88 Sermon Illustrations on Crisis

In 1951, Red Skelton and a party of friends flew to Europe, where Skelton was to appear at the London Palladium. As they were flying over the Swiss Alps, one(*) of the airplane’s engines failed. The situation looked very grave and the passengers began to pray. Skelton went into one of his best comic routines to distract them from the emergency as the plane lost altitude, coming closer and closer to the ominous-looking mountains. At the last moment, the pilot spied a large field among the precipitous slopes and made a perfect landing. Skelton broke the relieved silence by saying, “Now, ladies and gentlemen, you may return to all the evil habits you gave up twenty minutes ago.”

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*This event is corroborated in several internet accounts of Skelton's life, though the original illustration embellishes it by saying three engines were out.

A saying arose during World War II that is most often attributed to the war journalist Ernie Pyle: “There are no atheists in foxholes.” It meant that in times of war, even those who professed no previous belief in God would likely be found calling out to Him for deliverance. The statement is a generalization: probably true of some but certainly not true of all.

That saying illustrates another general truth about crises in life: Crises don’t make us who we are, they reveal who we are. That was true of Joseph during the great famine in the Middle East and Egypt. Pharaoh had put Joseph in charge of creating a plan to save Egypt, and Joseph did not disappoint. But Joseph’s rising to that occasion was nothing new. He had done this on occasions before. The worst of circumstances around Joseph seemed to bring out the best of character in Joseph. And that’s what crises do -- they reveal what is on the inside. Think back about the last crisis you experienced and see if you can identify what it revealed.

Your response to accidentally hitting your thumb with a hammer is a pretty good indication of what has just been waiting to come out.

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Source: Turning Point Daily Devotional

http://www.turningpointonline.org

The year was 1942 and the Nazis seemed invincible. German U-Boats ruled the Atlantic and sank oil tankers off the coasts of Florida and New Jersey. Let David McCullough tell the story:

Our recruits were drilling with wooden rifles, we had no air force, half of our navy had been destroyed at Pearl Harbor, and there was nothing to say or guarantee that the Nazi machine could be defeated - nothing. Who was to know? I like to think of what Churchill said when he crossed the Atlantic after Pearl Harbor and gave a magnificent speech. He said we haven’t journeyed this far because we’re made of sugar candy.

It’s as true today as it ever was. We haven’t journeyed this far because we’re made of sugar candy. Hard times demand strong leaders who will rise to the challenge. That was true in the first century and it is still true today. This is where our text comes into sharp focus because it deals with leaders who respond with cool, calm, confident courage when the going gets tough. This is a word from the Lord we all need to hear.

Walter Winchell was a well-known radio newsman during World War II. On April 5, 1942, after a particularly dark week during which the port of Singapore fell to the Japanese, Winchell closed his broadcast with this sentence, "Singapore has fallen, but the Rock of Ages stands."

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Paul Powell, "The Gospel for the Graveside," Proclaim (July-September, 1991) p. 12

A couple of years ago I was hiking the trials in Allamuchy State Park near Cranberry Lake, New Jersey. Deep in the woods I came upon an upright stone that looked suspiciously like a grave stone. It wasn’t -- it was a memorial to an energetic man. An etched picture on the stone shows him on a mountain bike because that was his passion in life. He once went on a 24-hour bike event in that very park. His favorite expression was, “Livin’ large!”

His day-job was being a securities analyst on Wall Street. He was pretty good at it - he won an award for being the third best in the industry at what he did. Forbes magazine did a long interview with him. His name was Dean Eberling. His office was on the 58th floor of World Trade Center, tower 2.

Early on September 11, 2001, he heard the first plane hit the other tower. Dean and 26 of his coworkers got into an express elevator. It started to go down when the second plane struck the floors directly above them. The elevator cable was severed and the car started to fall. Emergency brakes stopped it just above the concourse level.

Dean and another man pried an 8-inch gap in the door near the floor of the buckled car. Flames started coming down the elevator shaft. Dean and the other man helped two women slowly crawl through the gap in doors.

Dean’s chance would never come. As firefighters attempted to cut open the door with a chainsaw, the building collapsed. He was only 44 years old. A few of his friends hauled the 1,000-pound monument out to the lonely mountain bike trail.

Life is short. Seize each day and make it count.

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Adapted from "Remembering September 11, 2001: Dean P. Eberling Obituary" (originally published on March 8, 2003, in The New York Times), , and "Phoenix Rising, the legacy of the 89th floor," by Shawn McCarthy, Globe and Mail, September 9, 2006, .

Raised in secular Jewish culture, conservative syndicated columnist Robert Novak lived seven decades as an agnostic. He briefly attended Unitarian and then Methodist services at the behest of his first and second wives, but he was not interested in either faith. He particularly disliked the Methodists’ anti-Vietnam War position. Novak was introduced to Catholicism in the early 1980s when his friend Jeffrey Bell, a Republican political consultant and former Reagan aide, gave him some books on the Catholic faith. At that time, Novak had nearly died from spinal meningitis.

Novak’s wife, Geraldine, began regular churchgoing in the early 1990s and eventually settled on St Patrick’s Catholic Church, Washington D.C. One day she persuaded Novak, who had not attended religious services for nearly 30 years, to join her at Mass. The celebrant was Fr. Peter Vaghi, whom he had known before Vaghi switched from politics to the priesthood. Novak then started to go to Mass regularly and decided to convert a few years later.

According to Novak, the turning point came when he visited Syracuse University to lecture. Before he spoke, he was seated at a dinner table near a female student who wore a cross necklace. Novak asked her if she was Catholic and she asked him the same. Novak said he had been going to Mass each Sunday for the last four years, but had not converted. “Mr. Novak”, the young woman replied, “life is short, but eternity is forever.” That brief sentence chilled Novak, who felt the student had channeled the Holy Spirit. When he got home and told Geraldine, they decided it was time to convert.

In May 1998 Novak was received into the Roman Catholic Church at the age of 67. Geraldine was already a Catholic. Al Hunt, Judy Woodruff, Fred Barnes, Margaret Carlson, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Henry Hyde, and Rick Santorum attended Novak’s baptism, with some of them openly crying.

Children's television host Mr. Fred Rogers often told this story about when he was a boy and would see scary things on the news: “My mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers — so many caring people in this world.”

A young soldier fighting in Italy during World War II managed to jump into a foxhole just ahead of a spray of bullets. He immediately attempted to deepen it for more protection. As he was frantically scraping the dirt with his hands, he unearthed a silver crucifix, obviously left by a previous occupant of the foxhole. A moment later, a leaping figure landed beside him as more shells screamed overhead. The first soldier turned to see that his new friend was an army chaplain. Holding up the crucifix, the soldier cried, “Am I glad to see you! How do you work this thing?”

On a more serious note, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker wrote about his World War II experience. While flying on a special mission to the Pacific Islands, his plane crashed. He and his crew were lost at sea for twenty-one days before being rescued. He said, “In the beginning many of the men were atheists or agnostics, but at the end of the terrible ordeal each, in his own way, had discovered God. Each man found salvation and strength in prayer, and a community of feeling developed which created a liveliness of human fellowship and worship, and a sense of gentle peace.” [see also #9119]

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God's Little Devotional Book, p. 71; secondary source: Chapnotes, ChapnotesMail@aol.com

For decades, Kotoku Wamura was mocked for building an enormous floodgate in his village. But when a massive tsunami struck, his vision saved an entire town.

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For decades, Kotoku Wamura was ridiculed for his insistence on constructing a massive floodgate to protect his village. As mayor of Fudai, a small Japanese town with just over 3,000 residents, he championed a project that cost ¥3.56 billion (approximately $30 million in 2011) and took over a decade to complete. Many saw it as an unnecessary expense — until a 9.1-magnitude earthquake triggered a devastating tsunami in 2011.

The wave wiped out entire towns along Japan’s coastline. But in Fudai, where Wamura’s floodgate stood, the village remained untouched.

“However you look at it, the effectiveness of the floodgate and seawall was truly impressive,” current Fudai Mayor Hiroshi Fukawatari said in 2011.

Here’s the longer story.

A man on a mission

Kotoku Wamura’s political career spanned over 40 years, beginning in the post-war period. He was elected mayor ten consecutive times, leading Fudai through an era of change and growth. The village, nestled about 320 miles from Tokyo, relied on fishing and tourism — both of which depended on the sea. But Wamura knew better than most how dangerous the sea could be.

He had been born in 1909 and witnessed the harrowing 1933 tsunami, which reached a height of 28.7 metres (94 ft). He had also heard stories of the 1896 tsunami, which was even worse. In Fudai, these tsunamis killed hundreds of people.

From an early age, Wamura resolved that Fudai would not suffer the same fate again.

“When I saw bodies being dug up from the piles of earth, I did not know what to say. I had no words,” Wamura wrote of the 1933 tsunami in his book about Fudai, “A 40-Year Fight Against Poverty.”

As a boy, Wamura says, he’d heard from an elder in his village that giant waves had consumed the village in the past. The elder even mentioned that there used to be a stone up a hill showing how high the water level was.

This story seems very plausible as Japan is riddled with warning stones showing previous tsunami levels. Wamura swore this wouldn’t happen again. So, he made it his mission to ensure the village would be safe from tsunamis.

A controversial floodgate

In 1967, he got the local government to build a 51-foot seawall to protect the homes from the village’s fishing port. The height seemed excessive to some, but in the end, it was deemed acceptable.

But then, Wamura moved on to the more important part of his plan: a floodgate, as tall as the seawall, for the cove where most people lived.

Building any large structure on the coast is a challenging endeavor, both financially and logistically. But, for a tight-knit community with limited resources, investing a large sum and over a decade’s work in a project that might never be “tested” by a major tsunami understandably drew skepticism.

But Wamura insisted. He never forgot how much damage the sea could cause.

It wasn’t that people were against the idea of a floodgate, it was just the size. It was too big. Officials first pushed for 20 feet, then 30 feet, then 35 feet. Wamura wouldn’t budge, and in the end, he got his way.

Construction began in 1972, although many weren’t convinced. The plan was derided, especially when it took until 1984 to complete. By then, Wamura was close to the end of his political career and retired in 1987. It was his last major project.

As he retired, Wamura gave a small speech. “Even if you encounter opposition, have conviction and finish what you start. In the end, people will understand,” he said.

He died in 1998, as political adversaries mocked him and his floodgate.

But he was vindicated in 2011.

Villagers now visit his grave to pay respects

If there’s a country that’s prepared for earthquakes, it’s Japan. Japan lies at a dangerous tectonic edge and routinely has major earthquakes. But the 2011 earthquake shattered all forecasts. It came in as a triple whammy, with the earthquake itself, the tsunamis it caused, and the radioactive danger that came from damaging the Fukushima nuclear plant.

Fudai, too, was in the tsunami’s path. Waves rushed toward the village, leveling everything outside the floodgate. Trees fell, homes near the coastline were destroyed, and ships were swept away. But when workers activated the floodgate’s remote system, the massive steel panels closed. One fireman even had to manually shut a jammed panel.

When the tsunami hit, the village behind the floodgate was completely spared.

No buildings suffered major damage. The only fatality was a person who had gone to check on his boat in the port — outside the wall’s protection.

Wamura didn’t get to see how his floodgate protected the village. But he saved hundreds of lives. Years after his passing, villagers still honor him for refusing to compromise on what he believed was necessary to protect them. Some visit his grave to pay respects.

His legacy endures as a reminder that careful planning can avert disaster, and that conviction — and the will to act on it — can outlast the skepticism of an entire generation, echoing through the decades to safeguard the future.

Why do people pray?

Out of tradition

Out of obligation

Out of desperation

We should pray out of passion for our relationship with Jesus Christ.

Karim Shamsi-Basha felt like his head was literally going to explode -- then everything went dark.

The photojournalist, working at the time for Alabama’s Birmingham Post-Herald newspaper, was covering a church fire on April 8, 1992, when his world suddenly turned upside down.

“It was a chaotic day,” he recalled. “I felt this headache; within seconds it evolved into an explosion in my head and my eyes felt like they were going to pop out.”

The last thing Shamsi-Basha remembered from that moment was the paramedics hovering over him asking him questions. Shamsi-Basha had experienced a ruptured aneurysm in his brain. He was in a coma for about three weeks and couldn’t talk or walk for a couple of months after he opened his eyes. He subsequently experienced other lingering effects from the aneurysm such as double vision and short-term memory loss.

But despite the setbacks, he went on to make a full recovery.

A journey of searching

Shamsi-Basha’s final visit with his neurologist those many years ago launched him into an unexpected spiritual journey after the doctor told him few people recover from a ruptured aneurysm the way he had. “You have to find out why you survived,” the doctor told him.

It could be said that Shamsi-Basha, who grew up a Muslim, had already been on a long path of exploring religion.

Born and raised in Damascus, Syria, Shamsi-Basha was the youngest of four children. His mother revealed to him years later in his adulthood that she had almost aborted him while pregnant. But her friend Hanrietta, who had accompanied her to the clinic, wouldn’t allow her to go through with the procedure. Shamsi-Basha said he later learned that Hanrietta dragged his mother by her hair from the waiting room and took her back home. He was born a few months later.

He has fond memories of growing up in Damascus, particularly time spent with his father, the owner of a clothing store and also a talented poet and writer.

“I was very special for my dad,” Shamsi-Basha said. “He showered me with love.”

Shamsi-Basha had a good friend in middle school, Moneir, who was a Christian. The two friends sometimes discussed religion. These conversations about faith occasionally resulted in Shamsi-Basha going to his father with questions.

“[My dad] would say ... ‘You just go on and keep reading and keep exploring.’ Dad was very open-minded, and he encouraged me to explore and read and learn,” he recalled.

Shamsi-Basha graduated from high school and immigrated to the United States in January 1984. He met his wife, who was a Methodist, while studying at the University of Tennessee. They married and moved to Birmingham in 1989. “We were both open-minded,” he explained. “We didn’t have a problem marrying each other from different religions.”

After his aneurysm in 1992 and subsequent recovery, Shamsi-Basha decided to follow the advice of his neurologist to find out why he had survived. Some of his Christian friends advised him to read the Gospel of John, telling him that God’s love is “why we’re on this earth.”

‘Go through Jesus’

Shamsi-Basha wanted to know more about God’s love, so he began reading John and eventually read John 14:6 where it says: “Jesus answered, ‘I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’”

“I didn’t want to come to the Father alone and leave my (Muslim) family,” Shamsi-Basha said, noting the concern that verse caused him. He began talking to many theologians who all had a “pretty black-and-white explanation just like the Bible: ‘If you want to go to heaven, you’ve got to go through Jesus.’”

He continued seeking to learn more about Jesus the next four years.

Bill Bangham, a veteran editor, journalist and photographer with the International Mission Board, met Shamsi-Basha at a photojournalism conference during that time and formed a friendship with him.

“He’s the real deal. ... This is not a façade -- what you see is what you get,” said Bangham, who noticed Shamsi-Basha’s curiosity about Christianity early on in their friendship.

As a result of his years of searching, Shamsi-Basha had what he calls a “near-conversion” in 1996 when he asked a minister to baptize him.

“This is when I realized what God has done in my life. Everything that has happened in my life was God taking care of me,” he said. “And yet I still couldn’t call Him my Savior because I didn’t want to be saved alone without my family.”

Shamsi-Basha would later experience a series of painful events: a divorce from his wife of 16 years in 2001 and the death of his father in 2005.

“When he died, I fell apart. I became both Muslim and Christian. I was very mad at God for a couple years, but something inside kept tugging me back to Christianity,” he said. It wasn’t until a particular conversation he had with a Christian in 2008, he added, that he fully accepted Christ as his Savior.

Shamsi-Basha is a sincere, passionate person whom God has drawn to Himself, said a lay leader at Dawson Memorial Baptist Church in Birmingham. His name is withheld because of his ministry work in sensitive areas of the world.

Shamsi-Basha, who occasionally attends Dawson Memorial, said his salvation and conversion from Islam to Christianity was God’s doing. “All I did was obey,” he said. “Salvation is mentioned over 150 times in the Bible; it’s mentioned once in the Quran. Islam and most other religions on this earth say ‘do and don’t.’ Christianity says ‘done.’”

His story, “Paul and Me: A Journey to and from the Damascus Road, from Islam to Christ,” was published in 2013. The book includes parallels to the apostle Paul’s life and sections about Paul, written by several 20th century biblical scholars, in each chapter.

“The apostle Paul is one of the most influential people in the history of Christianity,” Shamsi-Basha explained in the book’s introduction. “I am a humble servant who happened to be born in the city of Damascus, where Paul had his conversion. ... Paul converted to Christianity on the Road to Damascus; I converted on the Road from Damascus -- two very different stories, two very different men -- the same salvation and the same Lord and Savior.”

Boldness in sharing faith

Shamsi-Basha eventually shared the news of his conversion with his Muslim family members. For the most part, the topic isn’t discussed, he said.

“I am just letting them see the light of Christ in me. And if the subject comes up, I would be happy to discuss it,” he wrote in “Paul and Me,” which includes a letter to his family at the beginning.

Since his book was published, he has shared his faith story with many churches as well as on national platforms such as “The 700 Club.”

The lay leader from Dawson Memorial Baptist Church said Shamsi-Basha is becoming more and more bold in stepping out in his faith.” He added, “We should all be those type[s] of people, stepping out and sharing our faith and being used in the realms God has placed us.”

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #16082]

It was one of those unexpected phone calls that leaves you stunned. Our friend Curt, one of the most experienced private pilots we know, had crashed two hours earlier. He was landing on a grass strip near his home, a strip where he had landed hundreds of times. This time he somehow went into a skid that propelled his plane right into a tree. The plane caught fire and then it exploded. And our friend Curt was in heaven. As a beloved leader in our community, his death rocked a lot of us. Because of a collapsed wheel, he had been in a crash fourteen months earlier actually; one which should have been fatal but from which he escaped with serious but survivable injuries. I can't tell you how grateful I am that he didn't die then. Something very important happened between those two crashes.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “How Your Life - and Your Death - Can Really Count.”

It was my privilege to be asked by Curt's wife to talk about his faith at the funeral and the powerful changes that had taken place since that first crash. The word for that day from the Word of God is ours today. It's like a scale on which you can weigh the significance of your life and what you're living it for. Philippians 1:20-21: “I eagerly expect and hope that ... Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

We all need to honestly fill in the blank, “For to me to live is _________.” The true answer - not the spiritual answer - might be, “For to me to live is my business, is sports, my home, or my success. To me to live is my family, my friends, my education, my dream.” Or maybe you should just put the name of the most important person in your life in that blank to fill it in honestly. Here's the problem: if you're living for any one of those things, to die is to lose it all. It's only when for you “to live is Christ” that to die will be gain.

When our friend Curt went down the first time, I'm not sure what he was living for. He was always a good man, but I think he would have said he wasn't always God's man. But after that crash he said, “God spared me for a reason.” And he concluded that one major reason was for him to live for Christ in such a way that the people he cared about, the people who looked to him, would want his Jesus so they could be in heaven with him someday. He began to live in such a way that “Christ would be exalted” by his life. And because he did, Christ was really exalted by his death.

In the past months, Curt had boldly told so many people in his large circle of influence about the Christ who died for him and for them. So it was only logical that his funeral would do the same thing - to give those he had touched the opportunity he had had - a wakeup call from a plane crash that would bring them into vital relationship with Jesus Christ. But if you haven't lived to show Christ to people, your death really can't lift Him up. The death of a man or a woman who has really lived passionately for Christ can have such incredible meaning - helping others be in heaven with you. But a life not lived for Christ just can't have that kind of meaning. Death destroys every reason for living but one - living for Jesus and what matters to Him.

If Curt were here today, I believe he would tell you, “Don't wait to surrender your life and your influence to Jesus Christ. You never know how many days you have left to make your life count for something that will last forever.” And, for sure, Jesus would tell you that. In fact, I believe He is - right now. “Someday” isn't soon enough to give everything you've got to Jesus. It needs to be this day.

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Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. "Practical Answers to Real Life Issues"

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Alumni and fans made UCLA football coach Pepper Rodgers's life miserable during a season when his Bruins got off to a horrible start. Nobody would hang out with him.

“My dog was my only true friend,” Rodgers said. “I told my wife that every man needs at least two good friends. She bought me another dog.”

Rodgers can be rigid in the face of adversity. When his players were having difficulty adapting to the wishbone offense he'd installed and the school's alumni demanded that he adopt another system, Rodgers didn't budge. The wishbone, he said, “is like Christianity. If you believe in it only until something goes wrong, you didn't believe in it in the first place.”

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Source: Washington City Paper (10/26/01)

In the harrowing mountain-climbing documentary movie, TOUCHING THE VOID, two English climbers take on an unclimbed route up Peru’s 21,000-foot mountain, Siula Grande. The route was steeper and more icy than they anticipated and they were exhausted when they finally reached the summit. As they began their descent, 25-year-old Joe Simpson fell and shattered his left leg so that his femur split and was shoved up over his knee, causing excruciating pain. They had no choice but to lower Joe down the sheer slope by rope.

Simon Yates carved out a small seat in the ice and lowered Joe to the end of the rope, then climbed down to him and repeated the process. On one such segment, the rope approached its end but did not go slack. Unknown to Simon, Joe had slid over the edge of a cliff and was hanging in the air. For an hour and a half Joe twisted, unable to raise himself back up to firm ground. Simon’s perch was precarious, and he was freezing. So he made a fateful decision – he cut the rope.

Joe dropped 150 feet into an icy crevasse. A small hole at the top of the crevasse showed where he had broken through the thin icy covering. He was in tremendous pain and unable to climb out of his prison; below him yawned a dark pit. Simon was nowhere to be seen and as Joe examined the rope he immediately knew what had happened.

His predicament made him furious, but he also examined his options. One option he rejected. As Joe himself said years later:

I was brought up as a devout Catholic. I had long since stopped

believing in God. I always wondered if things really hit the fan,

whether I would, under pressure, turn around and say a few Hail

Marys, and say, “Get me out of here.” It never once occurred to

me.

It really meant that I really don’t believe, and I really do think

that when you die, you die, and that’s it – there’s no afterlife.

There’s nothing.

Simpson’s only option was to descend deeper into the crevasse. Eventually he found himself on a “floor” but beneath him he could hear ice falling away. He also saw a glimmer of light and carefully crawled toward it. It was an opening to the outside. Now he found himself on a steep and fractured slope that melded into a glacier. With tremendous pain, and determination, Joe tumbled and crawled back to the base camp where his cries were finally heard. After many operations and years of healing, Joe Simpson again participated in mountain climbing.

Joe and Simon’s experience is a legend among mountain climbers. Joe’s determination to survive is truly inspiring. Is his rejection of God the realistic abandoning of a superstitious crutch, or merely a testament to Simpson’s pride, strength and willpower?

Luke 12:35–59 — “Since the Master is Coming” « Leader information shown in this fashion »

A. Servants! Be Prepared for The Master’s Coming! «

1. Jesus has been talking about the right use of wealth, reminding His audience that earthly wealth is temporary; He now talks about “the Master’s Coming” to show just how fragile it is »

2. Because There Is a Reward, Luke 12:35–38 (NKJV): 35 Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; 36 and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. 38 And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. «

a. these words have a veiled reference to the Second Coming but for Jesus’ disciples it was more general: “be ready, for change and crisis is always imminent” »

b. what was there about eastern weddings that made this illustration appropriate? « — they could go on for days, or even a week; so the coming of the master was uncertain as to time — he might be long delayed — but not as to fact »

c. what marks of readiness do the servants show? … what is the significance of each?

(A) « the waist girded: flowing eastern clothing needed to be bound up out of the way if work involving anything in the way of significant effort was to be done »

(B) « the lamps burning: readiness was not just for the normal hours of labour, but even during “personal time” »

(C) « immediately … watching: they have their eyes open to the Master’s return, not to be surprised or caught asleep, regardless of what hour of the night, he may return »

d. such a master will be so pleased that what unexpected event transpires? … what does this tell us of the Master we serve?

(A) « the master reverses the roles and serves the servants »

(B) « He came as a Servant to all (Matt 20:28, Phil 2:7) »

3. Because His Coming Is Imminent, Luke 12:39–40 (NKJV) 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 40 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

a. the coming of a thief is used to illustrate only one truth, which is? « — thieves do not publish the time they plan to come and break into (through the wall) the house »

b. what is the one thing that we can expect for sure about the coming of the Son of Man « — it will be unexpected; people will not be prepared (for the most part) »

B. Peter Interjects a Question, Luke 12:41 (NKJV): 41 Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?”

1. in your opinion, who does Peter’s “us” include? « — it seems most likely that he is speaking of the twelve, who had “left all and followed” (Mark 10:28, Luke 18:28) »

2. what do you think the answer to Peter’s question is? « — that it was spoken for all disciples; for all who would leave their old life in order to follow Jesus »

3. as you read the following response of Jesus, see if you think that He answered Peter’s question, directly or indirectly.

C. Jesus Tells About Two Kinds of Servants

1. The First Distinction, Luke 12:42–(NKJV): 42 And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. 45 But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

a. what is the reward to those who find approval under the terms of this first distinction? « — he will be given a larger responsibility in serving the Master »

b. what is that first distinction? « — how has the servant carried out the responsibilities that he has already been given »

c. what is the punishment who fail to find approval under the terms of this distinction? « — literally, “dichotomized” … the soul separated from the body; slain »

d. Is there any indication in these words that they are related to Peter’s question (ie., to the disciples or discipleship)?

(A) « those failing are classified with the unbelievers; which takes us from the physical realm to the spiritual realm; from servants to disciples … so it is to such he is speaking »

(B) describe the service attitude of each of these servants

(1) « from the heart, responsible »

(2) « the second serves only as a man-pleaser (Col 3:22) »

(C) how does this apply to discipleship to Jesus?

2. The Second Distinction, Luke 12:47–48 (NKJV): 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

a. what is the difference between these two servants? « — one knew fully what the job entailed, the other did not »

b. in what way are they alike? « — both fail to do the job »

c. is it fair that the one who did not know is punished? « — yes, because he should have found out what was required »

d. what is suggested about God’s justice? « — that He takes into account what has been revealed to a person … Amos 3:2 »

3. Destiny of Disciples, Luke 12:49–53 (NKJV): 49 I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! 51 Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. 52 For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. 53 Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

a. What destiny did the Master face on earth? « — the fire of punishment (?) with which He would be baptized (die, rise) for our sakes »

b. Our destiny in earthly relationships is … « estrangement on Christ’s account »

D. Comments to the Crowd

1. On Spiritual Perception, Luke 12:54–56 (NKJV): 54 Then He also said to the multitudes, “Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is. 55 And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is. 56 Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?

a. what were the crowd able to see coming? « — the weather »

b. what were the crowd blind to its coming? « — judgment; by and large, the teaching of Christ was but an ear-tickler, that their hearts were not changed is shown by “Crucify Him!” and, as in the Old Testament, in their being cast out of the land of promise »

2. On Ethical Perception, Luke 12:57–59 (NKJV): 57 Yes, and why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right? 58 When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort along the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. 59 I tell you, you shall not depart from there till you have paid the very last mite.

a. what was their prevailing attitude toward social justice? « — pay what you absolutely had to pay when you were forced to do so. »

It happened in the Spring of 1981 ... perhaps you remember it. President Reagan had just been shot by a demented young man named John Hinckley. Washington and the nation were shocked and stunned. Vice-President Bush was not immediately available. Even at the White House no one was sure what was going on. The cabinet assembled in the situation room. Suddenly Alexander Haig, Reagan's controversial Sec. of State who had been involved in weeks of political turf-wars, bolted from the room. Moments later he stood before the press corps and with ashen face declared -- “I'm in control here” -- but clearly he wasn't. Soon Haig was the ex-Sec. of State. He has never been able to live those words or that moment down. What Haig thought he was doing was providing leadership in a crisis. What the nation saw was a man hungry for power.

Alumni and fans made UCLA football coach Pepper Rodgers's life miserable during a season when his Bruins got off to a horrible start. Nobody would hang out with him.

“My dog was my only true friend,” Rodgers said. “I told my wife that every man needs at least two good friends. She bought me another dog.”

Rodgers can be rigid in the face of adversity. When his players were having difficulty adapting to the wishbone offense he'd installed and the school's alumni demanded that he adopt another system, Rodgers didn't budge. The wishbone, he said, “is like Christianity. If you believe in it only until something goes wrong, you didn't believe in it in the first place.”

__________

Source: Washington City Paper (10/26/01)

We all want to be happy but the problem has always been that you can't measure happiness. Happiness has always been seen as too vague a concept, as Lord Layard, Professor of Economics at the LSE and author of “Happiness - Lessons From A New Science” points out.

“There is a problem with the word happiness. When you use the word happy, it often has the sort of context of balloons floating up into the sky or something frivolous.”

Now scientists say they can actually measure happiness. Neuroscientists are measuring pleasure. They suggest that happiness is more than a vague concept or mood; it is real.

MEASURING HAPPINESS

Social scientists measure happiness simply by asking people how happy they are. It is argued that what a person says about their own happiness tends to tally with what friends or even strangers might say about them if asked the same question.

Most people say they are fairly happy. The leading American psychologist Professor Ed Diener from the University of Illinois, told THE HAPPINESS FORMULA that the science of happiness is based on one straightforward idea: “It may sound silly but we ask people 'How happy are you 1-7, 1-10?’ And the interesting thing is that produces real answers that are valid, they're not perfect but they're valid and they predict all sorts of real things in their lives.”

One type of measurement even tries to record people's levels of happiness throughout the day wherever they are. Ecological momentary assessment uses hand held computers. The person being quizzed is bleeped and then taken through a questionnaire. “The measures are not perfect yet I think they are in many ways as good as the measures economists use,” said Professor Diener.

It is a remarkable claim. Simply by asking people, we have a measure of happiness that is as good as the economists' measure of poverty or growth. And if true, governments could be judged by how happy they make us. An adviser to the Prime Minister, David Halpern, told us that within the next 10 years the government would be measured against how happy it made everybody.

POWER OF HAPPINESS

Happiness seems to have almost magical properties. We have not got proof, but the science suggests it leads to long life, health, resilience and good performance.

Scientists work by comparing people's reported happiness and a host of other factors such as age, sex, marital status, religion, health, income, unemployment and so on. In survey after survey involving huge groups of people, significant correlations between happiness and some other factors are repeated.

At the moment scientists cannot prove causation, whether for example people are healthy because they are happy, or whether people are happy because they are healthy. However, psychologists have been able to identify some very strong links.

According to Professor Diener the evidence suggests that happy people live longer than depressed people. “In one study, the difference was nine years between the happiest group and the unhappiest group, so that's a huge effect. Cigarette smoking can knock a few years off your life, three years, if you really smoke a lot, six years. So nine years for happiness is a huge effect.”

RICHER BUT NO HAPPIER

Happiness researchers have been monitoring people's life satisfaction for decades. Yet despite all the massive increase in our wealth in the last 50 years our levels of happiness have not increased. “Standard of living has increased dramatically and happiness has increased not at all, and in some cases has diminished slightly,” said Professor Daniel Kahneman of the University of Princeton. “There is a lot of evidence that being richer... isn't making us happier”

The research suggests that richer countries do tend to be happier than poor ones, but once you have a home, food and clothes, then extra money does not seem to make people much happier. It seems that that level is after average incomes in a country top about £10,000 a year [approximately $20,000].

Scientists think they know the reason why we do not feel happier despite all the extra money and material things we can buy.

First, it is thought we adapt to pleasure. We go for things which give us short bursts of pleasure whether it is a chocolate bar or buying a new car. But it quickly wears off.

Second, its thought that we tend to see our life as judged against other people. We compare our lot against others. Richer people do get happier when they compare themselves against poorer people, but poorer people are less happy if they compare up.

The good news is that we can choose how much and who we compare ourselves with and about what, and researchers suggest we adapt less quickly to more meaningful things such as friendship and life goals.

WHAT MAKES US HAPPY?

According to psychologist Professor Ed Diener there is no one key to happiness but a set of ingredients that are vital.

First, family and friends are crucial - the wider and deeper the relationships with those around you the better. It is even suggested that friendship can ward off germs. Our brains control many of the mechanisms in our bodies which are responsible for disease. Just as stress can trigger ill health, it is thought that friendship and happiness can have a protective effect.

According to happiness research, friendship has a much bigger effect on average on happiness than a typical person's income itself. One economist, Professor Oswald at Warwick University, has a formula to work out how much extra cash we would need to make up for not having friends. The answer is £50,000 [about $100,000].

Marriage also seems to be very important. According to research the effect of marriage adds an average seven years to the life of a man and something like four for a woman.

The second vital ingredient is having meaning in life, a belief in something bigger than yourself - from religion, spirituality or a philosophy of life.

The third element is having goals embedded in your long term values that you're working for, but also that you find enjoyable. Psychologists argue that we need to find fulfillment through having goals that are interesting to work on and which use our strengths and abilities.

UNHAPPINESS

However, there are also many things we experience in life that can produce lasting unhappiness. Professor Ed Diener identifies two key events which can have lasting effects. After the loss of a spouse it can take several years to regain the previous level of well-being. The loss of a job can affect a person for years even they are back to work.

So if you are born grumpy are you always going to be grumpy? The question of whether we can actually use our knowledge of what makes us happy to lift our levels of happiness permanently is hotly debated by psychologists. According to the positive psychologist Professor Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania it is possible to lift our biological set range of happiness, at least to some extent if we work at it.

“The best you can do with positive emotion is you can get people to live at the top of their set range. So I think you've got about 10 to 15% leverage but you can't take a grouch and make him giggle all the time.”

Luke 12:35–59 — “Since the Master is Coming” « Leader information shown in this fashion »

A. Servants! Be Prepared for The Master’s Coming! «

1. Jesus has been talking about the right use of wealth, reminding His audience that earthly wealth is temporary; He now talks about “the Master’s Coming” to show just how fragile it is »

2. Because There Is a Reward, Luke 12:35–38 (NKJV): 35 Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; 36 and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. 38 And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. «

a. these words have a veiled reference to the Second Coming but for Jesus’ disciples it was more general: “be ready, for change and crisis is always imminent” »

b. what was there about eastern weddings that made this illustration appropriate? « — they could go on for days, or even a week; so the coming of the master was uncertain as to time — he might be long delayed — but not as to fact »

c. what marks of readiness do the servants show? … what is the significance of each?

(A) « the waist girded: flowing eastern clothing needed to be bound up out of the way if work involving anything in the way of significant effort was to be done »

(B) « the lamps burning: readiness was not just for the normal hours of labour, but even during “personal time” »

(C) « immediately … watching: they have their eyes open to the Master’s return, not to be surprised or caught asleep, regardless of what hour of the night, he may return »

d. such a master will be so pleased that what unexpected event transpires? … what does this tell us of the Master we serve?

(A) « the master reverses the roles and serves the servants »

(B) « He came as a Servant to all (Matt 20:28, Phil 2:7) »

3. Because His Coming Is Imminent, Luke 12:39–40 (NKJV) 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 40 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

a. the coming of a thief is used to illustrate only one truth, which is? « — thieves do not publish the time they plan to come and break into (through the wall) the house »

b. what is the one thing that we can expect for sure about the coming of the Son of Man « — it will be unexpected; people will not be prepared (for the most part) »

B. Peter Interjects a Question, Luke 12:41 (NKJV): 41 Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?”

1. in your opinion, who does Peter’s “us” include? « — it seems most likely that he is speaking of the twelve, who had “left all and followed” (Mark 10:28, Luke 18:28) »

2. what do you think the answer to Peter’s question is? « — that it was spoken for all disciples; for all who would leave their old life in order to follow Jesus »

3. as you read the following response of Jesus, see if you think that He answered Peter’s question, directly or indirectly.

C. Jesus Tells About Two Kinds of Servants

1. The First Distinction, Luke 12:42–(NKJV): 42 And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. 45 But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

a. what is the reward to those who find approval under the terms of this first distinction? « — he will be given a larger responsibility in serving the Master »

b. what is that first distinction? « — how has the servant carried out the responsibilities that he has already been given »

c. what is the punishment who fail to find approval under the terms of this distinction? « — literally, “dichotomized” … the soul separated from the body; slain »

d. Is there any indication in these words that they are related to Peter’s question (ie., to the disciples or discipleship)?

(A) « those failing are classified with the unbelievers; which takes us from the physical realm to the spiritual realm; from servants to disciples … so it is to such he is speaking »

(B) describe the service attitude of each of these servants

(1) « from the heart, responsible »

(2) « the second serves only as a man-pleaser (Col 3:22) »

(C) how does this apply to discipleship to Jesus?

2. The Second Distinction, Luke 12:47–48 (NKJV): 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

a. what is the difference between these two servants? « — one knew fully what the job entailed, the other did not »

b. in what way are they alike? « — both fail to do the job »

c. is it fair that the one who did not know is punished? « — yes, because he should have found out what was required »

d. what is suggested about God’s justice? « — that He takes into account what has been revealed to a person … Amos 3:2 »

3. Destiny of Disciples, Luke 12:49–53 (NKJV): 49 I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! 51 Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. 52 For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. 53 Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

a. What destiny did the Master face on earth? « — the fire of punishment (?) with which He would be baptized (die, rise) for our sakes »

b. Our destiny in earthly relationships is … « estrangement on Christ’s account »

D. Comments to the Crowd

1. On Spiritual Perception, Luke 12:54–56 (NKJV): 54 Then He also said to the multitudes, “Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is. 55 And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is. 56 Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?

a. what were the crowd able to see coming? « — the weather »

b. what were the crowd blind to its coming? « — judgment; by and large, the teaching of Christ was but an ear-tickler, that their hearts were not changed is shown by “Crucify Him!” and, as in the Old Testament, in their being cast out of the land of promise »

2. On Ethical Perception, Luke 12:57–59 (NKJV): 57 Yes, and why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right? 58 When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort along the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. 59 I tell you, you shall not depart from there till you have paid the very last mite.

a. what was their prevailing attitude toward social justice? « — pay what you absolutely had to pay when you were forced to do so. »