Fifth Sunday In Lent
Sun 28, March 2004
("Together In Mission" weekend)
Isaiah 43:16-21
Psalm 28:1-3, 6-9
Phillipians 3:8-14
Luke 20:9-19
Sermon: (Frank Eberhardt)
A guest speaker can offer a challenge, then leave.
When a person says they are "never satisfied, this can either be a good thing or a bad thing.
An insurance salesman in Rock Spring Montana. Determined to make a name for himself and his company, he got money and bought a yacht. He worked 75 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, and Sunday he spent making phone calls for next week. He lost his wife and kids. The second wife threatened to take the baby and leave. Some people just want "my slice of the American dream," and aren't satisfied until they can get it. They know how to work, but not how to be a friend. They don't know how to share, they only know how to make money. They don't know how to make life, just money.
Life is when you recognize the giver of life. We're here to glorify God. This is the spirit of God. God is pro life, pro peace, pro joy, not anti-success. God isn't satisfied. He desires that all turn from sin. God won't be satisfied until everyone calls Jesus lord. The people in the Old Testament were dissatisfied with God. Moses led them, trying to change them. They saw the presence of God, they ate manna and quails, and it was talked about for centuries. Isaiah wrote that they should "forget the former things." This is what God says. New challenges abound. New possibilities. We should forget the former things, forget our past successes and failures. God gives us second chances.
St. Paul was dissatisfied with the idea that we've done all we can do. Paul sees an area of growth that's always growing. Be content with what you have. Never be satisfied with what you are as a child of God.
Pastor held a baby with stage 4 brain damage. It turned out well. The hospital, all the equipment, tons of everything they need, the surgeries often are successful. It used to be that a heart bypass was dangerous, but now we do thousands.
The medical industry is never satisfied. The field, as well as the world, suffers from an "are we there yet" mentality. We make amusement park rides that go thousands of feet in the air. Firemen rescue people, but they're never satisfied, they always find more people to rescue.
A man called the pastor for missionary work. Pastor wanted him out of there, but the man wouldn't take no for an answer. He had enthusiasm. At a fundraiser, he had already collected twelve thousand dollars.
A woman named Christen Schmalts went to Sierra Leone. She had to learn French and the dialects and she served there as a doctor in a hospital. She was a doctor of all trades. The country was at war. She was a single woman. It was very dangerous. But she was determined. It was a forest area in a third world Moslem country. They had little tolerance for Christianity. They disowned family members who converted, possibly killed them. Women were seen, not heard. If a woman spoke to a man in public, it was considered offensive. But Schmaltz showed courage. She helped establish health centers. She preached. She wasn't satisfied.
(Concludes by communicating a point about how the congregation should support their missionaries and not be satisfied with what's already been done).