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<DIV>Sermons for Proper 9: </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 –
<STRONG>“How to Get the Job Done” </STRONG></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 –
<STRONG>“In Prayer’s Way”</STRONG> by Leonard Sweet</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Luke 10 - the sermon titled "How to Get
the Job Done" </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">It's a startling fact but true -- Jesus and
politicians have a lot in common. This no doubt comes as a surprise to those who
regard politics as a dirty business, or who think of politicians essentially as
liars, and who believe steadfastly that politics and religion don't mix.
Nonetheless, Jesus and the politicians have a lot in common.<BR><BR>When you
think of it, politicians get elected by promising us something better. A few
years ago President Reagan was elected and then re-elected by asking the public,
"Are you better off now than four years ago?" The first time, the people
answered, "no," and elected Reagan for the promise of something better. Four
years later they responded "yes" to the question and elected Reagan for another
term in hope for an even better four years. <BR><BR>Jesus and politicians do
have a lot in common. Not always, however. A little girl asked her mother
whether all fairy tales began with, "Once upon a time." "No," replied the
mother. "Today most of them begin with 'If I'm elected.' "Jesus made promises,
but not like that.<BR><BR>Was Jesus, 2,000 years ago, promising something
better? Indeed he was. He said he had come to bring in the kingdom of God, the
rules of God's righteousness in the world. For 900 years, Jews had been hoping
for a restoration of the glorious kingdom of David and Solomon. For 500 years
they had been longing for an end to foreign tyranny and a return to prosperity
and freedom. And in Jesus' time the longings and expectations were at an
all-time high.<BR><BR>For Jews of that time, the hopes of a better life were
often focused on a Messiah, a new King David who would come and restore their
good fortune. Others spoke of a messianic age about to arrive, the coming of the
kingdom of God, a time when God would reign supreme over his people, and freedom
and prosperity and the good life would be enjoyed. It would also be a time when
righteousness and justice and peace would prevail.<BR><BR>Had there been people
who claimed to be the promised Messiah? Indeed there had been, 3. And the
Romans, then occupying Judea and Palestine, promptly disposed of them. But now
Jesus appears on the scene, announcing far and wide that the kingdom of God is
at hand, and that he is God's agent to bring in his kingdom, the new and better
life.<BR><BR>Not only is Jesus like politicians in promising a new and better
way, he is like them in his struggle to get the word out to all the people, to
announce the kingdom is coming, to raise expectations and to prepare them to
receive Jesus' message. Without newspapers, radios and television, how do you
get the job done? You do it in person and you delegate emissaries, advance men,
to prepare the way and to excite anticipation for Jesus' arrival and for his
message of hope.<BR><BR>Politicians could learn from Jesus, and so could
businesses and churches. For would we not all agree, he got the job done! After
all, one-fourth of today's world population, a billion plus people, claim to be
Jesus' people. And that doesn't even count the millions who have preceded us in
the previous 20 centuries.<BR><BR>How do we get the job done in our time? Our
text gives us clues. Here they are. The first thing we learn from Jesus
is...</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">1. We Must Delegate.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">2. We Must Discover New Opportunities.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">3. We Must Dedicate Ourselves to the
Task.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The rest of this sermon following the outline
above can be obtained by joining <A title=blocked::www.eSermons.com
href="http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/admin/FCKeditor/editor/dialog/www.eSermons.com">www.eSermons.com</A>.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">_______________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Luke 10 - the sermon titled “In Prayer’s Way”
by Leonard Sweet]</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Who is our newest parent here this morning? . .
. How old is your baby? May I hold him/her? Let’s bow our heads and offer a
prayer of blessing for this child . . .</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">This little baby is embarking on a journey. And
it’s an awesome journey to be a part of. All new parents here - is there
anything as exciting as watching your baby go from a snuggly little lump you
cradle in your arms to a roller, then a crawler, then a “cruiser,” and finally a
walker?</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Babies seem absolutely driven to get on their
feet. No matter how many times they tumble and topple, crash and burn, bump and
bruise, babies in the “cruiser” stage keep letting go with their hands and start
moving their feet. Standing upright, walking and running with a straight back
and straight legs — those are the marks of the human being. It is this posture
that sets us apart from all other living creatures on earth.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Or is it?</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">There is another position that reveals even
more about the uniqueness of being human. Standing up defines our most
remarkable physical gift. Kneeling down reveals our most miraculous spiritual
gift.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">If you’re a disciple of Jesus, to move up, move
down. The future is on our knees. The future is knee-deep. The future is bottoms
up. We don’t know when we’re stretching on our tip-toes. We know on our knees.
The depths are knee-deep. And we’re weak in the knees.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Repeat after me: insects crawl [response:
insects crawl]; fish swim [response: fish swim]; birds fly [response: birds
fly]; humans pray [response: humans pray]. Let’s do that again: Praying,
with body, heart, mind, and soul, is the hallmark of humanity. So why is it that
although we spend just one year learning how to stand on our own two feet, it
can take us a lifetime to learn how to get back down on our knees?</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Almost all churches used to hold weekly “prayer
meetings” — a time set aside, not for a sermon, not for singing, not for
announcements, but a time just for prayer. A time to be down on our knees, head
bowed, heart open, listening for the “still, small voice” and sometimes hearing
the thunder roll.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">What kind of “meetings” do we hold now? We’ve
given up our “prayer meetings” for planning meetings and committee meetings:
strategic planning meetings, long-range-planning meetings, curriculum meetings,
worship planning meetings, budget meetings, mission and outreach meetings.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">In the traditional Quaker “meeting,” prayer
time was silent — each soul a quietly opened door, each spirit tuned to a
frequency that didn’t register in the human ear.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">In other traditions prayer time is when “the
thunder rolls.” During prayer time in Korean churches, called tongsong kido, the
thousands of gathered worshipers pray simultaneously out loud — but not the same
prayer. The sound of all those voices, all those prayers, flowing out into the
sanctuary seem to physically fill the air with prayer. In those congregations
the prayer you breathe out will not be the same prayer you breathe back in.
Respiration brings transformation.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Maybe the church today needs a
conversion…</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The rest of Leonard Sweet's sermon can be
obtained by joining <A title=http://www.sermons.com/
href="http://www.sermons.com/"><FONT
color=#800080>www.Sermons.com</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">________________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The Kingdom of God Is Here</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The main message of these 72 workers is the
simple declaration “The kingdom of God is near.” Dallas Willard once said that
when he was a young boy, rural electrification was taking place throughout the
United States. For the first time ever, tall poles popped up across the
landscape of the countryside with huge electric wires strung from pole to pole
to pole. But initially at least, not everyone trusted electricity and so not a
few rural families opted (for a time) to not hook up. They heard the messages of
the electric company of how much easier life would be with electric washing
machines replacing hand-cranked wringers and electric vacuum cleaners bringing
to an end the old practice of hauling heavy carpets outside to have the dirt
beaten out of them. They heard these promises but did not trust or believe
them.<BR> <BR>So in a sense, Willard wrote, you could have said to those
folks, “My friends, electricity is at hand!” But if they opted to not tap into
that power that was running right over their heads, then the nearness of the
power would do them no good. Maybe the message of the kingdom’s nearness was
like that. With Jesus in the world, the kingdom of God was near, at hand. All
the goodness and glory and power of that kingdom was right there, but if they
kept it at arm’s length, it would do them no good. Their lack of participation
did not weaken the power of the kingdom. But it did land them in an unhappy (and
unnecessary) spiritual situation of staying in the dark when the light of the
world was right there.<BR> <BR>Scott Hoezee, Comments and
Observations<BR>_____________________________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Gifts of Time… Sabbatical or Study Grants for
Pastoral Leaders at <A href="http://www.louisville-institute.org/"><FONT
color=#800080>www.louisville-institute.org</FONT></A> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">_______________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Jesus and Moses Both Delegated</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Delegation is more difficult than it sounds.
Delegation is especially difficult for talented and extraordinary leaders, and
even more difficult for leaders who seem to have a special calling from
God.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">That was the case with Moses some 13 centuries
before Christ. After successfully leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt
toward freedom in the Promised Land, Moses had problems with a somewhat
rebellious and cantankerous group.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">So he complained to God, "I am not able to
carry all these people alone, the burden is too heavy for me" (Numbers 11:14).
In fact, Moses was so discouraged he asked God to kill him unless he helped
him.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">So God asked Moses to gather 70 men whom he
knew to be natural leaders and officers and to bring them to the tent of
meeting, where God manifested his presence. God said, "I will come down and talk
with you there; and I will take some of the spirit which is upon you and put it
upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may
not bear it yourself alone" (Numbers 11:17). So God's spirit did come upon the
70 and Moses had people to whom he could delegate responsibility and
leadership.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Thirteen centuries later, Jesus uses the same
number -- 70 -- to recruit men to help him spread the word about the new kingdom
of God. If Moses and the 70 elders were developing the Old Israel, Jesus and the
70 were about to develop the New Israel.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=4
face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Maurice A. Fetty, The Divine Advocacy, CSS
Publishing Company</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">___________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Seeing the Kingdom</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">One of the worst things that can be said of
people is that greatness passed by, and they did not recognize it. Yet in the
words of Henry David Thoreau:</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The morning wind forever blows;<BR>The poem of
creation is uninterrupted;<BR>But few are the ears that hear it.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Every one of us here this morning has at one
time felt that morning wind blowing by; every one of us has been privy to that
uninterrupted poem of creation. Yet how many of our ears have really heard it;
how many of our eyes have truly seen it? What is preventing us from seeing the
kingdom of God and letting it into our lives?</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Leonard Sweet, Collected Sermons, <A
href="http://www.sermons.com/"><FONT
color=#800080>www.Sermons.com</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">_________________________________________</DIV>
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