60-Second Sermon

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As the child began his first day of school, he nervously turned to his mother and asked, “How do I make new friends?” His mother looked down at her son and offered him this advice: “Be Switzerland.”

She went on to explain to her young son how Switzerland is a neutral country and encouraged her son to be friends with everyone and to treat all the other students equally.

In James 2, we are reminded that “if you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.”

As Christians, we can do a lot worse than by starting off following the mother’s advice to “Be Switzerland.” But we can’t stop there. We are called to be Jesus to the people we meet, not only by treating them fairly, but by putting aside our wants and desires in order to serve others. Take the lead this week, by being a servant.

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Ancient Greek and Roman philosophers developed a system of medicine known as Humorism to describe the inner workings and makeup of the human body. 

Hippocrates described a system consisting of four humors in the body, with each one determining the temperament of an individual. The more of one substance a person had, the more likely he/she was to have certain traits. In other words, a person’s faults, errors, and crimes were due to his/her bad blood.

In Romans 5, Paul reminds us that “while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly … God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Chris died for.

We as humans do have a blood problem, but it’s not the kind defined by the humorist movement. We are a group of sinners, not because of bad blood, but because of our sinful natures. And the only thing that will bring us true forgiveness and eternal life is the good and perfect blood of Jesus that was sacrificed for you and for me.

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As recently as 2006, an item led the South Korean Consumer Protection Board to issue the following warning: “If bodies are exposed for too long, it causes them to lose water and can lead to hypothermia.”

Many Koreans are probably surprised to find out how many Americans live and even sleep in their rooms with this purportedly dangerous item – the everyday ceiling fan. 

Luke encourages us to “not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Oftentimes, we are afraid of telling others about Jesus because of a fear of the unknown … what will be their reaction, what if I say the wrong thing … what if they ask for a Bible study.

But just like the myth of “fan death,” as it’s called in South Korea, telling others about Jesus and inviting them to church is never as bad as we fear. Be brave, and pray that God will provide you with an opportunity this week to tell someone about the loving power of Christ.

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On July 2, 243 years ago, the leaders of the 13 American colonies approved a resolution of independence from Great Britain, essentially saying that they knew what was best and didn’t need the rule and protection of the British Empire. 

In Acts 4, Peter reminds us that “Salvation is found in no one else [except Jesus], for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” 

We are incredibly thankful for the freedom we enjoy in the United States and for the willingness of so many to sacrifice themselves for the good of the whole.

And while freedom has worked out well for our country, spiritually we are lost and defeated if we live outside the rule of God and the protection that comes from the blood of Christ, which gives us life over death. And that is true freedom.

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In the early 1900s, Richard Munslow died in a small England town, and he took his profession with him to the grave … Munslow is the last recorded example we have of a sin-eater. 

If a priest could not make it in time to perform the last rites for an individual, some families would place food by the deceased individual, and have a sin-eater eat the small meal, which was said to carry the sins from the deceased person onto the sin-eater himself, thus absolving the other individual of his/her sins.

In 1 Peter (2:24), we are told that [Jesus] Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.

We have no need to call upon a sin-eater, because we worship the sin-eater, the one and only true Savior, the perfect sacrifice for the atonement of our sins. Jesus took our sins upon Himself once and for all because of God’s love for us.  

And the greatest part of Jesus’s story? That the tomb was empty and that He rose from the grave, victorious over sin, and He calls us to be a part of His story as well.

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The citizens of a small Italian seaport wanted to build a belltower to go beside its cathedral, and in August 1173, work began on the architectural masterpiece of Bonanno Pisano. Its completion spanned multiple centuries with the help of other architects, and in the mid-1300s, the structure was complete. There was only one problem, however …

In 2 Corinthians (4:6-9), Paul exhorts us that “we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”

The ground below the cathedral’s belltower consisted of clay, fine sand, and shells, and it wasn’t sound enough to withhold the belltower … an error in calculation still visible in one of the world’s most famous structures, the leaning tower of Pisa.

The lean of the tower led to its fame, drawing over a million visitors each year. Just as the town of Pisa has embraced the off-kilter structure, we need to be open to admitting and repenting of our shortcomings, our selfishness, our sin, because through our weak, fragile jars of clay, God’s power and glory can be revealed through us.

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lexander was the president of the country’s largest railroad company in the late 19th century, while his sister, whom he affectionately referred to as Mame, was a struggling artist in France who convinced her brother to purchase some of the artwork of her friends. 

In the first chapter of John, we are told that “one of the two who heard John [the Baptist] speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah.” He brought him to Jesus.”

Alexander loved the collection of artwork by his sister’s friends, who included Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. As for Mame, her artwork sells today for over $4 million a painting under her real name, which is Mary Cassatt.

Mame was able to introduce her brother to the fledgling Impressionist movement and what has become some of the world’s most valuable artwork, but Andrew introduced his brother to something worth so much more … a meeting with Jesus and the gift of eternal life with Christ. What an incredible honor it is to introduce someone to Jesus. When was the last time you were able to do that?

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I am so proud of my mom. 

She was an incredible woman, and she was a light for Christ. She was the best of all of us. 

So many of our traditions, behaviors, and yes, even quirks, are because of her, and they will continue to live on in us and remind us of her. 

I remember hearing stories about the paperboy who delivered the newspaper to my mom’s house in Memphis when she was growing up. He would strap albums to the back of his bike and he and my mom would listen to them after he was finished with his paper route. That paperboy grew up to be my dad, and their love for music stayed strong. We are a family that loves music, from jazz to the blues, from the Beatles to Elvis, from contemporary Christian to acapella. …That was my mom.

My mom let my dad know very early in their relationship that her faith in Christ was most important to her. My dad took the hint, and he has grown to become a deacon, an elder, and a leader at every church he has attended. Her two children were raised in a faith-filled home. …That was my mom.

I remember hearing stories about my mom running track in high school and her being one of the fastest at school. And later, stories about her, my aunt, and my grandmother spending nights winning bowling trophies. Then I remember watching my sister run like a gazelle across the soccer field, and I think about our family’s love of sports. …That was my mom.

Because she was from Memphis, I always figured that mom had barbecue sauce mixed in with the blood running through her veins. We are a family who loves good barbecue, and you should never have to ask them to put slaw on it. …That was my mom.

I remember her singing a wonderful song of her own creation to me and Heather when we were young, and she would even sing it occasionally to us after we were grown. I sang the same song to each of my children when I would rock them to sleep as babies. …That was my mom.

It may turn some stomachs, but I’ve been eating Krystal hamburgers for as long as I can remember. In fact, I enjoyed a sackful while compiling some of these thoughts. For better or worse, I am, and always will be, a fan of Krystal. …That was my mom.

At the beach, my mom was quick to remind us not to stray too far from the shore. At the pool, she made sure we did not run or dive. In high places, she warned us not to get too close to the edge. At those same places today, I hear the same warnings being involuntarily spoken by me to my own children. …That, and, I’m pretty sure, my present-day fear of heights, was my mom.

I remember my mom pulling for Georgia Tech from the day she moved to Georgia. She never said why exactly, even when I asked. Maybe it was the mascot, or the colors, or the location. Whatever the reason, she was a fan. And I am, too. I will always root for the Yellowjackets. …That was my mom. 

She taught me how to vacuum, and not just in the places that could be seen. She taught me how to dust, taking time to move the picture frames from the shelves instead of just cleaning around them. She taught me how to do laundry, following rules about colors and whites, cold and hot, delicate and perma-press. She did such a good job that her mother would lovingly tease me – her own grandson – that I would someday make someone a good wife. …That was my mom.

I remember Friday nights consisting of mom and dad playing rook with friends from church. I remember mom talking about how much she enjoyed church potlucks and fellowship groups. I remember times with relatives, just sitting around the house sharing stories and memories, making time seem irrelevant. Laughter, jokes, and good times were a way of life in our house. …That was my mom.

No matter where we are or how far apart we ma

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As a proponent of the 19th-century temperance movement, preacher Sylvester Graham believed strongly in the benefits of a vegetarian diet based around whole-grain bread. His beliefs in this were so strong that he developed his own wafer bread at home to pass around to his followers.

In the book of John, Jesus told some of his closest followers: “Do not look for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.”

Who would’ve thought that the National Biscuit Company, better known today as Nabisco, would take the temperance preacher’s vegetarian offering and go on to mass produce one of the world’s most popular crackers … ones that still carry the name of the 19th-century preacher who invented them. That’s right – the Graham Cracker. 

While there aren’t many things better than eating a graham cracker recently dunked in a cold glass of milk, or eating a roasted marshmallow and chocolate squished between two pieces of graham crackers, these pleasures are only temporary.

For fulfillment that will last and bring eternal satisfaction, don’t look for meals or snacks here on earth … look to Jesus. He will truly fill your soul.

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Throughout the 1700s, individuals would keep the stale crusts of their bread to use in correcting their mistakes on paper. One night, British engineer Edward Nairne (N-iron) reached for his stale crust, but instead picked up a piece of latex rubber and used it on the paper before realizing what is was. Not only did the rubber do a much better job of erasing the mistakes, it was also much easier to clean up by simply sweeping away the small rubber crumbs. And the rest, as they say, is history. 

In the 103rd Psalm, David reminds us that “as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is God’s steadfast love toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does God remove our transgressions from us.”

Stale crusts of bread and rubber erasers are no comparison to the cleansing blood of Jesus. When we confess our sins, even the worst things we’ve ever done, God is quick to forgive, and chooses to remember our sins no more. What freedom we have in Jesus!

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