Scripture: 

Luke 8:26-39

Script:

Pastor: Good morning boys and girls! Welcome! Let’s say good morning to our friend Sammy. Ready? One, two, three: Good morning, Sammy!

Sammy: Good morning, boys and girls! Pastor, it’s amazing how one simple word from Jesus can change a person’s life.

Pastor: Isn’t that cool, Sammy?

Sammy: Yes it is! What I love about this story from the Gospel reading for today is Jesus sends the man who was healed out to tell everyone about what God has done for him.

Pastor: That’s right, Sammy. And the man goes out and tells everyone he meets about how much Jesus has done for him.

Sammy: He was living like a pig before. That’s not pretty at all.

Pastor: Not quite, Sammy. But you’re pretty close.

Sammy: Hang on, Pastor. The lives that pigs live is very different from the lives that sheep live. I would know. I live with a lot of sheep and there are pigs on our farm, too. Boys and girls, what are some of the differences between pigs and sheep?

[Allow time for responses]

Pastor: Sheep and pigs sleep in different places, eat different foods, and live very different lifestyles.

Sammy: Exactly. And we want to live like sheep. Not like pigs.

Pastor: I like that, Sammy. Jesus calls us to be his sheep; he is the Good Shepherd. We want to follow him like sheep. Let’s say a prayer together. Can everyone please fold your hands and bow your heads? Dear Jesus, thank you for helping us to live like sheep. Help us to be grateful when you speak and when you call out to us. Thank you for changing our lives. Amen.

Sammy: Bye, everyone!

Pastor: Bye, everyone!

“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?  And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?” (Matthew 25:37-38)

Some will say: “If I had only known, I would have done what you wanted.  I will do whatever it takes to protect myself.”  This is the answer of this world.  The Lord will create a new heart in those who believe, a heart that loves the neighbor.  Having the heart of Jesus causes one to care for those who are around them.  There are those who serve others for their own reason and those who serve because that is in their heart.

Lord, I really do know the difference.  Help me to not play games with myself, and especially not with You.  The world is filled with game-players and I cannot know who is playing a game and who actually is serving because they have a new heart.  Lead me, Lord, to humbly submit to You and go where You would have me go, doing what You give me to do.  Teach me how to follow Your example.

Lord Jesus, it is clear that we are not in competition with others, but that the state of our heart will clearly reveal those who believe versus those who still rebel against Your absolute authority.  Guide me now and always to take the path of humility and follow You.  Help me to move beyond myself so that by Your example, I serve others as You have served me.  Teach me my Savior.  Amen.

“For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me’” (Matthew 25:35-36).

It is in the living of our everyday life that our opportunities to live out the Christ life comes.  If we stay within ourselves and ignore our neighbor, we cannot begin to understand the life for which we have been called by grace.  Living outside of ourselves, we begin to understand the God who died for us.  If it helps, it is not about me, but about us.  See the other as you see yourself and love your neighbor.

Lord, when I do for others what I would desire for them to do for me, I find joy.  When I see others who are selfish and self-serving, it is very irritating.  I understand the difference, at least in part.  Help me to live the life for which I was created.  Help me understand what I can understand in order to move in the right direction of living the life You have given me by grace through faith.

Guide me, Lord Jesus, in the way of everlasting life.  Help me to see that by Your salvation alone am I able to move in this right direction.  Only by the power of Your Holy Spirit can I do what You give me to do.  Show me the way I need to move, doing what You give me to do, that I may grow outward.  Help me to be a help to others.  Teach me what it means to care for others as You care for me.  Amen.

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34).

Are you preparing to spend eternity with the purpose for which you were made guiding you always?  Do you want to live in the insanity of this world and continue ever downward forever?  These really are the two choices.  In truth, we really do not know either, but we have hints in this age of knowing what is right and what is wrong.  There are those who seek to live in the wrong way as if it were right, but this is not the way that Jesus taught.

Lord, help me to see the simplicity of what You have offered.  Guide me in Your goodness to see that You have made life to be lived in a certain way and that I am called by You to live that way.  Help me to see this and avoid the way of this world which is constantly tugging at me to live in the wrong way.  Guide me by Your grace to live into the eternal life for which You have saved me.

Lord Jesus, by Your shed blood, You paid the price which I could never pay so that I may be with You forever.  Guide me, Lord, in the way of everlasting life.  Place Your goodness in my heart and help me to see more clearly the steps I need to take to live into the life You have given me.  Teach me how to live the right way, and day by day, guide me along right paths.  Amen.

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.  And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left” (Matthew 25:31-33).

Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father.  The faithful will be at the right hand of the Lord.  There are those who will be in eternal relationship with the Lord, loving Him as He loves them.  There will be those who never moved beyond loving themselves.  There is a mix of people and we do not know who is whom, which is why our Lord commanded that we not make that determination in our minds.  In this, we are not to judge.

Lord, You have called for me to be a sheep.  Lead me as one of Your sheep to do what You have called me to do.  Guide me in Your goodness to see through this world’s tugging, tempting me to fake it and hedge bets.  You have called me to take up my cross and follow You.  Help me to do just that.  No matter what is in store for me in this life, help me to see that You are preparing me to be with You forever.

Lord Jesus, You have come and established a personal relationship with me.  You are calling me to humbly walk wherever You lead.  In Your grace, help me today to do this.  Help me to set right priorities and to be guided by the power of Your Holy Spirit to be shown the right way to live in this world.  Let me sit now and forever at Your right hand and be one of Your faithful sheep.  Amen.

“For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.  And throw the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:29-30).

This is not a punitive statement, but a reality for what the Lord has provided in reality.  If you invest in the gifts the Lord has given You, the gift will grow, and other gifts will be added through that growth.  If you do not invest in what the Lord has given you, even what you were given will  diminish.  Those who are hell bound have no concern for the things of the Lord.  Those who have a glimpse of heaven seek the kingdom of God.

Lord, You have put in me a hope for eternity.  Grow me in the way You know I need to be grown.  Guide me out of myself to seek the better portion which You have put into my heart.  Lead me so that I do not bury the gifts You have given me but live according to the word which You have planted in my heart.  Prune me as necessary so that I may bear even more fruit according to Your purpose.

Lord Jesus, You are giving good instructions.  Help me to heed them.  Where I am not listening, remove my deafness.  Where I do not see the way, show me.  In all things, help me to be diligent with the tasks You give me to do.   Lead me according to Your purpose and away from my self-indulgent ways.  By Your grace and mercy, continue to grow in me the way of everlasting life.  Amen.

“But his master answered and said to him, ‘You worthless, lazy slave! Did you know that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter seed?  Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest.  Therefore: take the talent away from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents’” (Matthew 25:26-28).

Would any of us want to receive the rebuke of being worthless and lazy?  Yet, there are many who are worthless and lazy when it comes to the kingdom of the Lord.  Busy with the things of this world, we forget to be about the business of preparing for the eternal life to come.  One can do both, but we cannot have two masters.  Either you will be the master of your destiny, or else the Lord will be.

The warnings are clear throughout Scripture.  We are to be about the business of living into the life the Lord to which He has called us.  The ten virgins parable was another way in which the Lord spoke of those who prepare versus those who were lazy.  In simple words, we are to be invested in the faith we have been given and live that faith every day that the Lord gives us.  Live into the life the Lord is calling you to live.

Lord Jesus, You know me better than I know myself.  Guide me in the upward call to continue upon the narrow path You have set before me.  In this selfish world, help me to not shirk the responsibility You have given me, but guide me in Your goodness and mercy to do the things that will grow fruit befitting Your kingdom.  Help me each step of the way and awaken me so that I do not slumber through this life You have offered me by grace.  Amen.

“Now the one who had received the one talent also came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed.  And I was afraid, so I went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you still have what is yours’” (Matthew 25:24-25).

There are those who do nothing with what the Lord has given them.  They live for themselves.  We have been created to live in community and to live with one another.  The Lord created us to explore ourselves and by the guidance of the Holy Spirit discover who He will make us to be.  We are not static, but dynamic beings created to become what He will make of us.  Invest in the Lord and invest in yourself.

Lord, I have buried many of the talents that You have given me.  Help me to explore within to discover what You have given me that remains unused.  Guide me into all goodness so that I am willing to learn what I have not yet understood.  Teach me, Lord, and help me to be a student of Your word.  Let my heart seek to humbly learn from You the way life is meant to be lived.  Lead me in the way You would have me go.

Lord Jesus, this world is in constant competition.  I often seek for the sake of number one, meaning for myself.  Help me to live the first commandment, for You, in Trinity, are number One.  Guide me into the life You would have me live.  Guide me into Your goodness and teach me to invest what You have given me so that I may become more like You each day that You give me.  Help me to invest in You and Your kingdom with all that I am.  Amen.

“Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have earned two more talents.’  His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master’” (Matthew 25:22-23).

As you can see from this next part of the parable, it is not about seeking to gain the most, it is about doing what you can with what you have been given.  The Lord measures us against ourselves.  What kind of character is growing in You?  By following the Lord and His ways, we each have opportunity upon opportunity to see the likeness of Christ grow in each one of us.

Lord, You know where I am and where I am going.  Lead me according to Your goodness and mercy to continue to run and win the prize.  The only one I am competing with is myself.  The old Adam is lazy and wants everything given to him.  You have given me a new heart that seeks to be like You.  Slay the old Adam and raise the new person so that I learn how to be faithful in all circumstances.

Lord Jesus, my Savior, You are the giver of life.  Sometimes I do nothing and other times I am so busy I do not know which way to turn.  Through all that life gives me, help me to keep my focus upon You so that I may continue to grow by Your grace.  You have invested Your life in me through the cross.  Help me to invest my life in You by taking up my cross and following You.  Lead me this day in the way in which I need to go.  Amen.

“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master’” (Matthew 25:21).

Do not mistake this parable as some kind of economic exchange where you will be rewarded for your service.  What can any of us give to God that is not already His?  The diligence of obeying what He commands and putting your heart into every effort will grow in You what the Lord intends.  Being responsible is one of the goals.  If you want something done, look for the busy person.  Be that person.

Lord, I do understand that this is not about a reward system but about learning how to be faithful.  In this world, it is said that if you work hard, you’ll get ahead.  Sometimes that is true, but sometimes it is not.  Help me to work toward the prize of becoming like You.  Help me to invest myself so that I step forward in faith and grow as You would have me grow in the grace and mercy that You give me.

Lord Jesus, You know that I sometimes work very hard and at other times, hardly work at all.  Guide me in Your goodness and mercy to live into the life which You have set before me.  Lead me to learn from You how to be faithful in and through all things.  Teach me what it means to be covered by Your grace and mercy.  You know what I need, Lord, so grant that I would receive what You give me.  Amen.