Ordinary 30 C – October 27, 2019

Luke 18:9-14

One day God was looking down at earth and saw all of the rascally behavior that was going on. So he called one of his angels to go to earth for a time. When he returned, he told God, “Yes, it is bad on Earth; 95% are misbehaving and only 5% are not.”

God thought for a moment and said, “Maybe I had better send down another angel to get a second opinion.”

So God called another angel and sent him to earth for a time, too.

When the angel returned he went to God and said, “Yes, it’s true. The earth is in decline; 95% are misbehaving, but 5% are being good.”

God was not pleased. So he decided to email the 5% who were good, because He wanted to encourage them, give them a little something to help them
keep going.

Do you know what the email said?

No?

Okay, just wondering. I didn’t get one either.

Our text today contains the seven most useful words in the Bible. The Bible is full of sevens: seven days, seven seals. In fact, there are over 850 references to the number seven. And then there are Jesus’ last words, seven of them: My God, why hast thou forsaken me? But today we find the seven most useful words.  They are, in fact, the only seven words that you really need.

God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Have a great week! Laurin