In Everything with Thanksgiving

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day, the 20th of November, 2022, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.]

The psalmist tells us to give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.  Last week we heard where the Apostle Paul added that we should give thanks in everything for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us.  But just what does it mean to “give thanks”?  Can we just say, “Thank You, God!” and that’s good enough?

Many times when we receive a gift, we show our appreciation by giving something in return, especially at Christmas time.  But what could we possibly wrap up in bright, shiny paper and a pretty bow to give to God that He doesn’t already have, or that He couldn’t make for Himself?

The Apostle Paul founded a number of churches in the region around the Mediterranean Sea, and he tried to stay in contact with them by sending them letters.  Paul even wrote to a few churches that he didn’t establish but that he had served at and loved.  These letters, though perhaps addressed to a specific church, were usually passed around and read by all the churches in the region.  In this way, Paul kept ties with the people he had grown to know and love.  

They also allowed him to extend the Gospel message throughout the area.  And as we’ve seen, that message included encouragement to be thankful to God for all His many blessings, along with reasons why we should be thankful and ways to show our thankfulness.  Please listen and follow along to the instructions Paul gave to us and to the church in Philippi in the 4th chapter of his letter to the Philippians, verses 4 through 9, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

5 Let your graciousness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

--Philippians 4:4-9 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for being in control.  Because You are Sovereign, we need not be anxious or worry over anything.  Thank You, loving God, for watching over us and listening to our prayers.  Forgive us, please Father, when we spend more time in our prayers asking for what we want to happen rather than praising You and thanking You for all You already do for us.  Forgive us when we don’t stop long enough to realize just how truly blessed we are, when we fail to show our thankfulness in our daily lives.  Please help us tangibly express to You just how much we love You and how we appreciate all You’ve done and continue to do for us.  And Father, please protect us from Satan and from those who do his work.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, worship, and service, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Let Your graciousness be known to all men through us and the love we share.  May our thankfulness show in all we do.  This we pray in the glorious name of Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

The first American Thanksgiving didn't occur in 1621 when a group of Pilgrims shared a feast with a local tribe of friendly Native Americans.  The first recorded thanksgiving took place in Virginia more than 11 years earlier, and it was not a feast.  The winter of 1610 at Jamestown had reduced the colony of 409 settlers down to only 60.  The survivors prayed for help, without knowing when or how it might come.  When help did arrive, in the form of a ship filled with food and supplies from England, a prayer meeting was held to give thanks to God.

The colony had suffered food shortages ever since its establishment due to a long drought.  The harsh winter only made matters worse.  So the people that were left prayed to God for help.  When relief finally arrived, they gathered together and offered prayers of thanksgiving.

We may never ourselves experience the kind of struggle those colonists endured, because God is our ever present and constant help.  Even in our toughest times, we can always find something, some little thing, to be thankful for, if we only pause long enough to look around and think.  As Paul says, “whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things”, and give thanks to God.

How many of you remember Alfred E. Neuman?  Alfred was the mascot, the face, of “Mad” magazine.  His catchphrase was, “What, me worry?”  He was kind of a goofy-looking yet average guy.  You’d think he would have plenty to feel anxious about, but he said he wasn’t worried about anything.

We should try to be more like Alfred.  If we truly trust in God, if we believe in everything He has told us, then we have nothing to worry about.  I’m not saying that we won’t have difficulties in this life, and neither did Jesus; He actually promised that we would have trials and tribulations.  But this life is short, especially when compared to eternity, and God has promised us an eternity of happiness and bliss - no crying or pain, no troubles or turmoil, no illness or suffering.  And all we have to do is to believe in Jesus as His Son and our Lord, repent of our sinful ways, and follow His commands to love and to serve.  So why worry?

Well, it seems to be pretty much common human nature to worry.  We worry about big things, we worry about little things, and those little things probably consume the most of our worry time.  But Paul tells us to just pray; pray and rejoice in the Lord always.  If we just give our worries over to God, offering to Him our humble thanks in everything, then He will cover us with His peace, a peace only He can give.  Pray with thankfulness in our hearts, and the God of peace will be with us.

I mentioned last week that we can always just say, “Thank You, Father”.  It’s easy to say, “Thanks”, even when we don’t really mean it.  Like when we receive a gift from a relative or close friend that we fully intend to re-gift to someone else just as soon as possible.  We don’t want it, but we still smile and say, “Thanks”.

But we can do so much more than utter a few words to show God how thankful we truly are.  And as usual, Paul gives us a few examples we can try.  Please listen to what the Apostle wrote to the church in Rome, in the 12th chapter of his letter to the Romans, verses 9 through 21…

9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.

17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Therefore

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;

If he is thirsty, give him a drink;

For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

--Romans 12:9-21 (NKJV)

We can best show our thankfulness by our love.  This is what God commands; this is what Jesus orders us to do, to love our God and to love others as we love ourselves.  We show our thankfulness to God by showing Him our love, and we show Him our love by loving others.  And while it is true that some people seem downright impossible to love, we need to remember that we don’t have to like them to love them.  One way to think of this is that if we love them as we love ourselves, then we would want them to be spared eternal pain and suffering, to be saved, just as we are saved.

Paul tells us to love without hypocrisy, to be honest in our love, with no expectation of any reward or personal gain.  This is the start of showing thankfulness, and then he goes on with so much more.  Hate what is evil but cling to what is good.  Be kind, putting others first in our life.  Be patient during hard times, praying continuously, and rejoicing in our hope, our promise.

Bless those who hate us, who persecute us, who would do harm to us, and do not repay evil with evil, but instead with love.  Do not let evil overcome us, but overcome evil itself with good, with love.  For this, too, is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us.

I pray that all of us will be able to enjoy at least part of Thanksgiving this coming Thursday with family and friends, sharing a meal, staying warm.  Sadly, there are many in our community that won’t have the chance, the blessing, to do so.  There are some who have no family nearby.  There are others who are homeless.  There are many with food insecurities.  Each one of these less fortunate among us represent an opportunity to show God how thankful we are for the blessings we receive.

We may not know someone personally who is struggling right now, but there are organizations that do, and we can help support them, either through a donation of food or money, or by volunteering some of our time.  Putting our love into action is how we overcome evil with good.  And it’s the best way to say, “Thanks, God, for all You do for me.”

In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, the Founding Fathers of this great nation were very aware of Your hand at work in securing our freedom from tyranny and the right to govern ourselves.  Our first president even called for a nation day of prayer on November the 26th in 1789.  Around 80 years later, the third Thursday in November was set aside as a national day of giving thanks for Your many blessings over our land and our peoples.  Thank You, Father, for helping us survive, from our very beginnings.  Thank You for seeing us through harsh winters and devastating droughts.  Thank You for friends and complete strangers who freely offer aid and assistance in our times of trouble and need.  Forgive us, please Father, when we fail to see all that You give us, when we don’t pause long enough to notice.  Forgive us when we focus our time and energies on the wrong things.  Please help us show our thankfulness, in all things, by showing our love to the world, by helping others who are in need, by loving them as we love ourselves.  And Father, please help us remain strong, faithful, and true through all that we face in this age.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for showing us what love looks like through the example of Your own life.  You came to this world that all might be saved, to show just how much God loves us all.  Thank You, Jesus, for showing Your love through Your words and Your works.  Please help us do the same with our lives.  Help us show the world our love, and in doing so, show God how thankful we are for the blessings He pours out on us each and every day.  And Jesus, please heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us remain trusting and obedient no matter what we go through.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.

Setting a Thankful Mood

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday, the 13th of November, 2022, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.]

In our Invocation, Ezra told us to give thanks to the Lord, for He is good and His faithful love for us lasts forever.  God gave of His own Son to offer us eternal life in paradise if we would only accept Jesus as our Lord and follow His voice.  We are truly blessed.  God is good, all the time.  And all the time, God is good.

Our Bible is filled with scripture that tells us to be thankful to our loving God, and there are also passages that explain why we should be thankful.  The Apostle Paul often does both, and even gives us examples of how to show our thankfulness.  Please listen and follow along to what Paul wrote to the Colossians in chapter 3 of his letter to that church in Colossae, verses 12 through 17, and I’ll be reading this from the New Life Version of our Holy Bible…

12 God has chosen you. You are holy and loved by Him. Because of this, your new life should be full of loving-pity. You should be kind to others and have no pride. Be gentle and be willing to wait for others. 13 Try to understand other people. Forgive each other. If you have something against someone, forgive him. That is the way the Lord forgave you. 14 And to all these things, you must add love. Love holds everything and everybody together and makes all these good things perfect. 15 Let the peace of Christ have power over your hearts. You were chosen as a part of His body. Always be thankful.

16 Let the teaching of Christ and His words keep on living in you. These make your lives rich and full of wisdom. Keep on teaching and helping each other. Sing the Songs of David and the church songs and the songs of heaven with hearts full of thanks to God. 17 Whatever you say or do, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus. Give thanks to God the Father through the Lord Jesus.

--Colossians 3:12-17 (NLV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for choosing us to be Your children, to be holy and loved by You.  Without Your steadfast love and faithfulness, we would be forever lost in our sin.  Thank You, loving God, for having mercy upon us and sending Your own Son to redeem us of our sin.  Forgive us, please Father, when we are disobedient, when we stray from the path Jesus set before us.  Forgive us when we don’t stop long enough to realize just how truly blessed we are, when we fail to show our thankfulness.  Please help us show a greater appreciation for all You have done and continue to do for us.  May the teachings and words of our Christ remain fresh and alive within us.  And Father, please protect us from Satan and from those who do his work.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, worship, and service, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Please continue to smile upon us and bless us with Your tender mercies.  And guide us with Your firm hand.  This we pray in the glorious name of Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Do you remember the movie about a “bubble boy” that was based on a true story?  Well, there was a 12 year old boy named David who was born without an immune system.  He underwent a bone marrow transplant in order to correct the deficiency.  Up to that point he had spent his entire life in a plastic bubble in order to prevent exposure to common germs, bacteria, and viruses that could kill him.  He lived without ever knowing human contact.  When asked what he'd like to do if and when released from his protective bubble, he replied, "I want to walk barefoot on grass, and touch my mother's hand." 

How many blessings do we simply take for granted?  How many of us would rejoice to touch a loved-one’s hand again?  Here was a little boy who had never even touched his mother’s hand, never felt her loving embrace, never run barefoot through the grass.  Can you imagine how he would feel if the whole world were finally opened up to him?

Well, we should be able to image it, because this is what we have every day!  Sure, we may not all be able to touch our mother’s hand any longer, but we have memories of doing so.  And yes, we each have our challenges and stumbling blocks to overcome, or at least live with.  But we are able to overcome them, we can live with them, because our loving Father in heaven helps us.  Without His help, without His love, we would be far, far worse off than that boy in the bubble.  We would be forever lost, forever doomed with no hope for a better life for all eternity.  So let us remember just how blessed we are, and let us give thanks to our Lord God.

Family, our national day of Thanksgiving is a little over a week away, so this morning I wanted to set the mood for being thankful.  Because really, we should give thanks every day, and in everything, in every situation, in the good times and the bad.

I don’t think we have very far to look to find something to give thanks for.  We just enjoyed another successful fundraiser.  We remain financially stable as a church when so many others are struggling.  And yes, we worked hard to prepare for and run that fundraiser, yes we have good people watching over our finances and keeping our spending down.  But let us not think for even one moment that any of this is of our own making.  For without God’s blessings, no matter how hard we work or how diligently we perform, anything we try will fail.

Look at our 5K Run for Grace.  We’re a small church.  We knew nothing about hosting a charity run.  And yet every single year, God has smiled on our efforts and blessed us so we could be a blessing to the Workshop.  These are just a few examples of how God has blessed us, in ways both large and small.

Like I said earlier, our Bible provides us with a great deal of information regarding God’s blessings.  The invocation and our church reading both came from the Old Testament, from Ezra and King David.  Let’s look at a few from the New Testament, beginning with James, the brother of Jesus, who tells us why we should be forever thankful in the 1st chapter of his letter to the early church, verses 17 and 18…

17 Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God. He is the One Who made all light. He does not change. No shadow is made by His turning. 18 He gave us our new lives through the truth of His Word only because He wanted to. We are the first children in His family.

--James 1:17-18 (NLV)

God created everything there is, and since God is perfect, everything that comes from Him is perfect.  And because He is good, everything that comes from Him is good.  Anything that is not so good or that is imperfect comes from man’s own efforts, or from Satan.

God does not change; there isn’t even a trace of the slightest change.  And He gave us new life through Jesus because He wanted to, He wanted us to be His children.  Aren’t those pretty good reasons to be thankful?

In case we need more, let’s turn to Jesus Himself.  Jesus always gave thanks to His Father God even for what we might consider the simple things: for reveling the truth to those who will listen (Matthew 11:25, Luke 10:21), before feeding the 5000 and the 4000 (John 6:11, Matthew 15:36, Mark 8:6), when He raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:41), after His resurrection with two disciples headed to Emmaus (Luke 24:30).  Jesus also gave thanks when He instituted what we call the Lord’s Supper, at the last supper that He shared with His disciples on this earth.  Please listen to how the Apostle Luke described that Passover meal, from the 22nd chapter of his Gospel account, verses 14 through 20…

14 When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table. 15 Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before My suffering begins. 16 For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”

17 Then He took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.”

19 He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then He broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”

20 After supper He took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and His people — an agreement confirmed with My blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you."

--Luke 22:14-20 (NLT)

The next three days would be tough on our Lord, and He knew it.  This would be the last time He would share bread and wine with His closest disciples, with the men who had walked alongside Him the last three years.  It was a bittersweet time, for even though the coming hours would be painful, they would offer redemption for man’s sin.

So Jesus paused and gave thanks to God, for the bread and the wine, sure, but also for the role that He would play in the salvation of mankind.  And He reminds us that His blood seals the promise God made with us, this new covenant we now live under.  Our Lord’s blood, poured out as a sacrifice for us.

For my last example, I’d like to return to the writings of Paul, and this time to a letter he wrote to the church in Thessalonica.  Please listen to the instructions Paul left us in the 5th chapter of his 1st letter to the Thessalonians, verses 16 through 18…

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

--1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV)

It really is that simple.  We’ve been given a bunch of reasons why we should be thankful to God, and then Paul boils it down to this: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us.

We should rejoice always in God’s loving mercy.  We should pray without ceasing - for ourselves, for our loved ones, for folks we don’t know but who we know need help, for the persecuted, for the lost, even for our enemies.  And we should give thanks in all things, in every situation, under any circumstance.  No matter what we are going through or about to face, we can find much to give thanks for.  For we are a blessed people.

I think Thanksgiving Day has lost a little of its original purpose.  Instead of being a day for all of America to stop and give thanks to God for His many blessings, for some it has become nothing more than a day or two off from work, an excuse to overeat, a chance to sit back and watch football on TV or play a game in the front yard.

I pray that at least for us, it is more than that.  I also pray that we are truly thankful for all God’s blessing more than just one day a year.  No, instead, let us rejoice always and pray without ceasing.  And let us give thanks in everything, for this is the will of God, in Christ Jesus, for us.

In the blessed name of our Lord Jesus.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God,  You created everything that exists and it is good and perfect because You are good and perfect.  You chose us to be Your children and we are loved by You.  Thank You, Father, for pouring out so many blessings upon us.  Thank You for loving us.  Sadly, Father, we too often take Your blessings for granted, or we don’t actually see them as the blessings they truly are.  Forgive us, please Father, these times of our blindness.  Forgive us when we fail to see all that You give us, when we don’t pause long enough to notice.  Forgive us when we focus our time on the wrong things.  Please continue to smile upon us.  Remind us of all that our Bible says about how blessed we are.  Help us to show our appreciation in righteous ways.  And Father, please help us remain strong, faithful, and true through all that we face in this age.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for setting so many example of how to live a life that is right in God’s eyes.  You came to save us from our sin and give us life everlasting in heaven, and to instruct us on the proper path to follow.  We are a blessed people, and You are our biggest blessing of all.  Thank You, Jesus, for saving us from drowning in our sin.  Please, Lord, strengthen us in our walk through this tumultuous life.  Please give us the courage and the right words to say when we approach others to do as You command us.  Help us be a blessing to them so that they too might live forever.  And Jesus, please heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us remain trusting and obedient no matter what we go through.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.

Seek the Lost

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday, the 6th of November, 2022, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.]

In our Invocation, God said He will search for His sheep and seek out what was lost.  We are all His sheep, His beloved creation.  God would prefer that none would be lost, that all would be saved, but He gave us free will to choose for ourselves how we wish to live this life.  If we truly love Him, we will be saved, while so many are lost.  But there are some who, though they have strayed, may yet be saved if someone intervenes and helps.

A few weeks back, we looked at how Jesus often associated with sinners, and that tax collectors of the day were considered the worst of sinners.  This was because too many of them, being Jews themselves, collected more from their fellow countrymen than was required by the Roman occupiers, just to increase their own personal wealth.  When the Pharisees complained that Jesus spent too much time with these sinners, He told them that anyone would search for something precious that is lost, and so would God.

Zacchaeus was among those Jesus came to search for.  Not only was he a tax collector, but he was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich through his profession.  Please listen and follow along to what happened to Zacchaeus one day, as recorded by the Apostle Luke in chapter 19 of his Gospel account, verses 1 through 10, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 Jesus entered Jericho and made His way through the town. 2 There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. 3 He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.

5 When Jesus came by, He looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” He said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”

6 Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. 7 But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.

8 Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”

9 Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”

--Luke 19:1-10 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for sending Your Son to seek out the lost and offer them salvation.  We were all lost in sin, Father, but we who have accepted Jesus as Your Christ and our Lord are saved.  Thank You, loving God, for having mercy upon us poor sinners.  Forgive us, please Father, when we stray from the path You would have us follow.  Forgive us when we return to some sinful behavior.  Please help us continue the work Jesus started of seeking out the lost and showing them the Way to salvation.  And Father, please protect us from Satan and from those who do his work.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, worship, and service, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Give us keener vision to seek out the lost and strengthen us in our search.  This we pray in the glorious name of Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Joseph M. Stowell reported this little family incident back in the December, 1989, issue of “Moody Monthly” magazine:

We were on our annual Christmas trek to Chicago.  Each year we brought our family to spend time with Grandpa and Grandma and visit the museums.  This year we decided to finish our Christmas shopping at suburban Woodfield Mall.  In the midst of all the fun and excitement, one of us noticed that little three-and-a-half- year-old Matthew was gone.  Terror immediately struck our hearts.  We had heard the horror stories: little children kidnapped in malls, rushed to a rest room, donned in different clothes and altered hairstyle, and then swiftly smuggled out, never to be seen again...  We split up, each taking an assigned location.  Mine was the parking lot.  I'll never forget that night -- kicking through the newly fallen snow, calling out his name at the top of my lungs.  I felt like an abject fool, yet my concern for his safety outweighed all other feelings. 

Unsuccessful, I trudged back to our meeting point.  My wife, Martie, had not found him, nor had my mother.  And then my dad appeared, holding little Matthew by the hand.  Our hearts leapt for joy.  Interestingly enough, Matthew was not traumatized.  He hadn't been crying.  To him, there had been no problem.  I asked my father where he had found him.  “The candy counter,” he replied.  “You should have seen him.  His eyes came just about as high as the candy.  He held his little hands behind his back and moved his head back and forth, surveying all the luscious options.”  Matthew didn't look lost.  He didn't know he was lost.  He was oblivious to the phenomenal danger he was in. 

Mr. Stowell goes on to note that, “This is a candy-counter culture, where people who don't look lost and don't know they're lost live for consumption.”  Too many people seem to live just for consumption, and our entire economy supports their lifestyle.  TV and magazine ads blare out that you simply can’t be happy if you don’t have this new product or the latest fancy thing.  People live for the baubles and gadgets of the world and all that it can offer, a dizzying array of choices.

People are lost in this “gimme-gimme-gimme” mentality, but they’re even more lost in their self-centered spirituality.  They don’t know Jesus.  Some don’t care to know Him.  They’ve heard all about Him but discount it all for rumor and myth.  Some just haven’t gotten the right information, haven’t yet had a chance to personally come to know Jesus.  And there are those who have seen some “Christians” in action and don’t want to be any part of it.

They’re all lost, and don’t even know they’re lost.  They’re glued to the candy counter, eyes focused only on the luscious options before them, oblivious to the horrendous danger they are in.  These are the ones the Son of Man came to seek, and to save.

Getting back to our tax collector, Zacchaeus heard that Jesus had come to town and he wanted to see what all the excitement was about.  Zacchaeus was short, and try as he might, he just couldn’t see through all the people lining the streets.  So he ran on ahead a little ways and climbed up into a tree where he could get a better look.

As Jesus walked by, even with hundreds of faces to His right and left, He easily spotted the little man perched among the branches.  And He called out to him by name: “Zacchaeus, come down out of that tree!”

Whether it was from being recognized and called out by name, or from divine insight that this was God calling him, Zacchaeus was instantly converted and became a believer in Jesus as the Christ.  He repented of his sinful ways and promised to give to the poor and to repay with interest any he had wrongfully taken.  And all his household received salvation that day.  Of course, some of the people grumbled that Jesus was going to be the guest of a notorious sinner, but Jesus answered them that “the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost”.

A little earlier in his Gospel account, Luke recorded Jesus instructing the Pharisees - and us - on the importance of seeking, finding, and saving the lost.  This was part of the scripture reading that I mentioned we heard a few weeks back.  Please listen to what Luke saved for us in the 15th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 1 through 10…

1 Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that He was associating with such sinful people — even eating with them!

3 So Jesus told them this story: 4 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. 6 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!

8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”

--Luke 15:1-10 (NLT)

Even a wicked person, if they have lost something that is dear or precious to them, will search everywhere until they find it.  And if they don’t find it immediately, they never lose hope that it might yet be found.

How much more would God not search for something precious to Him that has become lost?  God created us all and we are all precious to Him, and He never gives up on us.  So when one who is lost is found and returned to His fold, all heaven rejoices.  These who have strayed away from God are the ones Jesus came to call and save.

Family, if we take an honest look at the world today, I think we’d see that Jesus really has His work cut out for Him.  The numbers of lost are huge and growing larger every day.  We may not notice it so much because we mostly associate with and are around the saved.  And we’re in bed and sound asleep when a lot of the wicked roam the world.

But just a few minutes watching TV shows us how self-centered so many people are.  They care only about themselves and what they can get out of this life, giving no consideration to what fate awaits them in the next life.  They have strayed far from the Lord’s path and are now lost.  But are they hopelessly lost?  No, not all of them.  For Jesus came to seek and save those who are lost.

And then He gave the job to us.  Before He left this earth to return to heaven, Jesus commissioned us to go out into the world making disciples, telling others all about Him and what He offers.  This means going into the world of the lost, seeking them out, lovingly telling them that the way to true happiness and eternal life in paradise is only through Jesus.

As Jesus said, the harvest is plentiful.  Let us be counted among the laborers, carrying out the work Jesus assigned us.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God,  You created us, this world we live in, and everything in it.  You love us all and we are precious in Your sight.  Thank You, Father, for caring so much about Your creation.  Sadly, Father, there are too many who don’t believe in You, who refuse to accept You or Your Son, who think of You as only a myth, who care only about themselves.  These are the lost that You sent Your Son to seek out and save.  And the ones He sent us out to rescue.  Thank You for loving us enough to want us all to be saved.  Forgive us, please Father, when we ignore the command Jesus gave us, whether out of fear or temerity, or just because we are too comfortable staying in our own homes where we feel safe and secure.  Forgive us when we focus our time on the wrong things.  Please give us the courage and the strength to carry on the work Jesus began.  Remind us that You created us all and that You love us all, and we should love others, too, love them enough that we want them to be saved as well.  Help us to do what is right in Your sight.  And Father, please help us remain strong, faithful, and true through all that we face in this age.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for coming for us, for seeking us out and offering us salvation.  You came to save us from our sin and give us life everlasting in heaven.  We were weak when You came to us, lost in sin, drowning in our lusts and desires, focused only on ourselves.  Yet You came and offered Your hand, pulling us from the pit of doom and despair.  Thank You, Lord, for saving us from ourselves.  And then You gave us the assignment of paying it forward.  We are to carry on your work of helping others who are lost, showing them the way to salvation.  Please, Lord, strengthen us for this task.  Please give us the courage and the right words to say when we approach others.  Help us be a blessing to them so that they too might live forever.  And Jesus, please heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us remain trusting and obedient no matter what we go through.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.