March 5, 7:00 p.m., Ash Wednesday Service

Lessons: Psalm 51.1-17; Isaiah 58.1-12; 2 Corinthians 5.20b-6.10; Matthew 6.1-6, 16-21

Sermon Title: Reversal of Fortunes

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INTRODUCTION:

  1. Jake was tired, he had worked hard all week.

    1. Jake was an upholsterer

    2. He had handled a number of heavy pieces of work for customers that were not especially nice.

    3. It was necessary to make a run to the town dump.

      1. This was when we still had town dumps.

      2. He didn't want to go to the dump, but then, you never knew what you might find.

      3. People threw away unwanted but sometimes good stuff.

    4. He was unloading his pickup when he spied the old couch.

      1. He walked over to take a look.

      2. The fabric was worn and the stuffing was a little thin in places.

      3. He recognized it as a substantial piece.

      4. The frame was in great shape.

    5. With a little work it could be restored and recovered.

    6. It just might bring him in a few dollars more than expected.

    7. So he tugged the couch up on the truck and went home.

    8. In a few weeks you never would have known that, that couch had been thrown away in the town dump.

      1. To use a religious term, we could say that the couch had been redeemed.

        1. It was redeemed because Jake saw the value in it.

        2. He then loaded it and took it to his shop.

      2. To use another religious term, we could say that one the couch had been redeemed it needed to be restored.

        1. It was restored because Jake recovered it.

        2. The old couch now took one the beauty and functionality of itself.

      3. This may be understood as a reversal of fortune.

  2. One of my favorite stories on this theme is about a young boy who built a boat, lost it, and reclaimed it.

    1. The story is about how he reclaimed it

      1. After he built the boat, he liked to float it on the river that flowed near his home.

      2. He would tie a string on the boat and let it run with the current.

      3. One day just after a heavy rain, when the river was swollen and angry looking, he tried to see how his boat would handle the swifter current.

        1. The tension on the string from the wave-driven boat was very strong.

        2. It was so strong that it broke and the boat sailed down the river.

      4. He didn't know whether he would ever see his boat or not.

      5. He searched for it with no results.

    2. One day when he went to town with his dad, as they passed a second-hand shop, he saw his boat in the window.

      1. He was sure that it was his.

      2. He went inside and asked the person if he could look at it.

      3. He confirmed that it was his.

      4. Excitedly, he told the clerk, "That's mine! I made It! Please give me my boat!"

      5. "Sorry," said the clerk, "I bought that from a young man who brought it into my store. If you want it you are going to have to pay for it."

      6. The boy gave the clerk what money he had as a down payment.

      7. The clerk promised to hold it for him, "no matter how long it took."

    3. It took awhile.

    4. But one day the boy had the money.

    5. His dad took him into town and he went directly to the store and put the purchase price on the counter.

    6. Lovingly carrying his boat he was heard to say as he left the store, "You are twice mine. I made you and I bought you back."

    7. This may be understood as a reversal of fortune.

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  1. When you think about it that is what God has done for us.

    1. He made us.

    2. We were not very loyal to God.

    3. We decided to test the system, to strike out on our own.

      1. We have not done a very good job of it.

      2. We have gotten lost.

      3. Tossed on the town dump.

      4. Sold down the river.

    4. God wouldn't not let us go.

    5. He redeemed and restored us.

      1. He bought us back.

      2. With the precious blood of Jesus Christ, he paid the price.

  2. The price was paid for a purpose.

    1. The purpose is to help us recover.

      1. For we, at least in this life, are never recovered.

      2. AA is a wonderful program for alcoholics who want to struggle to overcome the addiction to alcohol.

        1. AA offers Twelve Steps to help the individual engage in the process of recovering.

        2. The alcoholic is never said to be recovered, only recovering.

      3. God offers us steps to help us recover.

        1. God offer us love

        2. God offers us faith

        3. God offers us hope.

        4. God offers us grace

        5. God offers us forgiveness.

    2. There is an old song which suggests that "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.

      1. It is based on Proverbs 20:24 "All our steps are ordered by the LORD; how then can we understand our own ways?"

        1. It is not that God places our feet exactly where he wants us to go.

        2. It is that he provides a plan that promotes the best and provides for all our needs.

      2. The ultimate purpose is to reclaim us so that we can enjoy the world and life as God intended that it should be.

  3. If we are to recover and be recovered, there is that one first step that we must take.

    1. We cry for help.

    2. We must use it.

      1. There is a story about a man who died and went to heaven and complained that God didn't answer his prayer

        1. Why didn't you save me.

        2. I prayed.

        3. I cried out to you, why didn't you save me.

      2. God replied how did you respond to the emergency personal who warned you of the flood?

        1. What did you say to the man who offered to give you a ride in his boat?

        2. Why didn't you accept the ride in the helicopter when rescue team sought to save you?

      3. I tried to save you, but you would not listen; you would not act.

    3. May he didn't recognize the help, but he certainly ought to have recognized the danger.

  4. We are in danger and in need of saving.

    1. If we would reverse our fortunes we need this salvation.

    2. This is the process of redemption

    3. That's why the song "Nailed to the Cross," provides the reason for hanging our names and red ribbons on the cross tonight.

      1. Read again the words on the back of your worship folder.

There was One Who was willing to die in my stead,
That a soul so unworthy might live;
And the path to the cross He was willing to tread,
All the sins of my life to forgive.

Refrain

They are nailed to the cross,
They are nailed to the cross,
O how much He was willing to bear!
With what anguish and loss Jesus went to the cross!
But He carried my sins with Him there.

He is tender and loving and patient with me,
While He cleanses my heart of the dross;
But ""there''s no condemnation""----I know I am free,
For my sins are all nailed to the cross.

Refrain

I will cling to my Savior and never depart----
I will joyfully journey each day,
With a song on my lips and a song in my heart,
That my sins have been taken away.

Refrain

  1. Symbolically, let us nail our sins to the cross.

What we did here was to write our names on a slip of paper and with a short length of red ribbon symbolizing the blood of Jesus shed on the cross, we attached the paper and the ribbon to the cross with a push pin. it is a powerful symbol recognizing what Jesus has done for us.

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