a little boy named Sam

I n the 1820′s, a little boy named Sam was playing pretend fighting in the yard behind his house when he knocked over the outho use. Worried that he would get in trouble, Sam ran into the woods and didn’t come out until dark. When he got home, his father was waiting for him. “Son, did you knock over the outhouse this afternoon?” “No, father,” Sam lied. “Well, let me tell you a story,” said the father. “Not that long ago, Mr. Washington received a new axe from his father and he tried it out on a tree. It cut th e tree down swift and easy. It was only after George had cut down the tree that he discovered it was his mother’s favorite c herry tree,” AND” like you, George ran into the woods. When he returned, his father asked, “George, did you cut down the cherry tree?” Unlike you, George answered, ‘Father, I cannot tell a lie. I did indeed chop down the tree.’ Then his father said, ‘Well, since you were honest with me, y ou are spared from punishment. I hope you have learned your lesson, though.’ So,” Sam’s father asked again,” did you knock down the outhouse?” “Sir, cannot tell a lie anymore, I did indeed knock down the outhouse. ”So Sam’s father gave the boy a good whipping. The boy whimpered, “I told you the truth! Why’d you whip me?” His Father answered, “That’s be cause George Washington’s father wasn’t in the tree when he chopped it down!” (Parable For The 4th of July (author unknown-courtesy of Pastor Tim Burt )

Hear the Word of the Lord: “So, I find it a law that when I want to do right, evil l ies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom.7:24-25)

Dear Friends in Christ, this is our text. The story of Sam and George is a modern-day parable that contains the same two important ingredients as parables that Jesus taught: Law and Gospel. We come into God’s house each Sunday expecti ng to hear the Gospel of Forgiveness – The Good News of salvation. Of all the places in the world where one can go, there is none quite like the comforting, peaceful confines of the house of the Lord. The world is full of ugliness, anger, war, immorality, disease, death, and destruction.