Excuses or Opportunities
Luke 14:16-18 –
“He said to him, ‘A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’ ‘But they all alike began to make excuses.’”
Bob knocked on his neighbor’s door. When Barry answered the knock, Bob asked him, “Can I borrow your rope?” “No,” Barry answered, “we are using it.” Bob was surprised at being turned down and probed, “Really? What are you using it for?” “Well,” Barry answered, “we are using it to tie up our orange juice.” “How is that possible,” Bob asked. Barry paused and then responded, “I don’t know, but if you don’t want to do something, then one excuses is as good as another.”
Over the decades of preaching, I’ve heard just about every excuse imaginable for forsaking the worship of God. People have told me that they do not come because they are too busy. Some have told me that they don’t come because they are out of town. (Every Sunday?) I knew one many who had a mysterious illness that afflicted him on Sunday, but never on Saturday (the Devil must have sent it). I do not know how many times I have had people tell me that they were coming, but just as they were getting ready, relatives from out of town came over.
Let me tell you how one man handled such a situation. One Wednesday night in 1999, it was getting near church time. Byron Nelson had a friend come by for help with his golf swing. As it drew nearer the time for Bible study, he turned to the friend and said, “We go to church on Wednesday night. You are welcome to come with us or stay here till we get back.” The friend decided he too would go to study the Bible. So that night Byron and his wife brought Payne Stewart to worship and Bible study in a little church in Roanoke, Texas.
He could have just said, “I have company, famous company, so I’ll just stay here with him.” He did not. He used that time as an opportunity to bring a friend to worship. Some folks look for excuses to miss worship and others look for opportunities to share worship and Bible study.
Lonnie Davis
Genesis 7:13
“On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth,
together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark.”
Mrs. Ham’s Lessons
Imagine what life was like for Mrs. Ham. She was in a boat with pigs, sheep, elephants, giraffes, and every other kind of animal. Thirty days after she entered the boat it was still raining. The sea is tossing, the smell is terrible, and the only light came from an oil lantern. She had neither sun nor moon nor fresh air. On top of this she did not know when or how this is all going to end.
This is not what she signed up for when she became Mrs. Ham. Life is not about what happens to you, but about what you do with what happens. If we could talk with Mrs. Ham today, there are many things she would tell us. Here are four life-lessons from Mrs. Ham.
1. Your seemingly crazy in-law might not be crazy after all.
100 years into the boat building, the neighbors surely thought that Noah was crazy. He was gathering animals and building a giant boat in the middle of dry land. No doubt that Mrs. Ham’s friends thought she had a crazy father-in-law. He was not crazy.
2. You do too marry his family.
Many folks marry into a family and say, “I am marrying him, not his family.” At the end of life, everyone understands that you marry not only him, but his family. The wise woman will get to know the family she is marrying.
3. If you marry the right person, it may save your life.
When Mrs. Ham was safe and dry while the whole world was drowning, she had to realize that she was safe because she married into a family of faith.
4. You are going to wind up in the same boat.
You need to learn to love your family because you are going to wind up in the same boat with them. You can say it is not so, but it is!
Do not live your life like you are the first person to walk the earth. Learn from those who have walked your path before. You will learn the lessons of Mrs. Ham. The only question is are you willing to learn from her experience or do you have to learn the hard way – by experiencing it yourself.
Lonnie Davis
In 1939, the Nazis were invading the Netherlands. The first people to be affected were the Jews who lived in the Netherlands. A group of Christians came to the Dutch theologian, Henry Cramer, and told him, “Our Jewish neighbors are missing from their homes.” They then asked, “What must we do?”
Cramer’s answered, “I cannot tell you what to do. I can tell you who you are. If you know who you are then you will know what to do.”
Read those last words again, “If you know who you are, then you will know what to do.” The Nazis are not marching in our streets, but those words should still convict us. When Satan sends temptations, you do not need to ask what to do. You only need to remember who you are.
Sometimes Christians will be confronted with a temptation to evil. It sounds holy and righteous to hear them say, “I will pray to God for an answer about what I should do.” It is not holy and righteous. It is weak. God has already told us what to do with sin. We only need to remember who we are.
In our story, the men and women who asked the question of Henry Cramer became part of the Dutch resistance movement. They helped save the lives of many. In times of stress and temptation, if you and I will remember who God is and who we are, it will determine our conduct.
2,000 years ago, on a storm tossed ship in the middle of the sea, Paul used that principle to make his decision. He told the freighted sailors, “Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.” (Acts 27:23-25)
Paul said, “I know God knows me and I know who I am and whose I am.” Since he knew these things, he knew what to do. When you know those things, you too will know what to do.
Lonnie Davis