DON’T GET CAUGHT IN THE RETURN LINE
(All my sermons use illustrations found at www.sermoncentral.com and all scripture is NIV unless otherwise noted)
Wow, it is Christmas time already! I know that I have waited until now to preach about Christmas, but this year I will only be doing 2 Christmas sermons, today and next week, the day after Christmas. As I thought about my sermon schedule, I probably should have preached this sermon next week, because it is really about the day after Christmas. In years gone by, the day after Christmas was very busy at the stores because people would rush to return the gifts they had received for Christmas. Now many stores had made it nearly impossible to return gifts without the receipt and jumping through hoops, BUT, I have always been amused and puzzled at how people would return gifts that they received because of the love of a friend or relative.
Christmas is a time when we celebrate the greatest gift ever given to mankind, Jesus, the Son of God. He was given to us as payment for our sins BUT many who receive Jesus, look for ways to return Him. Some will never accept this great gift, it seems to easy to them. Some will accept the gift but never use it, and others will accept the gift and look for a way to return it.
There is a great article that illustrates the concept of grace written by Charles Stanley. “One of my more memorable seminary professors had a practical way of illustrating to his students the concept of grace. At the end of his evangelism course he would distribute the exam with the caution to read it all the way through before beginning to answer it. This caution was written on the exam as well. As we read the test, it became unquestionably clear to each of us that we had not studied nearly enough. The further we read, the worse it became. About halfway through, audible groans could be heard through out the lecture hall. On the last page, however, was a note that read, "You have a choice. You can either complete the exam as given or sign your name at the bottom and in so doing receive an A for this assignment."
Wow? We sat there stunned. "Was he serious? Just sign it and get an A?" Slowly, the point dawned on us, and one by one we turned in our tests and silently filed out of the room.
When I talked with the professor about it afterward, he shared some of the reactions he had received through the years. Some students began to take the exam without reading it all the way through, and they would sweat it out for the entire two hours of class time before reaching the last page.
Others read the first two pages, became angry, turned the test in blank, and stormed out of the room without signing it. They never realized what was available, and as a result, they lost out totally.
One fellow, however, read the entire test, including the note at the end, but decided to take the exam anyway. He did not want any gifts; he wanted to earn his grade. And he did. He made a C+, but he could easily have had an A.
This story illustrates many people’s reaction to God’s solution to sin. Some people look at God’s standard--moral and ethical perfection--and throw their hands up in surrender. Why even try? they tell themselves. I could never live up to all that stuff
Others are like the student who read the test through and was aware of the professor’s offer but took the test anyway. Unwilling to simply receive God’s gift of forgiveness, they set about to rack up enough points with God to earn it.
But God’s grace truly is like the professor’s offer. It may seem unbelievable, but if we accept it, then, like the stunned students who accepted the professor’s offer, we, too, will discover that, Yes, God’s grace truly is free. All we have to do is accept it.
This morning, if you have your Bible turn with me to Luke 2:8-14
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
PRAYER
I. JESUS, THE GREATEST GIFT EVER GIVEN
GOOD NEWS folks, God in His infinite wisdom knew He could not be reconciled to mankind in their sin, so He sent His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ, to minister to us and tell us of the way of salvation. Jesus taught us about God’s truly amazing grace, He showed us that we could have this gift, and that is what it is, A GIFT, if we so chose to have it. Paul reminds us; Eph 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
Could there be a better gift? If you think that Grace is not a great gift, just trying giving grace to someone, it is not always easy. It seems that one day a kindergarten teacher was helping one of her students put on his cowboy boots?
He asked for help and she could see why. Even with her pulling and him pushing, the little boots still didn’t want to go on. Finally, when the second boot was on, she had worked up a sweat. She almost cried when the little boy said, "Teacher, they’re on the wrong feet." She looked down and sure enough, they were. It wasn’t any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. But she managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on - this time on the right feet. And it was only then that he announced, "These aren’t my boots." She bit her tongue rather than scream, "Why didn’t you say so?" like she wanted to. And, once again she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off his little feet. No sooner had they got the boots off then he said, "They’re my brother’s boots. My Mom made me wear ’em today." Stifling a scream, she mustered up the grace and courage she had left to wrestle the ill-fitting boots on his feet again. Helping him into his coat, she asked, "Now, where are your mittens?" To which he replied, "I stuffed ’em in the toes of my boots."
The article ends by saying - Her trial starts next month.
The grace of God, given only through the acceptance of Jesus as our personal Savior is the greatest gift ever given to mankind and yet many line up, in the ruturn line to give Jesus back, as if they just don’t need Him.
II. YET MANY LINE UP IN THE RETURN LINE
John 6:66-69 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
The scripture is clear, verse 66 says many of the followers of Jesus stopped following Him. Jesus was teaching them and they did not want to accept the teachings, He knew some would not believe and those were the ones that stopped following Him.
The Bible tells us that we must remain in Jesus. We must show what side we are on by where we abide.
You abiding reveals whose side you are on. In the book The Sacred Romance, author Brent Curtis writes this: If I’m not abiding in Jesus, then where is it that I abide? I once asked myself. I began to notice that when I was tired or anxious, there were certain sentences I would say in my head that led me to a familiar place. The journey to this place would often start with me walking around disturbed, feeling as if there was something deep inside that I needed to put into words but couldn’t quite capture. I felt the "something" as anxiety, loneliness, and a need for connection with someone. If no connection came, I would start to say things like, "Life really stinks. Why is it always so hard? It’s never going to change." If no one noticed I was struggling or asked me what was wrong, I found my sentences shifting to a more cynical level: "Who cares? Life is a joke." Surprisingly, by the time I was saying those last sentences, I was feeling better. The anxiety was greatly diminished.
My comforter, my abiding place, was cynicism and rebellion. From this abiding place, I would feel free to use some soul cocaine watching a violent video with maybe a little sexual titillation thrown in, having more alcohol with a meal than I might normally drink things that would allow me to feel better for a little while. I had always thought of these things as just bad habits. I began to see they were much more; they were spiritual abiding places that were my comforters and friends in a very spiritual way.
The final light went on one evening when I read John 15:7 in The Message. Peterson translates Jesus’ words on abiding this way: "If you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon." Jesus was saying in answer to my question, "I have made my home in you, Brent. But you still have other comforters you go to. You must learn to make your home in me."
Where are you making your home, where are you abiding? Where you abide tells whose side you are on.
That scripture says this in the Message, a translation by Peterson:
John 15:5-6 say this: “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered and thrown on the bonfire.”
Folks, let me explain this, and please read it for yourself so that you know this is not just my opinion. We have already read in John 6 that some who followed Jesus, His Disciples, STOPPED following Him when the teaching got tough. Here Jesus says that when we are JOINED with Him, when we accept God’s great gift of Christmas, we are sure to have an ABUNDANT harvest, that is when we are in a intimate relationship with Jesus, life is good. However, Jesus says this: ANYONE WHO SEPARATES FROM ME, that means simply, anyone that goes to the return line to give back this great gift my Father offers is; DEADWOOD. And deadwood is gathered and thrown into the fire.
Now, I know that many believe that once we accept Jesus and start a relationship with Him, that’s it. We would never return the gift, we would never separate from him, we would never leave him or stop following Him, but the scripture says differently.
1 Tim 1:18-20 Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, 19 holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. 20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.
DON’T GET CAUGHT IN THE RETURN LINE!! Some have rejected holding on to faith and a good conscience, how about you.
That leave us with one final thing to discuss this morning, we have seen that God provides the greatest gift of ALL, His grace given through an intimate relationship with His Son, one that is full of faith and love. We have seen that some get caught returning that great gift, shipwrecking themselves because they decide to no longer follow Jesus, they decide to no longer remain on the Vine and are in turn counted as dead wood. They end up being handed over to Satan. But HOW? Glad you asked that question.
III. HOW DOES ONE FIND THEMSELF IN THE RETURN LINE?
There are many ways, but let’s look at the scripture for a few ways we are warned about, first of all we lose our focus, we start paying attention to other things that are less important then the Word, which is Jesus, and we in turn drift away.
Heb 2:1 We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
It happens all the time, in our world we tell our children to look both ways before crossing the street, but they get complacent and they forget, or a ball goes into the street and they do not pay attention. ALL of us have heard time and time again what it is that God wants from us, He wants us to meet together, to bring His name glory, to evangelize the lost, to give back to Him a tenth of what He so richly blesses us with, but we aren’t paying attention and we begin to drift away.
Have you ever wondered why a pigeon walks so funny? According to an interesting article in the Detroit Free Press, a pigeon walks the way it does so it can see where it’s going. Because it can’t adjust its focus as it moves, the pigeon actually has to bring its head to a complete stop between steps in order to refocus. This is the way it walks: head forward, stop; head back, stop. Don’t laugh -- that’s how it goes!
In our spiritual walk with the Lord we have the same problem as the pigeon. We have a hard time seeing while we’re moving. We also need to stop between steps -- to refocus on where we are in relation to the World and the will of God. That’s not to say we have to stop and pray and meditate about every little decision in life. But certainly our walk with the Lord needs to have built into it a pattern of "stops," which enable us to see more clearly before moving on.
Another reason we end up in the return line with the greatest gift ever given is we forget what our obligations are.
Rom 8:12-14 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation-but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,
Paul is not speaking of physical life here, he is saying that if we forget that our obligation is to the Spirit of God, then we will die spiritually. Our obligation is to Jesus, to live according to the Spirit, the gift of the Holy Spirit that Jesus gives to us when we begin a personal and intimate relationship with Him. We have an obligation when we accept Jesus as Lord of our lives, it is not just a gift that we accept and put on a shelf somewhere.
In the movie “City Slickers,” Billy Crystal plays a confused, dissatisfied thirty-something character with a vague sense that life is passing him by. Jack Palance- ancient, leathery, wise to the ways of the world (“a saddlebag with eyes”) – asks Crystal if he would like to know the secret of life.
“it’s this,” Palance says, holding up a single finger.
“The secret of life is your finger?” asks Crystal.
“It’s one thing,” Palance replies. “The secret of life is pursuing one thing.”
Somehow this resonates deeply with Billy Crystal’s character. His life is scattered. He is torn between his obligation to his family and his desire for career advancement; between his need for security and his appetite for excitement. He is divided somehow. His life is about many things, and so, he senses, it is about nothing.
It’s about one thing! Our obligation to God, then all other things will fall into place. The Bible tells us, Matt 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Finally this morning, another way we might find ourselves in the return line, giving back the greatest gift ever received, is we simply FORGET.
Deut 8:11-16 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock.
Pride gets in the way, God blesses our lives as we celebrate Christmas, remembering that He sent His one and Only Son to the world that we might have eternal life and we FORGET. We fail to do as He commands because we think we have it all worked out now. We are blessed and say to others LOOK, WHAT I HAVE DONE. It is easy to allow pride to get in the way of using the great gift God shares with us. It is easy to act as if God is not important because we have everything we need.
I envy Kevin. He thinks God lives under his bed. One night he was praying out loud in his bedroom, and I stopped to listen, "Are you there, God?" he said. "Where are you? Oh, Under the bed..." I laughed & tiptoed to my room. My brother Kevin’s unique perspectives are often a source of amusement. But that night something lingered long after the humor. I realized for the first time the very different world in which Kevin lives. He was born 30 years ago, mentally disabled due to problem in labor. Apart from his size (he’s 6-foot-2) there are few ways in which he’s an adult. He reasons and communicates with the capabilities of a 7-year-old, and always will. He’ll probably always believe God lives under his bed, Santa Claus fills the space under the Christmas tree and that airplanes stay up in the sky because angels carry them. I remember wondering if Kevin realizes he is different. Is he ever dissatisfied with his monotonous life?
Up before dawn each day, off to the workshop for the disabled, home to walk the dog & eat his favorite macaroni/cheese dinner, and later to bed. The only variation in the routine is laundry, when he hovers excitedly over the washer like a mother with her newborn child. He does not seem dissatisfied. He lopes out to the bus every morning at 7:05, eager for a day of simple work. He wrings his hands excitedly while the water boils on the stove before dinner. He stays up late twice a week to gather our dirty laundry for his next day’s laundry chores. And oh, the bliss of Saturdays! That day my Dad takes Kevin to the airport to have a soft drink, watch the planes land, and speculate loudly on the destination of the passengers. "That one’s goin’ to Chi-car-go!" Kevin shouts as he claps his hands.
His anticipation is so great he can hardly sleep on Friday nights.
And so goes his world of daily rituals and weekend field trips. He doesn’t know what it means to be discontent. His life is simple.
He will never know the entanglements of wealth of power.
He doesn’t care what brand of clothing he wears or what kind of food he eats.
His needs have always been met, and he never worries that one day they may not be.
His hands are diligent. Kevin is never so happy as when he’s working.
When he unloads the dishwasher or vacuums the carpet, his heart is completely in it.
He does not shrink from a job when it is begun, and he does not leave a job until it is finished. But when his tasks are done, Kevin knows how to relax. He’s not obsessed with his work or the work of others. His heart is pure. He still believes everyone tells the truth, promises must be kept, and when you are wrong, you apologize instead of argue.
Free from pride, unconcerned with appearances, Kevin’s not afraid to cry when he’s hurt, angry or sorry.
He’s always transparent, always sincere. He trusts God.
Not confined by intellectual reasoning, when he comes to Christ he comes as a child.
Kevin seems to know God - to really be friends with Him in a way that is difficult for an "educated" person to grasp.
God seems like his closest companion.
In my moments of doubt and frustrations with my Christianity I envy the security Kevin has in his simple faith.
It is then that I am most willing to admit that he has some divine knowledge that rises above my mortal questions. It is then I realize that perhaps he is not the one with the handicap, I am. My obligations, my fear, my pride, my circumstances – they all become disabilities…when I do not trust them to God’s care.
Who knows if Kevin comprehends things I can never learn? After all, he’s spent his whole life in that kind of innocence,
praying after dark and soaking up the goodness and love of God.
And one day, when the mysteries of heaven are opened, and we are all amazed at how close God really is to our hearts,
I’ll realize that God heard the simple prayers of a boy who believed that God lived under his bed. And Kevin won’t be surprised at all!
As a child receives a gift for Christmas, we too must receive Christ. He comes to us as a gift from the Father, a gift of grace and love. We need to be careful that we do not find ourselves in the return line giving back the greatest gift of all. We MUST continue to follow Jesus, never allowing our focus to shift. We need to remain in Him, not allowing ourselves to neglect our obligation. And we need to never separate from the Vine by simply forgetting what he has done for us and what He asks of us as His children.
INVITATION
