[Propertalk] Fw: Sermons for Lent 4

[Joe Parrish]

Sermons for Lent 4:

 Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 – *“Dealing with the Pain of Rejection”*
 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 – *“**The Awful Grace of Amazing Grace”*
by Leonard Sweet
 
Luke 15, the sermon titled "Dealing with the Pain of Rejection" 
 
There is no pain in the world quite like it: the awful pain of
feeling rejected. It hurts! It crushes the spirit and breaks the
heart. Let me show you what I mean with a true story.
 
Pastor James Moore tells a story about a girl named Jessica. She was
a tall, slender, sixteen-year-old blonde girl, who looked like she
might grow up to be a model or president of the P.T.A., or a
corporate executive. She was attractive, outgoing, personable,
radiant, and happy. She was an only child and her parents were
devoted to her and so proud of her. A member of his church she did a
youth "speak-out" in an evening worship service. Her words were
inspired and thoughtful from the pulpit that night. She was so
wholesome, so clean-cut, so full of life.
 
But, the next morning, an urgent ringing of the telephone. It was
Jessica’s mother alarmed, concerned, frightened saying that Jessica
had been taken to the emergency room during the night and had been
admitted into the hospital as a patient. When Moore got there and
walked into that hospital room, it was a stark, gloomy situation. The
drapes were closed, the room was dark, heavy despair was in the air we
breathed. There was Jessica only hours before happy, radiant, full of
life but now, laying there in a hospital bed, weak, pale, listless,
almost the picture of death. She was emotionally drained, completely
wrung out, so much so that she literally did not have the strength to
lift her arms, she could not walk, she could hardly hold up her head.
They talked for a moment, prayed together and then he left the room.
 
Jessica’s mother came out into the hallway. Her mother said, "After
we got home from church last night, Jessica had a phone call. Just as
she hung up the receiver she fainted and when we revived her, she was
physically unable to walk… she was so weak. We called an ambulance
and brought her here to the hospital." Moore asked, "Do you know of
anything that might have caused this?" The mother blinked as tears
flooded into her eyes, she looked away and said, "Well, yes, that
telephone call last night was to notify Jessica that she had been
"black-balled" by the sorority she wanted to join."
 
Now, here was a young girl, sixteen years old, an only child, who for
all of her life had had almost everything she wanted. At that
particular moment what she wanted more than anything was to be
accepted into that sorority and somebody had rejected her. One person
for some unknown reason had "black-balled" her and the trauma of that
blatant rejection was too much for her. She couldn’t handle it. She
was not faking. The doctors were sure of that. She was just so hurt
that it crushed her emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
 
Here we see dramatically the awful pain of feeling rejected. Now I
want to leave Jessica in the hospital for just a moment. We are going
to get her out later, but right now the point is clear. The pain of
feeling rejected can be devastating.
 
Sometimes we "feel" rejected when we really aren’t being rejected.
We only think we are. Have you heard about the man who had to quit
going to football games because every time the team went into a
huddle he thought they were talking about him! Now, he wasn’t being
rejected, but he thought he was. Let me hurry to say though, that even
when imagined the pain is just as real!
 
That’s what happens in Jesus’ parable. Remember how the younger
brother runs away to the far country, squanders his money in riotous
living, but then ashamed and penitent he returns home. The father is
so overjoyed. He had feared the worst that his young son might be
dead! But here he is alive and well and home, safe and sound. The
father is so happy that he calls for a great celebration. But when
the elder brother hears of it. He is hurt, jealous, confused, and
angry. He feels sorry for himself, but more than that and worse, he
feels that the father has rejected him! Of course, we know better! We
know that the father has not rejected him at all. In fact, the parable
is misnamed. Instead of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, it should be
called the Parable of the Gracious Father! Because, you see, the
theme of the parable is not the revelry of the Prodigal, nor is it
the bitterness of the elder brother, no; the theme here is the
goodness of the father, the faithfulness of God. The message here is
that God cares and that He wants both of His sons (all of His
children) to come and be a part of the celebration.
 
But the elder brother missed it. He mistakenly felt rejected and it
deflated and crushed him and left him spiritually bankrupt. The
feeling of rejection can do that to us. But the Christian faith has
good news for those who feel rejected, the good news of healing and
wholeness. So when you feel rejected, here are a few simple
guidelines to remember.
 
1. Feelings are temporary, so go and talk to somebody

2. The person rejecting you is the one with the problem

3. Remember how to laugh and don’t take yourself too seriously

4. Remember that God accepts you.
 
The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be obtained
by joining www.eSermons.com
_______________________
 
2 Corinthians, the sermon titled “The Awful Grace of Amazing Grace” 
 
“Feel the burn.”
 
Ever hear that phrase? Anyone know what it means? . . . [You can make
this into a karaoke moment.]
 
“Feel the burn” is what coaches and trainers tell their athletes.
Or for other of us, “feel the burn” is what trainers tell their
middle-bulging middle-agers trying to get back in shape. The wisdom
behind the wit of “feel the burn” is that it is only when our
muscles, our endurance, our bodies are pushed beyond the usual that
we start to build new muscles, more endurance, a healthier body. Or
as an earlier generation put “feel the burn,” “no pain, no
gain.”
 
The first day of a new workout regime is always great. Muscles might
be tight. Instead of “flexing” you might be “jiggling.” But
it feels good physically, emotionally, and mentally to know you are
on the move. Endorphins, the body’s natural anti-depressants, flow
freely during exercise. The first day of a work out is wonderful. The
next morning reacquaints you with “the agony of defeat.”
Endorphins are never around at 6 a.m. when you are trying to somehow
roll out of bed without screaming at the person who yelled at you
“feel the burn.”
 
“Feeling the burn” is the reason so many of us never make it back
to the second day of our “new workout plan.” We wait a few days,
until the soreness subsides a bit, then we try again. That next
morning is even worse! The problem with an intermittent exercise
regime is that is brings a continual state of soreness. We never
completely heal. But we never get into shape enough to “feel the
burn” while working out without feeling like we’re on fire for
the next week.
 
This is true of every discipline and every art. Whether it is sports,
business, physics, chemistry, or marriage — the most daunting,
draining, determining time is “zero-to-one.” Starting from
nothing, from “zero” and moving to the next step, the first step,
takes far more energy than any other movement taken from “one”
onward. That’s why I have made it the #1 rule of spiritual physics:
the distance from zero to one is greater than the distance from any
other number.
 
Inertia — standing still — is the biggest hurdle any one can ever
face when trying to move forward. That’s why “inertia” is a 7
letter word for sin. Ask anyone who has ever tried to start a new
business. Ask anyone who has ever gone out on a blind date. Ask
anyone who has arrived in a new country, not knowing the language,
the customs, or the people.
 
Zero to one can be a heartbreaker and a body modifier.
 
On the “zero to one” struggle, Christians get to be great big
cheaters. Paul said it in today’s Corinthian text, and Luke
illustrated in today’s gospel text. God has “cooked the books”
in our favor. Because of Christ’s death on the cross God is “not
counting” all our trespasses against us. Christ took all our sins,
all our spiritual inertia, our moral malaise, to that cross on
Calvary and miraculously moved us from point “zero” to “one.”
If our lives were a game of “Parcheesi,” Christ has moved all of
our marbles from “Base” to the entranceway for “Home.” All we
have to do is move on into “Safety.”
 
What moves us from “zero” to “one” is nothing less than
God’s grace...
 
The rest of Leonard Sweet's sermon can be obtained by joining
www.Sermons.com <http://www.sermons.com/>
___________________________
 
Familiarity Breeds Contempt
 
In 1986 Henri Nouwen, a Dutch theologian and writer, toured St.
Petersburg, Russia, the former Leningrad. While there he visited the
famous Hermitage where he saw, among other things, Rembrandt’s
painting of the Prodigal Son. The painting was in a hallway and
received the natural light of a nearby window. Newman stood for two
hours, mesmerized by this remarkable painting. As he stood there the
sun changed, and at every change of the light’s angle he saw a
different aspect of the painting revealed. He would later write:
“There were as many paintings in the Prodigal Son as there were
changes in the day.”
 
It is difficult for us to see something new in the parable of the
Prodigal son. We have heard the story so many times we believe that
we have squeezed it dry of meaning. Not only that, but, as the saying
goes, familiarity breeds contempt. When we hear the opening words of
the parable once again, “And there was a Father who had two
sons,” we greet the words with ho-hum. Heard it. Heard it. Heard
it.
 
Yet, I would suggest that just as Henri Nouwen saw a half dozen
different facets to Rembrandt’s painting of the Prodigal Son, so
too are there many different angles to the story itself.
 
Staff, www.eSermons.com
 
___________________
 
God Said...
 
Is there a better picture of forgiveness in the whole Bible? It
reminds me of a story about a woman who had upset her pastor because
she claimed that she had conversations with God. She had attracted
quite a following in the church and every day people gathered at her
house, got on their knees, prayed, sang hymns and listened to her
describe what God was saying to her.
 
The pastor thought all this was getting out of hand, so he went to
visit her. "I know you say you are talking with God," he said, "but
what you hear talking back at you is just your imagination. Just to
prove it, I want you to ask God to name three of the sins that I
confessed this morning. Then tell me what God said. If you can name
those sins, I'll believe that you really are talking with God." The
woman sat there for a long while, praying. Then she looked up and
said, "I asked God to name your three sins, but God said, 'I
forgot.'"
 
Norm Linville, The Prodigal Father
 
________________
 
Where Are We At the Parable’s End?
 
Let's step back outside with the older brother, still in need of a
shower, arms folded across his chest, the moral high road. "But when
this son of yours came back ... you killed the fatted calf for him."
He cannot even bring himself to acknowledge his brother with a name
-- "this son of yours." A sense of unfairness, as you know, can turn
venomous rather quickly. 

So where are we at parable's end? Are we inside the party
celebrating? Or are we standing outside with our arms folded,
refusing to come in? Jesus will not tell us how this story will end.
The father passionately invites the older son inside, "pleads with
him" to join in the welcome. Curiously, however, we are never told
what the older brother decides to do. The story ends but it doesn't
end. You can almost hear the voice of Walter Cronkite saying, "You
are there." Will we RSVP to a party thrown by an unfair God? Or will
we stubbornly remain outside? In a world where God does not play
fair, this parable forces us to make a choice. Who is the real
"prodigal" here? Who is the real "waster"? From the beginning Jesus
says that this is a story about two brothers. Which one is the
authentic prodigal? Which one has yet to come home to the Father's
extravagant love? 
 
Frank G. Honeycutt, Sermons on the Gospel Reading, Cycle C, CSS
Publishing
 
____________________________
 
God Loves the Elder Brother Too
 
God loves the older brother just as much as he does the younger
brother, and I think that its time that the older brother hear about
it.
 
There have been a lot of elder brothers in the history of the church.
There was St. Teresa, who lived in the 16th century. She never left
the Father’s home. She went into a convent at an early age and
developed a life of self-discipline that would fill anyone with awe.
She spent hours a day in prayer. One day, when she was in her mid
40’s, she was entering the chapel to pray as she did everyday. And
as she entered she noticed a picture, a picture which had been on the
walls for years. It was a picture of Jesus being scourged prior to the
crucifixion. And suddenly the realization came to her the Christ had
been scourged for her. And those who have studied her life say that
this was the great turning point. She had stayed at home in the
Father’s house. She had done the right thing. But she needed to
know that the Christ who was whipped was whipped for Teresa. And
there was joy in heaven that day—-not over a soul returning from
wild living but for a soul returning from the fields after a hard
days work.
 
United Methodists certainly know about the elder brother, because
their own John Wesley was the best of them. He was so earnest, so
methodical about his devotional life that people called him a
Methodist and the name stuck. But it was not until his 35th year,
after years of ministry, when he was at Aldersgate, that Wesley
experienced God in such a way that he was able to write: “I
suddenly felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt that Christ had died
for my sins, even mine and had saved me from the law of sin and
death.” Wesley had never gone to the far country. But Wesley needed
to know how much God loved him too. He needed to feel some excitement
about his religion. He needed a homecoming party.
 
Staff, www.eSermons.com
 
__________________
 
Our Own Sin Is Hard To See
 
Let me tell you a true story. Back in 1893 there were a group of four
sisters. The Cherry Sisters they called themselves, who made their
stage debut in Cedar Rapids in a skit they wrote themselves. For
three years, the Cherry Sisters performed to packed theaters
throughout the Midwest. People came to see them to find out if they
were as bad as they had heard. Their unbelievably atrocious acting
enraged critics and provoked the audience to throw vegetables at the
would-be actresses. Wisely, the sisters thought it best to travel
with an iron screen which they would erect in front of the stage in
self-defense.
 
Amazingly, in 1896 the girls were offered a thousand dollars a week
to perform on Broadway -- not because they were so good, but because
they were so unbelievably bad. Seven years later, after the Cherry
Sisters had earned what in that day was a respectable fortune of
$200,000, they retired from the stage for the peaceful life back on
the farm. Oddly enough, these successful Broadway "stars" remained
convinced to the end that they were truly the most talented actresses
ever to grace the American stage. They never had a clue as to how bad
they truly were!
 
The parable this morning does not tell us what the elder brother did
when his father came out to speak to him. It doesn't reveal to us
whether he realized that his envy and disdain had made him just as
bad as his younger brother. Yes, the elder brother had never stooped
to find himself in the pigpens of life. He would never have been
caught dead carousing with prostitutes or wasting his resources in
riotous living but in the end his refusal to rejoice at the return of
his sinful brother was, to Jesus, just as offensive.
 
The tragedy was that he never realized just how bad HE truly was!
 
Lee Griess, Taking The Risk Out Of Dying, CSS Publishing Company.
 
_________________
 
We Prefer Justice to Mercy
 
Perhaps you remember the cartoon strip, Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin is
a little boy with an overactive imagination and a stuffed tiger,
Hobbes, who comes to life as his imaginary friend. In one cartoon
strip, Calvin turns to his friend Hobbes and says, "I feel bad I
called Susie names and hurt her feelings. I'm sorry I did that."
Hobbes replies, "Maybe you should apologize to her." Calvin thinks
about it for a moment and then responds, "I keep hoping there's a
less obvious solution." We have trouble accepting those whom God
accepts because we take God's acceptance for granted and God's
forgiveness as our right.
 
We are much like the elder brother who preferred justice to mercy. We
have worked for what we have (or so we think), and it's unfair that
everyone else should not have to do the same. We have earned God's
favor (or so we think) by "staying at home." We have merited his
acceptance by the good life that we live. So how dare God receive and
accept our sinful brother who has returned home saying he's sorry.
 
Lee Griess, Taking The Risk Out Of Dying, CSS Publishing Company.
 
_______________

Who Resented The Prodigal’s Return?
 
The Religious Ed teacher was reading this story of the Prodigal Son
to his class, clearly emphasizing the resentment the older brother
expressed at the return of his brother. When he was finished telling
the story, he asked the class, “Now who was really sad that the
prodigal son had come home?” After a few minutes of silence, one
little boy raised his hand and confidently stated, “The fatted
calf.”
 
Staff, www.eSermons.com
 
______________

What the World Expects of the Church
 
On a cold, dreary December evening, several hundred people gathered
at a large downtown church in Winston-Salem to celebrate the
Christmas season. Bishop Ernest Fitzgerald, present that evening, had
gone down a long hallway to help a small boy who was pushing against
massive oak doors trying to get outside. The boy was about 2 years
old and as he pushed he was crying as if his heart would break.
 
The Bishop picked him up, thinking he belonged to someone at one of
the Christmas parties but as he opened the doors and looked outside
he spotted an old-model car speeding away in the darkness. Gradually,
it dawned on him that the child he held in his arms had been
abandoned.
 
Phone calls were made, and soon the church was filled with people
wanting to help in any way they could. Within moments, the local TV
stations interrupted their usual programs to ask if anyone knew the
identity of the little boy. The next morning, one of the city's
newspapers put the child's picture on the front page. Under the
picture there was an article describing the events of the evening
before. The article began with this striking line: "Someone trusted
the church last night, and…
 
The conclusion to this illustration and for many additional
illustrations and sermons for the Lent 4 can be accessed at
www.Sermons.com <http://www.sermons.com/>




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