Day Nine

Hebrews 13:1-8

1.) Let brotherly love continue. 

2.) Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 

3.) Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. 

4.) Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. 

5.) Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." 

6.) So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?" 

7.) Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 

8.) Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

               Here is an eight verse passage that contains at least eight sermons. I have been asked how I can preach something new and different every week. In my first church as pastor, they also had a Sunday night service. One hundred sermons a year plus the Wednesday night Bible study. I always tell people that sermons are everywhere around us, and especially in the Bible. Just using this passage, I could preach for two months. I love that and I love the Word.

         But, back to the point!

         We live in a truly mixed up world. People who demanded the police be defunded complained bitterly when violence came to their neighborhood and the police did not respond because so many had been laid off. People who demanded that men and women be allowed to decide on what sex they identify with and then be allowed to live that way (restrooms, changing rooms and the like) are now crying foul when a man in a woman’s swimsuit is winning at all the women’s college swimming meets. People who demanded that abortion be allowed because the ‘fetus’ is not yet human until birth, are also ones who demand that a man who hit a pregnant woman with his car and killed her be charged with two murders, the mother and the unborn baby.

         The world is insane. What is right and what is wrong?

         Some day (I hope) my granddaughter will run to me and want me to pick her up and hold her. In our society, that would be sexual harassment. We are in the spiral of inflation at the moment, caused primarily because we have the inability to import oil. We are told that if our own oil line were to be reopened it would not help. We have institutions of higher learning that are producing the people who think these things up. It gets weirder and weirder all the time.

         But, in the above passage we have some real sanity. In verses five and six we have this; Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"

         Like I said, sermons everywhere. Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, Isn’t that some sanity in an insane world? I will never leave you nor forsake you. When our leaders and educators and even religious leaders are forsaking us for power or money or whatever, the Lord is saying He has our backs. The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me? We do not need to fear. Jesus took crucifixion and turned it into victory! Man’s rage against us is short lived and, for the true believer, the Lord will take care of it. We may have a rough time of it for a while, but we will win.

         In my nine years as staff clergy at a funeral home, I sat across the table from families countless times. Some, probably most, had no connection to God and didn’t want to have a connection. One man who came in with his beloved aunt to prearrange her funeral even told me that he didn’t want any of that religious mumbo jumbo. But when the time came and he sat filled with grief, he welcomed my prayer, which contained a healthy helping of religious mumbo jumbo. Perhaps grief and sadness will be all that can bring some people around.  

         The world situation is close to getting out of hand. The problems in the US are mounting. The multiple problems in our churches are driving people away. Today, let’s pray for sanity to return. Let’s pray that those who mock Christians will come to Jesus. Let’s pray for one another as we live with chaos all around us. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Isn’t that neat?