Those of us with some years behind us remember the great and popular ‘western movies’ in which the stagecoach was the focus of some sort of holdup and robbery.

In real life the stagecoach was the basic means of long-distance travel, much like airplanes of today. Stagecoaches had 3 classes of paying passengers: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class. In those early days there were not extra wide seats, no special meals, no hot towel, and no specially assigned stewardess to wait on your every need.

On the stagecoach all the passengers rode together on the same bumpy and rut-filled roads. So, what was the difference between, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class tickets? If you held a first class ticket it meant that you could sit down. And no matter what happened, you could remain seated. If the stagecoach got stuck in the mud or a wheel fell off, you remained seated. You were 1st class.

A second-class ticket meant that you could sit down until there was a problem. Then you had to get out of the coach and stand to the side until the problem was fixed. Then you could climb back on board and take a seat.

A 3rd class ticket meant that you could also sit down until there was a problem and then you had to get off with the 2nd class ticket holders. But as a 3rd class-er you had to help fix the problem: put the wheel back on, push it out of the mud or through the ruts, or up a steep hill. Whatever the need was you fixed it because you were a 3rd class ticket holder.

The great Ship of Zion that we call the church carries passengers that fall into each of these categories: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class. Every local church has these passengers. Of course we aspire to always travel 1st class! Let’s do a comparison between the old western stagecoach and the Church of Jesus today.

There are those in the body of Christ that have 1st class tickets. They are the ones who sit and expect to be catered to, pampered, and waited on. These are the ‘privileged’ children of the Most High God who have now arrived at 1st class after moving up the ranks from 3rd class through 2nd class and now can sit back and enjoy the ride. For them following Jesus means ‘sitting on their blessed promises.’

There are also those who hold 2nd class tickets. They ride along enjoying the scenery until there is a problem. They then become ‘sidewalk superintendents watching as someone else fixes the problem, giving them advice as well as critiquing their work.

The 3rd class of riders enjoys the bumpy and scenic ride, but when something goes wrong, they get out and push. They put their nose to the grindstone, put their shoulder to the plow and remedy the situation. They don’t sit idly by nor do they give their opinion. They simply ‘just do it.’

The Parable of the Good Samaritan aptly depicts these 3 kinds of passengers traveling on the heavenly train to glory. Keep in mind that Jesus is talking to Jews here. The Samaritans were those Jews who had intermarried with the Gentiles. They were considered religious half-breeds and the racial animosity between the Jews and Samaritans was fierce. The priest and the Levite in this parable were the privileged ones. They didn’t want to get their hands dirty because they had more important things to do. They certainly didn’t travel tourist much less 3rd class. As busy, important people they did not want to get bogged down with the problems of the world.

But the Good Samaritan who had a 3rd class ticket knew exactly what he was supposed to do. He got off his donkey, rolled up his sleeves and helped to solve the situation. Third class ticket holders don’t mind dealing with difficulties. They don’t mind getting down and dirty. They are willing to take a risk and get involved. Isn’t this what made the Samaritan good? He was willing to help, eager to serve and do the loving and kind thing even though he cost him in both time and money. He didn’t let someone else do it nor stand off on the side and critique the way others were doing it. No, he took upon himself the responsibility to do the right thing. That is why he is immortalized as the Good Samaritan.

Time and again the Bible teaches that those who put themselves first will end up being last and those who put themselves last will end up being first. Those who rush to the front will be called down but those who are humble will be lifted up. Jesus Himself is our model when He said, “I have come to serve, not to be served.” After Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River the Spirit of God drove him into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. The essence of this temptation was this issue: which class ticket would Jesus take? Would He go first class—the way of privilege, prestige and power? Jesus chose to travel 3rd class. Immediately Luke records Jesus entering the synagogue in Capernaum and reading from the book of Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, release to the captive, sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” Jesus didn’t take the way of the privileged; He took the way of a servant. We are called by God to be like Jesus. Don’t miss this—God gives us a 1st class love and a 3rd class ticket. He calls us to roll up our sleeves and get to work. That is living and serving like Jesus.

Let’s take a closer look at these 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class tickets holders as they relate to our church, and try to determine which kind of passenger we are as we ride this gospel train.

There are those in the body of Christ who act as though they have a 1st class ticket. These are the ones who constantly receive but give back little or nothing. They expect to be waited on and catered to. Can anyone tell me where the largest MacDonald’s is? Red Square in Moscow. What impresses the Russian people most about the ‘golden arches’ is not the fat-filled Big Macs, not Ronald McDonald, not even the grease-laden fries. They are most impressed by the way the employees cater to them: May I help you? What can I do for you? May I serve you? Have a nice day. Enjoy your meal. All of it said with a broad smile and pleasant voice. In our culture we have grown up with this mentality because in a free market system customers can always go somewhere else to eat, or even go somewhere else to church!

Now there is a tension here to being served and to serving. Unfortunately the ‘being served mentality’ has seeped into Christianity to the point when many of us expect to be catered to by the church. I am talking about and to Christians here and all too often we have allowed the world to set our agenda and to cloud our calling. As Christians and members of SUMC we are called to be God’s servant people and not God’s privileged, being-served people. We are called to work and not to be pampered.

There’s a story about a man who told his wife that he simply could not do work around the house because of physical limitations, so she sent him to a doctor. After a complete exam, the doctor told this man, “In plain English, there is nothing wrong with you at all. You are just plain lazy.” After a thoughtful moment, the man asked, “Doc, could you give me a professional medical term for that so I can tell my wife.” Several years ago I preached a revival at the Dividing Creek UM Church. Hanging in their sanctuary is a banner that asks, “Are you sitting in the premises, or standing on the promises?” A lot of people believe they are holding a first class ticket and mistakenly believe that they are to be pampered and catered to.

Other folks relate to the church as though they have a 2nd class ticket. They ride along enjoying the journey until some difficulty arises. Then they bail out. The stand to the side and become sidewalk superintendents. Some of their comments sound like this: They are doing it all wrong! Can you believe they did that? And they call themselves Christians! What they should be doing…. That’s church politics for you. This is the spectator mindset. These 2nd class ticket holders like to stand off to the side, watch, comment, judge and criticize but don’t life a finger to help. Like the priest and Levite, their motto is “I am not getting involved.”

God has not called us to simply stand aside and criticize. He has called us to be a part of the solution, not just the problem. Called has called us to be His people—His hands and feet, His mind and heart, His eyes and ears. We are called to be Jesus to our world.

The 3rd class ticket holders are the no-frills passengers on this journey. They are they backbone of the church—the faithful, and loyal—ready to serve, eager to help, anxious to love, willing to learn and willing to ‘get down and dirty’ for Jesus! A man came to the pastor after church one Sunday and said, “Pastor, I want to join this church because I want to be fed.” The pastor replied, “That’s great, but we would all be better off if you would take off your bib and put on an apron.”

Jesus does invite us to enjoy His banquet feast, but once we have dined he calls us to take off our bibs and put on our aprons so that others may come and dine as well.

What I need to do as your pastor is to move you down to 3rd class ticket holders. I need to get your out of the skyboxes, out of the box seats, and even out of reserved seating and get you to be ushers, and parking lot attendants, ball girls and bat boys, and hawkers of cotton candy and pretzels, and peanuts, and hotdogs.

So those of who have are holding 1st and 2nd class tickets on this train called SUMC, pleased be advised that the goal is to move you into 3rd class servant seating.

In God’s economy and Kingdom that is really the only kind of ticket and seating there is! Won’t you join us in 3rd class?

Thank You for Taking The Time to Read This Message.
May God Use These Words to Help You and Strengthen You.