Of the men I have taught and trained to be deacons, few have worked harder than Chuck, and few thought he could handle the work.  Yet he is a natural, enthusiastic evangelist, one who is always sharing the love of Christ in very down home simple ways people remember.  As part of his training, he delivered this sermon.  ( All deacon sermons preached at Concordia are written with my oversight, assistance, and approval.)  He aced this one, as people responded to its simple message, praising God for the grace, the love and mercy we’ve received.  – pr. dtp

Chuck’s Parable:
Pastor, Bob and I are Speedbumps, that you Need!

† In Jesus Name †

 (Take a deep breath, and silently pray, “Jesus, may the words of my heart and the thoughts of my mind be acceptable to you, and may the words reveal to these people your love”  )

My prayer for you this day is that the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ draws you to them, as the Holy Spirit fills you with love and mercy.  AMEN!

Introduction – Meet your speedbumps!

Part of what I learned this week has to do with verse 20 in the Old Testament.  It says there,

²⁰ “If righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and ignore the obstacles I put in their way, they will die. And if you do not warn them, they will die in their sins.

As pastor and I talked about these “obstacles”, I thought they were like big speedbumps.  Things God puts in your way to cause you to slow down so that you stay alive.  In this case, staying alive spiritually.

The pastor asked me what those obstacles, those speedbumps were.

And after a few moments, it came to me.

Pastor, and Deacon Bob and I are the speedbumps!

I kinda like that.

That’s my story, my parable today.  Pastor, Bob and I are speedbumps, speedbumps you need!

We have to be pretty big speedbumps as well, for we need to slow you down enough for you to be still, and know God is God.  Which means you need us to be speed bumps.

That has two parts,

Part 1

and Part 2.

So let me tell you about part 1.

part 1 – slow down, so you don’t die in your sins

The first reason I am a speed bump is to help you is to warn you about sin, and the consequences of it.  That isn’t easy, or pleasant, so God helps us keep focused on it,  He tells us,

¹⁷ “Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel. Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately. ¹⁸ If I warn the wicked, saying, ‘You are under the penalty of death,’ but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible for their deaths.

That sounds pretty serious.  If I don’t remind you that the wages of sin are death, then I would be responsible for you spiritual death – not just physical death, but spiritual, eternal death.

I don’t really think I need that threat – I want you all to be in heaven because I love you. But that is what it says, maybe in case I get annoyed at you someday.  (SMILE)

And if you get annoyed at me, well, I might have annoyed you about something less important before.  This is important.

You need to know God takes sin seriously.  We weren’t meant to live life following other Gods, or not using His name right.  We aren’t supposed to murder each other or be unfaithful to our wives, or gossip about each other.

We are to love each other. And if we don’t, that is sin.

Reason #2

The second reason that Pastor, Bob and I are speedbumps in your life is to get you to slow down enough to become repentant.  Repentant is not just being sorry, it means to be transformed, to be made new in our heart and mind.

That isn’t easy.

Imagine my garage is like your soul, and everything in it is your sin and unbelief.

You need to slow down, to put less and less into it, or you will not be able to walk in it.  And the first reason, speedbumps slow you down.  In the second reason, the speedbump gives time for the garage to be transformed.  That’s a nice way of saying that God has to clean out all the stuff in our spiritual garages.  He must clean out the garage so well that it is as clean as Carol’s kitchen.

That’s what we call a miracle.

Come to think of it, anyone needs a corner cabinet?  Talk to me later if you do.

Oh yeah – we need to become repentant.  That’s God’s work, that happens as we hear the gospel proclaimed, whether it is heard at church, or over lunch, or even in my doctor’s office.

That cleaning out is repentance, it is the change our-our heart, soul, and mind that happens because Jesus died on the cross to make it happen.  He took that penalty of death that each of us deserved….

He died so that we might live eternally.

He died because the Father poured out all of his wrath, all of his anger, all of the punishment we deserve on Jesus.

So we can be cleansed, so we become not just sorry for our sins, but so we become repentant.

conclusion.

I am up here, to be your speedbump, to get you to slow down enough so that you know God’s love, to help you to slow down enough when you walk up here and kneel down, so that you are still, and as you eat the body and drink the blood of Christ you know He is God.

And I pray that Pastor, Bob and I are good speedbumps and that God will work through our preaching, our teaching and our giving you the body of Christ.  Because God is working in your lives, you will know His peace, the peace of God that passes all understanding.

AMEN!