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Many children in Sunday School grew up with the rhyme, This is the church, this is the steeple…. (see video above) Today finishes the Summer series, Lord, Come to My Messy House, an invitation to invite Jesus into our less than perfect homes and our messy lives. Today we take a very simple look at inviting Jesus into our homes and calling it church. I know several families here in the community that want to receive the bulletin early because of health issues and other reasons, they seldom come on Sunday morning, so they like reading the scripture and praying and talking about what they read. Is that church?
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I love the idea I read recently: "Man's rejection may be God's direction. If you are human, you know what it means to be rejected! As Jesus sends his 12 disciples out, teaching them to be his witnesses in the world, he prepares them for the certainty of rejection. The question is not whether we will be rejected or not, the question is how do we handle the rejection. We can choose to take rejection personally, or we can ignore the rejection and push our way into people’s homes anyways, or we can do as Christ says, go on to a place where we will be welcomed and heard.  Two disciples on the road to Emmaus with a "stranger" “The mountains are all right I guess, but they sure do spoil the view” (caption underneath a photo of a beautiful mountain). At times our sight is dim. Believing, but not quite seeing the Lord. To miss the beauty of the mountains, to miss the Lord among us. One of my heroes of the Bible is the disciple Cleopas and another unnamed disciple. Not because these two are so amazing, but because they are so ordinary --because they are so much like me. Paul the apostle in his writings in the New Testament talks about running the race of faith and finishing strong -- I think of myself more as a plodder. That’s the best I can do – plod along, not always understanding, yet now and then the Lord has opened my eyes to see that which is amazing and wonderful, there the Lord was all along right under my nose. Like the moment you at last find the elusive puzzle piece, snatch it up, put it in place and cannot believe you did not see it earlier. The Lord is there all along. A pig and a chicken were walking by a church during a fundraiser. Getting caught up in the atmosphere, the pig suggested to the chicken that they each make an offering. "Great idea!" the chicken replied. "Let's offer them ham and eggs!" "Not so fast," said the pig. "For you, that's an offering. For me, it's a sacrifice." Sacrificial giving. The woman with perfume is an amazing person, commended by the Lord for doing “a beautiful thing…” What a wonderful example this woman who lavishly pours out abundance, more than she has, on the feet of Jesus. A mother went to live with her son, his wife and a granddaughter. When she first came into their home there was great celebration at the evening meal. As time went on the woman became elderly, lost some control, and made noises with her food. The evening meal became an unpleasant experience as the woman had a harder time with etiquette and pleasantries, so the son moved his mother to the corner of the room, To make things easier the woman was provided a pig trough. This made the evening meal much more pleasant and delightful with no more embarrassing noises and spilled food. One day the granddaughter, who was becoming a young girl, was daydreaming of her future: “When I grow up, I’m going to have a husband and a house just like this one, and mommy and daddy, you’ll live with me, and I’ll have a pig trough for you, too.” The next night, for the evening meal, the old woman was back eating at the table.  “Lord, Come to My Messy House”… today this message is for those who have everything in pretty good order, those whose lives have a semblance of balance, those who have a measure of peace in their life, in their household, in their relationships, in their spiritual awareness of God, those who are blessed and at peace… (The photographs are of my office, and were shown on the screen during the reading of the opening story "Clutter." I took the photographs without moving anything but my chair to make it easier. It's a real life working office with a bit of cluter.) Enjoy the story of "Clutter. " It arose one morning from the bowels of my desk, a formless mass that spread and covered itself over anything I was looking for. "Who are you?" I asked. "I am Clutter," the mass answered, "and I am here to confound your life. I am the things you refuse to throw out though you haven't used them in six years, the miscellaneous papers, phone numbers, business cards, and the stuff you don't put away. I am Clutter." I grabbed Clutter and moved it from one end of the desk to the other. Clutter chortled. "That's my favorite pastime. Moving from one end of the desk to the other." "I'm throwing you out," I stormed. Clutter shook his untidy mass sadly, as in pity. "Not without looking through me to see if there's anything you really need," Clutter answered. "The odds are slim, but you won't take that chance. And while you're sorting through me, I'll re-form in another pile." "But you'll be smaller, more manageable." "Not really. You'll decide to keep 90% of me, as you always do. And soon, new papers, numbers, documents will gather, making me more obstructive than ever." "You won't ruin my life, Clutter! I'll start a filing system. Put a bit of you where you belong." Clutter gazed at me contemptuously. "The last time you tried that, you created my cousins, Chaos and Disorder. It'll never work." Clutter had me and I knew it. Attempts in the past to file things alphabetically had only created 26 piles of mess instead of one. I was desperate, so I decided to bluff. Exasperated, I ran to the closet. "I'll throw you in here!" Clutter had been to the closet before me. Shoes were scattered, shirts were unhung, clumps of pants and underwear lay strewn next to towels and a lawn chair. Socks congealed in small piles, looking like the waste product of some nylon-eating monster. "Clutter," I yelled. "You have crippled my productivity for the last time. No longer will I be late, no more will I miss appointments, Never again shall I be overwhelmed by your size and withdraw into reading old magazines. I am going out to the store to buy a paper shredder." I looked around for a long moment. "Now where did I leave my keys?" Clutter burped. The message on June 26 is based on the wonderful story of Zaccheaus. Many folks grew up in Sunday School singing the story of "the Wee Little Man." Enjoy becoming reacquainted with the Zaccheaus song. As I talked about this song in the days before the sermon, I was surprised about how many people had never heard the song. It was a reminder than many folks around Sumas did not grow up in the church. So for some, this song may be brand new. The morning message is posted below the "read more" tab. If you could read this as if it is the first time, not knowing a thing about the disciples of Jesus, the first thing you should do is shudder when you read the word “tax” / “tax collector.” Put everything else out of your mind, and hear the phrase: “Income Tax.” |
 
Carl Crouse, Pastor
At SACC we believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Every Sunday the worship service includes a message from the Bible. My words are an attempt to understand and apply the Bible to our daily living. I post weekly sermons and other biblical messages on this page. May you find meaning and hope as you read through each message and seek to hear God's voice. Leave a comment to ask questions or inspire others with your insights. Categories
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