Our Gate

In this message from Luke 16, we explore the story of the rich man and Lazarus—a powerful reminder that God’s Word is enough, and the time to respond with compassion and obedience is now. Who has God placed at your gate, and how will you answer His call today?

Transcript

Some sweet time with Jesus. Aren't you thankful for the Word of God? As I have been preparing for our message today, it really highlights the importance of Scripture and the Word of God. And if I asked you, how is your appetite? What would you say?

And if I asked you, how is your appetite for the Word of God? Would it be the same? Would it be different? Are you hungry today? The bread of life is here.

We can feast and eat together. And as I was coming in this morning and I was worshipping and talking to Jesus, I was overcome not only with gratitude for the Word of God, but for the hands and feet of ones who brought the Word to me. When you think back over your life, can you think about all the people that open Scripture to you? I can think about my life. And Amy is here.

Way back in our early days, those who taught us with flannel boards, those who poured out Scripture for us. I think about Scott leading us as children with the Word of God. Deborah, when I look at Pastor Marshall and Justin, we grew up with tons of people that gave their time to pour out Scripture to us. And God says, blessed are the hands and feet of those who bring good news. Aren't you grateful for the Word of God?

And aren't you grateful for those who broke open the bread of life for you? To that end, let us receive the Word today. Will you stand to your feet as we read the Gospel from the book of Luke, chapter 16 and verse 19. And I am going to read from the NRSV. And it says, there was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously.

Don't you like that word? Every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham.

And the rich man also died and was buried in Hades, where he was being torn, tormented. He looked up and he saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. And he called out, father Abraham, have mercy on me. And send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in these flames. But Abraham said, child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus in like manner, evil things.

But now he is comforted here and. And you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us, a great chasm has been fixed so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so. And no one can cross from there to us. He said, then, father, I beg you to send them to my father's house, for I have five brothers that he may warn them so that they will not also come into this place of torment.

Torment. Abraham replied, they have Moses and the prophets. They should listen to them. And he said, no, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. And he said to him, if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.

Let us pray. Jesus, we thank you for your word. You are the bread that we need today. We come hungry for you. Would you have your way in this place?

You be our host, Jesus, not just our guest. Have your way, we pray. Amen. And you may be seated. As we have been journeying with Jesus, I thought it was interesting to take a step back and look at Luke as a whole.

You know, Luke was a doctor, he was a physician. So it's very interesting when I try to look through the lens of Luke. Luke knew what it was like to travel. He was a traveling companion of Paul, so he knew what it was like to journey him. Being a physician, I imagine he was compassionate.

He saw people in agony. He saw those who suffered. I don't know if you're familiar with the Bible Project. My son Eli kind of turned me on to it. You can listen, you can find it on YouTube to a message, a teaching, and then they narrate with drawing or a picture.

For those of us who learn by sight, it's an easy way to have something stick. This year I am doing on the Bible app going through the Bible with the Bible Project and so interesting. On certain days they will have a devotion and you get to see a clip from the Bible Project. And right now I am in Luke. And right now at harvest point, we have been journeying through Luke.

So it was interesting to see the perspective of the Bible Project. And it points out that Luke highlights Jesus Kingdom message to save. Get this, the poor and the lost. You see in Luke chapter four, Jesus at the synagogue. You remember, he breaks open the scroll and he reads from the book of Isaiah.

Remember Isaiah 61. And it says, the spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind. We heard bits of this while Justin was reading earlier. Recovery of sight for the blind to set the oppressed free to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

Luke is unique in that it highlights the social implications of Jesus kingdom mission. The word freedom means release. This refers to the year of jubilee. If you look in Leviticus chapter 25, where it talks about the year where the Israelite slaves would be set free, debts would be canceled. If you had sold your land, the land would be given back, all to indicate God's liberating justice and mercy.

And Jesus says this good news of release is specifically for. What did it say? The poor. And if you look at that word poor in the Old Testament, it means more than poor financially. This could mean poor in social status.

This would include those with disabilities, women, children, elderly. This would also mean those socially poor as outcasts, those of other that were foreign. Also those whose poor life choices place them outside of acceptable circles. So interesting that Luke highlights this and then he shows miracles in what that love of Jesus ministry to the poor and lost would look like. You see the story of Peter's mother in law who is bedridden.

Jesus heals her. You see the leper. Jesus healer heals the leper. You see the paralyzed, the disabled. Jesus heals.

You see Levi, a tax collector, socially outcast. He was not poor financially, but he was poor because of his his choices. Jesus calls him. You see the woman who it says a sinful woman. We are to assume she may have been a prostitute, we don't know.

But she kneels at his feet and she washes his feet with her tears. And Jesus forgives her. You see how Jesus moves to the poor and the lost. Aren't you thankful? Aren't you thankful?

And then over and over it says, Luke chapter five. He eats with tax collectors and sinners. And I love that. Luke says he captures what Jesus responded. It's not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.

Have you been sick? Luke shows how Jesus kingdom brings full restoration and shows Jesus reaching out to all. To all the Pharisees, the teachers of the law, they were shocked. They said he welcomes sinners and eats with them. Isn't it interesting?

Eat. It's one thing for Jesus to welcome, but the fact that he would eat with them really upset them. Shouldn't the teachers of scripture have compassion for the lost Jesus? Mission to the unseen was radical. Some may say countercultural.

And then a few weeks ago, Pastor Marshall was showing us through the parable of the lost sheep, the one outside the fold. And then you had the lost coin there, lost in the house. And then you have the two sons, the one who leaves, and then the one that is still there. Jesus was teaching where the Pharisees could hear. Can I tell you that it is easy for me to think of the Pharisees as judgmental and mean and the villains, but can I also maybe just offer that Jesus would have forgiven them?

Jesus actually also went to eat at the Pharisee's house. You see, Jesus was teaching, knowing the Pharisees were listening, because he wanted them too. The message for the poor and the lost included the Pharisees. And it's interesting that verse 14 of the chapter that we're in today, it says the Pharisees who loved money, loved money, heard all, and were sneering. They're scoffing.

They're turning up their nose at Jesus. And Jesus spoke to them, to the Pharisees, and he said this. You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your heart. Have you ever done that? Have you ever tried to justify yourself in the eyes of others?

I'm not that bad. I do more than suffer. And so. And Jesus says, what people value highly, what people exalt, what culture exalts, is detestable in God's sight. You think it is of the utmost importance, and maybe culturally it is, but to God it is foul.

If we turn our attention to today in this specific text, the Pharisees, who he says love money, are listening. We've just ended, and Jackson so eloquently broke open the bread to us last week about good stewardship with the Pharisees listening here we find ourselves today in this text. And the very first topic we have to address is, is this a parable or not? We really don't know for sure. Some say that they don't think it's a parable because it is the only parable.

If it is. Where Jesus gives a name for a character in this text, there is a name. I tend to believe it is a parable. And the reason is because it falls into line where Jesus has been teaching with parables. And the language is similar.

Luke 15:11 starts, a man had two sons. Luke 16:1, there was a rich man. The text we're at now, verse 19, there was a rich man. And it is the same in the Greek. So whether or not it's a parable, we don't know 100%, but this is where we are today.

Now let's talk about these two characters just briefly. What do we know about them? The rich man is described first. It says he is Clothed in purple and fine linen. Purple and fine linen.

Now, if you do some research, you will find that purple was very expensive. That's the reason the kings, the princes, wore purple. It's because they got this dye from a marine snail. You got one drop of dye from. From one snail.

So in order to dye a full robe purple with thousands of snails, this was expensive. This is expensive. And not only was it the purple robe, it says also fine linen. And if you look into what fine linen means, it's interesting that it actually means expensive, fancy, silky underwear. So you have a purple robe over some fine underwear.

And that is how he is describing the rich man. It's also interesting that in the Old Testament, in the tabernacle with the high priest, they wore purple and fine linen. So it could be that if he is talking to the Pharisees, he is using language that they would know. Here he is. Some believe that Jesus was telling this story about Caiaphas, the high priest, who was very wealthy.

I don't know that it's that specific, but that's where we are. Also, it says the rich man was feasting sumptuously. Have you feasted sumptuously before? Usually I think of Thanksgiving or Christmas, that one time a year where everybody goes all out, and sister so and so knows how to make potato salad, and she brings that, and you bring the dressing, and there it's like a buffet. But this fella ate this way every day.

He was eating this way. Now, what's interesting is they would use bread to sop it all up. You don't think utensils. They're using their bread. Some of us do that.

And we used to get all of it. Then also after that, they would give the rich a fresh piece of bread that they could clean their hands and throw it away.

Fresh piece of bread, clean their hands and toss it out.

Interesting. He had plenty of bread, more than enough. And he would throw it out instead of sharing it. Hmm. It says that he had a gate.

A gate. Now, here, this implies an ornate gate around an estate, huge home, wealthy individual, this rich man. And the next character is Lazarus. Lazarus is described as a poor man, or your text may say a beggar. And it says he was carried.

He was carried to the gate. Likely he was too weak to walk. Obviously, he could not get there on his own. And at that time, those who were rich were kind of expected. If you had someone that needed something right outside of your gate to help take care of them.

They didn't have a welfare system. So he was Placed there by an individual who thought, surely this guy will take care of him and give him a little bread. Surely he will offer to help you. He has abundance. I think it's interesting that Lazarus is also covered, but not in the purple robe and the fine linen.

But he is covered in what? Sores, open sores that have covered his body. He is in pain. Likely there's a terrible odor. And he's hungry.

He's starving. The text says that Lazarus desired to eat what would fall from the rich man's table. Have you ever been that hungry that you desire to eat what would just fall from someone else's table? And it's interesting. It never says that he got any.

He was just willing. I am willing to eat the scraps like the dogs do if I could get it. But it never says he got any. And adding insult to injury, it says, even the dogs. This is not a help.

This is making it worse. These dogs were scavengers. This is not our dog that goes to the, you know, the pet poodle parlor. These are scavengers. So for them to come and lick it is making the infection worse.

It is making the pain worse. And this is where we find Lazarus. The rich man is not named. The one who the city would know. Oh, he lives in that house.

Oh, the one with the nice gate. The one who throws the best parties every day. His name isn't given, but the one who is overlooked by everyone. His name is known by the Lord, says his name is Lazarus. Can I tell you that God saw him and God knew his name?

Lazarus is the shortened Greek form of the Hebrew name Eliezer. Eliezer. El is the part that's meaning God and Ezer meaning help. So that name means God is my help or my help is God. Isn't it interesting that the one who is thrown by the rich man's gate wanting to eat the script, his very name means God is my help.

My help is God. This is important because if you go back to Genesis, oh, father Abraham, he had a servant that stood at his right hand. And the servant's name was Eliezer. Eliezer was the one who would steward the finances for Abraham. Wealthy man.

Eliezer is the one that Abraham gave the assignment for the love story. You go travel and get a bride for my son Isaac. You remember that story. Eliezer is the one that is used. So fascinating to me that in this story, just under where we've got the parable about good stewardship, you find this story that has its own Eleazar.

This Lazarus And I think possibly that is why Jesus gave the name, to connect with Abraham as he is going to use Abraham in this story. They both die. Lazarus is carried by the angels. Isn't that beautiful to be with Abraham? There is no mention of a funeral.

Likely he did not have a burial, but he is carried by angels. And then you have Lazarus carried to this place called Abraham's bosom. A place of rest, a place of peace, in a high position next to Father Abraham. Remember how they would recline at the table on their side, propped up on their left side, eating with their right. Because normal people eat with their right hand, right?

I can say that because my husband is left handed. But as they would eat, if you wanted to communicate to the person behind you, you would lean back as if you were leaning on their bosom to talk. It's the picture you see in the New Testament of Jesus and the beloved disciple John, who was leaning on him. And then he asked him, who is it who's going to betray you? The same picture.

The rich man is actually buried. And then he finds himself in torment in Hades. And I want us to look at this conversation that happens between Abraham and the rich man. There's a few things I want us to note. Number one, he says, father Abraham, Father Abraham, this individual is a Jew.

Abraham responds, child or son? Son. The rich man believed that by his physical descent he deserved to be heard. There was an assumption that he would never end up in Hades. Based on his lineage, he recognizes Lazarus and calls him by name.

The point here is he can't plead ignorance. I didn't know there was someone needy by my gate. I didn't know Lazarus was there. He looks and he knows, oh, that's Lazarus. Right away he recognizes him and knows his name.

The second thing is he begins with a demand, Send Lazarus. Now think about it. If you or me found ourselves in the place of torment and we look up and see Abraham and Lazarus, the one that we recognize was by our gate. And we choose to look away. And we chose not to offer any assistance.

What do you think would be the first thing that you would say? Might you start with, I got it wrong. I am sorry I never saw you. I repent. No, his first thing that he says is, send Lazarus.

He doesn't even speak Lazarus. Never in this story does he say anything to Lazarus. He talks about Lazarus to Abraham. He says, will you send him to dip his finger in some water and touch my tongue? Now, the text doesn't say that Lazarus is healed and whole, but we can believe he is healed and whole.

Because the rich man does not want someone covered in sores dipping his finger and touching his mouth. At this point, he wants him just to touch the water. CS Lewis says the doors of hell are locked on the inside, meaning it is by their very choices that they are there. And for many of us, we believe or like to think that those who are evil get to hell and then repent. Or maybe they think, oh, I should have done it differently.

Oh, I failed, because. But we have no evidence of that. This rich man was the same in hell as he was when he was living. He had not changed. And he is thirsty.

Can I tell you that thirst is a metaphor, all through Scripture, of our distance from God, our being cut off from God, or our yearning for more of who he is. You think about the invitation to the Samaritan woman. She was at the well to get water. And he said, whoever drinks the water I give will never be thirsty again.

John 7:37. He says, Let anyone, anyone, the poor, the needy, the social outcast. Let anyone who is thirsty come to me. Aren't you glad? Have you ever been thirsty?

Yes. And Abraham responds, and he tells them this line. He says, the chasm is fixed. There is no going back.

I keep saying the word fascinating, but it is to me that the scripture here. Did anybody else see it? Abraham says, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so.

Who would want to leave Abraham's bosom and go to Hades? And there's no one else mentioned in this story except for Lazarus. It's almost as if Lazarus is pulling. I'll go. I'll go.

And Abraham says, no one can go that might want to. From here to you. And you can't go from there to here. There will be a time when it's too late, when there are consequences and there are no second chances. There is no turning back.

And the last thing that's so interesting is the rich man becomes the beggar. In this great reversal. He says, I beg you, send Lazarus to my brothers to warn them to bear witness. He asked Abraham, will you send Lazarus to be a preacher to my family? Will you send them?

And Abraham says, they've got Moses and the prophets. What do they have? They have the Word of God. And this rich man is saying, don't get it twisted. He is not feeling remorse.

Or maybe he cares about his family, but it's as if he is saying, the word of God wasn't enough for me, that scripture wasn't enough for me. But if somebody had died and came back, then I would have believed in. If you had got it right, then I wouldn't be here. Abraham. Abraham says, no, they've got the word of God.

They've got the word of God. And if they've got Moses and the prophets, what did they have? They saw this covenant keeping God, who reached out to Israel to save them from Egypt, who taught them, who built this covenant and said, have no other gods before me, there are consequences. I love you, I'm making a way for you. Over and over and over again.

He says, but if there was a miracle, I would believe. And can I tell you that even a miracle isn't enough. We need the word of God. And Jesus knew that even when he died and came back, it wasn't enough. Wasn't enough for some.

He points for us. This is not a simplistic parable to say poor go to heaven and rich go to hell. Lazarus went to Abraham's bosom. And can I tell you, Abraham was wealthy. So the very idea of Abraham being there, it says that that's not the case.

Rather, this is a story about the importance of heeding the word of God. It's not enough for us to come from a godly heritage. That's beautiful. It's not enough that our grandmama went to church. That's not enough.

It's beautiful. But we have to heed the word of God for ourselves. Our children have to heed the word of God for themselves. This is individual, listening to him and clinging to the promises of God.

Next, I just want to highlight for if you are like me, you see Lazarus suffering and you might think to yourself, oh Jesus, why didn't you break through for Lazarus? If Lazarus had heeded the word of God as he had, but he suffered in this life and he was in agony. Remember, his name means God has helped me. God is my help. And can I tell you that in this world we're going to suffer?

It may not sound like the good news, but it's true. We will suffer. We are in a broken world. Your suffering may look different from my suffering, but can I tell you, the same God who was his help is the same God who is our help. And in this time when we are going to suffer, God uses it all the same way that Jesus said, take up your cross and follow me.

That is painful and there is suffering, but it is worth it. We will suffer. In the context of this story, I believe it was aimed toward the Pharisees. Jesus knew they were listening. The ones who Loved money, who had the form of godliness, but their heart was full off.

They had no compassion for the broken. They believed that their heritage was enough.

Can you find yourself there, growing up in the Bible belt, if you will, where everyone was a Christian? We have to choose for ourselves. It is not guaranteed, brother and sister, that if you die, you will go to heaven. If you have never chose him, we have to make that decision. A few questions of application and then we will be done.

Number one, who is at your gate? Who is at your gate? Who has God placed at your gate? It could have been that in God's provision, Lazarus was placed there so the rich man would have an ability to be a blessing.

There are physical needs around us and there are spiritually starving around us. We have an abundance. We have plenty. We have the word of God at our fingertips. Who are we sharing it with?

It could have been that the rich man, he saw Lazarus, but over time he just kept ignoring him and didn't even see him anymore. It's like the stain on your carpet that at first it really bothers you, and then over time you just grow accustomed to it. Doesn't bother you anymore. You see the need so often that it doesn't even pierce your heart.

I find it interesting that the text Jesus uses, he said, Lazarus was placed at the gate. What's the purpose of a gate? So you could go in and out. And yet the rich man used it as a wall separating himself.

Heaven help us that we don't build walls where we should be building gates.

When I was preparing, I felt a little warning here. And I felt the Holy Spirit leading me to remind us to refuse the scene of the enemy, to get us to compare ourselves to those around us. In that I am doing more than others. I am helping more than others. But instead, we are only to be obedient to what God asks us to do.

We can get so overwhelmed with all the needs to think, oh, Jesus, I can't do anything. I mean, there are so many hungry, there are so many broken. And Jesus says, well, Emily, will you just start with this? Will you just pray for your children? Will you just start there at home?

What would our community, our family, our church, our state, our nation look like if each of us just did the one thing God asked us to do, Just the one thing. The needs are diverse. The characters in this story, they both had longing. They both had desire. One for crumbs, for their physical need.

One from a drip of water for their spiritual need. When I was 18 years old, I had Accepted the call on my life to missions. I was wide eyed. I was eager and I was very naive. And our church gave me the opportunity to go on my very first mission trip.

And I was so excited. I was going to Ecuador. I was going to spend time with Deborah's family, Jeff and Terry Rains. On my first trip, several of us got together to go. This was May.

I had just turned 18 in April. I was a baby, eyes big and excited. I was going to change the world for Jesus and I was ready. We went to Ecuador, Quito. We did street evangelism.

Sign Emily up. Let me go, Adam. I am ready. Let me just go up and talk to people. I loved it.

We did drama. We ministered everywhere. The time came to go home. Now I was about to leave for Mississippi to go to college in just a matter of weeks. So I knew, even as sad as I was, that the mission trip was over.

Emily's got plans, I'm going to college. We show up at the airport and they tell us y' all can't leave. Apparently there had been someone had did not confirm our flight and none of us were allowed to leave the country. They said if y' all come back after the weekend on Monday, y' all can all fly standby and we'll just see who gets to go home. Okay?

I am excited and I am willing. Jesus, put me in until you tell me I can't leave. And at that point I began to panic. And in my 18 year old heart I thought this meant I never get to leave Ecuador. God has me here.

I will never go to college, I will never meet somebody, I will never get married. I'm never having children. I'm dying in Ecuador. Okay. I began to unravel.

I remember calling my grandfather, I can't go home. And then I thought I was going to have to fly by myself on an overseas. I didn't know how to do that. Like, okay, I was panicking. And I remember my grandfather, he was prepared to grab his arsenal of weapons and he was going to Ecuador to get his granddaughter and bring her home.

And I have been told that Pastor Hal was, was also going with him, like he was going to get us back. Interesting. Jesus has a plan. And because we were delayed, we had an opportunity to go with the youth minister for this church that Jeff and Terry attended to feed the homeless. I am a young girl from Hartsville, Alabama and we have no homeless.

I did not know what to expect. We get there and we've prepared soup and had hot tea. Our van pulls up it is a bus stop with floors. Never seen anything like it. Multi floored bus stop with hundreds.

I am not exaggerating. Hundreds of homeless children, men, women, elderly in makeshift communities on different floors. We pull up Emily, who is ready to do street evangelism. And now I'm looking at homeless. And I freeze.

Number one. To be honest, I did not want to move. I did not want to do it. I felt inadequate. I felt a lot of emotions.

And I decided that I would just not participate and I would stay at the van. And y' all go pass out the soup and tea and I'll pray for you here at the van. And.

And this man, his name was John Davie. He was a youth minister. He sees me, he comes over, he talks to me. I will never forget the words that came out of his mouth. And he said, emily, they can't hear the word of God over the roar of their stomach.

You feed them and then you give them the word.

And I said, okay. I watched this man as he began to minister through these homeless groups and pass out food to them. There was one homeless man that got real close to him and just wanted to stay close to him. And so John Davee just put his arm around him, talked to him like a brother. He's drinking the youth pastor from a Pepsi bottle.

The homeless man is standing there, get this thirsty. He takes the top off his drink. He hands it to him. The homeless man drinks and gives it back. John Davee drinks.

I'm panicking. I'm like, Jesus, I'm gonna be a nurse. This is germs. I can't do. I'm having a moment.

Then I realize, Jesus has taken care of this. Jesus is taking care of this. That same man had no socks and no shoes. John Davee had on dress shoes. I watched him take off his shoes, took off his socks, gave them to the homeless man.

The homeless man dressed a certain way, but he had really nice loafers on. At this point, John Davee had a guitar. He started playing songs. And the children came and they sang these songs about Jesus.

Can I tell you? They heard the word of God because their physical needs were met first. And Jesus would move in compassion to the hungry and the needy, the lost.

When I left that night, my heart was so full. I was so grateful that what I thought was a delay. Jesus had a bigger agenda that transformed my life. Can I tell you? He's the bread of life and he's the living water.

And we're the ones that are hungry for crumbs. We're the ones that are hungry. Who has God placed by your gate? And lastly, the time is now. The time is now.

If you could speak to the rich man, knowing where he was going, what would you say? Would you tell him, it looks like you're making the right choices? Your 401k looks great. You are knocking it out here. But can I tell you, there is a real judgment.

There is a real eternity. There is a real hell. What would you say? Was Jesus telling the Pharisees, you look like you've got it together on the outside. You're knocking it out of the park.

But your heart is far from me. Your compassion is not there. There is a real judgment. There is a real hell. What would Jesus say to us?

Would he say, you look like you're knocking it out of the park, you're attending church.

But what he say, I see your heart. And what the culture values or exalts is foul to me.

There is going to be a time when the warning of our five brothers is over. Now is the time to share Jesus with the hurting in our family. Now is the time. It was too late for the rich man. After it's too late, then I'd like to pray for us.

And then we're going to have a time of reflection here. Would you stand with me to your feet?

And after I pray, we'll close with worship. And you may just want to have some private time with Jesus there. The altar is open, but let me start with prayer. God, thank you for your word. Thank you for the bread of life.

Thank you for those of us that come to you. We will never be thirsty again. You continue to fill us. You continue. You are the well that never runs dry.

God, would you open our eyes to those outside our gates? Would you open our eyes to those you have placed around us? Help us, God, not to take for granted the blessing of the bread you have given us. We have all we need, but we are not to hoard it. We are to share it.

May we be bold to share with everyone. God help us not to be so overwhelmed by the needs of many that we are paralyzed and we do nothing. But may we be vessels, conduits of your grace. May we understand that the time is now to serve, to give, to love, to share. There is a real heaven.

There is a real judgment. Would you give us a sense of urgency? We are your church. Have your way in us and through us and make us more like you, Sweet Jesus. We pray in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.