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1.
Acts 6:1-7
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2. 1 Pet 2:4-9
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Gospel: John 14:1-12
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" What happens when we become
troubled?"
Dear friends today we
celebrate the 5th Sunday of Easter. In the gospel Jesus tells us not to let our
hearts be troubled. He gives us an assurance that He is going to prepare a
place for each one of us and that He will come back and take us to our prepared
place- custom designed, by Jesus himself, for each one of us. And this is the
good reminder for us. It's like a light bulb going on over our heads- like they
do in cartoons. The light bulb to us is the reminder that we are called to
spend our lives in close relationship with Jesus, being of service in the ways
He has called us to be, while he is custom designing a dwelling place for each
of us.
Dear brothers and
sisters, in order to be sure we are ABLE to do the things we are called to do,
first and foremost we have to unload
some things from our lives- the things we AREN'T called to do, but have taken
upon ourselves. These are things that block the light of Jesus out of our lives
and keep us from doing the work He has for us. Thus let's face it, - It is Easy
to let our lives get so crowded that the light of Jesus is crowded out- we get
so busy that Jesus gets blocked out- and then
we wonder why things aren't going well- we wonder why we feel like we
are sinking fast?!!!
Let us listen the
following story that helps to illustrate what might be the problem.
Once upon a time,
brightly colored hot air balloon took off from the coast of Maine. Its
destination was the coast of France, and its name was the DOUBLE EAGLE II. 3,000 miles of great blue Atlantic
stretched before the hopeful crew. Soaring by day and drifting by night they
rode the wind for three nights and two days. However... on the third morning,
while they were still a few hundred miles from Europe's coast- things changed.
Gray clouds surrounded them. Ice crystals, looking deceptively beautiful,
started to form on the five-story balloon.
Soon the ice weighed
hundreds of pounds- and began to force the balloon downward. Thus with no solar
rays permeating the gray clouds, there was no heat to melt the ice. The crew's
plight was inevitable, unless all excess weight was eliminated from the
balloon, they would plunge into the deep blue sea.
They started throwing
books out-canned goods- everything
non-essential was pushed out into the sea, but still the lack of the sun
kept the ice firmly in place, and the balloon continued down. And the problem
was not the ice, but the lack of SUNLIGHT.
The balloon was going down. 8000 feet, 6,000. Thus they sent out their distress signal-
MAYDAY!! MAYDAY!!MAYDAY!! they radioed. At that point they gave their position
and look down into the kind of angry Atlantic that accompanies a gray, sunless
sky. And when they were only 4000 feet from the dark blue ocean, they shoved
out their radio- their touch with the world. And then it finally happened. They
leveled out and began to rise. They broke through the cloud cover and into the
sunshine. They ice began to melt, allowing the balloon to soar again- its
burden having been lightened by the sun.
They landed safely in
the French countryside.
They had done what they
set out to do.
Their mission was
accomplished.
They had reached the
prepared place.
We are invited to
understand that what our mission is - today. Our mission is to reach the place
that Jesus has gone ahead to prepare for us. You might find that you are
soaring along nicely, in your balloon called life, fully intending to
accomplish this mission.
However, if you begin
taking things on like the Double Eagle II, be careful how much you load into
your life. The more you load in, the more you crowd out the SON and without SON
light you are doomed. Things will start to sink fast. May be you, like lots of
other people, have already overloaded your balloon. May be you are feeling that descent already.
There is no other
solution to the problem but to unload
your balloon so that you can be reached by the light of the SON, who even now
has a place prepared for you. Your mission for today and tomorrow and all your
days is to get rid of everything that
blocks your contact with Jesus. He said that where he is, there you may also
be. He wants you there and he's coming
back to get you.
Unload your balloon so
that you don't sink before he gets here.
What needs to go? For each of us that will be different, and for each of us
that is the task at hand- discerning
what is causing the OVERLOAD in our lives- what needs to be
UNLOADED.
Dear brethren sit now
for a few minutes and think about the things have you loaded into your balloon
called life. What has to go? What definitely has to stay- what are the
essentials and what are the Un essentials. Continue to think about that as you
go through this week, and let us begin that thought process now.
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Chapisha Maoni