Have you ever said something to someone else and their response betrayed that they either weren’t paying attention or they totally misheard what you said? It’s happened to all of us, to be sure, but there is something about preaching just about every Sunday that leaves preachers experience. Getting to stand up in front of a pulpit for 15-25 minutes every Sunday means preachers spend a large part of their week crafting what they hope, by the power of the Holy Spirit, will be a message that helps people live out their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

            But sometimes, no matter how tight the logic, no matter how obvious the meaning of the sermon seems to be, someone will always come away with something that you simply did not intend. Now look, more often than not, this is a good thing. The Gospel of John, chapter three teaches us that the Holy Spirit blows where the Spirit wishes, and so it isn’t surprising that the preached Word moves people in directions completely unimagined by the pastor as they wrote the words.

            Ah, but then there are those times when a congregant’s take-away is so far afield that you simply have no earthly idea how they arrived where they’re at given what you just said.

            I remember this one time, at Myers Park, I did a lesson on becoming a better disciple of Christ. I asked the question, “What is the one thing you can do today to follow Jesus more closely?” As we chatted after the lesson, it was clear most people understood where I was heading. Then, this one large, garrulous man spoke to me on the way out the door.

            “Thank you so much,” the man told me. He went on to add that he’d figured out exactly what he should do to be a better disciple of Jesus Christ. “What was that?” I asked him. No kidding, he looked at me and told me, “I need to sue my money-hungry ex-wife. She and her lawyer took me for over a million dollars. I made that money. She didn’t. Getting it back will allow me to be less resentful and do more for Jesus.”

            Yeah, wasn’t expecting that one.

            In the 11^th and 12^th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, Jesus speaks to a gathered crowd in which “so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another,”. During the course of this particular oration, Jesus talks about blessedness and how it follows a life dedicated to God. He’s talked about the curses of the lawyers and the pharisees. To be sure, there are a host of topics that Jesus’ talk could easily inspire. But then, all of the sudden, comes this:

            I read to you now from the 12^th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, verses 13 through 21. Hear now the Word of the Lord:

            ^“ Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

            This is the Word of God for the people of God…Thanks be to God.

            So, yeah, out of nowhere, this guy who has presumably been listening the entire time, comes up with this little gem to ask Jesus to help him with. Getting more from his brother. In fact, the man suggests, perhaps the brother will listen to Jesus.