really
moves her butt - literally! Then I say, "That was good!" at which time
I get up and give her a treat. I think I've already spent a good share of her
lifetime cost on treats!
So for the really great things we are given, we should not count
the cost - only the glory and wonder of what we have been given. When
God gives a child to a couple, it is an unspeakably wonderful gift. But if
they were to count the cost ahead, they might be tempted not to accept
the gift. Fortunately they never do count the cost. (I had to buy some
diapers awhile ago to assist a needy family. I was aghast at how much
they cost - and formula the same! Then there are the sleepless nights to
count and the worrisome days, braces for the teeth, clothes and school
supplies, college tuition, repairs to the fenders of the family car, heartaches
and disappointments, all of which disappear with one crooked smile from
the baby - one "mama" or one "dada." We are wonderfully weird
people. God has made us so. God loves us!
This, of course, is the God who gives us the Kingdom of Heaven.
Maybe if we counted the cost, we would never accept the gift, but we
don't do that. Once in the Kingdom we have some moments that take our
breath away, and the cost becomes negligible.
Daily we rejoice in breath-taking moments. For life in the
Kingdom of God is measured by those, not by the number of breaths we
take.
Our task, is to live in God's Kingdom which is around us and
within us rather than in the secular world that promises everything and
gives very little. Do we focus on our ways or God's ways. Is it "I did it
MY way" or is it "I did it GOD'S way?
Our ways - which is very "get" centered have brought us to a
paradoxical reality: We get more but enjoy less. We spend more, but
have less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences
but less time. We have more degrees but less common sense, more
knowledge but less good judgment, more experts but fewer solutions.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too much, and
laugh too little, rest too little. We watch TV to often and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions but reduced our values. We
talk too much, listen too seldom, love too seldom and hate too often.
We've gone to the moon, but have trouble crossing the street to
meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space, but not inner space.
We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We've cleaned the air
(a little) and polluted the soul - (a lot!).
We learned to rush - oh how we've learned to rush, but not to
wait.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small
character. These are the days of two incomes and one divorce, fancier
houses and broken homes. Somewhere we got off the track.
The good old fashioned values of our faith are foreign to us, strange
to us - like they're from another world - they are from God's world, but to
have those values we have to pay the price - absorb the cost of the discipline
and perseverance necessary to have them and keep them. Only entering
into God's world will deliver them to you.
You are here specifically because you WANT to get into God's
world - and each week you catch a thought, snare a concept, digest a
theory, nourish a hope that keeps you on the Pilgrim's Way.
The Pilgrim's Way is Christ's Way - you are Christ's people -
People of The Way as the early Christians were called. As such you will
look different, sound different and be different.
You will be one who has the courage to believe and practice the
belief that the teachings of Christ are THE most practical teachings that
the world has ever known that the road to true fulfillment is to keep true to
those teachings.
Today we are to learn: Give up materialistic ways, share your
wealth and be constantly on guard for the return of Christ.
Christ may well return in a cataclysmic event in the future, but it is
far more important for US to focus on the fact that he promised to come
to us - to be with us whenever we call upon him. Sometimes he comes
unannounced and we see Him as I did last Saturday at our Luncheon for
the Homeless. Yes, I got a glimpse of him. About 150 homeless were fed
and clothed and given toiletries and medications - and haircuts. Picture
this all taking place in our parking plaza - tables set for 150, tables set to
display clothes - and volunteers - almost as many as the number of
homeless - all milling about together. What caught my eye was the
volunteers - persons just like yourselves - giving "haircuts" - eight stations
of non-barbers barbering by giving their customers a choice of clipper
settings - 1/4 inch, 1/2 whatever - and then proceeding to give them
some relief from the long strands of hair that are so excruciating to have in
such hot weather. I know that some people walking by would say, "I
wouldn't do that for a million dollars." The self styled barbers would
each reply, "Neither would I." I could see Jesus there in that
tableau. I knew that God was blessing those "barbers" even as they
worked. It took my breath away. Again, Life is not measured by the
number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath
away. Those young people, mostly FIU University Nursing students,
had a variety of things they could have been doing, they chose to be here
where God had need of them. They did it to serve the purposes of God's
Kingdom, following the commands of Jesus to meet the needs of "the
least of these." They were laying up treasures in heaven by being charitable
with the poor. The next opportunity for you, other than every day
opportunities eis October 6th when we have another luncheon for the
Homeles and after that our Halloween Party for the children of the area
on the evening of October 31st.
Noted Christian writer, C.S. Lewis said "Charity - giving to
the poor - is an essential part of Christian morality...I do not believe
one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe
rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our
expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc, is up to the
standard common among those with the same income as our own,
we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all
pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought
to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our
charitable expenditure excludes them.
The volunteers who spent a charitable Saturday morning with the
homeless left with a special knowledge - "This is what I am here for."
"This is what life is all about" They made a connection - a Love connection
- Jesus was here - they saw Him. God was here - they felt Him.
We have the power to see God every day - to enter the Kingdom
on a regular basis - not only by what you do, but by what we don't do.
There are some things you learn as you get older and wiser.
Paramount among them is - Don't give anybody a piece of your mind!
We, as persons of God's Kingdom, don't have that privilege. We're not
given it, because doing so creates conflict not comfort. People who lash
out at you do so because they're hurting. Your job is to find and help the
hurt. Your job is not to give someone a piece of your mind, but rather,
Your job is to give others a piece of your heart. I close with this
illustration.
Mike Buetelle, an eighth grader wanted to give more than a piece
of his mind to the eighth grade bully who had punched him in the stomach.
He planned to ambush him by the bike racks the next day. But he made
the big mistake of telling his grandmother what he was going to do. And
though it took her an hour to say it, this is what she said. "Good deeds
bring about good results. Bad deeds bring about bad results.
So, he followed her advice. He didn't do anything to the bully.
Several decades later, he picked up his grandmother at the assisted living
facility where she was living. "We drove to a nearby simple little
family-owned restaurant. I ordered pot roast for Nana and a
hamburger for myself. The good arrived and as I dug in, I noticed
that Nana wasn't eating. She was just staring at the food on her
plate. Moving my plate aside, I took Nana's plate, placed it in
front of me, and cut her meat into small pieces. I then placed the
plate back in front of her. As she very weakly, and with great
difficulty, forked the meat into her mouth, I was struck with a
memory that brought instant tears to my eyes. Forty years
previously, as a little boy sitting at the table, Nana had always
taken the meat on my plate and cut it into small pieces so I could
eat it.
It had taken forty years, but the good deed had been repaid.
Nana was right. We reap exactly what we sow. Every good deed
you do will someday come back to you.
Mike learned the lesson God wants us to learn today - to live by
God's principles because they really work.
Oh, Mike wanted you to know what happened to the eighth grade
bully. He ran into the ninth grade bully. God's mills of justice don't
always grind so slowly it seems.
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU GET - it may indeed be costly,
but it also may be the best thing that every happened to you.

Sermon Notes(Not edited nor proofed)The Rev. Dr. Garth R. Thompson Pastor, M.B. Community ChurchA sermon is a simple truth told by someone whobelieves it to people he knows and loves (Phillips Brooks)August 12, 2007 10:30 a, m. Luke 12:32-40
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our heartsbe acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.