06/11/20 YUCKY WATER #3 — In a seminary class I was required to write a sermon on Revelation 3:13-20, Jesus’ letter to the church in Laodicea. In v.3:15-16 (CSB) Jesus says, ^“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth.”

My first idea for the sermon title was “Lukewarm, Pukewarm!” When I shared that with Linda, she nearly exploded! She reminded me that the professor and I were very different, not necessarily best buds, and my grade was at stake. She was right—I was convinced. I changed the title to “Jesus’ Cure for a Sickening Church.” She loved it; she praised me for my humility (and for listening to her, for a change). She assured me that my professor would love it, too!

When he handed the graded assignments back, I was shocked—my first page looked like someone had poured a bottle of red ink all over it. He hated my (new) title and wrote scathing comments everywhere; and in the upper right there was a large, bold, red F! For some reason I kept reading. At the bottom of the very last page, he wrote that he realized that he and I were extreme opposite personalities, with extremely different God-given gifts and abilities. He said he had been reminded that GOD’S KINGDOM WORK NEEDS MANY VERY DIFFERENT KINDS OF BELIEVERS. He suggested that I should preach that message as appropriate as often as I wished, and God would use it powerfully. At the very bottom he wrote a giant, bold A+! And, I’m happy to report, from then on, he and I became great friends! PTL!