Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
yesterday afternoon at one o'clock we had a beautiful wedding celebration here
wouldn't you guys say so back there?
Because at least part of the family including the bride and the groom Jared and Melissa
are right there.
twenty two hours and they're still married. (Applause)
it was a beautiful celebration and the beautiful flowers here before the altar
are a wonderful testimony to the beauty of the celebration yesterday
but if haven't had a wedding in your family recently you may not understand all
work and planning
that goes into such a beautiful of that
now Melissa the the bride yesterday was a good example of a good planner.
she had a all of the details covered including when I walked into the men's restroom
on Friday for the rehersal and again
on Saturday for the wedding- there was a basket of toiletries right there on the counter
just in case someone might need
like a needle and thread
you never know you might pop a button off your jacket
there was deodorant and hair gel and breath mints and gum
and
a lot of stuff
in there and
with all that
Melissa,
do you remember Friday night the question I asked you?
Were you a girl scout?
and she said yes
you know what the girl scout and the boy scout motto is
"be prepared"
and so
Melissa and Jared are living up to that motto.
and they had prepared everything
they wanted everything to be just so for their family and for their friends.
It was a very beautiful celebration.
Those words be prepared might also be a good way of thinking about the gospel that we
encounter this morning from luke's gospel
which is actually a continuation of the gospel that we heard last week
now last week at the center of the gospel was a parable
some call it the parable of the foolish, rich man.
remember him? He's the guy who had so much stuff he decided to tear down his old barns
and buildings build new ones in order to hold all this stuff
now he felt it was important to keep all of his stuff in the bigger barns
because you know after all that meant that he was blessed by God that life was good because
he could eat drink and be merry and keep all his stuff to himself
in bigger barns that he was building
of course what he didn't count on
was the fact
but before he could finish all of this the lord would call him home
that very night that he was so busy
patting himself on the back
the gospel today connects very beautifully
with that and continues the idea
that the blessings that we know are not meant to be hoarded or kept to ourselves, the blessings
that we have, the gifts that we have come to us from God
are not meant to be kept in greed but
to be shared
and that we are called to be good stewards of the things that the master puts into
our stewardship
but the other thing that this gospel brings to the fore-is something that we find
a little uncomfortable to think about at times
that is that we need to be prepared
not only
to be good stewards but
we need to be prepared that will there will be a day when each one of us
when we come
face to face with God. 0:03.34.169,0:03:38.469 Jesus will come for at the time of death and we will see him
face to face
or perhaps God willing for some of us might be alive at the time
the end of this created world when
Jesus returns in glory and the kingdom is fully and finally established
that's uncomfortable thing sometimes for us to think about either our mortality or
the fact that this created world is a passing reality
but it's something that Jesus reminds us that is important
and that we ought to live our lives each and every day it's that as good stewards
that the gifts that we've been given by God, his father
Taking care not to keep those gifts to ourselves
but to share them in the ways that
they meant to be shared
there was a woman who a number of years ago
like so many young people went of to New York City hoping for fame and fortune
she was hoping to strike it rich and to make it in new York
well after about six weeks time
when the strike it rich in the make it big dream did not seem to be possible
she suddenly discovered that the job she came to New York for
vanished
she was let go
she didn't have money now for rent or for food
and she was hungry and one day she was walking along the street in new York
she happen just by a small restaurant
she went up to the counter and asked the man at the counter
sir
would you make a sandwich for me?
if you do that
i'll spend the rest of the day here at the restaurant and wash dishes as repayment
Well the man made a very large sandwich for her
and as she watched him prepare the sandwich she noticed that he
reached into his pocket
pull out some money
and put it in the til
to pay for the sandwich
the man used his own money
to pay for that gift
that he was giving to her
the sandwich nourished her
fast forward though about twenty five years later
the young woman
stuck it out
she did make it
She struck it rich and wound up being a very successful business owner
in New York
for twenty five years
she shared her wealth but there was always something that she knew
she needed to do
then one afternoon in the winter she was walking along the street in New York city
she happened to spot
a homeless man sitting on the curb
he obviously been homeless for some time he was obviously cold and hungry
she walked up to him
and told him
that she would like to take into a restaurant nearby and get him
a good meal
well the man protested
but she insisted
the man protested even more using vulgarity be ready
which caught the attention of a policeman who was walking his beat
that day
the policeman stepped over and he too encouraged the man to take up the woman's
invitation
to go over to the restaurant and have a warm meal
together the three of them make their way to the restaurant
the woman ordered
the meal for the man and a cup of coffee
for the policeman
as the homeless man was seated at the table eating the meal in the restaurant
the woman looked him square in the face and she said you may not remember me
but I remember you
twenty five years ago in this very restaurant
I was hungry
and you fed me
and I noticed that you paid for that food out of your own pocket
I never once forgot the kindness that you extended to a complete stranger
and I have made it my mission in
these twenty five years
to make sure that I take care of people like yourself
but I have been on a special mission to see if I could find you
to thank you for your generosity
and then she opened her purse took out a piece of paper and wrote
a name
an address
and a phone number
go to this address
there you are going to find a man named Fred
Fred helps to take care of things around our office building
Fred will give you a job
and fred will also give you an advance on your wages
so that you might have a place to live
what a wonderful way repaying a gift
she had been given so many years before
what a wonderful way to be a good steward of the gifts that she had been given
working hard to pay forward and to pay back
the generosity
that she had been the recipient of once upon a time
that story and Jesus'challenge to us in the gospel this morning
first of all calls us to think how are we in terms of saying thank you to God for the
many blessings that we know
How are we to
the people around us for saying thank you for the blessings they share
with us
How are we
working hard
to use the blessings that we have
to help those in need?
to cooperate with god's grace to be to be good stewards of his gifts
the creation that he gives us
to help his kingdom
move just little bit more fully
and firmly
into the world
but it also
should help us to bear in mind
we need to be prepared
but there will be a day
when we stand before Jesus
and he looks upon us and we upon him
and we should hope
and we should pray
and we should act
so that when the lord might say to us as he said the faithful servant
well done
good and faithful steward