Luke 12:32-40 ~ blessed are those servants

Luke 12:32-40

32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

35 “Stay dressed for action [Let your loins stay girded] and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants [bondservants] whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he [would have stayed awake and] would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Are you casually convinced, like my neighborhood and Church family conversations, we are on the downward spiral? With all of our technical advances and the sometimes increasingly vulgarities of media - it makes me wonder if the pendulum will swing back. And the pendulum has swung pretty, amazingly far before.

Good Morning, Vietnam! We are in a period of change. The National Council of Churches, record the attrition/matriculation data, most of the mainline denominations - of the last 200 years - are reporting a decline! We know it. Catholics report an increase. !!!! All part of the Body of Christ. Churches believing the Scriptures are growing!!!! Every 500 years, the church changes fairly radically. Well... Martin Luther 1483-1546. Now. What's the assessment of the change? The Rev. Dr. Eileen W. Lindner, editor of the annual Yearbook since 1998, noted that many observers have attributed accelerated membership decline of some churches to "an increasing secularization of American postmodern society, and its disproportionate impact on liberal religious groups."

Why? We girded our loins for work instead of faith.

A 1960s graduate clergyman told me - in his seminary classes, many people joined the Church in the 1960s to protest the Vietnam War. They felt important social reform could only come from the Church. Kind people who wanted racial inequality to stop. Caring people who wanted the poor to be fed and clothed. Not people expecting - with great eagerness - for the Holy Spirit to show up. People who looked at the advances the Christian Church has put forth for mankind for 2,000 years & wanted more. Educated, scholarly people who can see the influence of the Christian Church impacting mankind - gleefully ignored by pop culture.

To make radical changes - slow but sure is best. It took almost 40 years for this to be really noticed! Slowly the message was preached that "people felt better when Jesus spoke of healing". It sure was some kind of "God Thing" when the Reed Sea was dry for the people, that may have been Hebrew, walked out of Egypt. And only hysteria to report the chariots & the Pharaoh's army covered by water. The emphasis was away from faith and into works or cafeteria plan - pick what you want Scripture.

The emphasis of faith based preaching warmed up to become "lukewarm works". Proverbially, instead of catching that mesmerized frog - in increasingly warm, comfortable waters - the frog lost interest and hopped away to go "do what felt right".

Instead, O this glory, we should look for & want the Power of God - hoping & expecting His presence with us!

The Glory of God who declares in Isaiah 6:6
your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for

Isaiah 35:1-7
1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;
2 it shall blossom abundantly
and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
the majesty of our God.

3 Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
4 Say to those who have an anxious heart,
“Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God
will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you.”

5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
For waters break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
7 the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down,
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

Let us put out our hands like Isaiah and say, "Here I am Lord, send me!!!!"

Hebrews 12:12-14
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Psalm 27:13-14
I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living!
Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!

When we ask the Lord to be our strength, He will not turn us down.

Father God, each day, let these hands and this will do what You have planned for us in Your goodness. We pray each day for the Churches to be effective for Jesus. Let the power of God lead us! Father God, help us to value the Kingdom of God being at hand, every day. Love the sinner and ask for the high road. Serve, not just as missionaries, but serve each other as Jesus - instead of close friends at church. Serve our neighbor with Jesus care. Everyone. Remind our friends and neighbors God loves them. We ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.



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