September 2, Labor Sunday

Lesson: Matthew 6.10a

Sermon Title: Homeland Security

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INTRODUCTION:

Boy Exposes Long-Winded Preacher (1)

Cajun humorist Justin Wilson tells the story about two boys who were neighbors. They were best of friends on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, but on Sunday they were enemies because one was a Catholic and the other was a Baptist.

Their parents didn't like the fact that these religious differences were producing such uncongenial relations, so they agreed to have their sons visit each other's church services so that a mutual understanding might foster a more tolerant attitude.

On the first Sunday, the Baptist boy visited the Catholic church. Just before they sat down, the Catholic boy genuflected. "What's that mean?" the Baptist asked. All through the mass, the Baptist boy wanted to know what this and that meant, and the little Catholic boy explained everything very nicely.

The next Sunday it was the Catholic boy's turn to visit the Baptist church. When they walked in the building, an usher handed them a printed bulletin. The little Catholic boy had never seen anything like that before in his whole life. "What's that mean?" he asked. His Baptist friend carefully explained. When the preacher stepped into the pulpit, he carefully opened his Bible, and conspicuously took off his watch and laid it on the pulpit. "What's that mean?" the Catholic boy asked.

The Baptist boy said, "Not a darn thing!"

  1. It may not mean a thing, and then again it may mean everything.

  2. The title of this sermon is Homeland Security.

    1. By Homeland Security I an not referring to the US Department of Homeland Security, as important as it is.

    2. Homeland Security is the visualization of the security of a homeland that is to be discovered, maintained, and realized by the follower of Jesus Christ.

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MAIN BODY:

  1. Jesus said: "Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. (Matthew 6:9-10a, NRSVA).

    1. As Alexander Maclaren has said:

The primitive church thought more about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ than about death or about heaven. The early Christians were looking not for a cleft in the ground called a grave but for a cleavage in the sky called Glory. They were watching not for the undertaker but for the uppertaker.

    1. If you are going to pray this prayer it is necessary to know something about the who, what, when, where and why of the kingdom.

      1. Where are you going?

On My Way To Canaan's Land

I'm on my way to Canaan's land
I'm on my way to Canaan's land
I'm on my way to Canaan's land
I'm on my way (praise God) I'm on my way

If father wont go it wont hinder me
If father wont go it wont hinder me
If father wont go it wont hinder me
I'm on my way (praise God) I'm on my way

If mother wont go it wont hinder me

If sister wont go it wont hinder me

Oh be baptized in Jesus name

I'm on my way to Canaan's land

    1. I'm listening for the last trumpet

      1. Jessie E. Strout wrote Jesus Is Coming Again

Lift up the trumpet, and loud let it ring:
Jesus is coming again!
Cheer up, ye pilgrims, be joyful and sing:
Jesus is coming again!

Refrain

Coming again, coming again,
Jesus is coming again!

Echo it, hilltops; proclaim it, ye plains:
Jesus is coming again!
Coming in glory, the Lamb that was slain;
Jesus is coming again!

Refrain

Heavings of earth, tell the vast, wondering throng:
Jesus is coming again!
Tempests and whirlwinds, the anthem prolong;
Jesus is coming again!

Refrain

Nations are angry--by this we do know
Jesus is coming again!
Knowledge increases; men run to and fro;
Jesus is coming again!

Refrain

      1. The Apostle Paul to provide information and encouragement to the believers in Thessalonica wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18:

16For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore encourage one another with these words, (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, NRSVA).

    1. We cannot concern ourselves about the when.

      1. John W. Peterson (2) wrote Jesus Is Coming Again

1
Marvelous message we bring;
Glorious carol we sing,
Wonderful word of the King:
Jesus is coming again!

Coming again, coming again!
May be morning, may be noon,
May be evening and May be soon!
Coming again, coming again!
O what a wonderful day it will be-
Jesus is coming again!

2
Forest and flower exclaim,
Mountain and meadow the same,
All earth and heaven proclaim:
Jesus is coming again!

Chorus

3
Standing before Him at last,
Trial and trouble all past,
Crowns at His feet we will cast.
Jesus is coming again!

Chorus

      1. Peter takes care of the "when" question in 2 Peter 3:3-7 (NRSVA)

3First of all you must understand this, that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and indulging their own lusts 4and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!" 5They deliberately ignore this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago and an earth was formed out of water and by means of water, 6through which the world of that time was deluged with water and perished. 7But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the godless, (2 Peter 3:3-7, NRSVA).

      1. C. S. Lewis has written:

The doctrine of the Second Coming teaches us that we do not and cannot know when the world drama will end. The curtain may be rung down at any moment...This seems to some people intolerably frustrating...We do not know the play...The Author knows. The audience, if there is an audience (if angels and archangels and all the company of heaven fill the pit and the stalls) may have an inkling...When it is over, we may be told. We are led to expect that the Author will have something to say to each of us on the part that each of us has played. The playing it well is what matters infinitely.

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  1. We ought, and I use this word advisedly, ought to be in a constant state of readiness.

    1. That is the question that Leila N. Morris addresses in What If It Were Today?

Jesus is coming to earth again; what if it were today?
Coming in power and love to reign; what if it were today?
Coming to claim His chosen Bride, all the redeemed and purified,
Over this whole earth scattered wide; what if it were today?

Refrain

Glory, glory! Joy to my heart 'twill bring.
Glory, glory! When we shall crown Him King.
Glory, glory! Haste to prepare the way;
Glory, glory! Jesus will come some day.

Satan's dominion will then be o'er, O that it were today!
Sorrow and sighing shall be no more, O that it were today!
Then shall the dead in Christ arise, caught up to meet Him in the skies,
When shall these glories meet our eyes? What if it were today?

Refrain

Faithful and true would He find us here if He should come today?
Watching in gladness and not in fear, if He should come today?
Signs of His coming multiply; morning light breaks in eastern sky.
Watch, for the time is drawing nigh; what if it were today?

Refrain

    1. To help us understand the nature of readiness Jesus said in Luke 12:-40 NRSVA

35"Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; 36be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. 37Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. 38If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

39"But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour," (Luke 12:35-40, NRSVA)

    1. Oswald Chambers has noted:

The only way to wait for the Second Coming is to watch that you do what you should do, so that when he comes is a matter of indifference. It is the attitude of a child, certain that God knows what he is about. When the Lord does come, it will be as natural as breathing. God never does anything hysterical, and he never produces hysterics.

  1. "Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. (Matthew 6:9-10a, NRSVA).

    1. Your kingdom come.

      1. In the kingdom righteousness will replace oppression and distraction.

      2. In the kingdom peace will replace violence and war.

      3. In the kingdom joy will replace misery and sorrow.

    2. Do you long for the kingdom?

    3. Will you give yourself to God for the kingdom?

    4. Will you stay alert and watchful so that the day does not take you unawares?

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CONCLUSION:

  1. Life's Railway to Heaven urges watchful alertness.

    1. The origin of this song is murky. Eliza R. Snow (1804-1887) may have written the original lyrics, with M. E. Abbey (a Baptist minister in Georgia in the 1890s) supplying the chorus. There is a similar poem/hymn by Snow, called "Truth Reflects upon Our Senses," which Tillman put to this same tune in 1909. At any rate, Abbey and Tillman copyrighted "Life's Railway to Heaven" in 1890.

Life is like a mountain railroad, with an engineer that's brave;
We must make the run successful, from the cradle to the grave;
Watch the curves, the fills, the tunnels; never falter, never quail;
Keep your hand upon the throttle, and your eye upon the rail.

Bless'd Savior, Thou wilt guide us,
Till we reach that blissful shore;
Where the angels wait to join us
In Thy praise forevermore.

You will roll up grades of trial; you will cross the bridge of strife;
See that Christ is your Conductor on this lightning train of life;
Always mindful of obstruction, do your duty, never fail;
Keep your hand upon the throttle, and your eye upon the rail.

Bless'd Savior, Thou wilt guide us,
Till we reach that blissful shore;
Where the angels wait to join us
In Thy praise forevermore.

You will often find obstructions; look for storms of wind and rain;
On a fill, or curve, or trestle, they will almost ditch your train;
Put your trust alone in Jesus; never falter, never fail;
Keep your hand upon the throttle, and your eye upon the rail.

Bless'd Savior, Thou wilt guide us,
Till we reach that blissful shore;
Where the angels wait to join us
In Thy praise forevermore.

As you roll across the trestle, spanning Jordan's swelling tide,
You behold the Union Depot into which your train will glide;
There you'll meet the Superintendent, God the Father, God the Son,
With the hearty, joyous, plaudit, "Weary pilgrim, welcome home!"

Bless'd Savior, Thou wilt guide us,
Till we reach that blissful shore;
Where the angels wait to join us
In Thy praise forevermore.

    1. To get there the song says "keep your hand upon the throttle and your eye upon the rail.

Amen

1. Justin Wilson and Howard Jacobs, Cajun Humor (Pelican Press, 1984); submitted by Van Morris, Mount Washington, Kentucky. Church Laughs-HTML [churchlaughs-html@lists.christianitytoday.com]

2. © Copyright 1957, renewed 1985 by John W. Peterson Music Company. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

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