Pastor: Paula Hemann
Sermon: Getting Dresses For Church Dec. 29th, 2024
1 Samuel 2:18-21, 26
Colossians 3:12-17
Luke 2:41-52
Most of you are familiar with that apostle of possibility thinking, Dr. Robert Schuller. Schuller was best known for his glittering Crystal Cathedral. On one occasion Schuller invited entertainer Pat Boone to sing for his congregation. He introduced Boone by saying that Pat sometimes gets tired of his all-American-boy image. Once a year, said Schuller, Pat Boone checks into a motel under an assumed name, closes the drapes, goes into the closet, and puts on black shoes. The congregation chuckled. They knew that white shoes are Boone's trademark.
Pat Boone came back to the Crystal Cathedral a second time. He remembered what Schuller had said. He told the congregation that Dr. Schuller got tired of his image sometimes, too. "So once a year," Pat claimed, "Robert Schuller checks into a motel under an assumed name, goes to his room, pulls the drapes closed, goes into the closet, shuts the door and shouts: `It's impossible! I can't do it!'" (1) Schuller is famous, as you may know, for having cut the word `impossible' out of his dictionary.
This morning we want to encourage some possibility thinking. We want to explore the possibility that this coming new year will be the best year any of us has ever had.
I realize that for some of You are facing mountains - mountains you are not certain you can climb.
Notice, though, I am not saying that this will be the easiest year we have ever faced.
Only that it can be the best year.
Success cannot always be measured in either accomplishment or accumulation. If the coming year brings us closer to God and closer to our friends, if it helps us value more highly the things that really matter and causes us to appreciate more deeply the gift of simply being alive, it will be a great year regardless of our outer circumstances.
So, let's explore that possibility together--the possibility of a rich and rewarding New Year.
Certainly our text from 1st Samuel is a possibility text.
the narrative highlights the contrasting lives of young Samuel, dedicated to serving God in the tabernacle, and Eli's sons, who are corrupt priests, It emphasizes that even the youngest, Samuel, who was clothed in a linen ephoh was filled with faithfulness and devotion to God even as a child, this passage serves as a strong example of how God can use even the youngest among us to fulfill his purposes when they are fully devoted to him.
Perhaps there is someone here this morning who is of a like mind. You doubt that this can be a great year for you. You feel unqualified, young in your knowledge of the Lord. Here are some reasons why you and I can have the best year ever.
IN THE FIRST PLACE, WE KNOW WHO WE ARE. That's simple enough, but still profound. We are each God's own anointed. We are chosen to come and live on this earth. Like the Marines, they are the few, the proud.
(New Hampton) Today I want to recognize Elliott and Andrea. You are both young but you are necessary for the life of your church and you are Mighty! Our Mighty Methodist Warriors! Elliott & Andrea
We need to be reminded, sometimes, who we are too. We are God's people. We are those for whom Christ died. We belong to the best family in town: God's family.
Family membership is a real advantage in this world, is it not? When Senator Teddy Kennedy first ran for the Senate, his brother Jack was President, and his other brother Bobby was Attorney General. According to one source Teddy told his brother the President that he thought he would change his name. It was too well known politically, he concluded, and he did not wish to hang on to the coat tails of his brothers.
The President asked, "What name are you going to ask for?"
"Well," said Teddy, "I think I'll keep my first name. After all, I'm used to responding to that." "But for the last name I think I'd like Roosevelt." Well, Teddy Roosevelt would be a pretty nice name.
There would be certain advantages to being a Kennedy or a Roosevelt or a Rockefeller. Membership in a prominent family is helpful in this world. I want to suggest to you, however, there is an even greater advantage to those who know themselves to be a part of the family of God.
An unknown poet has written:
I may be young; I may be old,
But I am somebody, For I am God's Child.
I may be educated; I may be unlettered,
But I am somebody, For I am God's Child.
I may be black; I may be white,
But I am somebody, For I am God's Child.
I may be rich; I may be poor,
But I am somebody, For I am God's Child.
I may be fat; I may be thin,
But I am somebody, For I am God's Child.
I may be married; I may be divorced,
But I am somebody, For I am God's Child.
I may be successful; I may be a failure,
But I am somebody, For I am God's Child.
I may be a sinner; I may be a saint,
But I am somebody, For Jesus is my Savior.
I am God's Child!
There is the great secret of life to believe you and I are somebody because we are God's child.
We may not be a Rockefeller or a Kennedy or Roosevelt. No, our parentage is more exalted than that. We have God for our Father! We have a certain innate dignity because of our heritage. We know who we are.
WE ALSO KNOW WHERE WE ARE GOING.
• Our Behavior needs to match our identity
As Christians how we Clothe or behave matches our identity as God's chosen, holy, and loved.
This victorious vision of each other moves us toward its realization, that God blesses his people in wondrous ways. And People we Dress Up Well!
Here again is a great secret of life. People who dree and arrive are those who know where they are going.
General George Patton once told about a Chinese national young man who enlisted in the American army in WWII. This fellow's unit was stationed in Louisiana. As luck would have it this Chinese soldier got lost on one of the maneuvers. Being unable to speak English he couldn't ask where his outfit was located. He was stranded at a crossroads where he attempted to hitch a ride with any army vehicle of any unit. The problem was he tried to use his index finger to hitch a ride instead of motioning backward with his thumb.
You can guess what happened. An army convoy approached. The Chinese soldier pointed his index finger down one of the roads at the crossroads. The driver of the first vehicle didn't stop since he thought the soldier was directing traffic. When the convoy failed to stop, the young Chinese soldier moved to another road and with the next convoy pointed down the new road. According to Patton, in one afternoon, this soldier split army units so badly by pointing down one road and then another that it took them over a week to locate all of the troops! Troops, trucks and tanks were scattered all over Louisiana and Texas! (2)
Some people spend their lives going first down one road and then another. They wander nowhere in particular and then wonder why they never get anywhere.
May I suggest that as we start this new year, we write down a description of the things we really would like to accomplish?
Let's give ourselves a roadmap.
What are some goals we really would like to attain?
Spend more time with our family?
Project ourselves more forcefully on the job?
Devote more time to the service of God?
Paint a picture in your own mind of where you would like to be this time next year. Write down your goals and refer to them from time to time.
We will travel more surely in this new year if we know where we are going.
We have leaders in their God Given Fields right here in this church that provide us with direction:
I will call forward the following:
All of you here ensure that the many needs within our community and throughout the world are reached as we guide each other to the areas of most Need!
And let's make certain our goals are worthy goals.
In the spring of 1608 the settlers at Jamestown, Virginia discovered gold. At least they thought they did. They almost totally abandoned any efforts at planting crops, preparing buildings, and readying themselves for winter. They had found gold and devoted themselves to steadily digging out and washing the precious metal. The colonists probably would not even have survived the summer and fall if the Indians had not fed them.
However, they were able to send a ship back to England with a heavy load of the metal for which they had labored all spring. Unfortunately their gold turned out to be iron pyrite, also called "fools' gold." They had given their time, their talent, and all their energies to "fool's gold."
The colonists could say the name "fools' gold" had special meaning for them. For not only had they been deceived by the worthless lookalike mineral, but they had foolishly abandoned everything they needed for life in a quest that would have made no sense even if their discovery had indeed been real gold. (3)
Is that not a parable of the way many people spend their lives?
Stocking up fool's gold.
Ignoring the really important matters in life until it is too late.
We can have a great new year if we know who we are and if we know where we are going.
AND, FINALLY, IF WE KNOW WHO GOES WITH US. Jesus seemed lost to his Parents, but not to the child, Jesus. He understood that he had a Higher Purpose, so he went to His Father’s House to listen, to learn, and to inquire to Gain Understanding. Jesus Hope was in God.
Somewhere I've read that among some Native American tribes an interesting rite took place in every little boy's life, a rite designed to help the boy learn the courage of manhood.
When he was very little, he was taken out into the forest to spend the night alone. Left with nothing but a knife for protection, he was required to remain silent as he awaited whatever horrors the night might bring.
The next morning, however, he was greeted with a delightful surprise. He found that his father had been standing and watching all through the night, with bow and arrow ready lest something hurtful should happen to his son.
Many of us have discovered something like that in the midst of our own long, difficult nights. Someone was watching over us all through the night. That one is our Lord Jesus Christ!
Mrs. C.D. Martin wrote a song about it. With her husband, she was visiting Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle of Elmira, New York.
The Doolittles were both physically handicapped.
Their souls were still strong, however.
They radiated such joy that the Martins inquired about its source.
Mrs. Doolittle responded with pride, "His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me!"
Mrs. Martin was so taken by the response that she went home and that same day arranged those touching words into a lovely Gospel hymn that Ethel Waters immortalized. "His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me!"
How can this be any other than a great year? We know who we are. We know where we are going. We know who's going with us, and Best of All, We’re in this Together, Amen
