Put Your Troubles in a Sack
Yesterday at church, we handed out brown paper lunch bags to everybody as they came in the door.The puzzled parishioners took them, and several made comments such as:
"Is the sermon going to be THAT bad today?"
"So you're leaving me holding the bag again?"
"Are you going to add a peanut butter sandwich?"
"Is this for hyperventilation?"
I preached on Luke 18 -- the two men who went to the temple to pray -- and ended up telling the amazing story of Charles Tindley, the African American pastor and gospel song writer.
At the end of the service, I told the congregation Tindey's advice to an uptight friend,
"Take all your troubles, put 'em in a sack, take 'em to the Lord, and leave 'em there!"
Then, I invited the people to write their burdens down on a little notecard, and put 'em in the sack while we sang Tindley's beautiful song of faith, "Leave it There."
I had originally intended for everybody to merely leave their paper bags on the seats as they exited the sanctuary -- but during the first service, people started streaming forward during the song, dropping their burdens off at the front of the church. It was powerful.
After services, I had the opportunity to pray with several people, and there were some significant spiritual breakthroughs! A beautiful day!
What a coincidence that I was also doing nearly the same thing with my Sunday School class! Part of my object lesson involved writing down on slips of paper good things that we want to have inside of us, and then some not-so-good things. The kids then put them into a brown lunch sack with a picture of a child glued on it, to represent ourselves. We shook it up, mixed together the good and the bad, and then talked about confession, forgiveness, etc. Part one of the object lesson involved a chocolatecake mix, and what sorts of things you could hide in it so that it would still look good but taste awful....I had brought several possiblities, such as chili powder, dried onions etc. I think the kids got the idea!
ReplyDelete"Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag, and smile, smile, smile . . ."
ReplyDeleteIt's even better to pack them up and then leave them at the feet of Jesus!!!
Charles Tindley is a favorite of mine, too. What an inspiration--his life and his hymns.
ReplyDeleteRuth Tucker
I'm sorry I missed the sermon, there is a few things I need to leave there to. Sandy F
ReplyDelete