Sermon Recap--"Head Scratcher"

There is an old poem that says:

Everyone is strange

except me and thee.

Now that I consider it,

I am not so sure about thee.

This week, I realized that I am not so sure about me either. I observe things. That is a key component to my preaching. I look at the world, and with my odd eyes and heart, try to discern what God is doing and join him there. It is funny that I do this and often fail to notice when my wife gets here hair cut. Or, maybe God is easier to figure out than women?

Sometimes, I do run into things or people that make me scratch my head. I just returned home from a week stay in the upstate visiting with family. On Tuesday, the temp was a balmy 100 degrees and I was melting. I missed my ocean breeze and 4 hours inland, not a breeze was found. I went into a Speedy Mart and grabbed 2 bottled waters, paid the cashier and exited the glass doors in the front of the store. Looking to my right, I noticed a HUGE pile of firewood for sale. From my Wal-Mart management days--I almost flipped out! Repeat 100 degrees and they were selling--firewood, and at FULL price. A real head scratcher--wouldn't you agree.

The next day I went to a coffee shoppe. Their was a huge sign for decaf espresso. Sorry, but I don't understand. Maybe I am missing something here--for me, this is another head scratcher.

I went in a candy store named I-sugar. It was amazing and I almost slipped into a diabetic coma just by looking around. There were gummy bears and M&M's sorted by color. They even had a delicious Clemson blend (orange and white) and a yucky discounted gamecock blend (garnet and black.) There were huge sugar daddies and tiny sugar babies. We spent about 30 minutes checking out all the goods. On the way out, I spotted 8 peg hooks filled with basic sugar free candy. Made no sense--another head scratcher.

The day before returning home, Douglas and I met my sister, Amy for lunch. We arrived a bit early and went on into the Mexican restaurant and started munching on the chips and salsa. In between crunches, three preachers came in the door. You can spot preachers from a mile away. I am not sure what it is, maybe we smell funny. Once they got a bit closer, I could really see that they were preachers. They each had on polo shirts advertising their churches. They were all from different local churches and wore the logos proudly. They sat in the seat behind me, and talked loudly. So, I felt obligated to listen, quietly.

The conversation hinged around a person who was attending one of the churches and being difficult. He was requiring a lot of time of the pastor, and was quite draining. The pastor was trying to get the other ministers to take him off his hands. The conversation was not about "How can we brainstorm and figure out a way to help" it was about "Please take this dude off my hands, he is a large pain in my polo." You get my drift? Another head scratcher for me. I think I am getting a bald spot.

I was reminded of a head scratching scripture. Let's see if there is something here for us.

Luke 15

Parable of the Lost Sheep

Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them! So Jesus told them this story:

“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!

The perfectly pressed polo preachers were spending too much time on the 99 to care about the 1. Perhaps the 1 that was the biggest pain was the 1 that needed the rescuing. Perhaps, we are like the preachers in that we too often forget about the Christ that goes and gets us when we wander. He carries us on his back and takes us back to the place of restoration and reconciliation. One thing that cannot be denied; Jesus cared for the marginalized and sought to find them and love them. We too often care for the cool, the hip, the people that have it all together--oh, if we could somehow focus on the ONE who cares for the one that wanders.

Christ loves us--the wandering sheep. That may be the greatest head scratcher of them all.