Your life is a sermon

Daniel 9: 3-10

Hebrews 2: 10-18

 Matthew 4: 1-11

Sermons

A man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

The tailgating woman was furious and honked her horn, screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her cell phone and makeup.

As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, finger printed, photographed, and placed in a holding cell. After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

He said, "I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and your head out the window cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the 'What Would Jesus Do' bumper sticker, the 'Choose Life' license plate holder, the 'Follow Me to Sunday-School' bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk. Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car."

There is an old song that says, “They will know we are Christians by our love.”  Saint Francis of Assisi once taught his followers, “Preach the Gospel. If necessary. use words.” 

What the young lady, who professed her Christianity loudly on her car, forgot was, our lives are sermons. We preach our beliefs by the way we live our lives every day.  No amount of words will ever have a greater impression on others than the way we treat others, and who, when, and how we choose to help others.

Jesus came out of the wilderness vulnerable and tempted. He did not yield to those temptations. Instead he began his ministry of preaching, teaching, and serving others.

Two things drew people to Jesus. First, he served people’s needs, without strings. He met their needs when no one else did. Second, spent time with and developed relationships with people no “church” people—Pharisees and Sadducees-- would.  It was not his preaching that drew them to him. They were willing to listen to his preaching and his teaching because he cared about them and served their needs. Because he extended love to them, without being judgmental.

That is an essential lesson for us to reflect upon during Lent. People will be drawn to church because of how we live our lives and serve them outside church. Whether we admit it to ourselves or not, what we truly believe about God and the teachings of Jesus is transparent. It is certainly transparent to God. And, we cannot hide our true beliefs from others.  Lent is a time for us to see ourselves as others see us.

Lent is a time for us to ask ourselves, what is the sermon we preach everyday with our lives?