For Sale....the Wayfarer 3/16/13

For Sale
3/16/13

“Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests,

And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver

(Matthew 26: 14 & 15)

Today’s message comes about because of a recent Sunday school lesson that I not only much enjoyed, but found applied to me as well as many others in its wealth of usefulness and guidance.

Hopefully the teacher will take no offense at my having taken the lesson he gave, and used it to illustrate an entirely different point than that which he was making at the time.

To communicate this lesson, a bag was brought into the church, filled with what appeared to be protective layers of newspaper obfuscating the contents of the bag. The teacher then asked for us to sell that bag, knowing only that its contents were a daily necessity, and could be quite valuable.

As is usual, this teacher’s sense of humor was evident, as we went around the room with two people attempting to sell the contents of the bag, those contents still unknown. The better salesman of the two used a skill at recognizing human behavior and immediately began expounding on how important these contents were to us. His description was lucid, thought provoking and quite convincing as he first “bought” this pig in a poke and resold it to the rest of us.

As usual, my own caution, (and often noted lack of a sense of humor for humor’s sake), prevailed,( a failing that I am still working diligently on), and when asked what I would pay for the contents of the bag, my response was that I wouldn't buy it, because, if it were that essential to me, I already must have it. (Bear in mind. I still had no idea what was in the bag!)

At the end of this object lesson, the newspaper came out of the bag to reveal a roll of toilet paper! This is indeed a daily necessity of great value, if you don’t already have it, and an item I would have given much to have at many points in life!

It is here that I depart form the lesson taught by my brother, that affected me very deeply as he continued with his lesson. His point, and a very valid one indeed, was that we cannot sell Christ, unless we first sell ourselves to those we are attempting to win. We must first find a commonality that allows our communications to be accepted.

As you may have guessed from the opening verse of scripture, I choose to take this object lesson in a different direction than did he.

Far too many salesmen in their business suits with expensive backdrops are already out there “selling” Jesus on the airwaves and in their Cathedrals and temples and whatever else they call the backdrops used to request your money for their purposes.

I have NOTHING to sell.

I offer no books, no monthly magazines, no trinkets blessed by my prayers, to send for a price, no water in vials from the river Jordan, no blessings or curses of my own to be offered for any price.

I have only a GIFT to offer, and that is not even my own! It is a gift that was given me that I cannot give away to anyone else, but may only show others how to obtain.

It is not a gift of righteousness, I have none, yet, and will have none as long as I inhabit this corrupt body, on this corrupt plane in this corrupt world.

 It is not a gift of prosperity, or great worldly riches, again, this is something I neither possess nor wish for.

It is not a gift that may be bought at any price, not even the thirty pieces of silver that Judas thought more valuable than the gift I speak of.

It is a gift, available to any and all, willing to pay the tiny price of REPENTANCE!

What a large word this is for only the ten letters that spell it!

It costs nothing, to give this, in return for the gift that was offered in return for this simple ten letter word!

I, however, may not purchase this particular gift for anyone, other than myself, as I did so many years ago. That is something that must be done by each individual who truly wishes to have the contents of the seemingly,"empty bag", that I use to illustrate my point.  I do not even include the toilet paper in my bag, I make no attempt to “sell” this “bag” to you. I merely ASK that you accept its contents as I did.

That gift is the gift of eternal life and salvation paid for long ago by God’s own Son, Jesus.

At the risk of seeming trite, I remind the reader of a promise found in the often quoted 16^th verse of the third chapter of John, and call attention to another tiny word contained in it.

WHOSOEVER

I close as always, with the love of Jesus  for my fellow human beings, still, only a soldier, and simple sinner, saved by His grace, through my faith in Him, not in the salesmen who still want those thirty pieces of silver, still standing on His promises, not just sitting on His premises, and Knowing that even the words I use to guide you to that gift are not my own  but instead belong  to that same Savior alone, 

         

                            "REPENT For the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand!"

2 Timothy 1:12 King James Version (KJV)

¹² For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Amen and Amen.

the Wayfarer