Lost: one blog post. I wrote it on my iPad, decided I needed a proper keyboard to correct typos and insert a nice pic, but when I got here…. it had gorn. Lost. Unsaved.
Which of course was what my sermon this morning was about. Because I don’t want anybody in any of my congregations turning up like lost sheep at the Pearly Gates and discovering that ‘Lost’ and ‘Unsaved’ mean for them exeunt omnes. Take the lift that’s going dowwwwwwn.
“You don’t really believe that, do you?”
I have this problem with words. I tend to look at what they mean and then believe what they say. And the word is that there is one way and one way only to eternal life (and not that lift going dowwwwn) – and that is Jesus Christ.
Christmas seems like a good time to spread the message. After all, everybody – from the hairdresser to the woman at the supermarket checkout – is talking about it.
“Are you ready for Christmas?” they ask cheerfully. What they mean is “Have you got all your presents bought? All the cards written, addressed, posted? All the food planned, bought…” Etcetera.
They do not mean “Are you prepared for Jesus coming?”
Coming? But hasn’t he come, back then – well, according to the story. (Nice story, especially for the children – angels and shepherds and lambs, and ox and ass and stable and…)
It’s not a story. It’s history. Take a look at Luke’s Gospel. There’s a man with a passion for facts and figures. He says exactly when things happened – in the reign of Herod king of Judea; in the sixth month; on the eighth day… On and on, he pinpoints exactly when, in verifiable detail.
Because this isn’t a fairy story. A myth.
This is history.
And history records that the baby who was born in Bethlehem grew up to be a man who was crucified and died. And the records tell us that he rose again from the dead. (If you’ve problems with this one, read Who Moved the Stone by Frank Morison, an objective examination of the evidence by a respected investigative reporter.)
But it doesn’t stop there – because He has said He is coming back, this time in power and glory. Lord of Lords and King of Kings.
We don’t know when. But it’s a good idea to be ready.
Are you ready?
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