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First Baptist Church
Message from Reverend Zimmerman
A parable: What a Little Silver Can Do!
Matthew 16: 26 - 28
The above scripture (Matthew 16: 26-28) is one that addresses "wealth
accumulation" and its possible negative effects, consequently, it is one
that is very often over-looked and / or ignored by many good Christians.
Their reasoning seems to be that since they are not wealthy then their
souls cannot be lost because of wealth.
Perhaps this little parable ("What a Little Silver Can Do!" ) addresses this
way of thinking.
There was once a poor man who gave much of his meager resources to
those who were even less fortunate than he was. Then through God's
Blessings and his own hard work, the poor man became rich. BUT THEN,
he stopped giving to the poor ! One day, the now rich man got a visit from
his Rabbi. The Rabbi asked him to look out from window of his beautiful
mansion. The rich man did as he was told. The Rabbi then said: "what
do you see"? The man said "I see poor people". The Rabbi then handed
him a hand mirror and asked him to look in it. Now, said the Rabbi, "what
do you see?” The man said "I see myself!”
The Rabbi said that the glass of the window and the mirror were the
same. However, the big difference was that unlike the window glass, the
mirrored glass was tinted in the back with SILVER! The result is we are
not able to "look out" but rather to see only ourselves!
Our Lord says, even those of us who believe ourselves to be good
Christians can be hindered in our efforts to grow as Christians because
we have a "Silver-Tinted Religion!” And, this causes us to see only
ourselves. This puts them in the way of being able to see God's mandate
to "look out" our "windows" to see and to help our less fortunate
brothers and sisters!
We gain and keep our souls for an eternal re-union with our Lord by
looking out to see and respond to the needs of others.
Real and active discipleship will keep the "Silver" out of our "Glass" and
our soul fit for the Kingdom.
A parable: What a Little Silver Can Do!
Matthew 16: 26 - 28
The above scripture (Matthew 16: 26-28) is one that addresses "wealth
accumulation" and its possible negative effects, consequently, it is one
that is very often over-looked and / or ignored by many good Christians.
Their reasoning seems to be that since they are not wealthy then their
souls cannot be lost because of wealth.
Perhaps this little parable ("What a Little Silver Can Do!" ) addresses this
way of thinking.
There was once a poor man who gave much of his meager resources to
those who were even less fortunate than he was. Then through God's
Blessings and his own hard work, the poor man became rich. BUT THEN,
he stopped giving to the poor ! One day, the now rich man got a visit from
his Rabbi. The Rabbi asked him to look out from window of his beautiful
mansion. The rich man did as he was told. The Rabbi then said: "what
do you see"? The man said "I see poor people". The Rabbi then handed
him a hand mirror and asked him to look in it. Now, said the Rabbi, "what
do you see?” The man said "I see myself!”
The Rabbi said that the glass of the window and the mirror were the
same. However, the big difference was that unlike the window glass, the
mirrored glass was tinted in the back with SILVER! The result is we are
not able to "look out" but rather to see only ourselves!
Our Lord says, even those of us who believe ourselves to be good
Christians can be hindered in our efforts to grow as Christians because
we have a "Silver-Tinted Religion!” And, this causes us to see only
ourselves. This puts them in the way of being able to see God's mandate
to "look out" our "windows" to see and to help our less fortunate
brothers and sisters!
We gain and keep our souls for an eternal re-union with our Lord by
looking out to see and respond to the needs of others.
Real and active discipleship will keep the "Silver" out of our "Glass" and
our soul fit for the Kingdom.
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