The theme = “Sorted?”
Based on the Epsitle reading for Sunday
Based on the Epsitle reading for Sunday
Hebrews 9: 24-28
24For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.25Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own;26for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself.27And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgement,28so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
I don't know about you but I have been
always been someone who struggles with saying something is sorted.
Sorting out ... Black Bin Bags & Boxes
I wonder do you have a fictional
literary hero you can relate to? … Maybe this might tell you a bit
about the minister you now have in Blarney … but my hero is one
created by Richard Havergrave
Today I would love to tell you about a great character, one who is
one of my all time favorite fictional hero’s ... Mr Messy ... this
contains spoilers ... I hope you don’t mind
Mr Messy lives in a messy house
which has a messy Garden
but he is quite content with his messy life
Until he meets a couple of people
Mr Neat and Mr Tidy who are sorting out the garden of a neighbour
They offer Mr Messy their Services
Mr Messy reluctantly agrees
They tidy his house, his garden and basically show him that things
can be different
Now the last thing that they do is sort Mr Messy out with a bath
and then Mr Messy at the end of the story laughs and says to Mr Neat
and Mr Tidy that he shall have to change his name as he is no longer
Messy.
Mr’s Neat and Tidy were able to show Mr Messy that there was a
different way to live
When Mr Messy saw this he was able to try and live less messily
I Share this story with you for a few
different reasons … Mr Messy reminds us that all of us … myself
included have different things in our lives which are messy …
perhaps it is our past, perhaps it is stuff we are going through at
the moment.
This afternoon for our kids and parents
we have Lighthouse
As I have read up on the Messy Church
stuff … one thing grabbed my attention immediately … and I can
certainly relate to it is that life in 2012 is messy and crazy …
time is at a premium
Our world is a messy world … its a
scary place … its a crazy place.
And the thing is that us who call
ourselves christian are not immune from it at all … we are caught
up in the mess …
This morning … I suppose I would like
to remind us that somethings are sorted … some things we need to
anchor oursleves to … points of reference from our two readings
Firstly In our Hebrews reading
Background to God's Dwelling - Tabernacle / Temple ...
Altar; Sacrifice
Sin is sorted … through Sacrifice –
In OT times annually the priest would have had to go and sacrifice a
goat to sort out the sin of the people … The Law demanded it
But Sin today is sorted through the
working out of what happened to Jesus on the cross … as we accept
this then
Salvation is sorted … through waiting
on God – This is where some of us are this morning … we know
that salvation is Sorted, we know that … discipline comes in
Today we know that there is no longer a temple ... but we read in scripture that we are the temple ... you and I are where God Dwells ...
In the messiness of Life … don't let
that define who you are …
Sorting out isn't a moment in time …
rather it is a life long process … in the church we love to have
big long words for things … this is one of them … Sanctification
… which for our purpose means Becoming more like Jesus.
Becoming more holy ... The Great High Priest has made that way open for us.
God is dwelling in us ... Sin is sorted through Christ ... Salvation is sorted through Christ BUT sometime in our lives we but rubbish in with the good stuff in our lives.
How can we clear it out ...
I wonder are there areas in your life
...we know need sorted... are there areas we need cleaned up.
Do we need to know that SIN … the
stuff thatwe know is not pleasing to God … can be dealt with. 
Some of us need to be assured that salvation is sorted … we need to be assured that God is indeed for us … not against us … and in our waiting on him we might ask the question … where is God in my situation … where is God? He is in our problems … are we eagerly seeking him
God is dealing with us as individuals …
whatever we are going through.
Our Hebrews passage reminds us that we
can be included individually in the sacrifice … so that our sin can
be sorted and our salvation … as we trust … as we eagerly wait
for him.
Let us pray
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