Sacred Space

A Lifelong Relationship With God

2012-01-15T01:48:00.000-08:00

January 15, 20121 Samuel 3:1-201 Corinthians 6:12-20Second Sunday after EpiphanyMartin Luther King DayYear BA Lifelong Relationship with God Introduction - Start where we left offIt is not often in a sermon that I get to start where I left off. There seems to be a natural procession for the year. We started the new year thinking of new beginnings, and then we went on to the meaning of baptism and how that empowers us to walk with God. Today, I want us to think about what it means to continue to walk with God. what does it mean to be called by God, and what are we supposed to do with a call.What does it mean to be called?I remember asking my pastor the question of what does it mean to be called. And as a pastor, many talk with me about what it means to be called. How do you answer God’s call? And I will always remember the lady who asked how did she know that it was really God that was calling her and not the devil trying to trick her.What is it that we are listening to?A Native American and his friend were in downtown New York City, walking near Times Square in Manhattan. It was during the noon lunch hour and the streets were filled with people. Cars were honking their horns, taxicabs were squealing around corners, sirens were wailing, and the sounds of the city were almost deafening.Suddenly, the Native American said, “I hear a cricket.”His friend said, “What? You must be crazy. You couldn’t possibly hear a cricket in all of this noise!”“No, I’m sure of it,” the Native American said. “I heard a cricket.”“That’s crazy,” said the friend.The Native American listened carefully for a moment, and then walked across the street to a big cement planter where some shrubs were growing. He looked into the bushes, beneath the branches, and sure enough, he located a small cricket. His friend was utterly amazed. “That’s incredible,” said his friend. “You must have super-human ears!”“No,” said the Native American. “My ears are no different from yours. It all depends on what you’re listening for.”“But that can’t be!” said the friend. “I could never hear a cricket in this noise.”“Yes, it’s true,” came the reply. “It depends on what you’re listening for. Here, let me show you.”He reached into his pocket, pulled out a few coins, and discreetly dropped them on the sidewalk. And then, with the noise of the crowded street still blaring in their ears, they noticed every head within twenty feet turn and look to see if the money that tinkled on the pavement was theirs.“See what I mean?” asked the Native American. “It all depends on what you’re listening for.”If you’ve tuned in to God, it doesn’t matter what’s going on around you, you can hear Him speak.The difference between God and the devilThe voice that we are used to listening to is the voice that speaks to us. God always tells the truth, the devil always lies. If we trust in the words of the bible, then we will never be mistaken about whom it is that speaks to usQuestions are not unique to us, been asked and answered in Samuel’s call storyThe questions that we ask about call are not bad questions. They are not unique to our time; these questions are the important point of our Hebrew scripture lesson – the call of Samuel.Overview of story of SamuelSamuel whose name means the name of God, was a young man left at the temple by his mother. She was barren, and prayed that if she could have a son, she would give him to God. She conceived a son, and left him at the temple to be raised totally in the service of God.Samuel was a young man when he heard someone calling him. He thought it was Eli (man of God), but it was God.Going through the motionsWe heard the story read to us, so I won’t go into it. But I love the way the message is set up. This story happened in the days when people were not listening to God, and no one seemed to notice God. It goes on the say that Eli, the priest could not see very well. Well it seems that not only could he not see with his eyes, he couldn’t see with his heart either. He let his children get away with anything, without disciplining them. He was a priest who knew what needed to be done, but he didn’t do it with feeling.Eli was a lot like a lot of us – he had stopped believing in what he was doing stopped caring, he was just going through the motions and not living out his call.Today we live in a world where God speaks through everything; god calls all of us to do something. But we don’t always take the time to realize what god is saying.The Priest’s job was to recognize the voice of GodIronically it was the priest who was responsible for speaking to God on behalf of the people. He also had a responsibility to train the younger priest in recognizing the voice of God. he didn’t do a very good job of training his own sons, but he did know enough to tell Samuel that it was not he who called him in the middle of the night, it was God. He trained Samuel to respond to God – Speak, for your servant is listening. Samuel grows up to be one of the most important people in the history of Israel. Not the king, but the kingmaker. The one who changed the course of history, just by listening to God. (first and second chronicles and first and second kings are about the kings – first and second Samuel are about why we have kings. Samuel was not called to leadership, but to listeningship, he was not a leader, but a servant, not great, but humble. Someone told me that a great pastor has to learn to be the guide on the side, not the sage on the stage.Martin Luther King on being calledWhen we think of the greatest intentional servant leader of our time, we think of Martin Luther King. On being called Dr. King says – if a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper.That is a message for all of us, not just a message for a chosen few. His point is that we are all called to do something. Something in life and something for the kingdom of God. and that no matter what it is; we must do it for the glory of God.I Corinthians has a message that goes along those lines, our text for today ends by saying –for you were bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body.Paul’s view on sinYou see, Paul believed that sin was always something outside of ourselves. Something that stood in the way of us being the person God intended us to be. Sin is something that we put into our bodies that is not supposed to be there – what we eat, drink, inhale, who we relate to. So when he is telling the people not to eat the food dedicated to idols, or to have sex with the temple prostitutes, he is telling us to protect the openings of our body. 1 Corinthian 6:17 says – every sin that a person commits is outside of the body. Your body is a temple of the holy spirit within you – be careful what you put into it. Your body does not belong to you, it belongs to God.The only thing we own is our choiceIn life, the only thing that we really own is our choice. Our choice of who is our master – will it be sin or will it be God. will what I am doing, what I am thinking, what I am saying make me a slave to passion or a servant of God? the good news is that God came to save his people, not his monuments. God knows that we are all sinners in some way.Even Martin Luther King was a sinnerMartin Luther King, Jr., A Servant of ChristThis weekend is the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday. I think, therefore, it is appropriate to look at his life in this regard. In the Union Tribune there was an article about him, which included an interview with Vincent Harding, a professor at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, a Methodist seminary.Harding said that King's detractors like to point out that he was a human being, that he had faults, human foibles. He was certainly not a saint, Harding points out. He made mistakes in judgment. He put his marriage to the test. He also suffered from human frailties, like anxiety and depression.But Christianity proclaims a God who came to us as we are, accepted us as we are, forgave us and gave us new life, and thus revealed that we do not have to be righteous in order to be loved by God. We don't have to have a pure life in order to follow Jesus. We just have to be faithful.He comes to us as he came to his disciples, and says to us, "Follow me." To "follow me" means, identifying with the poor and the oppressed, loving the sinner, and living sacrificially for others in this world, taking up your cross. That is the sole qualification for everybody to be his disciple - that you will take up your cross.Martin Luther King understood that, I think, probably better than anybody else in our time. Like all historical figures, he will be interpreted from different perspectives. But the way he would want to be interpreted is that he was a "servant of Christ."We are called to be faithful peopleWe too are not called to be perfect, but to always be faithful. Not called to live up to someone else’s call – just be yourself. Life the way God created you, listen to the words of God, trust that there is a reason God is speaking to you. Not something special – birthright of all of us. Being called is having a lifelong relationship with God. it is committed yourself to listen as a servant listens.The Birmingham civil rights 10 commandmentsI was fascinated to learn that in order to be a part of the Birmingham civil rights rally – you had to sign a pledge to do 10 things daily. You had to basically promise to live as a Christian.“I hereby pledge myself—my person and body—to the nonviolent movement, therefore I willkeep the following ten commandments!”1. MEDITATE daily on the teachings and life of Jesus.2. REMEMBER always that the nonviolent movement in Birmingham seeks justice andreconciliation—not victory.3. WALK and TALK in the manner of love, for God is love.4. PRAY daily to be used by God in order that all men might be free.5. SACRIFICE personal wishes in order that all men might be free.6. OBSERVE with both friend and foe the ordinary rules of courtesy.7. SEEK to perform regular service for others and for the world.8. REFRAIN from the violence of fist, tongue, or heart.9. STRIVE to be in good spiritual and bodily health.10. FOLLOW the directions of the movement and of the captain on a demonstration.Samuel’s three commandmentsSamuel is an example for all of us to make a commitment to listen as a servant of God. 1 Samuel verse 3 Eli of all people, a sinful man teaches us all how to listen to Gods call. 3 easy steps.Go to a place where you here God speaking, Let God know your are listening, and them do what God says.The place where God speaks to us – the word of God – read your bible, the way in which you communicate with God - to pray, and the way you obey – live according to the word of GodRead the bible, pray and live.As simple as that. Let us pray……

The Voice of God still Speaks (II)

2012-01-07T23:47:00.000-08:00

Psalm 29Mark 1:4-11The Baptism of the LordYear BThe Voice of God Still Speaks The story of the drunk man and the plungeA church is at a river, some of its members are being baptized. Along walks a drunk man, which disturbs the pastor. The irritated pastor grabs the man and tells him he needs to find Jesus. He dunks him in the water, and asks if he has found Jesus. No replies the man, so the pastor dunks him again. Have you found Jesus the pastor Asks. At no, the man is dunked again and gives the same no answer. Upset, the pastor dunks him again and leaves him down there for almost a minute. Have you found Jesus yet? Asks the pastor. No says that man, are you sure this is where he fell in?That is the question of the day – Have you found Jesus? Where have you found Jesus in your life? What is the best place for you to go- and to know that Jesus will be.Jesus is found in communion and baptismIn the church there are two places that we can go and know that Jesus will be there. We know that we can come here, and find Jesus in the singing, on our praying, in listening to the word. We can find Jesus in our praise. We can find Jesus in our children. We can find Jesus in the wonderful and special times and places in our lives.But for the church, there are two very special places that Jesus invites us to come. Two special sacraments – that the presence of God is with us. Communion and baptismMark starts his story with baptismIt is interesting that Mark begins with the baptism of Jesus – not the birth, not the childhood. Not even with the word. Mark chapter 1:1 says – the beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah as it it written in Isaiah the prophet.Today as we begin our journey into Mark – we hear the story of how Jesus was baptized. His cousin John is out in the wilderness, all to come and listen to him and to repent and believe in God. Jesus comes to the water, comes to baptism – because that is the place in his life where he knows he can be close to God. John says that Jesus was with God in the beginning. He was not a sinner, He did not need John’s call of repentance. And yet he needed to hear God’s voice. He needed to know that God would be with him on the journey. And as he comes out of the water – the spirit of God says you are my son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.Jesus baptism importantThis has to be an important step in Jesus live and his ministry, because this event is notes in all four gospel stories. Mark is the only one that makes this a personal event. God talks to Jesus and says you are my son, not this is my beloved son. Jesus needs to hear those words of affirmation in order to go forward and start his ministry. Jesus has to come to the water in order to hear the voice of God.The voice of God is over the watersPsalm 29 says the voice of the lord is over the waters, the god of glory thunders. The lord thunders over the mighty waters.I think of looking over a still body of water, and looking and seeing the clouds hovering over the water. Before a storm hits – you can look over the waters, and see the clouds and the wind hovering over about to cause a storm. In Hebrew the spirit and the wind are the same word – ruach. When the ruach, the spirit of God blows into our lives – things start to happen, things start to change. When wind start to move the water- then a cool breeze starts to flow into our lives.In the summer, whenever I can feel a storm coming, I come out and welcome it, because it brings a fresh breeze into my life. There is something about wind storms and water, that speak God in a way that nothing else can.I go back to psalm 29 – the voice of the lord is over the waters. That is why water is the most important part of our baptism. The spirit of God is always in the water.Waters in the civil rights movementDuring the civil rights movement, when police aimed fire hose at protesters to discourage them, Martin Luther King said, we may not understand their motives for aiming water at us, but that is okay – as we march together in unity as Christians, we now the water. If we are Baptist, we are immersed in it, if we are Methodist, we are sprinkled in it, but as long as we are Christian, we know water, and whatever their motive for dousing us, we know that God is in the water.Clinton and repentanceEven Bill Clinton understood the importance of the waters of baptism. When he was impeached, and all of the scandalous behavior that he was involved in came to light. He made a statement to the nation about repentance. About turning around and starting a new life.Clinton read this passage from the book: "Now is the time for turning. The leaves are beginning to turn from green to red to orange. The birds are beginning to turn and are heading once more toward the south. The animals are beginning to turn to storing their food for the winter. For leaves, birds and animals, turning comes instinctively. But for us, turning does not come so easily. It takes an act of will for us to make a turn. It means breaking old habits. It means admitting that we have been wrong, and this is never easy. It means losing face. It means starting all over again. And this is always painful. It means saying I am sorry. It means recognizing that we have the ability to change. These things are terribly hard to do. But unless we turn, we will be trapped forever in yesterday's ways."Clinton's quote ended with this prayer: "Lord help us to turn, from callousness to sensitivity, from hostility to love, from pettiness to purpose, from envy to contentment, from carelessness to discipline, from fear to faith. Turn us around, O Lord, and bring us back toward you. Revive our lives as at the beginning and turn us toward each other, Lord, for in isolation there is no life."That was the message that John was trying to get all to learn as he preached of one who was coming that was greater than he. That coming to God, meant turning away from yourself and your behavior. When we come to the waters of baptism it is time for us to turn around from self centeredness to community, from jealousy to understanding, from resentment to love. And the list goes on for us today.Little boy begins a new lifeA little boy came to his third grade Sunday school teacher after class one day. She had talked about baptism to the class, encouraging the kids to remember their baptism. He told her that all of his classmates had been baptized, but he had never been baptized. He wanted to be baptized to. But he told her, he did not want to do it in front of the church. He wanted it to be a private affair at the lake, with his best friend. Trying to help him understand the true meaning of baptism. She explained that it had to be done in front of the church. Remembering the story in Mark 1 he replied, but Jesus was baptized by his cousin. So why cant I be baptized by my best friend. But how will people know that I have changed? They will know that I have changed, when they see me acting different. When they see me being a better person, they will know that I have been baptized. Baptism is my chance for a new beginning.She realized that he may not know the true meaning of baptism, but he did understand the truth of baptism. This was not just an act to fit in, he had thought about this and been able to make a decision. And that this was his chance to start all over again, and to begin a new journey in his life.Why did Jesus come to the water?When Jesus came to the water to be baptized by John. He may not have needed to confess his sins and repent. But what he did know it that it was time to begin a new chapter in his life. That it was the time to acknowledge the power of a new start.he knew that the voice of God was hovering over the waters. And that he needed to come to the waters of baptism in order to hear God’s favor upon his life.The abc’s of baptismI want to tell you a little secret. The abc’s of baptism. Repentance, Affirmation, belonging, and continuation. The Christian alphabet starts with R. First of all when we come to the waters, we have to repent. But once we turn to god. We are given the gift of affirmation, belonging, and continuation. We too are given God’s favor, we too are baptized into god mission. We too hear God’s voice speaking to us, saying that we are all his beloved sons and daughters.We are God’s sons and daughtersA famous governer talks about growing up in the 50’s without a father. Single parenthood was not so glamourous in those days. So he spent his life in shame. Whenever, he would go to church, he would always leave by the back so that he did not have to talk to the minister. He did not want to be acknowledged ever. One Christmas, it was so crowded that he could not sneak out the back. He got caught up in the crowd and had to go out the front and pass the minister. Having never seen the boy before, he asked who he was. Whose boy are you asked the minister, who is your father. The little boy was terrified, he had no idea of how to answer that. In his silence, the minister replied – oh yeah I recognize you now – you are God’s son.It was in that moment that the boy recognized the abc’s of baptism. Affirmation, belonging and continuation. No longer did he have to life in shame, he could live in God’s favor.The voice of God still hovers over the waters today. God is still creating today, every day with God is a new day with a new beginning. Every year with God brings us to a new chapter, a new journey with God. When we remember the power of our baptism, we remember the power of God in our lives. God’s voice brings with it peace, harmony, creativity, love, joy and the list goes on. Psalm 29 says the lord sits enthroned over the flood. The lord is enthroned as the lord forever. The lord gives strength to his people, the lord blesses his people with peace.When God speaks, how do you respond. I want us to continue with the commitment phase of our covenant. How will you walk with God this year. This is another tool to think and to pray and to listen with. The true meaning will unfold throughout the year. Amen.

What's in Jesus names?

2011-12-24T12:50:00.000-08:00

December 24, 2011Christmas EveIsaiah 6:9Year B(not lectionary)Do ants have ears?A grandmother and her three year old grandson were talking about things that grandmothers and three year old grand sons talk about… Grandma – do ants have ears? Grandma wanting to sound like the expert on all things, yet having no idea responds – why do you have something to tell them? She goes on to tell him that ants are very small. You would almost have to look at an ant in a microscope to see an ant head to see if an ant had ears. She suggest to her grandson that perhaps he should ask his dad to look up on the internet whether ants have ears or not. The grand son continues that would not be necessary. Since the ants were ants and he was a human, if they did have ears they probably wouldn’t listen to him anyway. The only way to communicate with the ants and talk to them is to become an ant. That is the only way they would truly listen to him.God wants us to listen to who God isThat must be how God feels about us – God knows that we were created with ears, but we don’t take the time to listen. God is continually speaking to us, guiding us in life, giving us the answers that we seek - and for some reason we don’t hear God at all. The only way to truly communicate with us, is to be one of usTonight is more than the birthday of Jesus ChristTonight is so much more than the birthday of Jesus Christ. It is so much more than the birth of a baby boy – on any given day there are 10,657 babies born just here in America. Tonight is so much more that even the story of Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus in a Manger surrounded by angels and shepherds. The human events of the story are wonderful and important.But the point of the story – is the incarnation. God heard our cries and our pain, and God came to dwell amongst us. To live with us, to be a part of our lives, to reminds us that there is so much to all of then what meets the eye. There is so much to the story of Jesus. There is so much more to the story of salvation then the story of Christmas eve. But this is where we begin the story of Emmanuel - God with us.Characteristics of God in namesThe prophecy of Isaiah – in Isaiah 8:8 says that a child shall be born and his name shall be Emmanuel – God with us. I have been paying attention to all of the names in the bible that end in el – Michael, Gabriel, Israel, Ezekiel. Each one is a characteristic that is bought into the world in the presence of the person the name is given too. Each is a unique gift of God. Michael – one who is like God, Gabriel – God is my strength, Israel – one who struggles with God and lives, Ezekiel – God strengthens. Emmanuel – god with us.The names of JesusMary and Joseph named their baby yeshua – meaning God will save his people. We call him Jesus. But jesus was no ordinary baby, and he did not have no ordinary relationship with God. how could you choose any one name, one characteristic that would emanate in that child the fullness of God. Of the spirit of life itself, in all of its slendor, its glory, it wonder? It is estimated that the Lord Jesus has been given over 700 names and titles in the bible.The names of the messiahIsaiah 9:6 tells us four of those characteristics. Four names that are very important to us: wonderful counselor, mighty god, everlasting father, prince of peace. All very strange names for a child. Studies show that in todays world – a child given a strange name is 4 times more likely to be a juvenile delinquent. Wonderful is a very strange name to give a child. Especially the name wonderful counselor.But when we think about the characteristics necessary to be the lord of all lords and the king of all kings, and the man of all persons. The healers of all ills, the solver of all problems, the provider of all needs, the messiah of all times. Wonderful counselor, everlasting father, prince of peace.He would need to be someone who is able to communicate to anyone, who is able to say all things to a all people, able to step in the middle of any situation and make it right – he would need to be a wonderful counselor - someone able to understand anything and give an answer.He would need to have strength, he would need to be able to win any battle, and to be strong enough not to be intimidated by struggle – he would need to be mighty God.He would need to be not just the father of our family, but of our families. Ipads, rockin elmos, and American girl dolls go out of style – but the gifts of Jesus Christ last forever – he is everlasting father.In order to control our world, he would have to be more than just a nice person. I have had to learn the hard way that with some people – being committed to living peacefully with people who have no intention of living with you is just not enough. You cant be a name of peace, but a prince of peace.Isaiah 9:6 says for unto us a child has been born for us, a son given to us, authority rests upon his shoulders – he is our messiah, our savior.A job only given to Jesus Christ, only to be carried out by the very power of God. the names given to the baby Jesus are more than characteristics of God. they are God’s pledge to not only be with us but to help through the darkness of life. They are our hope, our life, our inheritance. They are the light of the world. If you read our scriptures for this season, luke, john and Isaiah – they all agree on one thing. The messiah is our light, not just our light but the light of the world. John says that the light shines in the darkness and the light cannot extinguish. The light comes from a wonderful, might and everlasting source – from God.Redemption is realizing that a part of God is inside of youI have heard it said that when each of us is born, a part of god is born in each us. The fullness of God is born in the messiah. But for each of us, we receive a part of God’s heart, soul and mind in our bodies and our lives. And that we should spend our lives loving God with all of our hearts mind and soul – so that that little light inside of us can shine as it is intended.Our redemption in the world is dependent on letting God’s light in our lives and making a determination not so much to shine, as to be used by God. Our redemption is to live up to the characteristics of our name in God.Our strength, our joy, our struggles, our witness are all a reflection of the messiah – the Christ, our lord and savior jesus Christ.Galations 3:26-28 says that we too have been given a name- in Christ, we are the children of God.We are the presence of god – Emmanuel – as long as we reflect the light of Christ that we come tonight to recognize.Reflection on what the night means for us and the worldTonight I want us to reflect on the true presence of God in this room, in this world and this moment.Christmas comes to the world, at this moment – when we can stop preparing, stop shopping, stop getting ready. And be still and listen. Listen and truly hear what a wonderful god we serve. Where we can stop giving and learn to receive receive a merry Christmas, a savior has come, God is present can you feel his presence?God is speaking to you through the night, are you listening?Listen and reflect on the meaning of this night….

We are Godbearers

2011-12-18T04:17:00.001-08:00

December 18, 2011Year BFourth Sunday of Advent“We all must be God-bearers”2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16Luke 1:26-38This is the season of expectationWe have been through the cycle of hope, joy, love for the advent season. We have thought about the coming of Christ in our lives. We have looked forward to the second coming. And now it is time to truly be present to the importance of the first coming. Of God coming into the world in the form of a child, to live our life, and the transform our world. In our time.Our message for today is expectation – What will God do when God comes into my life – again this year. How will things be different. How will I be different? How can I make the world around me different?The problem with MarkFor the first two Sundays, we have not read the gospel lesson. Personally, I think Mark does the best job of telling the good news. Mark is the first of the gospels written. As a matter of fact, Matthew and Luke both use Mark as a reference, which is why they are so similar.The problem with Mark is that you won’t be hearing stories of angels, and shepherds, and mangers, and stars, and Mary and Joseph. That is just not his concern.So this 4th Sunday of advent, if we want to talk about expecting – we have to look at Luke. Because if we want to talk about expecting God – we have to talk about Mary – the mother of Jesus. But I want to go farther and call her the Mother of God – I will talk more about that later.What we know about MaryHistorically we don’t know much about the mother of Jesus. In Hebrew her name would have been Miriyam. Since the Greek don’t have a y in their language – in English, we have the name Miriam. According to Luke, she lived in Nazareth, the northern part of Israel.We tend to imagine her as a young girl, since scripture says that she had not married yet. Truth is, we don’t know how old she was.Retelling of storyScripture says that the angel Gabriel comes to her and announces that she will be pregnant. And bear a son, who will be very important. He tells her the Holy Spirit will come upon her and she will give birth. Her child will be holy also. Gabriel also tells her that her cousin Elizabeth is also pregnant. Mary says here I am, use me. And the angel leaves.A short history of angelsLuke records that it is Gabriel who brings this message to Mary.In the Jewish tradition, there are many different beliefs about angels. In some beliefs there are lots of angels, in some there are just a few. Some believe that there are two different types of angels, and some think of only two.Only 2 are named in the bible – Michael – or Mikael - his name means who is like God? And Gabriel – a soldier for God. Michael is mentioned by name in Daniel, Jude and revelation. Gabriel is mentioned in Daniel and Luke. They are both arch angels – or chief angels.Competition between Gabriel and MichaelRumor has it that the competition for God’s attention was fierce between these two. When they heard that one of them would be named to give the good news to Mary – they both did all they could to get the job.As I was preparing for last week's sermon, I rediscovered the story of aConversation between God and the archangel Michael. It is a little long, soI won't share it with you in full. It seems there was quite a bit ofRivalry between the archangels Michael and Gabriel, and in the story,Michael goes to the throne of God and is being a real pain, carrying on thatGod has made a mistake and that Gabriel could never convince Mary to be theBearer of the Son of God and that God must have rocks in his head to thinkThat the plan would work. Michael's suggestion was something along theLines of sending down a fully grown Son of God, in all his glory with theHeavenly host (lead of course by Michael) at his heals, which was sure tobring humanity back to God! It was a great yarn with much humour, until itcame to the punch line. Michael can't believe that God is going throughwith the hair-brained plan or that Mary would say yes to it. God allows the company of heaven to watch what unfolds. First Mary'sincredulity, then her acceptance and finally her visit to Elizabeth and hersong in response to Elizabeth's greeting.I want to share this last bit with you:"For a long, long moment silence reigned in the courts of heaven as thevision of Mary and Elizabeth slowly faded away.Then finally Michael spoke, "you're right, Lord. As usual you're right.She is brave. And she'll be a wonderful mother for Jesus. But I stilldon't understand. Why? Why are you risking everything by sending Jesus tobe the child of such a poor family; to risk the childhood deaths all earth'schildren risk? I know Mary will love your Child. But the odds are soagainst her!"Slowly, with a gentle smile on a mighty face, God once again ascended to thethrone and looked down at the sometimes troublesome archangel."What was Mary's answer, Michael," God slowly asked?"She said, 'yes,'" Michael replied."That's right," God nodded. "She's poor, illiterate, unwed, and pregnant.She's risking being disowned by all those about her. And she knows beingoutcast would be but the prelude to a sudden and painful death. She knew allthat, and she said, 'yes.'""Just one yes, and the world has changed. Just one yes, and the darkness isgone forever.""One day my Child's people will cower in fear. One day they'll feel itsuseless to go on. One day they'll decide all is against them: that the wayI call them to is a way that can't be travelled.""When that day comes," the Lord God concluded, all my people will have to dois remember a teenaged peasant girl. And as they remember they'll see howeven one person saying 'yes' can change death into life.""What do you say, Michael," the Lord God quietly asked? "Is my plan a goodone?" [4]Fun and laughter aside, the plan was a good one, and one teenage girl's"yes" to God has changed the course of history.What are our expectations as we take our Advent journey? What are ourexpectations as we wait for Christmas?Story told by Rev. Sally Buckley – St. Andrew’s Anglican Parish- Western AustraliaIn the end – it was not Michael or Gabriel’s plan that prevailed, it was God’s plan.It was God’s plan to use a young woman willing to say yes. It was her obedience that mattered.Mary as Theotokos – God bearerCatholics call her Blessed Virgin, or Mary Mother of God. The Greek orthodox call her “All holy, immaculate, most blessed and glorified lady and ever virgin Mary. How is that for a title?In the Greek orthodox church she is referred to as the Theotokos. I said that I was going to stop giving you foreign words – but this one is important to all of us. Theo means god and tokos means birth giver. In English that means God bearer. Mary is important in the Greek orthodox church because she is the one who bought God into the world. Not just the presence of God, but the actual God himself in the form of Christ.We too are God bearersThe good news this holiday season is that we are expecting too. Expecting and expected. Expected to be God bearers. To bring god into the world into the lives of our friends, people in the street, even to those far away.Even though the soldiers have returned from Iraq, we are still far away from world peace, even though it is Christmas time, people are still hungry. The hospitals are full of people, there is poverty, there is despair. All things that we can do nothing about ourselves, but we know that God can do the impossible. I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me. I can do the impossible.Story of 80 year old woman giving birthLinzi was an 80 year old woman who lived in a nursing home. When Linzi announced that she was expecting, people thought that it was dementia. That was three months before Stephanie came to work at the nursing home as a nursing assistant. That was three months before Stephanie found out that she was pregnant. When Linzie would talk to Stephanie about being pregnant – she thought nothing of it. She was very polite and understanding of Linzie until she discovered that she was having a baby herself. All throughout the pregnancy – she would share stories with Linzie. Linzie was a hair dresser in her earlier life and she had never had a baby. But she and Stephanie always seemed to have a lot to talk about. Stephanie would let Linzie feel her stomach, and feel the baby jumping. When Linzie would talk about her pregnancy – she was always willing to listen and to go along with her story. Finally Stephanie had the baby – and of course she brought the baby to work so that everyone could see him. Linzie was the first person she took him too. Linzie was very excited about the baby – she started to ask Stephanie about the birth experience – what did it feel like, what happened, how did she react, who was there to help. Stephanie felt close enough to Linzie to share all of these experiences. When it came time to show the baby to everyone else – Stephanie asked if Linzie wanted to go with her as she showed off the baby – Linzie was delighted. They put Linzie in her wheelchair and handed her the baby. And as they went throughout the nursing home – Linzie told everyone that her baby was here. She told people that she was pregnant and here was the baby - This was baby Joshua. Stephanie’s baby was not named Joshua – but Stephanie knew that Linzies baby was Joshua. And that for some reason God had brought the two of them together, so that they could share their journey together. even allow 80 year old women to give birth for the first time. If my God can do that, surely God can address anything going on in my life. As a matter of fact, the bible is full of the stories of women who could not have children, having children – and those babies of promise going on to do amazing things. If God can make an 80 year old woman give birth – what can god do for you.The real question is what can God do through you? If you are willing like Mary – to be a God bearer for God?The difference between a house and a homeIf we look quickly at 2 Samuel – David has become king, he has overcome all his challenges . and he decides that he must make sure that God has a house of brick and cedar just as he has. Now he said yes to God. He was a faithful servant – and yet God said no, I don’t need you.If he was faithful and Mary was faithful. Why would God say I can use Mary, and not David?David agreed to provide God with a house, Mary was willing to give God a home. David was going to use brick and mortar, Mary was willing to give God love. David was giving out of his success, Mary was giving out of her obedience. David was willing to give God a place to live, Mary was willing to give her life. And God’s presence in the world lives in the presence of our souls, inside of us, not in the things that we have or give.God trusted us, God favors us earthen dirt vessels, with imperfect lives, imperfect thoughts, and dirty hands to bring the glory of God into the world.Obedience makes the impossible possibleIt is my obedience to God that makes the impossible, possible. During this season of expectation, let us let go and let God. It is not about what I can do for God, it is about what I can let God do for me. Here am I , the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.I want us to end together saying the words of Mary’s response to God and to the world. I hear that these words are so powerful, that they are banned in certain countries that are afraid of change.The magnificatMy soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed: for the mighty one has done great things for me and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arms; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has bought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he has made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” Amen.

Why is He Coming?

2011-12-11T03:57:00.001-08:00

“Why is He Coming?”Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-111 Thessalonians 5:16-24Third Sunday of AdventYear BDecember 11, 2011Whoever got us into the mess should be killedA woman was in the midst of her Christmas shopping. She still had just a few gifts to get. But it seemed that these were the hardest gifts. Everything that she has circled in the sale papers, when she went to the store they were sold out. And when she was shopping, all of the stores were crowded and the lines were long. After she finally got her last gift, she went to get in the elevator to go home. There was a crowd already in the elevator, but everyone was gracious enough to pull together and to let her in. They gave her room for her and her packages to get on the elevator. In exasperation of the day, she says – whoever came up with all of this Christmas mess should be shot. They should just string him up and hang him in a tree. Everyone in the elevator responds – they already thought of that – they crucified him.’’Without Easter, there is no Christmas Without Easter, there would be no Christmas. Without Christmas there would be no Easter. They go hand in hand. If we forget about Christmas – then Easter is just a supernatural myth that has no meaning. If we forget about Easter, then Christmas becomes a sentimental story that we can all feel good about. But together, they are about the coming of Christ into our lives, and the point of our salvation. We are grateful for the first coming, and preparing ourselves for the second coming.Advent is like being locked up in prisonSomeone said that advent is sort of like being locked in prison, waiting by the door for someone from the outside to come and open the door and set you free. Advent is learning to wait on God in a very special way. There are a lot of people in the prison of life – we need to tell them that God is coming. That is why the book of Isaiah is important to us. The Spirit of the Lord is upon meThe spirit of the lord is upon me, because the lord has anointed me, he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners.We have heard these words before – yes they are in the messiah. But they are also in Luke. These are the words that Jesus stood up to say as he was in the synagogue and he announced that it was time for him to start his public ministry to the world.Liberation theologyThese are words of liberation, comfort and grace for all people.The Hebrew word for people in need is anawim. It literally means the righteous people, who have been treated unjustly. The good news for me is that God has a relentless determination to ensure justice and mercy in the world.The anawimThe lay leader of Rust has been talking about meeting the needs of the anawim. I was struck as she talked about the need of people and that there seem to be so many people in need today. Who are the anawim today? Single parents, children, those who are hungry, those who don’t have jobs, those who are afraid of violence. It is important for the church to meet the needs of these people.But advent is the time for us to also spread the good news. We spend so much time wondering how to get these people into our churches. There are two times a year, when the world is knocking on our door, waiting for us to speak up and tell them about our savior. And all that he has done for us, and all that he can do for them.This is the time to tell them that God has heard their cries and sent a savior into the world to set them free. This is our time to introduce them to that savior – Jesus Christ. God cares enough to do whatever it takes to set them free – even sending his son into the world to be killed.Another seminary word for you, especially at Garrett. Liberation theology. That is what God is doing all around the world to set his anawim free. It talks of what God does in poor countries, in countries where there is oppression, amongst those who understand oppression well, but are learning to take care of themselves, with the help of the Holy Spirit.The advice of ThessaloniansOur text in 1 Thessalonians says don’t quench the spirit. Always let the spirit do its work, in us and in the world. But the spirit of God is what frees our souls from the oppression of the world.Last week we looked at 2 Peter – that was the last book written in the New Testament. 1 Thessalonians is the first book. It would have been written in 50 AD – fifty years after Jesus’ appearance on earth. This is the generation who waited for God. The whole theme of Thessalonians is when Jesus is coming back. They ask the question – how long do we have to wait? They are as impatient as a young child waiting for Christmas. And Paul had to talk to them about what to do in the meantime. For a child – the time between thanksgiving and Christmas can seem like an eternity, not a month.Paul wants us to know that even in our waiting; we are to live as Christians. As if Christ is in our lives, because indeed he is.The advice that he gives to us in our waiting –Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstance, don’t quench the spirit, listen to the prophets, and test everything.Repeat after me - rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in everything, and test everything.Remember the joy that we have in life today, the joy we have in Christmas, is the joy that we have because our lives are lived in the spirit of Christ.Whatever else is going on – if I have Christ, I have joy.The inner peace from GodAnne FitzPatrick writes of coming home one night after a pleasant outing with her husband and friends to find that their house had been broken into and robbed. The house had been ransacked and many of the things taken had not only monetary value, but sentimental value as well. Anne was at first shocked, then angry and finally frightened. Her inner spring of security had been poisoned. For weeks, the break-in was never far from any of Anne's conversations. She became suspicious of anyone she didn't recognize and had trouble sleeping. She had become shackled to bad memories.One evening, several weeks after the robbery, the theft was again the topic of family conversation. Anne's teenage son, Bill, said, “We should stop dwelling on what happened to us. We lost only things, but [the thieves] lost a lot more. They're out of grace of God by breaking his law.” Bill went on to suggest that they should pray for the intruders. Slowly, Anne began to understand the godly wisdom her 17–year–old son had spoken. She later said that as she was able to forgive the thieves, her own sense of inner peace returned.The Sunday of joyThe third Sunday of advent is known as joy Sunday. It is the Sunday when we remember the joy that we have in Christ. The candle we light is usually pink – lighter than purple to remind us that we are almost near the end. Next week its back to purple again, to remind us that life always gets worse before it gets better. But we have to keep on moving forward anyway.Sticky notes and joyI want to try an interactive demonstration today. I want to give a few of you a sticky note – stick it on you. It has a word on it, but I don’t want to share what the word is just yet.Funny thing about sticky notes though – they were designed by an engineer at the 3M company. He was given the assignment to design some sticky glue. He designed it – but he was embarrassed to tell his supervisor. When his colleagues questioned him about what he had been doing all of these months – he told him that he designed this special glue – but the thing is it doesn’t stick very well. You can stick it to you – but the thing is, it really doesn’t stay. You can pull it off. You can put it back on you, but and it will stick again, but I wouldn’t exactly call it glue – because it doesn’t stick.His colleagues looked at him and told him that he had hit the jackpot. This was a special glue that could be put on the back of some paper, and people could use them as sticky notes. That they can take off and put back on again. 3M and that engineer, made a lot of money off of something that was invented by accident, with a result they weren’t expecting.Can someone tell me what word is on their sticky note? Joy – what does joy have to do with the invention of the sticky note? The sticky note was not something that the engineer set out to invent, he thought he was going to lose his job and he ended up creating one of the most important product of the company.Can’t seek joyThere are a lot of people out there in the world looking for joy. But the thing is, you can’t buy joy. There is lot of people out there in the world right now at these moments who are seeking joy – in things, in people, in situations, in drugs, in experiences. But the thing is – they get disillusioned – because no matter how hard you look – joy is not yours to find. Because joy is a gift from God. Anytime we set out to find joy, it may last for a moment, but the reality is that if you are looking for it, you can be sure that you are going to lose it. If you set out to get it, you are going to fail. Joy is a byproduct of seeking something greater. If you are looking for joy, you won’t find it, but if you are looking for Jesus Christ – it will be given to you abundantly. Joy comes to you when you serve Jesus Christ.When you know that God is with you, and that your life is in Christ – everything else falls into place. Rejoice alwaysWe are not called, we are recalledThe spirit of the lord is upon me to because the lord has anointed me to bring good news. That is not our call – that is our recall. Our reminder of what the world needs now – the freedom and joy that only the lord can bring.We are not waiting on Christmas, we are waiting on the lord to set the captives free. Amen.

The One Who comes

2011-12-04T01:37:00.001-08:00

December 4, 2011Year BSecond Sunday of AdventIsaiah 40:1-112 Peter 3:8-15“The One Who Comes”Eschatology is our word for todayEschatology is our word for today. A word ending with logy always means the study of. Theology is the study of God, psychology is the study of the human psyche, and anthropology is the study of man. Escha means last, final, end, or in this case fulfillment. Eschatology means the study of the last days, the end times, and the fulfillment of human history. What is going to happen when Jesus comes again?Advent is a time to give thought to who God intends you to be – not who you were, not who you are – but the fulfillment of God’s mission in you.Every Sunday is little EasterThe whole point of our faith is a celebration of that Jesus died, was resurrected and promised to come back again. We are always an Easter people. Everything that we do is in preparation for his return. We live in the shadow of the resurrection. Looking forward to what is to come, not looking back on what might have been.Without Easter, there would be no ChristmasWithout Easter, there would be no need for Christmas. We remember the first coming, so that we can understand the first coming. Christ came into the world – so that we could have eternal life. We need to keep that in foremost in our minds as we get ready for Christmas.Preparing for Christmas is in full blooomHave you noticed that Christmas is in full bloom? Stores are packed; the lights are out, Christmas movies are on. I used to say it won’t be Christmas until…..What about you.One of my favorite marks of Christmas is happening today – if I make it on time. The messiahThe word of Handel’s messiah*PART I*OVERTURE RECITATIVE. (Accompanied - Tenor) Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your God; speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem; and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness:-Prepare ye the way of the Lord: make straight in the desert ahighway for our God.AIR (Tenor)Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill made low, the crooked straight and the rough places plain.CHORUS And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together;for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.The words of Isaiah 40Those are the words of our text today…..God is gathered with the holy court – and he tells them to comfort my people. Prepare the way, create a highway for God, so that he can come immediately into the lives of his peopleWhat a concept – make a highway for God. What would it look like to make a highway in your life. Create a big open space for God. I decorated my house – set a place setting for Jesus – to come and make himself at home in my house, in my life, in my world.God’s message to us that God is still present, God still cares, God is still at work. If you are paying attention.Isaiah 40 good news to a world where God does not matterComfort my people is good news. Lived in a world where there was depression and despair. The word from God was that they deserved it and were paying for not paying attention to God. The people of Isaiah Also lived in a world where it seemed God did not matter anymore. People had found other distractions. We feel that way. God had no power, God had no glory. God sees from heaven, and comfort my people – give them a message that God is still in control. And will come to deliver his people.2 Peter2 peter is the last of the new testament writings. Not written by Peter, not even the second generation, but the third. Closest to our times and our struggles. The first generation thought that Jesus was coming in their lifetime. But there was no Jesus. The second generation and still on Jesus. Why are you telling me to prepare for something that is not coming. Is indeed coming like a thief in the night – you never know.Started this whole conversation of eschatology – the end times. What it will be, what it will look like, what will happen when Jesus comes. There are different opinions with Christendom about what that day will look like and what Christ will do. But one thing we can be sure of – that we are found doing the will of god when he comes.Christ is our proof to the scoffers that God is still real and that God still cares. And that God gives us work to do in the meantime. No control over God, complete control over how you live your life. Who god calls you to be.Advent is my chance to prepare for the second coming. Take account of my life and decide what I need to do to get closer to God. It changes every year – depending on the circumstance. While the rest of the world is getting ready for Christmas. We are getting ready for Christ. Christ intervention into the way things are.What a couple does when expecting a babyWhen a couple is expecting a baby – there are certain things to do. Go to the doctor, have a baby shower, eat right, get things for the baby – sort of like getting ready for Christmas.There is a phenomena called nesting – when late in the pregnancy the mother starts preparing a place for the baby – getting the room ready – usually it is at that moment that the goes into labor. And everything changes. No longer getting ready for an event, preparing to be a new person a new identity. Change from doing to being. Being a parent is in who you are, not what you do. We all have to stand before the judgement seatBeing a Christian is not in what you do, in who you are. Second coming – stand before God not interested in what you did – but who you are. Why did you give, why did you forgive, why did come to church, why did you treat people the way you did. Personal gain, or for the love of god. What do I need to do in order to prepare myself to stand before My God? Who do I need to talk to? What do I need to get rid of in my personality? What do I need to give away? What is standing in the way? What do I need to pray for? How do I need to pray?All good eschatological questions. The discussion of the things to come. My fulfillment in God’s kingdom. When Christ comes in his final victory what will he find me doing? Is my heart truly ready for Christ to come. When people say that Christ has not come in 2000 years – how do I help them see that he is always around, and the signs of his coming are nearer than you think.What is taking so long?Second peter says that he delays his coming out of mercy. He is waiting for you and for me and your our neighbors to get it. God is giving us time to get our lives in order. So that when he does come, we can stand before him blameless.Not to worry about when he comes, but what how we are preparing ourselves for his coming. Scripture says that for god a one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is only a day. One man prayed, God if a million dollars is like a penny to you and a day a thousand years, can I just have a penny – I would be happy with just a that much. God responds – sure I will give you one of my pennies’s – if you will just give a day.Eschatology – the study of things to come. What does God have in store for me? What is god calling me to be? What will my future days look like, what is the fulfillment of my life. Prepare yourself for the coming of Christ, not for Christmas.Parting benedictionI leave you with the last words of 2 Peter text – therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found in him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.Amen.

Christ My King

2011-11-20T00:33:00.001-08:00

Ephesians 1:15-23Matthew 25:31-46Christ the King SundayNovember 20, 2011Year A“Christ My King”An important invitationImagine for a moment that tomorrow you go to your mailbox and find nice looking envelope. It looks like an invitation or something. It’s from the white house. You open that envelope before you even start to think about all of the bills, advertisements, and other things we get in the mail. I don’t really get letters anymore from people. Sure enough, it is an invitation. The Obama’s are having a state dinner for the president of Nigeria, and they want you to be a special guest. Now of course you know that in order to get to the dinner, it is going to take some money – a lot of money. You got to pay for airfare to get there, hotel, meals while you are gone., cab fare, then you will have to bring back souvenirs for the family. And this is a formal dinner, which means that you have to have formal attire. All of that is a lot of money. And money is one thing that you don’t have right now. But on the other hand it is not every day that you get an invitation from the president to go to the white house. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. And you are going to do whatever you need to do, and find whatever money you need to find in order to make it happen. Or suppose a close friend calls you and tells you that she has won backstage passes to see Bill Cosby. He will be in Atlanta next weekend. The tickets are for a concert with him, a chance to go backstage and talk with him, and then have dinner with him afterwards. You and your friend will be his personal guest for the night. The evening is all expense paid. But once again, you have to get to Atlanta. You don’t want to disappoint you friend. And once again, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. So you do what you have to do to make it happen. A more important invitationNow suppose you get another invitation. Not from the White house, and not from some famous star. But from someone much more important. You don’t have to travel anywhere, you don’t have to spend no money, and all you have to do is show up. Every day we get an invitation from Jesus Christ – to be in his presence, to be led by his wisdom, to be a part of his inner circle, to follow him. How do we respond? How excited are we about the invitation? How much do we invest to be present? We don’t just get this invitation for Sunday to be here for church – we get the invitation every day. Jesus says that if you want to see me, all you have to do is feed the hungry, take care of the sick, visit the prisoner, and take care of the least of these. Whenever you take care of the least of these, you have taken care of me, you are with me, you have received your invitation – how do you respond? Jesus should be a much bigger celebrity in our lives then the Obama’s or Bill Cosby. An invitation from Jesus is a once in a lifetime event. We say that Jesus is #1 in our lives, and yet we take that invitation for granted.Jesus is the king of kings Jesus has all power and authority on earth. Jesus has greater influence in not just our lives, but the lives of all persons. Jesus has the power to cure all ills, to heal all pain, to provide all resources, to give all hope. Jesus is truly the king of kings and lord of lords. How do we give honor to Jesus in our lives?Who are we? And if Christ is king, then what does that make us?We are not princes and princesses. Because if we are followers of Christ, then he is the first among equals. If Christ is the king of kings, we are his brothers and sisters. We are kings and queens too. We are so important that we are the body of Christ. We are the church. We are the community of hope.Epistle of the EphesiansThe epistles are letters that were distributed to the early church to help them understand what it meant to be the body of Christ. Most of the epistles were written to a specific community in order to address a specific situation. I tell you that – because even though our epistle lesson is entitled Ephesians – it was written for everyone. And in it Paul is not talking about a certain situation – he is talking to all who profess to follow Christ – wherever they may be.Paul’s prayer of hop This is a prayer of hope – given to a community of hope.I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of your inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness among the saints. Paul’s prayer is for you to have hope, wisdom, riches and power. If we are able to inherit the rich hope that Christ gives us – then we are able to believe in God, believe in ourselves, and to believe in others.Matthew 25 is final teaching Matthew 25 is the final teaching of Jesus. Chapters 26-28 are about the trial, death and resurrection of Jesus. This teaching of the last judgment is the last time that Jesus is able to talk to the disciples and us and give us instruction. This is the last Sunday of the Christian year. Next week is the first Sunday of advent. We have spent all year reading Matthew. Next week we start on Mark.Christ the King Sunday On Christ the king Sunday – we are asked to look at the totality of who Christ is for us. What has Christ done for us this year? What has he taught us? How has he proven that he is indeed king of kings? And lord and savior of our lives?Anna’s hope in the lottery At first I was not going to tell this story – but I think it is fitting. Anna is like a lot of my friends and family. Every Monday she would go the convenience store and buy a lottery ticket. She might spend five dollars, ten dollars, whatever extra money she had – she spent it on lottery tickets. That was her hope for getting out of her situation. One of the legislators said that the lottery bought hope to poor people. My family has calmed down a lot – but there was a time, when every extra dime they had was spent on the lottery. The lottery was a plan. Anna would tell her neighbor that she had it down to a system. She played her birthday plus her address. Every week she would tell her neighbor how she had a feeling that it was going to work this week. She had a winning combination of numbers, and she just knew that she was going to win. She would even start planning what to do with the money. Her friend would just shake her head and say that she needed to have hope in something more powerful than the right numbers. She said - maybe I am being old fashioned, but there is only person strong enough for me to put my hope in. One person who has the power to do all things, to give me all things, and to help me in all things. Can you guess who that person is?.......... Jesus Christ.. The king of kings. Jesus Christ is the only power to give us hope out of our Situation.Where can we find Jesus?And where can we find Jesus? If we know what we are looking for you can find Jesus everywhere, in everybody. The face of Jesus is imprinted on all of us. That invitation to interact with Jesus can come at anytime.The invitation of JesusOne man was walking into one of the finest restaurants in Chicago. And at the entrance was a homeless man, who asked for some money to get some food. As most of us do – he said no and went in. As he was ordering his food it occurred to him – that was Jesus – that was his invitation to interact with Jesus, and he had turned it down. He went back out to give the man money – and he was gone. After he and his friends were done eating, he looked for the man hoping to find him and help – and he was gone. You never know when Jesus is going to extend an invitation to you – but it is not always an open invitation. It won’t wait for you – if you miss it – it’s gone.The final judgmentThat is the hard lesson in Matthew 25. Jesus draws the line in the sand. He is a king, but he has also been given the power to be a judge. Some of his followers are sheep, and some are goats. Some are deemed worthy and some are deemed worthless. Some inherit eternal life. Some damnation. Those who helped the least of these go to the right side. And those who did not – go to the left. When was the last time you received in invitation to interact with Christ? Did you help or walk on by?Not about being good or badThe thing that separates us according to Jesus is not whether we are good or bad. But whether we are willing to help others. There are lots of good people – who do feel the need to help the least of these. And there are some bad people who will give all that they have. If Christ is king of your life, which are you? Are you a sheep or a goat? The good news is that Christ extends that invitation to us each and every day, with each and every person. We just have to be willing to love others, just as Christ has loved us.Let us pray…..Amen.

Press On, Move Forward

2011-11-12T22:37:00.001-08:00

Englewood UMC“Press on, Move Forward”Galatians 5:13-16, 22-26Galatians 6:2-9Philippians 3:12-14138th Anniversary CelebrationNovember 13, 2011Story of 3 sisters who didn’t know if they were coming of going3 sisters lived together. One was 96, one 95, and one 94. The oldest sister ran some bath water, began to step in the tub but she got confused, she couldn’t remember if she was getting in the tub, or out of the tub. Her middle sister decided to come up the steps to help her. But she had to stop halfway up the stairway. She couldn’t remember if she was going up the steps table eating breakfast. All she could do was shaker her head and knock on wood. Thank God her memory was not as bad as her sisters. I will be there to help you two figure out what is going on, just as soon as I see who it is that is knocking at the door.I want to ask you – are we coming or going? A church anniversary – is it time for us to look back at what the church used to be, or is it time to press on and move forward?A church anniversary is indeed a good time to reminisce. To look at pictures, to remember old relationships. It is not a time to rest on our laurels, to stay stuck on what we used to be, too just sit on our butts. It is time to Press on and move forward.Biblical referenced for Press on Move ForwardPress on move forward – that is a good message for us this morning. The bad news is that it is not biblical. I spent all weekend looking for a biblical reference to those powerful words. Paul didn’t say those words, Jesus didn’t say those words, and the prophets didn’t say those words. The good news is they didn’t have to because the concept is everywhere throughout the bible. For instance in 1 Corinthians 9:24 Paul says to run in such a way as to win the prize – that means to run forward – running backward won’t get you anywhere. In Philippians 3:13-14 Paul says But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward. In Luke 9:62 Jesus says no one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God. In Genesis 19:17 an angel tells Abrahams cousin Lot to flee for your lives, don’t look back and don’t stop until you reach the plains.Message is to move forward and don’t look back In all of these verses the message is not just to move forward, but don’t look back. No matter what the past may hold, leave it behind and move forward. In order to move forward there is something that we have to let go of. Something on our list that we have to forget about, something that we have to prioritize. The religion of the Jews is a religion that places a priority on history, on ancestors, on wisdom of the past. The religion of Jesus does not take away from that past- it just reminds us that our hope is in what lies ahead. People of faith are those who are moving forward.The logical reason – we face forward not backwardAnd when you think about it that makes sense. When a baby is learning to walk – you don’t stand behind her and encourage her to walk backwards. You stand in front of her and encourage her to walk forward. You tell her to come here – God does the same for us. God calls us forward in everything.Our feet, are in front of us. Our face in front, our eyes in front. An interesting fact that I learned this year, If you pull aside the feathers on an owls face, you will discover that the owl has two totally different shaped ears. An owl has superior hearing because those two different ears are oriented in two different directions. An owl has superior hearing because he can hear what is in front of him, and what is in back of him at the same time. But humans, we don’t have eyes in the back of our head, and those big lobes on the side of our face – they are specifically designed to catch the sound in front of us, not in back. Why is it that all of our senses are in the front of us and not in back of us, who do we not have special tools to look behind us – because we are not headed in that direction. We don’t need to look back – there is nothing for us. There is nothing wrong with the past; we are just not headed in that direction. Press on, move forward.In Christ we are a new creation, we have a new life, our eternity is in the kingdom to come. The command is forward march – not backward march.The story of Alexander’s armyAlexander the great was known for commanding his army to march upon a village and just taking over everything around him. Most kings were intimidated by the sheer number of his army. Once he met a king who resisted – why should I just surrender and give you control of my kingdom just because you asked for it. Alexander the great told him because he had a powerful army. The king was still not convinced. So Alexander had to give him an example. He gave the order forward march. On the army marched onward. They continued to follow the command of their leader, and marched on. They were near a cliff, but had not received the command to stop. It has been a long time since I was in marching band, so I forget the command to stop. But Alexander finally gave the command to stop. But it was not until 3 or 4 rows of the army had marched off the end of the cliff. Alexander turned to the king, what makes my army so powerful – they will do whatever I tell them to do. The king immediately surrendered. Alexander had an army that was willing to press on and move forward.Don’t we feel that we are falling off a cliff sometime? Just as in that story, do we sometimes think that moving forward is like falling off of a cliff for God. After all – move forward – move forward into what. Where are we headed as a church? What does the future hold for us? how can we look forward to a future that we can’t see? Who are the people coming behind us? what do we have to look forward to when there are more funerals than baptisms? What do we look forward to, when we can look back and see better days behind us? We can be tempted to think of a church anniversary as a time to look back and remember the good times.The cemetery with a churchOkay I was going to save this story for another sermon, but I can’t resist. I have been looking online all weekend for sermons on church anniversaries, trying to find exactly what you say at a time like this. And I came upon the story of a pastor who like me, did an internet search and found a story that he was very interested in. It was preached at St. Matthew church, somewhere in England. He was really taken with the anniversary sermon and wanted to learn more about the church. What ministries did they have that warranted such a good sermon? What did they do for the community? He did an internet search, not only did they not have a website; he could find nothing about the church. The pastor, pastor Johnson had a website, but funny thing it didn’t say anything about the church. It was time for him to preach his sermon – and he was frustrated that he couldn’t find anything. So in desperation he decided that he would just look up pastor Johnson and call him personally. Pastor Johnson was in total shock. St. Matthew church had not been an independent church for 5 years now. They had merged with 3 other churches, and it had been 10 years since they were able to afford anything other than a student pastor. The only reason the name St. Matthew was still known was because the cemetery attached to the church was still open. The building was only used once a year. That sermon for the annual church anniversary – a fundraiser to keep the cemetery open. So much for a church anniversary sermon focused on the past.Galatians 6:9Speaking of falling off cliffs, I thought that my sermon had fallen off a cliff this weekend, as I continued to do my planning for today. I picked this theme of press on move forward last month or so. But didn’t read Galatians 6:9 until Friday. The verse says “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” It is a great message - but doesn’t have anything to do with press on move forward. Somewhere along the way – I got my signals messed up. But I truly do believe that when it comes to the message of God – there are no mistakes. There is always a reason that a word is revealed. And for some reason God wanted those too messages to come together. I am I am not just saying that because I didn’t look at this text until Friday, and realized that I needed to have to say something that made sense on Sunday.Our faith is grounded in obedienceIf we look back at our story about the army of Alexander – it is an example of what it means to press on and move forward. But that is not the point of the story. The point of the story is obedience. Obedience to press on and move forward no matter what. God calls the church to be focused, and unwavering in our obedience to God. To press on and not look back, to trust God into an unknown future. To never grow weary in doing what is Good – because that is what God tells us to do. The harvest comes for us in the future, not in the past. The harvest is God’s and not ours.Our faith is grounded in hopeThe faith of the followers of Christ is grounded in hope. Hope in new life, hope in new creation, hope in things to come, not times gone by. Religions of the past got their meaning from where they come from, what they did, who their ancestors were. The religion of Christ is a religion of the future. We get our meaning from the future no the past. We walk toward where are going, no where we have been. We press on move forward, never growing tired of our task to do what is good, in world obsessed with what is wrong.The greeting of keep moving forwardOne man noted that whenever he visits the church that he grew up in, the usher always notices him. Mr. Cotton Jones always says to him – it is good to see you, keep on moving forward. His greeting - keep moving forward is a challenge. A challenge to learn more, to grow more, to achieve more, to live more fully. Press on Englewood – move forward!Let us pray….

Honoring the Saints of God

2011-11-06T00:58:00.000-07:00

November 6, 2011All Saints DayRevelation 7:9-17Matthew 5:1-12Year A“Honoring the Saints of God”What does the word Saint mean?The word Saint means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. To some – we think of the great saints of the bible – Paul, Peter, Matthew, Luke. To some we think of the great saints of time – of Ghandi, Martin Luther King, to some we think of the great people of our lives, our grandparents, our favorite uncle, our parents, our first Sunday school teacher. We might even think of a stranger along the way – someone who we know did something really important.An unlikely saintI am pretty sure that in thinking of the meaning of a saint, we would never think of a young man of about twenty years old, in a sailor’s uniform, sitting in the bottom of a ship, looking at silk – checking it meticulously for holes and other faults. Ironing it out, and them folding it in just the right way. But to Charles Plumb, he was a saint. Because he was the person who packed his parachute.Who packed your parachute storyEvery now and then someone sends you something on the email which is worthKeeping. Some years ago a friend, and I can't remember who it was now, sentAn email entitled "who packed your parachute". I was interested to seeRecently that it is doing the rounds again.It was one of those you are meant to send on to people who have a specialPlace in your life. It is the story of a US fighter pilot from the VietnamWar, called Charles Plumb.After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-airMissile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured andSpent 6 years in a Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and nowLectures on lessons learned from that experience. One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man atanother table came up and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters inVietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!" "How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb. "I packed your parachute," the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!" Plumb assured him,"It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today." Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. He says, "I keptwondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform, a white hat, abib in the back, and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I mighthave seen him and not even said, "Good morning, how are you?" or anythingbecause, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor. Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent on a long wooden tablein the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding thesilks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone hedidn't even know. "Now," Plumb asks his audience, "who's packing your parachute?" Everyone hassomeone who provides what they need to make it through the day. Plumb alsopoints out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shotdown over enemy territory --- he needed his physical parachute, his mentalparachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He calledon all these supports before reaching safety. Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is reallyimportant. We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, congratulatesomeone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment,or just do something nice for no reason. The email finished with the suggestion that "As you go through this week,this month, this year, recognize people who pack your parachute." [1]A saint is someone who packed your parachute. Before you even thought of venturing out into life, before you thought of doing whatever it is that you do.Saints are those who packed our parachuteThere was someone who packed your parachute. Someone who prayed that you would be safe, someone who thought of the obstacles that you would face, and someone who sacrificed their life and their safety, so that you could have more. Some of those people we know and we value very well. Others – like the young sailor – we may never know. All we know is that we would not be here without them. This church would not be standing here; our lives would not be the same. Saints could have done big things or little things, a saint could be here with us now, or they could be gone. They could have passed this year, a thousand years ago. A saint could be a boy or a girl, a saint could live next door, or on the other side of the road. Saints come in all sizes and shapes.That is the point that revelation is trying to make. Our text starts out by saying – I looked and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages standing before the throne and before the lamb. 12 is the number of completeness Chapter 7 also says that they were numbered 144,000. The book of revelation is written in code. That does not mean that there are only 144,000 in heaven. 12 is the number of completeness. There were 12 tribes of Israel, Jesus had twelve disciples. 144,000 is 12 X 12000. That is twelve – over a thousand times. A number that is beyond complete. Everyone who is supposed to be there is there. Everyone is there – before the throne of God worshipping and praising God.Who are these people and what are they doing hereOne of the elder angels of heaven asks – who are all of these people dressed in white – and what are they doing there.They are the saints of God – those who have been made holy by the blood of Jesus – those who remained faithful to God no matter what- those who lived their lives in relationship with Jesus Christ.ASD not about usWe remember the saints on this day – because God is calling us to think beyond ourselves and beyond our comfort zones of what makes sense. Life is not just about us. Life is about everybody. God knows no boundaries in life. For God, life and death are doors to pass through. And for today – we are called to remember that we are part of a much bigger picture. All saints day is to remind in a world we are prone to forget the past and to be afraid of the future – that God’s world is eternal. That there are multitudes in our lives – who have made the world what it is, and that now it is our turn to act. Our turn to prepare a parachute for those who are coming behind us.Come beyond the deadness of our livesOne pastor said that All Saint day calls us to come out from behind the wheels of our dead lives – and to know that Christ has given us new life. Not just the resuscitation of the normal life – but a new life. Sometimes I feel out of kilter – and I wish that I could just return to normal. And I have to be reminded that in this life, there is on normal – there is only what is before me. And the strength to go on.How did they get here?Jesus Christ, the lamb of God is my strength to go on. The elder angel asks another good question – he asks not only who are the saint – but how did they get here.All saint day reminds us that we get to the throne room of God through our suffering. We have suffered failure, rejection, injustice, and loss. Those before the throne are there because they have suffered death. 1 Corinthians 15:26 says that death is the last enemy to be conquered. All Saints day reminds us that Jesus Christ has conquered that enemy – for us and for those whom we love who are faithful. We struggle, we are still struggling – but the good news is that God has not forgotten our struggle. Why they there dressed in white – worshipping God – scripture are says because they will hunger no more, nor any scorching heat and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. All saints day reminds us – that we are not in the throne room yet – there is still struggle ahead for our lives – and yet we can share in their joy. We can be comforted by the lamb of God – right here and now.In order to go forward In order for us to go forward, we have to remember where we came from. In order for us to go forward we have to remember those who got us here, in order for us to go forward – we have to remember who packed our parachute – and why we need to pack for others. I want to leave you with the words of psalm 34 - bless the lord at all time, in all places, in honor of all people. Amen.

2011-10-30T02:37:00.000-07:00

October 30, 201120th Sunday after PentecostYear AMatthew 23:1-12Are you a professional or amateur Christian?The Sports world todayThere is a lot going on in the sports world today. I don’t want to get in trouble again by sounding to knowledgeable. But I know that the St. Louis Cardinals just on the World Series, the Bears are 4/3, and that the basketball season has not started benefits. We love our sports – sports are a big part of life wherever you go in the world.Young Boys playing soccer and professional soccer teamOne of the most beautiful pictures that I got in South Africa was a picture of the boys playing soccer on the beach promenade. There were playing in the dark, and many of the boys did not have shoes on, they didn’t have any fancy equipment. All they had was a ball and a desire to play.That seems true of boys everywhere – they don’t need any fancy equipment, as long as they have a ball – they will play their game. And usually it is a very respectful, orderly game.Rev. Trevor Hudson is one of my spiritual leaders. He is a white Methodist pastor from South Africa. I first heard him at the 2007 World Methodist Conference in South Korea. And got a chance to study under him personally as a part of our spiritual retreat for pastors for the last two years. At our last gathering two weeks ago, he talked about the boys of South Africa, who are willing to pick up a game of soccer wherever they can, just as long as they have a ball. He contrasted that to the national soccer team – professionals- those who get paid to play soccer. They are now on strike- because they want more money. Sounds like a familiar story here in America – with the professional basketball players being locked out, and yet there are boys here on the streets who just want to play basketball.Being that Rev. Hudson was talking to a group of clergy – he had a warning for us, not to take our jobs too seriously. Not to become such a professional Christian that you are more concerned about your salary- than you are about serving God. When there are people out there who are serving, just simply for the love of God.Trevor’s talk on being a professional or amateurBut I want to talk a little more this morning about what it means to be a professional, and what it means to be an amateur. Because I think that issue goes far beyond the issue of the service of clergy and the service of laity. There are lots of laity who get stuck on being professional Christians. Their whole identity starts to revolve around the titles that they hold the pew that they sit in, the donations that they have made. They start to believe that God owes them for the service that they give, instead of just doing things for the love of service and the love of God.Rev. Hudson’s message to us was to always remain an amateur in your heart. To be in service to God, just for the love of it, and not so much for how God has blessed us.The Occupy MovementAnother big story in the news seems to be these Occupy movements. It started out as occupy Wall Street in New York, and then the next thing I know that was an Occupy Chicago, when we were in Maryland – the news talked of Occupy Baltimore. When I was in Nashville – there was an occupy Nashville. And now I hear that St. Paul’s Cathedral in London is shut down because there is an Occupy London.But I have to admit that I have a hard time with that whole concept of only 1% of the world holds all of the wealth and that I am a part of the 99%. One of my colleagues made a comment about how she was a part of the 99% because everything that she had in life she had to earn and had to work hard every day to earn it. But the trouble I had with her statement was that she just got this big promotion – she may have to work hard every day – but she earns over $100,000 a year. She has a PHD – she was a fantastic job, she owns her own home, she has her own business in spite of that, she just picked up and moved to Boston. She may be a part of the 99% but she is blessed pretty well. When we look outside of our American bubble – there are people in the world who don’t have anything. They are starving, they have lost everything, they are worried about their families, and they are living in tents. – And yet they go to church every Sunday and them thank God for what they do have. They love God in spite of the tough times. Who is the professional Christian and who is the amateur who serves out of love for God?Why I don’t need to participatePeople have asked me if I am going to be a part of the occupy Chicago movement – and at this moment I truly don’t need to be a part of the 99%. Yes I am struggling, just I have debt to pay, yes I understand the injustice that I have suffered in the world – but on the other hand I have a safe house to live in, the heat is on, there is food in the refrigerator, and there is gas in my car. Now if I were to lose any of that I may be tempted to go sleep outside in the cold and take of messing up my record by getting arrested for trespasses. But as far as I am concerned, I am truly blessed – with what God has given me. There are too many people who are much worse off than me, to cry about what I don’t have.Who is the professional and who is the amateur?Jesus and the phariseesIt would appear that in our gospel lesson today that Jesus has a message for professional Christians.We know that Jesus has been arguing back and forth with the Pharisees, while he is in Jerusalem. In order to be a Pharisee you had to go through rigorous study for years. We have no record that Jesus ever went through all of that training, and yet he had the nerve to go out into the streets and teach the masses. Who was the professional – and who was the amateur? For awhile Jesus took that questioning, but now he comes down hard on the Pharisees- telling his disciples not to be like them. The three problems that Jesus had with the disciples was that they we overly concerned about titles and their places of honor, they made up stringent rules for others to follow, and they didn’t practice what they were preaching to others. There is a saying which says that if you want to know what is in a person’s heart – don’t watch their mouth – watch their feet.On the other hand Jesus says that they are on the Moses seat – they know what they are talking about. They are right in their teaching. The problem is they don’t live it themselves. Were they being professionals or amateurs?Pharisees are laityNow you have to also know that Pharisees were not clergy. They were intentional lay persons. They took a vow in their everyday lives to uphold the laws of God. There were 613 laws of God – they vowed to live according to all of them – to be an example to others – to help them understand that it was possible to do. That God’s laws ordered your life, and made it better.When Jesus was alive, there were many groups of committed laity groups – the Sadducees, the Herodians, the Essenes. When the temple was destroyed in 70 AD all of these groups died out. But it was the Pharisees who held onto the Torah faith. They remained faithful in their task – to show others that it was possible to hold onto God’s law even in the midst of tough times. Their faith became rabbinical Judaism – that still maintains living out those laws today.At the same time they were developing what it means to be a modern Jew. The disciples were establishing the church. Matthew was writing his gospel – long after Jesus was gone.Matthew is really criticizing church folkThe church people did what we church people do best – we look at other people and criticize them and talk about how glad we are that we don’t have to live like that. Matthew’s church loved to hear Jesus talk about the Pharisees. Don’t do what the Pharisees do – they love to sit in honored places in the synagogue, the love to wear big phylacteries,But what happens when we replace Pharisees with church leader, and synagogue with place of worship and phylacteries with our devotional material?A criticism of them becomes a criticism of us. What Matthew was really asking the church was – who was the professional and who was the amateur? Christians become the ones who say the right things, but don’t really live it. The only one worthy of a title is God as Our Lord, the only teacher we have is Jesus Christ, and the only greatness we have is on our desire to serve others.We are to lead through humilityWe have to lead through humility, generosity, and equality. Not our titles, authority, and expectations.It was the beginning of the school year, and Mr. Jones needed to be there to help the freshman in college move into his dorms. His wife was worried about his working in the hot sun all day. But he told her that was what he needed to do. He helped family after family. And being a black man in the south, the families assumed that he was a part of the custodial staff obligated to help out. When the day was almost over he invited some parents to sit down and rest and have a coke with him. Someone asked if he was helping because he had a child starting school. He responded that in a sense – they all were his children. He was the new president of the university.What does it mean to be a professional Christian? What does it mean to be an amateur?We are both professional and amateurAnthony Munoz – played for the Cincinnati Bengals. He was a 3 time NFL offensive player of the year. Undoubtedly he is a professional athlete. Yet he turned down the chance to do an interview for Playboy magazine. His reason was that it came down to his relationship with God. He had read the bible, he heard to teachings of Jesus, and he was very clear about what God wanted him to do.Who was a professional? And who was an amateur in the word because he loved God?The truth is I think that whether we are clergy or lay – I think God calls us to be both a professional and an amateur. Professional in that Loving God is what we do for a living. We are to uphold the high moral standard of our teacher, Jesus Christ. We are to receive our blessings, and we can claim the title of a child of God.But we must always be amateurs in our hearts – always do it for the love of God. Let us pray….

Leave the Son Alone

2011-10-23T00:27:00.000-07:00

October 23, 2011
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Matthew 22:34-46
Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
“Leave the Son Alone”
Year A

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, ...........

So begins one of the most well know love poems in the entire English
language. Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote this poem, and many others,
to her husband Robert while they were secretly courting. She could
hardly believe that the handsome Browning truly loved her, for she was
an invalid. She only showed the poems to him after their

marriage and he encouraged their publication because he considered them
the finest sonnets written since William Shakespeare’s penned his.
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your
soul, and with all your mind.”
And “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.

These are probably some of the most well known words of scripture. They
are not unique to Christianity though as words like them are to be found
in many different religious traditions.

How do I love thee, let me count the ways. Someone asked that question of us, way before Elizabeth Barrett Browning or Shakespeare. God asks that question of us each and every day. God does everything that God can to show us that he loves us. He courts our hearts and souls in many ways. How do we acknowledge the love letters that God sends us. The beauty of fall, a love letter from God. The nudge to get up in the morning, a love letter from God, a friend that you haven’t heard from in awhile, a love letter from God.
God sent an even more sentimental love letter to the world, when God sent God’s son to the world, and allowed him to die on the cross, for us – we were saved even before we were sinners. Because God loves us.
What does the word Love mean today? How do we define it? In answer to my question, Sherry, my son's wife, sent me the results of a question-and-answer session held by a group of professional people with an bunch of 4 to 8-year olds, where they asked them, "What does love mean?" Some of the answers I selected will both amuse and startle you.

Karl, age 5, says: "Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving lotion and they go out and smell each other."
Elaine, age 5, says: "Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer then Robert Redford."
Mary Ann, age 4, says: "Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."
Tommy, age 6, says: "Love is like a little old man and a little old woman who are still friends even after they know each other so well."
Bobby, age 5, says: "Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
Jenny, age 7, says: "There are two kinds of love. God's love. Our love. But God makes both kinds."
That last answer is worthy of a philosopher. Maybe we should listen to children more than we do. They see the world around them with clear, fresh eyes, and interpret it with clear, fresh minds.
Many of us as adults couldn’t come up with a better definition of love – sometimes adults just don’t know what love is. And we express our ignorance in the midst of what we call our wisdom.

The Pharisees thought they were being wise in their questioning of Jesus. We have been going through this for a few weeks now. Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, he started teaching the masses. There would have been nothing wrong with that – but they started listening, they started having hope, they were moving beyond the despair that had held them hostage. Life was going on, and as religious leaders of the community- they had nothing to do with it. And they needed to know more about this man. Was he really a jew? More importantly, was he teaching orthodox teachings? Or was he just misleading all of these people? So the questions started. Remember – by what authority are you speaking these things? Is it okay to give God money that is given to man? – and in this text we get the most important question of them all. What is the greatest commandment? - do you all know? Love - love the lord your God with all of your heart, your soul, your mind. With everything that you are. Jesus adds the second commandment to it – you must love your neighbor as you love yourself. In other words, if you don’t love he people around you, then you really don’t love God. Two different loves – that cant be separated. They have to come hand in hand.
But I want to stick to my point for a minute. We have moved from love to questions. A nobel peace prize winning scientist was asked about his success. He said that it all came down to questions. When he would come home from school, his mother would not ask how was school, she was not interested in hearing about what he learned that day. The one question that she would ask – what question did you ask today. His interest in his learning came down to his questions. As an adult he said that his entire career came down to learning how to ask good questions.
By what authority do you speak, who is more important God or man, even what is the greatest commandment – are all good questions. And the truth is they may not have been trying to hurt Jesus by asking him these questions. To ask someone a question of faith is the greatest honor that you could bestow on them. They would ask these questions of anyone. Their relationship with God was determined by their ability to question God. Do you really want to destroy your people? God why have you forsaken me? My favorite one – God how long before you vindicate me? God loved his people enough to answer their questions. I just got a bit of jewish wisdom the other day – the power of our prayer in in our belief that God hears us our prayers, and will answer them. We question god each time that we pray. God is always obliged to answer – now that is love.
The good news is that Jesus is able to answer all of those questions. He gives the right answers. He has read the scriptures, he has talked with the rabbis, he has prayed to God – so he is able to give the “right” answer. Yes he is a jew, yes his understanding of life is orthodox, yes he does love God. Jesus even has a question of his own – The messiah – whose son is he? Is he the son of God or the son of David? He references psalm 110 – when he asks why David calls his own son My Lord? Matthew has already proven that Jesus is the son of David – he comes from his lineage. Matthew does better, not only is Jesus a son of David – Matthew shows that he is the son of Abraham, he is the son of adam – he is the son of God. He gets his jewishness directly from the source. The creater of the questions. Questions designed to bring us all closer to God.

There is nothing wrong with asking questions. You don’t have to be afraid of an enemy who is willing to ask you questions – if they are willing to ask you questions that means that they are willing to be engaged. They are willing to have some type of relationship with you. The problem begins when they stop asking questions. When they stop asking questions, you cant read them.you don’t know what is going on. You don’t know what they are planning next. Unfortunately for Jesus – these were the last questions that they would ask. The conversation ends. Scripture says that when Jesus asked them about eh messiah – no one had an answer. “No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.” Jesus continues to teach and to give parables – but the Pharisees have stopped listening…..what does that mean? What are they plotting against him?

But let me ask you another question - what does it mean to be an apostle? Do you know the difference between an apostle and a disciple? I have been told that a disciple is a follower of Jesus. An apostle is someone who has seen Jesus for with their own eyes. Someone who received their call directly from Jesus.

So if Paul never met Jesus face to face – how can he be an apostle? Good question. It was a question that many asked Paul – and it seems that Paul spent his ministry answering that question. He didn’t see Jesus in the Flesh, but he knew Christ in the spirit. In 1 thessalonians Paul says that he comes as an apostle of Christ. I hope that I will have more time to talk about Pauls ministry to Thessalonica. Salonica as it is called, is a really cool large urban city, with a unique ministry. But our theme for today is the love of God. What does it mean to love God? How do we show the love of God? For Paul to love God is to live God, and if we live God we are an apostle – a witness to Christ in any age.
Not everyone who hears Paul likes him or welcomes him. Sometimes the gospel can challenge us in ways that we don’t want to deal with. But the gospel is not about us – it is aboutGod. Spreading it is not our message – it is God’s message.
In the face of resistance – Paul gives us this example of being an apostle. In every other epistles Paul will verbally defind his apostleship. Today he gives us an example. To be a witness to God. To be an authentic follower of Christ – we have to show kindness, integrity, acceptance and courage. In the midst of people who didn’t want him, Paul gave himself and all that he was. He was an authentic Christian, because he knew what it meant to love others – show kindness, integrity, acceptance and courage.

what is the greatest commandment – love the lord your God with all of your heart, mind and soul. What is the second – love your neighbor as you love yourself.

What does it mean to love the lord? Spread the gospel with all that you all – show kindess, integrity, acceptance and courage. Let us pray…..

Praise is what we do

2011-10-09T05:19:00.001-07:00

Exodus 32:1-14
Philippians 4:1-9
17th Sunday After Pentecost
Year A
“Praise is what we do”

The Christian Boxer

Two men were driving the streets of Chicago. One cuts off the other one – as happens every day, lots of times here in the city. The man who was cut off he gets upset, he drives in front of the other man, stops , gets out of the car, and feels he is going to give the man a piece of his mind. He starts yelling and telling the man not to cut him off. The other man very politely apologizes, confesses that he was in a hurry and was not paying attention to what he was doing. Satisfied that he has gave the man a piece of his mind and that justice had been served, he gets back in his car and drives off with a little swagger.
His passenger is silent for a while, as he had been the whole time that this scenario had played out - after the man has driven off. The passenger asks if he knew who that was who he had just argued with. The driver, still high on his success, says, I really don’t care who that man was – he had no right to cut me off like that, and I needed to let him know that.
The passenger continues – that was the golden gloves featherweight boxing champion of the world. His hands are a legal deathly weapon. If he had chosen to get into a fight with you –you wouldn’t be sitting here now, you would not have had a chance. By the grace of God – he chose to be nice to you – even though he didn’t have to.

What does it mean to be a Christian in an Unchristian world?
That is the dilemma that we face each and every day as Christians – what does it mean to be Christian in an unchristian world. Philippians 4:4 says rejoice in the lord always – again I say rejoice. How am I supposed to maintain my joy – when every one around me is complaining. How am I supposed to preach the good news – when every you go there is bad news.

My favorite chapter
I am just full of this chapter –because it tells everything we need to know about what it means to be a Christian. The secrets to a Christian life. The secrets are rejoice, be gentle, pray, think. In the greek, Paul actually says dwell – think, meditate, contemplate long and hard, take the time to pray, before you respond.

Finally beloved, whatsoever is true, whatsoever is honorable, whatsoever is just, whatsoever is pure, whatsoever is pleasing, whatsoever is commendable, if there is any arête - any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think or as Paul says dwell about these things.

Important words for me, because not only are they Paul’s advice to us – but this verse is the mission statement of my alma mater – northwestern. Quacumque Sunt Vera – latin for whatsoever things are true.

My visit to Philippi
I visited Philippians. It is on ignatia way – the main highway going through Greece – six hours north on that highway and you get to Macedonia. Our tour bus had to just pull of on the side of the road. We were literally on the side if the road buying souvenirs. The middle school boys in front of us highly recommended a book that we just had to have on greek history. Sex in greek times. I never every read the book until few years ago. Now I know why you should never trust the interest of middle school boys- the book was a lot more about sex than it was about history.
The remains of philippi were very small –we saw the jail where Paul and Silas were locked up, and freed by the jailer. We saw the courthouse, the marketplace, and there we several churches in the town. The congregation of church A had decided that they were going to build a church, but they were only going to use building techniques in the bible. They built the church building and the church fell down. They built the church again, and it fell down again. They built the church a third time, and a third time it fell down.

Church A at Philippi
The story goes Paul came in and preached to the congregation these verses. Whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing commendable and excellent – think on these things, use them apply them to your life. In order to build a solid building you have to use geometry. Geometry may be from the egytians, it may not be in the bible, it might be considered pagan knowledge – but it is still from God. it is true, it works, and you need it in order to build a solid building. If it has truth it is, it can only come from God.

God in the pagan virtue list
But the question remains, then how am I supposed to remain Christian in an unchristian world? Am I really supposed to value what the world values? Am I supposed to follow the ways of the world? One thing that we modern readers may not realize is that Paul intentionally list the virtues important to the Roman pagans – truth, honor, justice, purity, beauty, excellence. These are all of the things that the world holds dear. Virtues that any roman citizen should strive to meet.
Paul’s question to us is how is this list any different then what God requires of us. These are the same places that we find God – in truth, honor, justice, purity, when we admire the beauty of a rainbow – we are in awe because we know that is a sign that God is present. Many pictures of the leaves turning for the fall on facebook – with the caption of how we should admire the beauty of God.
But the more important lesson for us – is to remember that the true temple of God is not this building, the true temple of God is in inside of us. It is truly not what we do in here that makes us a Christian, it is what we do our there.
We think that we have to work at getting people to come in here with us. When paul is reminding us that we may have to go out there with them. There is a campaign within the united Methodist church – rethink church.

Rethink church
That story of the church in philippi – I thought it was interesting that I had never heard that story in the bible before. Was it true, or just a part of the folklore of the tourist industry of Greece. But it still tells an interesting truth about our behavior as Christians. It may not be true – but is a truth. Just as they felt that the only knowledge that they could use to build a church building had to be in the bible. We tend to think that the only knowledge of how to build a church has to be in our own understanding of what it means to be a Christian. If people don’t act the way we act, if people don’t worship the way we worship, if people are not interested in what we are interested in, then they must not be Christian. In the Philippians shortsighted, the building fell down. In our shortsidedness, our churches are dying. People are not coming in the door to be the church with us.
There is nothing wrong with our idea of being Christian – its is biblical – actually it is our interpretation of what is biblical. There is nothing wrong with that – Paul tells us to think and pray on these things. But we also have to expand our ideas of what it means to be Christian.

St Luke Choir
We were at St Luke UMC in Cambridge, MD. I was very impressed with the choir – they sang with a lot more rhythm than I have ever seen in a united Methodist choir. There was one little girl in front. It is okay to dance in the black church, and to sway a little bit. but as I was watching this one little girl – I couldn’t help but to think that she was shaking her hips a little too much and twisting a little too far. I couldn’t help but to think I am not so sure that she got that in church. That dancing she was doing wasn’t in the bible. But the point was – she was there – in church, singing the songs praising God.
The church was in the heart of an all black community. And we wondered, how many of those people in the community have any relationship with the church. Besides it being the place where they come to get food and other supplies. We are in the world, but not of the world – and we wonder why are churches are dying.
We tend to think that in order to be a part of our church – to one of us – you have to come to worship every Sunday – and then we will find something for you to do. And we wonder why our churches are dying. I heard on tv of a church right here in Englewood. A church of young adults – one was saying that he loved his church- because it was there hang out place. They spent all of their time during the week at church, so it was the logical place for them to go on Sunday. The church has to be more than a place to get services, the church has to be a place where people are safe to hang out and have fun in their everyday lives.
Paul message to us is that we have to rethink our definition of church. The church has to be a part of the world. The worlds values are God’s values. God created the world, God wants to save the world. God wants every person to actually live up to those values that have been instilled into the human heart.

We have to be the temple of God for the world
It is not enough for us to just sit here and pray that people come in. it is not enough for us to go outside and knock on doors and ask people to come in an join us. We are going to have to go and take the temple of God out into our lives. In who we are and how we treat people. And how we respond to to bad news of life.
Put your life to the test - if it is true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable, and excellent – then it is from God and worth our time and energy. We can incorporate it into our lives.

We are the presence of God for the world
How do we remain Christian in an unchristian world – take life one step further. Don’t just think – but pray. Don’t react – be gentle. And rejoice in the lord at all times for the lord is near.

A woman went to visit her friend in a retirement center – and she was impressed as she heard the choir giving a concert. Her friend responded you know that God is in this place. Her friend asked how did she know – because old people cant sing that good unless they have god is with them. The lesson for all of us – is to rejoice – rejoice in the lord always. Let us pray…..

What Lies Ahead

2011-10-02T03:13:00.000-07:00

October 2, 2011
Year A
Philippians 3:4-14
Matthew 21:33-46
Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost
“What Lies Ahead”

God will prevail

God will prevail. That is the message this morning, God will prevail. Whatever it is that you are going through. Whatever questions you have, whatever it is that you are worried about – God will prevail.

God will help me through whatever it is. And for most of my life, God will prevail in spite of me and whatever I have done.

I can make the best plans; I can have to best of intentions. I can set out to do what I think needs to be done, and God knows otherwise, and does what is best for me anyway.

Anyone who has lived for a while knows the twists and turns of God. We twist, and God turns.

The fable of Angel – we are just tenants
There is a fable about the Angel Gabriel who has just come from surveying the earth and its inhabitants when he reports to God. "Lord, it's my duty to inform you that you're the possessor of a choice piece of real estate known as planet earth. But the tenants you've leased it out to are destroying it. In another few years, it won't be fit to live in. They have polluted your rivers. The air is fouled with the stench of their over-consumerism. They frequently kill one another, and all the prophets you've sent to them calling for an accounting have met with violence. By any rule of sound management, Lord, you've got but one option." Then raising his trumpet to his lips, Gabriel asked, "Shall I sound the eviction notice now, sir?"

And God said…

We are just tenants
Another truth of life is that our life is that we are just tenants in this world. We don’t own anything – everything belongs to God. We are all living on borrowed time in a borrowed place. No matter how much we paid for it – it does not belong to us, and we can’t take it with us when we go. When it all is said and done, we are the tenants, and God is the owner.

Explanation of Matthew
Jesus addresses this issue in Matthew 21. He tells a parable of tenants, servants, the land owner, the vineyard, and fruit. In the Matthew story – the landowner sends servants to collect money from the tenants. They kill them all – finally they send his son, they kill him too. They think that if they ignore the servant, they can keep the profit for themselves. Not understanding that they can never take what does not belong to them.

Of course in Matthew – Jesus is talking about the Pharisees. Telling them that in spite of all of their knowledge, and attitude, and understanding – they are not God – and what they do is not eternal. The reference to the tenants murdering the son is a premonition to his going to the cross.

This story is in all of the gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke. This story is also in the gospel of Thomas. The gospel of Thomas is not considered a part of our bible. But it does not have the violence and killing. It is also believed to be the story closest to what Jesus would have actually said.

What the tenant farmers heard
His audience was the Pharisees – but it would have also been an audience of tenant farmers. People who have lived on family farms for years and years. But when the Romans came, they bought up those farms. They owned the land, but the families still used the land. And had to pay rent in order to live on their own land. These were people who understood that in life, that no matter how hard they worked, and did what they always did – they would never own the land. All of the work that they did – was for someone else. They were looking for a way to trust in God. No matter what the landowner thought – God would prevail.

Jesus also talking to the know it alls
But we can’t ignore that Jesus was also talking to the Pharisees. They thought they were on God’s side. They thought they knew who the messiah was. They thought they had spent their whole life looking –and would recognize him when he came. And yet they were the ones who did not get what Jesus was telling them. Last week Jesus says the first will be last and the last will be first. This week Jesus says that the cornerstone that the builders rejected- would be the most important stone. Of course he was speaking about himself. In Hebrew – ben means son, oben means stone. He was the stone the builders rejected.

Message for us today
The message for us tenant farmers today – is not to rely on our own understanding. God will prevail – in spite of ourselves. Have you noticed that the more you know – the more you realize that you don’t know? The more you think you understand God, the more you don’t understand God. The further ahead you get – you always have to take two steps back. God intended for it to be that way.

Man reevaluates his life while shaving
A man was shaving one morning – he noticed that he started to bleed – but there was no cut on his face. He went to the doctor- who told him that he had skin cancer.

Just the mention of that word forced him to reevaluate his whole life. What was it that was most important in his life? What were his priorities? Where was he in his life? Who was he? Where do I want to be?

Paul’s spiritual diagnosis
Paul says that the diagnosis does not always have to be physical. It can also be spiritual. That day came for him, when he had to take account of his life. And that day comes for all of us, when we realize that God will prevail. Not me. Paul tells us that God prevails – through Christ. And we have to put Christ as the most important thing in our lives. Not our identity, not what we think we know, not what we have achieved, but what we have done in the name of Christ.

Who am I – imperfect
Where have I been – in the past
Where do I need to be – in Christ.

Last week we learned that Christ emptied himself in order to be an example for us. So we have to empty ourselves of all of the things we think we have accomplished and replace that with Christ. God prevails through Christ, not us.
That puts everything else in perspective. We are just tenants in God’s world. What we do for ourselves is nothing. What we do for Christ is eternal.

I am looking forward
A friend of mine tells a very sad story of her father dying in the hospital. On her mother’s birthday – she went to visit him and he seemed very agitated, even though he was very sick. He told her to go to the hallmark store to buy his wife a card, and to bring it back so that he could sign it.

He signed it looking forward, with love Harold.

No one understood the message until he died. He was a Christian – he knew that god’s will would prevail over his life. Yet he knew that even in death – he could look forward to what Christ had in store for him.

Press on, move forward
God will prevail. In life we can follow Paul’s message for us – Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind, and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Press on, move forward.

Let us pray…..

Humble and Triumphant

2011-09-25T02:50:00.000-07:00

September 25, 2011
Humble and Triumphant
Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost
Year A
Philippians 2:1-13
Matthew 21:23-32

Intro – Coaching that teaches us to be victorious
The crowd cheered the team on – We are number one! The football team was winning. They were ahead and the crowd did their job to keep them motivated to keep winning. It worked, the team won the championship game, and everyone was excited. That is, everyone except the coach. When they got into the locker room afterwards, the coach encouraged them not to listen to the crowd. To not get so caught up on winning the game, but to celebrate their victory. One team member asked, but I thought you wanted us to do our best. Isn’t that our whole goal – to win the championship and to be the best team around? The coach assured them that was all true. I want you to be your best, and I want you to be the best. But I don’t want you to concentrate on being winners. Because if you win, that means that someone else lost. If you are number one, then hat relegates another team to being number 2. When you celebrate your victory as opposed to your win, then everybody wins. Victory is inclusive; it is about your efforts contributing to the good of others. It is about you being able to share what you have achieved – with others. Celebrate your victory, not your win.
That coach was trying to teach his team to be different, a step above the lessons of other coaches. It is a valuable lesson in being humble and graceful in our victories. It is also a lesson that Jesus would give to us, as the church. Our victories are victories for the world. What we accomplish not only benefits us, but also the rest of the world.

Like the coach, Jesus wants us to be victorious. He wants us to succeed. But he also wants us to be conscious of the way we celebrate our victories.

What does it mean to be a Christian?
I want you to think for today about what it means to be a Christian. When we say we are a Christian what does that mean? And what authority does Christ have in my life?
Why Philippians is important
Paul would have understood the concept of being a part of a team. His concept of training and working together in order to achieve a common goal. He too considered himself coaching his churches.

Philippi would have been a small town of retired roman soldiers. Even though Paul talks about unity in his letter to the church. The letter does not mention anything specific going on the needed to be addressed. He just reminds them of what it means to be a victorious team – be of the same mind, the same love and on one accord.

How do we treat others?
We are not Christ, but we can be like Christ in the way we treat one another and our work. Be humble, putting the needs of others instead of ourselves in everything that we do. Winning is about our needs, being victorious is about the needs of everyone involved.

What does it mean to be a Christian – it means to live your life in the service of others. More importantly, it means to live our lives in the service of God and not ourselves.
God is not interested in what church we go to, or how we worship, -God is interested in the way we live our lives and the way we treat one another. And the way we celebrate our victories in life.

Kenosis
I love Philippians for a number of reasons. But it is a beautiful book with some of the most powerful phrases in the bible. Paul says that Christ was the ultimate winner – he had it all and he did not need to share it with anyone. And yet he did not view equality with God as something to be exploited but he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave. He emptied himself of his divine self and took on the body of a person like you and me.

The official term of this is called kenosis. Kenosis means emptying yourself of what’s inside, and opening yourself up to the flowing of the spirit of God. The point of kenosis is that if Christ can empty himself of being worshipped as the king of the universe for our sake, then surely we can empty ourselves of our pride, and need to control, and need to be in the spotlight in order to empty ourselves for God. When we are full of our own thoughts, then God has no room to give us new thoughts. We are determined to win and gain the glory for ourselves; there is no room for us to work together as a team.

Work out your own salvation
And then there is that line of Philippians 2 that we have all heard – work out your own salvation in fear and trembling. This does not mean that we are to think for ourselves – but that we are to let Christ think for us. the work that we do is not about us – it is about the holy spirit working within us. but finally it is also means that we are not to just hear a sermon, but we are to find ways to live it out.

Frog story
2 frogs were hopping around a dairy farm. They were a nuisance for all of the workers, but they kept coming. One night after all of the workers had left, the frog felt that were free to hop wherever they wanted. They went into one of the stalls, and hopped into a bucket of cream. Both frogs realized that they were I grave danger, as the walls of the bucket were too high to jump over. One frog realized the obvious – were doomed and we will never get out of here. There is nothing we can do – he sank to the bottom of the bucket and drowned and died. The other frog looked at him and said to himself, I don’t know how to get out of here, but neither do I want to die. So he started kicking as hard as he could, he kicked and he kicked and he kicked. He kicked all night – his legs got very tired, but he refused to give up, and he continued to kick. He kicked until the sun came up – and he realized that the liquid cream had turned into soft but consistent butter. He was able to get his grounding, and hopped out of the bucket and hopped on into the rest of his life.

It is not our work that makes the difference, it is the work of the holy spirit. But in order for the holy spirit to do his work – we have to do ours. We have to be willing to put what we claim to believe into action.
It is what we do in our life that makes us a Christian, not what we believe, or what we hear. Having the mind of Christ is about action. It is our integrity in doing what we know Christ would have us do in that situation that makes the situation easier. Our determination to do the right thing is like the cream in the bucket the upheld the frog. It is a really cute story – but the reality is that beating milk all night doesn’t turn it into butter, but the holy spirit can do anything. If we do what we are supposed to do, God always makes a way.
And what are we supposed to do – be a Christian in all situations. Be like Christ – be humble, think of others, count our victories as triumph of the lord and not of us.

What authority does Christ have in your life?
We are almost at the end of the sermon – and I am not going to dwell too much on the gospel, other than to say that it proves Paul’s point. An interesting fact about Matthew - is that for the next few weeks Jesus is in Jerusalem talking to the Pharisees. They are testing his knowledge, and he gives them a parable to prove his point. In today’s passage they ask him what authority he has to teach the world about God. Keeping in mind Paul’s world of him emptying himself of glory in order to live and understand our world – I want to ask you what authority do you give Christ in your life. How do you respond to the presence of the holy spirit in your life?

Parable of the two sons
And Jesus tells this story of two sons. One who was asked to help in the farm, he said no – but changed his mind and went. And the other who said that he would- but never showed up. Which pleased his father? Which was right? Jesus point was that there are a lot of people who don’t go to church, who will get to heaven before those of us who go to church every day. Because when they finally do hear the gospel it changes them, some of us have heard it for so long – it doesn’t mean anything to us anymore.

The ears that made it to heaven
There is an old Japanese legend that tells of a man who died and went to heaven. Heaven was beautiful--full of lush gardens and glittering mansions. But then the man came to a room lined with shelves. On the shelves were stacked piles of human ears! A heavenly guide explained that these ears belonged to all the people on earth who listened each week to the word of God, but never acted on God's teachings. Their worship never resulted in action. When these people died, therefore, only their ears ended up in heaven.

Jesus is dealing with a bunch of "earless" religious folk in this passage, and it would be to our benefit to listen in on the conversation. It's so easy to mistake self-righteous attitudes for true belief in Jesus as Savior. Any one of us can be guilty of it. This passage packs a powerful message, telling us...

The signs of salvation
Paul says work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. In Philippians the six signs of salvation in our lives –effective actions as a response to God, fear and trembling, a humble attitude toward others and God, serenity and harmony, purity in our thoughts and words, and a determination to do the work of God.
What does it mean to be a Christian? To be humble, to love others, to do the will of God and to celebrate the victory of Christ in our lives.

The Fair Wages of Salvation

2011-09-18T04:27:00.000-07:00

Rev. Harriette cross
Englewood UMC
Rust Memorial UMc
September 18, 2011
What’s Fair
Exodus 16:2-15
Matthew 20:1-16
14th Sunday after Pentecost
Year A

Wandering in the wilderness
We have all been there at some point in our lives. We have been at a time in our lives when we are just wandering in the wilderness – looking for where we will go next. We might be just finishing school looking for a career, just out of a relationship looking for what comes next, looking for a lifestyle change. We may be looking for a new job. There are any number of things that might put us in that place of wandering. The point is, some of us at some point find a sense of direction of where we are supposed to go, and some of us just keep on wandering.

Turn to you neighbor and say – I don’t plan on being in this place for too long.

Some of us get home and some of us keep wandering
There is a saying that the king of England said a prayer to God on day – he prayed that God would give him a light so that he could see in the unknown. The priest replied, instead of praying for light, just pray for God – that is all that you need.

That is the difference between those who make it to the promised land, and those who don’t. Some are still looking for the light, and some discover that God knows the way – not them.

We have to go in the wilderness to find God
Often times it is those wilderness experiences that teach us that we need God. It is those wilderness experiences that teach us of the ways of God. It is those wilderness experiences that put us face to face with a God. A God that had been with us all along, but for some reason we had not been paying attention to.
It is in the wilderness that we start to exchange our fear for courage, and we have to strength to move on.
Even when we get to the promisedland we see that in reality, all of our lives are lived somewhere in between hardship and promise. No Matter how far we make it, there is something that we have to struggle with.

We like to complain
And when we have to struggle we get frustrated, and when we get frustrated what do we do? We start to complain. Something is wrong, and somebody is to blame for all of our struggles.

As our Old Testament reading today indicates, complaining seems to be an essential element of the human condition. In 1770 Edmund Burke published a little treatise called Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents. His perception sounds quite contemporary as well as reflective on ancient Israel: "To complain of the age we live in, to murmur at the present possessors of power, to lament the past, to conceive extravagant hopes of the future, are the common dispositions of the greatest part of humankind."

News reports say that the approval rate for president obama is at an all time low. Many are saying that life is worse for them now then it was when he got in office. He may have done a lot for the country – but we are all still frustrated.

God knows the frustration of his people very well. The whole subject of the first books of the bible are God’s people complaining, and God hearing and responding to their frustration.
The isrealites cried because of the hardship of slavery – and the bible says that God heard the cries of his people. They needed a leader to lead them out of Egypt – and God called Moses. In our text today – the isrealites have been freed, they are on their own, they have been given a vision of a land that God promises them – and yet what is going on? They are feeling the tension between hardship and promise. They are hungry, they are frustrated, and they are complaining. God bought us here out of the middle of nowhere – to die. Once again God hears their cries. And they are fed with manna an quail. And they are able to move on with their task of finding a homeland.

The history of God and his people
God hearing the call of his beloved people – and answering the call – that is the theme of the bible. Biblical scholars say that is the theme of the Hebrew story. Some say that God never really recovered from feeling hurt that his people did not fully trust him to supply all of their needs. That is why their hardship never really ended.
Even more interesting for me – is that the while in isreal – I learned that there has never been any archeological proof that this story happened in reality at all. Jews today believe that it was just an old folk tale. They have looked for years for relics of the day , and have not found them. No buildings, no bones, no artifacts. They have dug all over the place where the isrealites would have been in the wilderness and all they can really find are the bones of egytpians settlers in the land. No proof that the isrealites actually wandered in the wilderness. Do we really need proof of the story to get the point of the story. At some point in our lives, we will be wandering around in the wilderness, at some point in or lives God comes to us and supplies or needs. And either we are going to trust God – or we are going to continue to complain about what we don’t have, and what we cant do.

Turn to your neighbor again and say – I don’t plan on staying in this place for too long.

A lesson, a test, a gift
The manna that provided for the isrealites to eat when they were hungry was a test, a lesson and a gift all in one. God created the hunger and the need in them, just as God created the satisfaction. God wanted to test his people to see how they would respond to being in need, God wanted to teach them then He could supply all they needed, and God wanted to satisfy that hunger so that they could know redemption. And who was responsible. The hardships we go through are a test, a lesson, and a gift of faith for those who believe.

We only read part of the story of the people and God’s gift of manna. God told the people to only take what they needed for the day – the people’s response to hoard and save it. God said not to forget the Sabbath in order to eat – and they went out on the Sabbath to get more manna.

And we wonder why we are always asking, and god always supplies and we have to ask again. We don’t hold onto the gift of trust for too long.

Frustration in the new testament
The gospel lesson is a story of frustration, of working in the midst of hardship, of thinking you are getting ahead, and realizing that you are getting no where – without God.

In the parable of the first and the last – we have heard this story before. A man of means hires some day workers and promises to pay them for they work. Those who work twice as hard get the same thing as those who don’t. it is a story that peaks our frustration, and sense of injustice as you will. One person upon hearing some of Jesus’ parables – just outright says sometimes Jesus is just unfair in what he says.
The parable that Jesus gives, there is no names, no context, no connection to the worker or his money. Listen to this story and see if your perspective changes….

The story with a name
There’s a play by Timothy Thompson based on this parable in which he depicts two brothers vying for work. John is strong and capable; Philip is just as willing but has lost a hand in an accident. When the landowner comes, John is taken in the first wave of workers, and as he labors in the field he looks up the lane for some sign of Philip. Other workers are brought to the field, but Philip is not among them. John is grateful to have the work, but feels empty knowing that Philip is just as needful as he. Finally, the last group of workers arrive, and Philip is among them. John is relieved to know that Philip will get to work at least one hour. But, as the drama unfolds, and those who came last get paid a full days’ wages, John rejoices, knowing that Philip – his brother – will have the money necessary to feed his family. When it comes his turn to stand before the landowner and receive his pay, instead of complaining as the others, John throws out his hand and says with tears in his eyes, “Thank you, my lord, for what you’ve done for us today!”

God’s economy
What fair and right in the worlds economy, is not what is right and fair in God’s economy. In the worlds economy you too are a nameless, faceless situation with no connection, and no context. And yet in God’s economy you are loved, needed, cared for and important. God created your circumstance, God put you in it- and God will take you out of it – all so that you can realize that God really does care about you. The situation you are in is a test, a lesson and a gift – the gift of God’s grace.
And believe it or not, sometimes Jesus is just wrong. Wrong in the worlds eyes – to remind us that we are in the world but not of the world. We are in the situation – but God has plans for us to move somewhere else. Look at your neighbor and say – I don’t plan to stay in this place for too long….

The prayer of the filled cup
Recently I learned of a special prayer that one woman does every day. When she wakes up in the morning who gets a bowl- and as she pours water in to she starts to pray for all of the things and all of the people in her life. As the bowl fills up she still pour the water. And she is reminded of God’s grace in her life. She remembers all of the needs that God supplies, all that she is grateful for. All that she has for her say. She realizes that her life is just as full as that bowl. And then she leaves the bowl on her kitchen sink for the rest of her day – to remind her of the fullness of God, and that her soul is full.

Let us pray…..

The Day the World Changed

2011-09-11T04:21:00.000-07:00

“The day the world changed”
September 11, 2011
Year A
Exodus 14:19-31
Romans 14:1-12
Matthew 18:21-35
13th Sunday after Pentecost

The importance of September 11th
Today is September 11th. We all know that ten years ago a plane destroyed the twin towers, and drove into the pentagon. We all know that was a pretty traumatic day for our nation. September 11, 2011 is also a day of trepidation as we have been told that the threat for today is just as real. We live in fear that it could happen again. And we don’t know what to do about it.

There are those days when we remember and will never forget
When we think about that day – most of us can remember where we were, what we were doing. I was on the train from Aurora to Chicago, I had a special meeting to attend downtown Chicago. A cell phone above me rang, and the lady above me was told that a plane had just driven into the twin towers. By the time we got to the meeting, everyone was so worried that we watched television as we met. We watched in horror. We told that the building had to be evacuated, and I caught the train back home. There have been several events in my life where a particular day will be etched in my mind forever. I was not yet three years old – but I remember the day Robert Kennedy was killed. I wasn’t born, but many have recounted the day MLK was killed or John Kennedy was killed
Those were moments when life as we know it changed forever, and we realized that there was no way that we could return.
Every year we are asked where we were on 9/11. Someone yesterday asked do you remember what you were doing on 9/10 – and I don’t. I didn’t need to. But when our lives change – things stick with us.

The Isrealites 9/11
Exodus tells of that day for the Israelites when life as they knew it would change. God had found favor on their condition. God sent them out. They crossed the red sea as Moses parted the sea for them. They all passed through. The angel passed before them and behind them and the spirit of God was with them. Scripture says that the Egyptians came after them, and the water passed over and they were destroyed. Once they made it over, they looked back and all they could see were dead Egyptians.

Midrash story
There is another midrash story which says that says that after the event, the angels noticed that God was sitting on the side crying. The angels asked why god was crying since god’s children have been saved. God said that he was mourning the loss of his children. The Israelites were his children, but so were the Egyptians. And now they lay dead.

Life changing moments usually a day of life and death
Death is usually a part of those life changing moments. In this story it was the death of the Egyptians, on 911 it was the 2000 or more people who perished that day, or it could be the death of an important or inspirational person. That day could also include the death of the past, the death of a dream, the death or all that you have been working for, the death of innocence, the death of normalcy in life.

Whatever that day may be – that day is a day when we look back and see death, and we look ahead and see a life that we don’t understand. It is a say when we see what has been taken away from us, but we don’t see what we have been given. We see that the life that we embraced doesn’t work anymore. But we don’t know what to do to go on. Until god comes along and tells us that there is no way to go back, we can only go forward. The question is not why life changes, but how it changes. What are we supposed to do now in order to go forward?
The motto for 911 is - we will never forget. Never forgot the moment that changed our lives. Never forget the people, who we lost,
This is a moment for our nation to questions the values that hold us together as a community, to look at who are our enemies, who are our friends. Who can we trust and who can’t we trust, who do we blame for all of our pain.
10 years later there still a lot of pain, a lot of woundedness, a lot of consequences, a lot of unaswered questions.
In teaching a class on forgiveness, there was a story of three mothers who lost sons who were fireman. 10 years later they are still in pain, because the bodies of their sons were never found. Until their sons are buried and laid to rest, there is no closure, no chance to heal and to move on. They cannot forget. But if you can’t forget, how can you ever forgive? If you can’t let go, how do you get to move on. Only God can answer that.

Christian community is an example for the world
“There will be no peace among the peoples of this world without peace among world religions. There will be no peace among the world religions without peace among the Christian churches. The community of the Church is an integral part of the world community” Hans Küng.

We are called to be an example to the rest of the world of what is possible when you forgive and vow to live in community. We will have our differences, but how we solve them is to be an example for others.

Just as God cares just as much as the Egyptians as he cares for the Israelites. He cares for the world, and how we treat one another. What we do to one another. Christian community is chosen to be an example for the world. Not because we are better than others, but because we have been appointed for a special purpose – to do the work of Jesus. Jesus was a peacemaker, a way maker.

We did not focus on the gospel, but peter asks Jesus about the magic number of forgiveness. How many times should forgive a person, seven times? Seventy seven times, and more if it requires it. We are a forgiven people, so we need to be forgiving people.

Forgiveness and nonjudgment

Along with unforgiveness, comes judgment. We label that person, and no matter what they do, we attach that label to them. If they crossed us, they will cross us again. If we are a follower of God and we have been wronged, then that person must not be a friend of God. The gospel of a story of grace and mercy, not a story of judgment and criticism.

The two million dollar mistake
John D. Rockefeller built the great Standard Oil empire. Not surprisingly, Rockefeller was a man who demanded high performance from his executives. One day, one of those executives made a two million dollar mistake. Word of the man’s enormous error quickly spread throughout the executive offices, and the other men began to make themselves scarce, not wanting to cross his path. One man didn’t have any choice, however, since he had an appointment with the boss. So he straightened his shoulders and walked into Rockefeller’s office. As he approached Rockefeller’s desk, he looked up from the piece of paper on which he was writing. “I guess you’ve heard about the two million dollar mistake our friend made,” he said abruptly. “Yes,” the executive said, expecting Rockefeller to explode. “Well, I’ve been sitting here listing all of our friend’s good qualities, and I’ve discovered that in the past he has made us many more times the amount he lost for us today by his one mistake. His good points far outweigh this one human error. So I think we ought to forgive him, don’t you?”

We are asked to do the same that God does for us
God does the same for us everyday. God takes into account or value, not or sin. God expects us to do the same for others.

Romans says that we do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, if we die, we die to the Lord. Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

God is the judge of my actions, not you. And everything that I do is to please God, not to please you. We all have to stand before God, so it is not our job to judge their character. It is or job to learn to live in community.

When we live in a world of us and them – it is real easy to point to finger at them. Romans says that we are all different, we understand or faith differently. What may be okay with you may not be okay with me. And yet we are not only Christian, we are a part of the same church. How do we manage our differences, how do we disagree without losing community? By learning to forgive, and not to pass judgment. If we master that, we can change the world.

We all stuck on Egypt
The truth is we all, faithful or not – we are all stuck in Egypt, looking for freedom. We are all holding onto something. There is something holding us back to being the person God wants us to be. There is something that we need to be delivered from.
We all live in a 9/11 world – where we have wounds that need to heal, unfinished monuments that we promised to build, things that we will never forget, and will drive our actions and opinions.

Live in 9/12 not 9/11
And the day has come and it will come again, when God will intervene in our lives, in a way that we can’t deny. When whatever happened yesterday is wiped away. And all there is for us to do is to take account of or lives and move on. 9/11 affects us all in some way. But let’s not stay stuck on what we were doing on 9/11. The real question for followers of Christ is what did we do on 9/12. If I remember correctly, that is the day that we got up and needed to pray. We needed to come together in community, we needed to volunteer to help make a difference, we needed to make plans for how to support others, and how to understand those who we have ignored, how to stand together in community. We can remember 9/11 – but we need to live for 9/12 and beyond. I want us to say a litany – a community prayer for God’s healing and hopes in our lives and in the lives of others.

Litany
Leader: When memories of terror reawaken the past, and experiences of death, loss, and grief, then ...
People: In your sure hope, O God, bring healing to the world.
Leader: When anger and inflamed passion tempt us to respond with violence and seek revenge, then ...
People: In your sure hope, O God, bring healing to the world.
Leader: When we are enticed to give in to the illusion that war alone will resolve conflict between enemies, then ...
People: In your sure hope, O God, bring healing to the world.
Leader: When it feels like every menace, whether imagined or real, is a threat to our security, and fills us with fear, then ...
People: In your sure hope, O God, bring healing to the world.
Leader: When religion is used as an excuse to exclude, threaten, or destroy others, forgetting or ignoring all that unites us, then ...
People: In your sure hope, O God, bring healing to the world.
Leader: When we become stuck in the past, unable to respond to the challenges we face with vision and hope, then ...
People: In your sure hope, O God, bring healing to the world.
Leader: When we wrestle with how to create a better future for our children, even to the seventh generation, then ...
People: In your sure hope, O God, bring healing to the world.
Leader: When we struggle to find a new and peaceful way to live in the world, and forget that you, O God, are our help and salvation, then ...
People: In your sure hope, O God, bring healing to the world.
All: O God of all peoples, nations and creeds: you have created us and rejoiced in the goodness of creation, and have wept with us when have experienced death, loss and grief.
Send your healing presence into the world and endow all people, leaders, groups and nations with your vision of unity and peace; so that we and all people may move on from the wounds of the past and seek to live in harmony with one another; to the end that the goodness of your creation may be restored, enhanced and sustained for the common good of all.
Through mercies of your love and grace, and in your sure hope, O God, bring healing to the world. Amen!

Help us Accept Each Other

2011-09-04T00:45:00.000-07:00

September 4, 2011
Year A
“Help Us Accept Each Other”
Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 18:15-20
12th Sunday After Pentecost

Sanibonani – that means hello to you all in Zulu – the language of blacks in South Africa. And you would respond…..
Another important zulu word is ubuntu. Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu have made this word popular around the world. It is a very important word in all of African culture. It means I am because you are. It means that my humanity is tied up in who you are. It means I am a human being because of you. You define my life.

It is a spirit of community, togetherness. It drives us to help others. It is also the definition of love. Because true love is not a feeling, or emotion. True love is who we are as a church, how we treat one another, how loyal we are to the whole and not just to some of the parts. The way in which we love one another is a reflection of God.

Over the next few weeks in our lessons we will deal with who we are as a church and what Jesus calls the church to be. We will talk about how we are supposed to treat one another. Matthew 15-35 will deal with the very topic. Christ realized that the only way his disciples could carry on his work was to work together in community. If there were things that stood in the way of loving one another, there were things that stood in the middle of the mission.
Ubuntu is unity.
But I also need to say that not all unity is healthy. There are times when we are united by our own survival and self interest. There are times when we are united because we have a secret. Sometimes we are united because of unhealthy emotions.
Only unity in Christ is ubuntu – true love.
We only have two more chapters of Romans until we start to deal with the four chapters of Phillippians. In Romans, Paul is telling new Christians how to be the body of Christ in the face of Roman oppression. In Matthew Jesus is preparing the disciples for the persecution ahead. It is interesting that Jesus mentions the word church in these verses, and yet Jesus would not have known what a church was. Matthew was writing in the second century of the early church. There too was a small struggling community, struggling against the circumstances of life.
Jesus knew, and Paul came to realize that the biggest threat to the church was not out there somewhere. It continues to be right here in this room. It is ourselves, and the ways in which we treat one another. And the ways that we explain away the behavior of others, and we allow others to be treated.
It is inevitable – whether we are a family, a church or just a gathering. Wherever 2or 3 are gathered, there is going to be some form of woundedness, someone is going to feel hurt, someone is going to feel offended, someone is going to feel victimized. Whereever 2or 3 are gathered there is going to be sin – jealousy, resentment, nosiness. Sin is something in your life that at the moment is more important to you than God and God’s commandment to love one another. Romans 13:8 says – Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The 10 commandments are instructions to love one another is a world that shows no love. Sermon on the mount – sermon on unconditional love. There is really no way that you can escapte the law of love.
In the fall there is this new show coming on called Revenge. I am dying to watch it. It is a series about a beautiful young woman whose father was killed. The tag line of the show says this is not a show about forgiveness. I have been scratching my head all summer dying to understand what that means. Even the Hebrew bible says an eye for an eye. In other worlds once you kill the person that killed your father – its over, the debt has been paid and it is time to move on. Revenge for revenge sake is crazy thinking. And people who walk around thinking that it is their job to seek revenge become crazy soul sick people. They not only put their souls in a very dangerous place, they become dangerous people. Forgiveness and reconciliation is not about the other person, it is always about you. It cleans your soul and allows you to move on. Forgiveness and reconciliation are the major part of God’s law of love. There is no escaping it, and we all have to come to that realization in life whether we want to or not. Every story is a story of forgiveness and reconciliation eventually. Creation is God’s law, justice is God’s law, mercy is God’s law and love is God’s law. You cant escpae it no matter how hard you try.
Where 2or 3 are gathered there is sin – but in the midst of it all there is also love. Because there is Jesus Christ in the midst.
If you look at Matthew 18 – it spells out the rules for confronting sin within the Christian community. Confronting sin means stop pretending that there is nothing wrong. Whatever it is, it needs to come out in the open.
Things that live in darkness, secrecy and unspoken understandings become the devil’s playground. When the meeting in the parking lot becomes more important than the meeting at the table, something is wrong. Problems that are never dealt with continue to fester and get worse. When they come to the light of Christ – they are resolved and they go away. Matthew 16 says that there is a process to the way that you confront. First you come face to face with the person and you confront them alone to tell them what they did wrong (or what you think they did wrong). Then you being a witness along with you, and then you confront them with the entire church. And you pray through the whole process. Another person put it this way…
1. Put Your Complaint into Words
2. Tell the Person about It in Person
3. Counsel with Other Wise Christians.
4. Make Use of the Christian Fellowship.
5. Never Give up Trying

The most important thing to remember is that you cant have confrontation without reconciliation. The point of the process is to learn to forgive.
A story of 4 friends
Four friends gathered for lunch after church as they did every Sunday. They went into their favorite café to talk. They had gathered for so long – that the conversation could go anywhere. They could be talking about their gardens and which vegetables didn’t come up this year. They could be talking about the new sewing project one had started, they could be talking about the new garage one just had designed. Then the conversation flows to more practical issues – the sermon they heard, the music the choir sang/
Today as the four picked their seat – one noticed that there was a young man at the table next to them – sitting all alone. She seemed to have recognized him – she could see the family resemblance – she must have known his father.
But she too immediately got into the conversation. The conversation always goes from church business to church gossip. And she had a good one to talk about – Patty. Patty was in the choir with her, but when she saw her at the grocery store last Saturday she did not even speak. It seems that every since Patty inherited that money from uncle, she has become very stuck up. She doesn’t talk to anyone. But this time our friend was offended. She did not appreciate this treatment at all.
Did you speak to Patty? Asks one of the friends. This person obviously didn’t understand the situation. If you noticed what was going on with Patty did you speak to Patty. As the friend looks away – she notices the gaze of the young man at the next table – he is looking right at her, his eyes seem sad, even a little concerned. But he is very quiet.
As her attention goes back to her friends- and the conversation she is upset but she listens to their advice. Maybe you should just go to Patty and ask her what is going on. You never know until you talk with her. If you sense there there is a problem talk with her – afterall, we are church members. Jesus calls us to forgive one another and to resolve our differences. When we feel that we have been hurt – Jesus asks us not to dwell in the pain – but to go directly to the person and resolve the issue. If you cant resolve the issue between the two of you – take some others with you. Afterall – Jesus reminds us that he is always with us – where two or three are gathered his presence is there.
And suddenly it came to her – she recognized the young man at the table- he did indeed look just like his father. Whom she knew so well also. But she also realized why her relationships with those in her church were so important. Because wherever those relationships were present – so was that young man who looked so familiar.

That young man was Jesus Christ himself. Jesus says that where 2 or 3 are gathered, so is Christ. The combination of us and Christ unleashes a powerful spirit. In the face of God we have to put aside our selfishness, our pride, our predjudice and the the holy spirit reign in the situation.
You have to realize that you love God more than you love being right. Because whatever it is that hold your spirit, hold you.
There is a Russian saying that we need to make peace with people and make war with our sin. Sometimes even in the church we like to do the opposite.

Forgiveness is a choice to put our future in God’s hands. Oprah said forgiveness is finally realizing that whatever it was that happened in the past, there is nothing you can do to change it. I would add that forgiveness is the decision to put it all in God’s hands. Forgiveness is the choice to leave the past behind and to live in God’s future. Christ calls us not to get so caught up in the way things are, and to embrace the way things can be. To create heaven here on earth – just in your attitude. To free ourselves of whatever it is that is holding us back.

True Freedom in Forgiveness
When Bill Clinton met Nelson Mandela for the first time, he had a question on his mind: "When you were released from prison, Mr. Mandela," the former President said, "I woke my daughter at three o'clock in the morning. I wanted her to see this historic event." Then President Clinton zeroed in on his question: "As you marched from the cellblock across the yard to the gate of the prison, the camera focused in on your face. I have never seen such anger, and even hatred, in any man as was expressed on your face at that time. That's not the Nelson Mandela I know today," said Clinton. "What was that about?"

Mandela answered, "I'm surprised that you saw that, and I regret that the cameras caught my anger. As I walked across the courtyard that day I thought to myself, ‘They've taken everything from you that matters. Your cause is dead. Your family is gone. Your friends have been killed. Now they're releasing you, but there's nothing left for you out there.' And I hated them for what they had taken from me. Then, I sensed an inner voice saying to me, ‘Nelson! For twenty-seven years you were their prisoner, but you were always a free man! Don't allow them to make you into a free man, only to turn you into their prisoner!'"
You can never be free to be a whole person if you are unable to forgive.
Ubuntu – I can only be as human as I allow you to be.

We all have the power to bind and the power to set free. Whatever you are still holding onto – is still holding on to you. Whether it is the past, a person, an injustice, a resentment – God is asking you right now to let it go. That is the law of God’s love.

With faith comes goodness, with goodness comes knowledge, with knowledge comes self control, with self control comes endurance, with endurance comes godliness, with godliness comes mutual affection, with mutual affection comes love. Let us pray..

The Bush Still Burns today

2011-08-30T17:29:00.000-07:00

Exodus 3:1-12
Romans 12:9-21
“The Bush Still Burns Today”
Year A
August 31, 2008
repreached on August 27, 2011

Moses and Bush
It seems Moses came back to earth. It was quite an event, and he was given the royal treatment all over the world. The best seat at the Olympics, he met with the heads of state in Europe. They chartered a special plane to America. It landed at Kennedy Airport in New York. Moses was told that upon arrival, he would be met by the president of the United States. Moses became agitated, and said that he absolutely would not meet with that man. His guides tried to explain that he should be honored, no trip back to earth would be complete without meeting the most powerful man in the world. Honored – replied Moses – no I don’t think so – you know what happened the last time I talked to a bush?

Why I am telling that joke today
That’s actually a pretty old joke now – I first told it in 2002, then I told it again in 2005. When this scripture came up I figured I better tell it one last time. In six months that joke will have to be retired.

The last time Moses talked with a burning bush
Our text is of course about the last time Moses talked with a burning bush. He has had to escape Egypt, and he ends up back in the desert. He meets a woman, marries her and works for her father Jethro. Today he is in the land of Midian – After all of Abrahams struggles with getting a male heir – he actually has a third son by his second wife after Sarah dies – that is Midian. Jethro’s family is descendents of Midian. Moses is now a shepherd, taking the sheep out. In his daily duties he wanders into new territory, near Mount Horeb.

He probably didn’t even know he was near God’s Holy Mountain
Mount Horeb is thought to be the official home of God on Earth. In his later years, Moses will travel many times up that mountain to talk with God, but in this story – he probably had no idea of where he was

A Strange sight
Until he noticed a bush – a bush that was burning, but was not being consumed. It was as if he had walked into the edge of what was understood in the human world and what he didn’t understand about God’s world – and God was present in both worlds at the same time. God was part of the earthly world of death and destruction representing in the fire, and yet God was part of the eternal world which never changes and is never affected and can withstand any challenge of this earth – represented in the bush that would not burn.

How many times in our lives do we have an encounter with the divine?
How many times have we stood on the edge of the earthly world that we understood and gazed at the very eternal presence of God at the same time? How many times have you experienced the pain of death and the joy of life at the same moment? Hoe many times have you experienced the hope of the future and the despair of the past or present at the same time? How many times have we felt anxious and scared and excited at the same time? How many have you experienced the bitterness of your tears and the sweetness of your laughter in the same day? If you sit down and think about it – every moment of our lives is filled with both good and bad at the same time. Because every moment in our lives is a glimpse of the glory of God. Every moment, is a holy moment where we are standing in the presence of God. Wherever God is, is holy and God is everywhere.

In those encounters God is always asking us two things – be thankful and obey
In those moments, God instructs us , like Moses to talk off our shoes and recognize that we are standing on holy ground.
God tells Moses that God had heard the cries of his people and it is time to respond. And he will send Moses to do something about it. Moses response is a lot like ours – I am not good enough, I am not the right person, I am not prepared – why don’t you ask someone else.
God responds to you because you are not good enough, you are not the right person, you are not prepared is exactly why I am asking. God not asking us to do what we are not able to do – Acknowledging that you are in the presence of God only requires us to be obedient – to take off our shoes and to listen.

What is obedience to God?
Obedience to God is not doing something – it is waiting waiting to be transformed, readied for something new.

10 rules of Romans
Our Romans scripture has been a perfect backdrop for my sermon – because Paul is trying to help us understand what it means to be obedient to God. To trust and obey in every action. Paul tells us to do things like treat everyone as a friend, help when help is needed, laugh when people are happy and cry with them when they are sad, do not give into evil ideas and love everyone ,even those we may consider to be enemies.

3 rules of John Wesley
John Wesley actually took Paul’s ten rules and turned them into three- Do no harm, do what is Good, Love God in all things. Repeat those with me – We will be studying more about those rules in the coming months- as we think about who God calls us to be as a church.

1 rule What is impossible for us alone is possible for God
In the meantime there is only 1 rule to remember – that what is impossible for us alone is always possible for God.
Story of the holy Shadow
You may not know it but the angelic council meets every Wednesday from 3-5. The angels are not allowed to make decisions for God – but they do get together every week to discuss our lives and to decide which one of us humans should get the reward for obeying God and doing the most good in the world. Last week they found the perfect candidate. They had decided on a reward – but God told them to make sure that they asked her first.
An angel representative flew to her to tell her that she had been granted the gift if healing. She told the angel that she was flattered, but didn’t want the gift. This caused a special meeting on Thursday to decide what to do about this refusal. They decided to give her the gift of conversion, so that all whom she talked to would automatically join her church. She still refused. On Friday the angels were in a real flux – what divine gift could they give that she would accept – the finally decided that they would give her the gift of being a good person always. It was only after this third refusal that they remembered God’s advice to ask her what gift she wanted. (remember I told you this was an advisory committee – not capable of the deep thought that it required to instruct God). The asked her and she responded that she wanted the gift of doing good, but not knowing it. The angels talked about it and realized they would never have thought of that – but it was a fair gift and granted it. The woman walked along throughout her life – and wherever her shadow fell – people would just know they were touched by the grace of God. She is probably in this room right now. The world has been changed because of her – and yet no one ever knew her name – they only see her shadow or love and grace.

Remembering that it is not about us – but always about what God can do
That woman has a wonderful lesson for us – that God’s grace in the world is never about us, about what we can do, or even about the gifts that we have been given. God’s grace is always about God. The beauty of God, the everlasting presence of God, the love of God for all of God’s people. If we are willing to obey God – then God’s bush still burns brightly in the world. Burning us – yet never consuming us. We can experience those moments of sadness and joy, pain and happiness, those moments of life and death. And know that everything that we see and experience is a reflection of God.

The cross is the burning bush
The bush still burns for the world today in the form of the cross of Jesus. We are still standing on holy Ground – the ground of the church. God still calls each of us to take off our shoes and listen and obey. Amen.

Knowledge and People

2011-08-30T17:23:00.000-07:00

Knowledge and People
August 21, 2011
Year A
Exodus 1:8-2:10
Matthew 16:13-20
10th Sunday after Pentecost

First line of knew him not
I was attracted to the exodus text because of the first line – Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. Is that sort of like getting a new bishop, who doesn’t know anything about you, and having to start building a relationship all over again. Or talking to an old district superintendent weeks before he leaves, and promises of what is going to happen being made, and just as things start to progress, getting a new superintendent who really doesn’t want to hear your story?

Explanation of why he didn’t know them
For the Israelites, it was. They had built such a good relationship while Joseph was alive, and now things were about to take a big turn for the worse. History really does say that the pharaoh – Hyskos- while Joseph was alive tended to like to have a relationship with his Semitic neighbors. He was very sympathetic to their needs. But as a new dynasty arose, the Semitic people became a threat. What happens if their enemies attacked , the Jews were so numerous that if they sided with the enemy – they were a force to be reckoned with. In this case, they had to be controlled – so they were put into slavery.

Genesis was the story of the first family. Exodus is the story of how that family fell on hard times and how God delivered them. This is also a story of knowledge. Who you know and what you know about them

Scripture says that pharaoh knew them not. But the good news is that God did know them. God knew their situation. God knew exactly what it would take to deliver them.

Where is God in this story?
Interestingly enough – this is the story of Moses. How Moses was born in extenuating circumstances that should have killed him. How he survived, how he was raised in the best possible household, how he had the best possible education, how he used it to bring his people out of the oppression put on them by the new Pharaoh. Someone pointed out to me that if you read the story – the characters of the story are Moses, Moses sister, Moses mother, the princess of Egypt, and her family, there are the two midwives who are supposed to deliver and kill Hebrew babies, and yet they are more afraid of God then they are the pharaoh- and they let the babies live. Nowhere in the story is the voice of God. Nowhere in the story is the name of God even mentioned. And yet – God’s presence is obvious. You read between the lines of the story – and you know that Moses survival against the odds is nothing but God.

It is a lot like our lives. When we forget to pray to God, we forget to call on the name of God. Sometimes even in the church, we look at our business that we do, and say that there is no way that God could be in the midst of that. That is all the decision of man. And yet when you step back from it and you look at things a little closer, you realize that the only way that you made it through, was through the grace of God. When you look at the individual lines of history – you say I don’t hear God’s name nowhere. But when it is all said and done no one but could have cleaned that mess up.
It was God who told the midwives to do the right thing, it was God who told the mother to protect her baby, it was God who made sure the baby was found by the right person, it was God who told pharaoh’s daughter not the kill the baby, it was God who kept him safe in the enemy household, and it was God who called him to deliver his people from oppression to freedom.
And it is God who is head of our lives, our church , and our nation.
Whatever we need to be delivered from our oppression, be it in our mind, body or spirit – God is sending it to us right now. Leaders may not really know our needs – but God does. The news said that Michelle Bachman claimed she knew what needed to be done so that we could pay $2 for gas. Wherever there is a mess – there is always a solution from God.

Solution to confusion is Jesus
The good news is that the solution – usually involves Jesus Christ. God’s ultimate solution for the mess that we make of our lives. God’s answer to all of the problems of the world.

This is a confession
Matthew 16 is a pivotal verse for our times. It is also pivotal in the life of Jesus. He has been in ministry to his nation for three years. And he has taught us everything that he knows. Now all there is to do is to go to Jerusalem to the cross, and to make sure that his disciples are prepared to continue to spread the good news in his absence. In the remaining chapters you will see that he pulls away from the crowd and spends time with his disciples. In this lesson, it is not what Jesus teaches that is important to us, it is Peter’s response. Jesus tells Peter that he will make him the rock of the church. Now there is a difference to the way Catholics and Protestants interpret this verse. Catholics believe that Jesus was saying that Peter is literally the rock of the church. The Vatican is built upon the grave of Peter. The only way to be a bishop in the Catholic Church is to be touched by someone who has been touched by Peter. Peter is the rock. But for us as Protestants it is not the person of Peter that is important. It is Peter’s confession. Jesus asks Peter, who do you say that I am? Peter answers that you are the messiah – the son of the living God. It was not Peters’ common sense that could give that answer. It was the spirit of God who had to tell him. It was Peter’s answer that made the difference. Peter could have said that he was a prophet, or a good teacher, or a peacemaker, or a worthy leader. God revealed that this was his son. The messiah the savior of the world. Jesus knew the right question to ask to lead Peter in the right direction. And he continue to asks us the church the faithful disciples the same answer.

Jesus challenges us with a question
There is a story of a neighborhood in a large city – it was a neighborhood of immigrants. There were Christians, Jews and Muslims all in this neighborhood. The kids of the neighborhood struggled to understand one another and what made them different. They came to know the rabbi’s family because – he would pay the kids in the neighborhood to do what he needed on Fridays and Saturdays when he was not allowed to do the work themselves. The kids came to know what it meant to be a Jew by working for him. But they also realized that more than any adult – they liked to be with the rabbi. While others adults were giving them orders and telling them what to do. The rabbi had a different technique. Instead of saying this is what you need to do, he would ask – what would happen if? Is that the best decision that you can make? What are the alternatives to doing this.
It was in his questions, that they were able to come up with their own answers. They not only understood better, they were challenged to use their heads to think.

Jesus challenge to the church
Jesus uses the same technique to challenge the church. For the protestant church, Jesus didn’t put his faith in one person, Jesus put his faith upon the church. We are the rock upon which Jesus builds. It is in our confession of who Jesus is, that we come to know who we are – and what we are supposed to do. The politics of people are always a mess. But the politics of Jesus Christ is always salvation. Jesus says that if we understand that, then we are given the keys to the kingdom of heaven. If we know for ourselves that Jesus Christ is Lord – then we have been given supernatural power to change to world. The power is in our confession, not in ourselves. God is present in our faith, not in who we are.

Mystery too deep for church to understand
I began this sermon about mentioning new bishops, and new district superintendents, and even new pastors. New leaders are always a part of what it means to be united Methodist. Not a bad thing, not a good thing. Just the way we are. H. G Wells – writes a story called the soul of a bishop. The bishop is talking with an angel about his plans. And he says tell me the truth. Give me God’s plan for my life, for the church for the future. He wants to get a special revelation. The angel laughs at him and asks where he should put the special revelation. The bishop points at his bald spot and says why in here of course. The angel laughs and says inside of your head. No I can’t put it there – there is nothing inside of there to hold it. Whether we are a bishop, a pastor, or a lay person. It is not about what we know – because the reality is that none of us know much. It is about what we confess – that Jesus Christ is the messiah – the son of God. The head of the church – and of all that we do. Let us pray…..

Clean hearts, clean words, clean love

2011-08-13T22:08:00.000-07:00

August 14, 2011
“Clean Hearts, Clean Words, Clean Love”
Romans 11:1-2a; 29-32
Matthew 15:10-28
9th Sunday after Pentecost
Year A

The lesson of race from south Africa

There are a lot of lessons that I bring home from my trip to South Africa. I am still processing a lot of those lessons. The one thing that I struggled with throughout my whole trip – was the definition of race and the meaning of racism. I learned that the definition of race that I grew up with as an black person in America, does not necessarily apply in South Africa. Most of the people that I met, were very proud to day that their identity was as an South African, regardless of what their culture was. I met black people, Indians, whites, and colored (those of mixed race), and even though they were deeply concerned about their heritage, they would always insist that they were South African.
This is the second time that I have attended the world Methodist conference, and it is a conversation that I feel that I have to be a part of. As an African American, oppression, predjudice, racism is so much a part of my – our story. But it is a story that is repeated everywhere, in all parts of the country. I still ask God, why is predjudice and racism so much a part of the human story.

Bishop Chacour’s talk
One of the most compelling speakers of the week – was Bishop Elias Chacour. Bishop Chacour is a Palestinian Christian. He told of a story of why he could hate the jews for what they did to his family – and why he cant afford to hate them. He told a story of how racism is alive and well in his world. And in spite of it he is a faithful Christian. He told us that in many ways he was just like Jesus – being born in the same land.

Jesus is just a person
Interestingingly enough – Matthew 15 tells a story of how He and jesus are not brothers. They may look alike, they may have been born in the same land. But one of them was born a jew and the other a Palestinian. Jesus makes it very clear that his mission is to the lost sheep of the house of isreal and no one else. If you read the entire book of matthew, you will find that of all of the miracles that he does to transform lives, there are only 3 times that he reaches out to those who are not jewish. Of those three – one takes place after his resurrection when he finally tells the disciples to make disciples of all nations.

The Canaanite woman’s wit
The story of the cannannite woman might seem a little strange to us as Jesus tells her that he cant give the food to the children to the dogs. Is he really calling her a dog? The jews thought of all gentiles (anyone who was not like them as dogs). This was not just any gentile, but a gentile. Hebrew scriptures particularly tell Jews, not to associate with cannonites. They were to claim the promisland and to totally destroy all cannonaites. Not to get to know them, not try to understand them, not to relate to them. But to kill them without question. Just as they do to the Palestinians today. So it was the least he could do to call her a dog. Jewish religion is concerned with being clean. The only person capable of true cleaniliness are jews. Everyone else is dirty – thus dogs.
The woman made a simple request of Jesus – he had saved others, please save her daughter. She even acknowledges him as he son of david. And he refuses her request, and calls her a dog.

Was Jesus a racist
Was Jesus a racist? Is the new testament really saying that a personal predjudice okay? Or is it helping us to understand that Jesus was born in a particular time, place and situation. The story of the messiah comes out of the human story. And no matter where any of us are born – we cant escape the story of human predjudice. There is a place in all of our hearts where our predjudice begins and ends. Being a person of faith means being aware of where our faith begins and where it ends, and who is not included in our definitions of us and them.

We are all born baby
Bishop chacour himself said that many people find it hard to believe that he could be Palestinian and Christian. And yet he is proud of his heritage. As a matter of fact, the canannites would have been dogs to the jews, but they became some of the most loyal and faithful Christians in history. Since most Palestinians are muslim, bishop chacour said that many people ask him if he was born Christian. He explains to them that no, he was not born a Christian – he was born a baby. A newborn baby – fresh and innocent from heaven. He has to be taught how to walk, how to talk and how to be a Christian. Just like any other baby born anywhere in the world.
In the eyes of God we are not classified as jewish, or muslim or Christian. God doesn’t care if we are Methodist, or Baptist. All God cares about is whether we are faithful.
Matthew 15 is not a story of Jesus’ Jewishness – it is a story of what it means to be faithful. In America we tend to intellectualize faith as something that you learn, and that you commit to as long as you are being served. In the middle east – where our faith began – faith is a decision. A decision to be loyal no matter what. A decision to remain steadfast no matter what the circumstance. A decision to never take no for answer, to stay on course, to be always be loyal to the promises of God.

Stay faithful to the God that stays faithful to us
God never abandons us – faith is making a decision to never abandon God. All throughout the new testament Jesus outwits any who question him. In this story he meets his match – He says that he cant take the food for the children and feed it to the dogs – she comes back and says even the dogs get the crumbs from the table. In other words I might be a dog, I might be unclean, I might not fit into your in corwd, but I am still a child of god – worthy of salvation. What else could jesus say to that but great is your faith? Her daughter was healed.

She understood the messiah better than the disciples
The disciples didn’t understand anything that jesus was talking about, the learned Pharisees couldn’t make sense of him, the crowd did not know him – but this outsider had enough faith to know that he and he alone had the power to save her. He was the messiah – her messiah, the messiah of the jews and the messiah of all. I saw a sign yesterday which said that Jesus is capable of saving anybody from anything. If we just have the faith that it will be so.

Bishop Swanson’s story of standing firm
Last Friday – we attended evangelistic services at the churches throughout the area. I visited Kwamushu church, in a township. The church is so full of young people, that they cant fit them all in once church. Our preacher for the service was bishop james swanson – the bishop of dallas. His sermon was on faith – and how important it is for us to stand fast. He told a story of how he graduated in the top of his class and always believed that he would go to college. But because he was black, his counselor never even told him to go to college. He thought it was like high school. When it was time for school to start, you showed up, registered and showed up for class. So on the first day of school, he kissed him mother goodbye, took the bus and got in line to register for classes. When the clerk told him that he had not been accepted, the he could not register, he refused to get out of line. He had told his mother he was going to college, and he was determined not to disappoint her. He told the clerk that he was not getting out of line until she registered him. Finally he talked to someone in the admission office. It took him a year to take the ACT, send in his application and do all of the other things he needed to so. But he did get into school, and he was given all the scholarships he needed to pay for it. He went from a unknowing black student in the south – to a bishop of the united Methodist church. All because he had a need, patience, persistence and faith. Faith is a commitment to stay loyal to the promises of God no matter what, no matter how, no matter who.
God never gives up on you – so why should you ever give up on God? Jesus can save anybody from anything. But we have to remember that God wants to save anybody.

The limits of our faith
If Jesus was a product of a time, place and situation. If he can call someone a dog, then so can we. We might not call others dogs, but we all have an opinion. Our faith has limits. There are some people who we think are only worthy of God’s crumbs – while we deserve the whole meal. If God loves me, then he can’t possibly love them. If I am right, then there is someone in our world who must be wrong. If I am an insider, then you must be an outsider. Jesus proves that our faith has limits. Just as Jesus, we have to be aware of where those limits our. So that God can give us the power to overcome them.
Romans – we are all sinners
Romans 11 tells us that even the children of God aren’t worthy of sitting at God’s table. God made sure that at some point we would sin. No matter where we are in life, no matter what country, what culture, we are sinners. Sinners, so that we could learn the lesson of God’s mercy. God’s mercy is the source of our faithful loyalty.

A jews decision to remain faithful
Elie Weisel is a jew, a chosen of God who went through the holocaust. He tells the world of the horrible things that he went through in the holocaust. He tells of his anger at God at who could a God of love allow such things tohappen to him, when others are seemingly living a very good life. He tells of he moment when he ask himself why he should believe in God. And finally he realizes why not. Faith is not about what happens in life, faith is a choice, a decision. Faith is a decision to remain loyal to God no matter what, no matter where, no matter who. Faith is a choice that I will remain steadfast. Faith is belief in a God who remains faithful to me, even when I am faithful to God. Amen.

Have You Seen Joan?

2011-07-23T23:51:00.000-07:00

July 24, 2011
Romans 8:26-39
Year A
6th Sunday after Pentecost
Repreach of “Have You Seen Joan?”

Romans: grace, predestination, the love of God

It was something in the book of Romans that converted the heart of John Wesley. He had been a Christian all of his life, his parents were Christians. His father, an Anglican priest. His grandfathers on both sides were Christians. He was a priest himself, he was a teacher an organizer. He was devoted to his faith, until he went out into the world and realized that no everyone had the same faith he did. In the weakest moment of his life, he went to a bible study and heard the words of romans. And as he puts it, his heart was strangely warmed. He realized that his Christian faith was not about how many of his relatives where Christian, or about how many times he had read the bible, or even about how many times he had failed in his Christian task. Salvation was in Christ alone. Salvation was not about what he did, but about what Jesus did for him. He realized that the only way to experience the love of God, is to experience Christ for yourself.
Romans 8:29 says: for those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. Verse 30 says and those whom he predestined, he also called, and those whom he called, he also justified, and those whom he justified, he also glorified.
When the love of God is present in our lives, everything that happens good or bad is for the glory of God. and there is nothing, but our own unawareness, that can separate us from the love of God.
Interestingly enough – the word predestined is a big debate within the church. A large part of the church believes that this verse means that our destiny has already been decided since before we were born. And ironically John Wesley is intentionally on the other side of that debate. He believed very strongly that there is nothing about our destiny that is ever final. There is always space in our lives for change and transformation.
No matter how long we have been going to church – or not, not matter how much we give to the church or not, no matter how far down the road to sin we may be, there is always a chance that Christ is going to intercede in our lives and give us a change to turn back around.
And it is not about us- it is the grace of god. we didn’t earn it, or pay for it, it is a free gift from God.
John Wesley did not believe in predestination, because he believed that grace could change the course of our lives at any time.

How I ended up in the shelter

That moment of grace came for me about 21 years ago now. I was a senior at Northwestern University. I had started out in the journalism program, one of the best in the country. Yet it seemed that school was not fulfilling for me. When I looked at my grades, I knew that I could do much better than I was doing. I was at a period of questioning in my life, I was searching for meaning. This had been a very busy time in my life, a lot was going on. In my search for answers, I had even changed my major to religion. But things were still not right, I was still not happy.
I had one quarter left before I would graduate. And looking into the darkness of the future, I had no idea of what I was going to do next. More importantly, I did not have the energy to find out. I was tired of working to pay my tuition, tired of having papers to write, and frankly, just plain tired of dealing with the red tape of life. So, on the day that I had to move out of my rented room for the summer, instead of registering for my last quarter of school, I put my things in storage and checked into a homeless shelter.
The Shelter Experience
The shelter at First Baptist church in Evanston had room for 30 people. 25 men and 5 women. This was a shelter for adults, so most women would have to go somewhere else with their children. So usually, not all of the women’s beds were filled. We called the shelter, Hilda’s place, because Hilda was the director. We were allowed to stay for three months as long as we followed the rules. We had to check into the shelter every night by 10:30 pm. There was no drinking, smoking or fighting with the other guest. And you had to be ready to leave the shelter by 7 in the morning. We called the shelter, Hilda’s place after the director.
I must have been there about a month and a half, when Joan moved in. She was from Milwaukee. She was 34 years old, with 2 children. As I got to know her, I learned that she had some mental issues, as well as being addicted to cocaine and alcohol
When you checked into the shelter at night, the first thing we would do is have a meal and get to know one another, the first question that you would be asked, was so what is your sad story. Everybody here got a sad story – what’s yours. There was always some sad reason that we were there. Joan was a journalist, very intelligent and very articulate. She lived a very happy life with her two children in their own house. As her life unraveled, she lost everything, and ended up in Chicago.
After three months when it was time for us to move out of the shelter, Joan and I were given a transitional apartment. We could live for free, but we had to work and to save up our money to be able to make a deposit on an apartment.

On the outside looking in
During this time, I went on with my daily activities. Went to work, went to social events at school, hung out at the library. But I felt that I had gained a whole new perspective on life. Today, we hear and talk a lot about homelessness. And we have an image of who homeless people are and how we should deal with them.
I listened to a lot of conversations on homelessness, and how we as a society should deal with it. Perhaps, if we had enough jobs, or enough people to help, everyone would have a place to go. Or perhaps is we could just raise the self esteem of people and teach them a better way of life, everything would be okay.
But the explanations that we make up, don’t always fit the reality of the people and their stories. There were a lot of times when I felt that I was an alien, listening to the thoughts of others, and just not understanding.
For instance, I remember listening to a speech of a man who was in tears, because he had met a women sitting on a park bench crying. He made up a whole story about the women, and felt so guilty that he never bothered to help her. I remember being so frustrated because I could not help but to wonder why he would just assume she was homeless. Why didn’t he just speak to the woman to say hello, instead of making up a story about her. Like many people, he was willing to feel guilty about doing something big, but he was not even willing to relate to the woman.
And there was the time when I was in the Northwestern library, and a former classmate and fellow religion major, Heather, had organized a canned food drive for the homeless. I told her that was a nice gesture, but most of the homeless people that I knew did not have can openers in their pockets. And most of us were not as resourceful as Joan, who one day borrowed a hot plate, and cooked her can of soup right there on the street.
I had been baptized at Second Baptist church a few months before this experience. My Associate Pastor worked at the morning center where we would go when the shelter closed. One day I had finally worked up the courage to go up to his little card table and talk with him – to ask him a question. I think I am being called by God – can you tell me what that means? His response to me was that I had fallen through the cracks of society and that I needed to concentrate on getting me life together. I remember staring at the table to find the crack that I had fallen through – that he couldn’t answer me question.

Lessons I learned
I feel that it is important to tell my story, because we get caught up on our impressions. So we give to causes in hopes that they are making a difference. But what is it really that we are giving people and why?
As a journalist, one of the first things that Joan did upon moving into the shelter, was to ask the Chicago Tribune if she could write a story about being homeless. One the night before her deadline, we talked about her story. Our conversation has always stuck with me.
In her research, she said that she realized that if Hilda announced to all of us that the shelter was closing tomorrow and she told us all to go home, not one of us would be at a loss of where to go. As a matter of fact, for thanksgiving many of us had to call in to make a special execption for being late to return to the shelter, because most people had went home to visit their In her interviewing other people in the shelter, she realized that if they were to shut the shelter down and tell us all to go home. Not one of us would be at a lost of where to go. We all had families, and a place to go. Yet there was always a reason that people felt alienated from their families.
Joan went on to note that the search for a homeless shelter is not really a search for a physical bed, or food or clothing. People on the tramp trail (as living in shelters is affectionately called) are really on a spiritual journey. They are in search for a spiritual bed, spiritual covering, and spiritual food. For many of us – we had a bed, and shelter and a means of getting food – but were looking for someone who cared enough to give.
I was not born a Methodist. The seeds of my decision to devote my life to the Methodist church began in the help that I received during that time in my life. The mystery of God was not in the physical help that I received, it was in the grace that I felt for the first time in my life. I didn’t have to earn my keep, or answer any questions. I was just taken care of.

A Day of Grace
One day a minister from Northwestern brought his campus ministry group to worship with us in the shelter. Afterwards, Jack came up to me and told me that I appeared to be such a happy person. I think it was the reflection of the purple sweatshirt that I had on. People have told me that purple makes me glow. Because happy is not a verb that I would ever use to describe myself. But the interesting thing is, that after he said that - I didn’t need to live that life anymore. That was my moment of grace. I did need to earn a good grade, or be on my best behavior, or be told that what someone expected of me. I joined his campus ministry, went back to school and went on the seminary. All because of one word of kindness from a stranger.
During his weekly worship service we would always sing songs out of the Methodist hymnal. I decided that if Jack liked those corny songs – then I had to like to too. Jack was willing to talk with me and answer all of my questions, and invite me to be apart of his faith. I not only went to worship – I actually worked there all throughout seminary, and decided that perhaps I should be Jack to other people and become a United Methodist minister.
Interestingly enough – the pastor from the shelter also went to Garrett seminary. If I couldn’t think of a valid reason to back to school before – the chance to walk down the same halls as him, and attend the same classes as him and lick my tongue out at him was a very good reason. That was fun, God is good sometimes. – He became a United Methodist pastor too. I am a United Methodist pastor today because that is the church that helped me to truly understand what grace means. This was my experience that helped me to experience the power of Jesus for myself.

Mission to Save the Nice Church People
I often wondered if the people who volunteered to help us realized that people go to homeless shelters in search of the same things that people who haven’t lost their patience with society would go to church.
As members of the shelter grew together and shared our stories, they were not stories of houses burning down, or robbers taking everything. They were stories of significant relationships breaking down. They were stories of marriages falling apart, or of alienation from parents, or dealing with the death of a loved one. Even today, when I talk with people who ask for money- I always ask about their family. And I always find some type of alienation.
Some people can get their spiritual fulfillment by going to work or spending time in community. But when they cant find community, many people seek the tramp trail. It is called a trail, because people go from shelter to shelter, church to church telling their sad story over and over again. And once you start to get responses to your story – you get accustomed to that lifestyle. You get accustomed to getting taking care of.
Which is why I am not comfortable with our approaches to homelessness. After awhile, it starts to enable to behavior that it tries to address. It is important to give to those in need, but until the spiritual issues are addressed, I wonder if anything will ever change?
There were many times in my stay with Joan, where I wondered if I would ever get out of that situation alive. There were many times when she threatened me. By the time I moved out – I was sleeping with the dresser pulled over the door because she had predicted that I would be found in a park cut up in little pieces. My prayer to God was that if I ever got out of the situation alive, my mission would not be to the homeless people I lived with – I don’t know the answers to that situation, my mission would be to save the nice church people that helped me.
I will never forget the first day I went to the community dinner at First Presbyterian Church. All of the churches of Evanston has gotten together and decided that they would provide a lunch and dinner somewhere in the city everyday of the week. The people were so proud that they had given me a meal. Yet I was concerned that this was the worst day of my life. A day when I was totally confused, and had no answers of what was happening and what to do. And yet no one talked to me, no one said anything about their faith, their call to help me.
The prayer that got me through that experience was a request to God. Not to have a chance to help homeless people necessarily. But to be able to go back and give a message to all of those nice church people. That in the midst of all of your giving – give people Jesus.
make sure that you give people love and care. Treat them as if they are people, on the same level as your are. They are searching for answers, give them the answers of your faith.
There are people in the world who are really looking for what you have – a relationship with a caring community.
21 years later, I am still homeless. Contrary to rumors, I still don’t have a place of my own to stay. And I am still totally dependant on nice church people to provide my housing. Until next general conference if guaranteed appointments are taken away, Jesus told me that was not a problem for me to worry about. My home was to be totally inside of the Love of God.

Have you Seen Joan
Finally, at one point, Joan had as many as seven men living in our house. Whenever they got kicked out of the shelter, Joan would take them in. We only had six months to live in our apartment. Joan was pretty far gone at the end of those six months. She had really gotten in a drug culture, and her illness got much worse. At the end of the six months, Joan’s mother picked her up and she went back home to her family and I went back to school. When I walked around, I would see a lot of the men that lived with us. And we would always end our conversation with the question – Have you seen Joan?
On the day that we moved out of the apartment, joan said goodbye to me and wished me well. Remembering the fact that I slept with the dresser to my door because Joan threatened to kill me, my response to Joan was that if I ever see her again in life, it will be too soon. Forever isn’t here yet, because I still don’t care where Joan is. (people have told me that I need to learn to forgive Joan).
My point being, None of us ever saw Joan again. She never returned to the people she considered family and to to place she called home. Have you seen Joan? If you have, what did you say to her? How did you show the love of God?

Other things to add to the story:

The structure of all of the Evanston churches working together to provide a structure to help people. Several churches took a day to provide a meal. Which during that time provided a safety net for me.

The experience with second Baptist pastor- I wanted to talk with him because I felt that I had been called by God. He told me that I had fallen through the cracks of society and I needed to get my life together. Looking for the crack in the table that I had fallen through that prevented him from asking my question.

I don’t really care where Joan is the last thing I told Joan when her family came to pick her up – If I ever see you again in life, it will be too soon for me. Forever aint here yet, because I don’t care where Joan is. People have told me that I need to get past that.

Standing in line , an hour wait to talk with the episcocal priest to get bus tokens. When I was asked why I was on the tramp trail – you know it is the tramp trail – because you go from church to church giving your sad story, asking for help.

Joined the campus ministry group, worked for university Christian ministry all through seminary, became United Methodist. Those corny songs in the hymnal seemed to really mean something to Jack, so they started to mean something to me. If Jack was United Methodist, I would be one too.

Why don’t you get your life together – just don’t feel like it

Our God is an Awesome God

2011-07-18T19:10:00.001-07:00

Genesis 28:10-19a
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
5th Sunday after Pentecost
July 17, 2011
Year A
Our God is an Awesome God

When Barry Merritt was a little boy, he fondly remembers playing baseball. Those were the days when his coach would take them all out on a picnic, and they would all have a good time. The coach would ask them, how many of you want to grow up and become a part of the major leagues, and play baseball in the big time. Every single had went up, every child had a dream of being something more than what they were, every child had something to aspire for and to hope for. When he grew up, he didn’t become a major league player – but he did become a coach. He had his own team, he was entrusted to pass on his dreams to the next generation. He did the things that his coach did. He had picnics for the boys, he asked the question that he had been asked – how many of you want to become major league players when you grow up? How many of you think you have what it takes to play professionally. Not one hand went up. Not one of the children had any hope or any dreams of being anything more than what they were. Barry had to stop and ask himself what went wrong? Who had stolen the dreams of these young people? More importantly, how do you give hope and encouragement to someone, who doesn’t have a dream of being anything more than what they are today?
It is our dreams that define us. Our dreams that call us forward. Our dreams that inspire us to move forward. The dream to play ball professionally is still a big one. I think of how many young men in Englewood who love to play basketball. Who if you ask them what they want to grow up to be – they tell you that they want to be a basketball player. A basketball player and a lawyer. If it keeps them in school, it keeps them motivated, it inspires them to do the right thing – then it is a wonderful dream. You never want to say anything to them to take away their dream. The good news for us today is that no matter how much the world change, no matter how much we change, the power of our dreams never change. If it is God that gave us that dream, then there is nothing in the world that can take it away. God gives us our dreams for a reason. It is in our dreams that God makes a promise to us. Promises for our future, for the future of the kingdom of God. A dream is the image of something that is not present yet, but is coming.
Genesis is another story of a young man and a dream. A pretty typical young man by today’s standards. He was always competing with his twin brother, always in some kind of trouble. He came from a religious family, but didn’t have much use for this God himself. But this time he has gotten into enough trouble that the dream may be in danger. He has been fighting so much with his brother, that his mother sends him away to a safe place – back to her family down home. During his escape he has a strange dream. A dream of angels descending and ascending into heaven. God speaks to him, reminds him of the promises of the past, and the promises of the future. Reminds him that the world is dependent on his dreams, his hope, his future. He changes his life, and learns to include God in everything that he does. That all that he does is dependent on the presence of God with him. For him to experience the love of God, this must be an awesome place. He sets a stone so that the place would be remembered. What he misses is that this is not an awesome place. But an awesome God. The presence of God with us is not a place or a thing, it is a relationship. Anyplace with God is awesome. Any dream that we have that includes God is an awesome. Because the God we worship is an awesome God. A god that is incomparable, unexplainable, and without rival.

Jacob called it Bethel, Jesus called it the kingdom of God. What do you call it? When you reach that point in your life when you feel the presence of God? And you know that God is with you?

In chapter 13 of Matthew jesus gives several parables that describe what the kingdom of God is like. Jesus says that the kingdom of God is like a field, a field of wheat with a bunch of tares. That is an interesting comparison. Jesus was a carpenter, not a farmer, so what did he know about planting seeds? And the people that Matthew would have wrote this story for were city dwellers, they too would not have understand planting. But this was written to address something going on in the church. People were starting to judge others. The bible teaches us right from wrong, good from bad. What do you do when you are doing to right thing, and you see other people doing the wrong thing. Is it time for you to judge them and what they are doing?

Is God always going to be with us, going to support us. Is everthing that we do right? We know that answer to that question no. Sometimes I do and sometimes not. But the real question for the disciples is how do you respond to people who you think are wrong? What happens when you disagree with their dreams? How do you respond? Do you respond? Do we ever have a right to judge someone else’s dream?

There were two stories in the news that resonate with this point. First there is the story of the 16 year old who just married a 60 year old. The met on the internet and talked for 4 months and decided that they were a match made in heaven. When you look at the girl, she has boobs out to here, wears short dresses, and is constantly smooching on this man. Hardly appropriate for a 16 year old. Her parents say that she is a devout Christian and feels that this marriage is the right thing to do. It makes you ask – what kind of church does she go to. More importantly, what kind of church does her parents go to that they would allow such a thing. Is she still a child of God? do we have a right to take away her dream?

And then there is the Casey Anthony case. She was just released and protestor were angry, feeling that she got away with murdering her daughter. Is she a child of God? Does God have a plan for her life? Was she guilty? Jesus says that none of that is our place to judge.

A group of pastors experienced that first hand in Rwanda as they witnessed whole congregations being killed. As their life was threatened, they ask their superiors what to do. They were told that that God no longer needed them. They were watching everyone getting killed around them, and their turn was coming too. God did not need them that was why this was happening. In the war between the Tutsis and hutu’s. there were tutsi and their bosses were hutus. Some were the wheat and some were the weeds.

That seems a little extreme, but when we judge other people as good and bad, right and wrong, us and them that is what we do. When we think we need to get rid of the wrong people in church that is whag we do.

There is good and bad in us all. But there is also a part of God. And only god knows the difference in us. If God can save a scoundrel like Jacob, then surely God has use for all of us, you and me.
Our God is an awesome God, God has some awesome plans for us, God has some awesome dreams for us.
Anyone who is a part of God, has a dream from God. If God gives you a dream God will make sure that it comes to fruition. For God’s sake not yours.

If you can think it, you caught it, God bought it, You sought it, I got it. God will give you the vision to see, the faith to believe, and the will to do some awesome plans. amen.

A vessel to be filled

2011-07-09T23:31:00.000-07:00

July 10, 2011
Year A
5th Sunday after Pentecost
Romans 8:1-11
Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23
“A Vessel to be Filled”

Introduction: Trying to find meaning in a story
The Wrong Question: What Does It Mean?
For a moment, let's put this story to one side and hear another story. It concerns a young anthropologist named Connie who works among aboriginal people in Australia. The community where she lives has a rich tradition of storytelling. Everyone gathers at night, a story is told, and then another, and another. Connie feels extraordinarily privileged when she is asked to join in this activity.

The first story told that evening is about the animal ancestor of this community and its adventures at the beginning of time. The story overflows with detail, action, imagery.

At the end of the story, Connie is delighted. "May I ask a question?" she says. "What does it mean?"

All eyes are upon her. The elder looks at her gravely and says, "That is the one question you cannot ask." A long time passes before she is invited again. She has asked the wrong question.

"What does it mean?" was the wrong question for Connie to ask about the aboriginal myth. It may also be the wrong question for us to ask about the story of the sower, or any of the stories told by Jesus. "What does it mean?" is the wrong question if we think that by having an answer, we can somehow get a handle on this story, domesticate it, make it safe. The stories Jesus tells are not subject to our control. He tells these stories so that we can be transformed. He tells these stories, not so that we can ask questions about them, but so that the stories can ask questions of us.

Charles Hoffacker, What Kind of Soil Are You, What Kind of Sower?

We tend to ask that question a lot of ourselves, our lives and of God, and yes even of Jesus - what does it all mean? We want the bible to have all of the answers to our lives. And in a sense it does and in a sense it doesn’t.

It is not Jesus intention to give us the answers, but to give us something to think about, believe it or not, he trusts us enough to be able to come up with our own answers – if we have the right guidance.

Romans 8 the answers to all questions
I chose the scripture romans 8 in honor of Marj. A member of my last church, who told me that romans 8 was her favorite chapter in the bible, because she felt that it contained all of the answers to living a life of faith.
Verse 28 says that all things work together for those who love God.
Verse 31 asks if God is for us, then who can be against us. Verse 35 asks who can separate us from the love of God? verse 37 tells us that we are more than conquerors. Pretty powerful words at the end of the chapter.
Our scripture for today comes from the beginning of the chapter – where Paul starts with the beginning of our faith – there is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Life in the spirit, Life in the flesh
Throughout the whole chapter, Paul talks about two warring forces in all of our lives and in the world. There is the life of the flesh and the life of the spirit. Life in the flesh is not a really a life of overconcern about bodily satisfaction. It is a more a life of overconcern about the things of the world. About what is here on earth. It is a life which leads to death and to sin. Life in the spirit is a life concerned with the things of God and heaven. It is a life that Christ was leading us to. It is a life that leads to eternal life. We all have a choice – we can follow the things of the flesh – and stay stuck in the bad things of our lives, the wounds that have happened to us, the things that people have done to us, the meaning of this life. Or we can chose to be transcendent – knowing that with God’s help all things will come to pass and we will get over them.
The thing to remember however, is that life in the spirit and life in the flesh are not about us – but about cosmic forces the control the universe. It is a battle in life that will never end.
We also have to remember that Paul is telling us that we will never ever conquer that battle. None of us will ever live totally a life in the flesh, none of us will ever live a life totally in the spirit. We spend our lives always somewhere in between the two. Romans is the place where Paul talks about how he does the things that his heart tells him is wrong, but he does them anyway. He also talks about a thorn in his side that he has to life with. He never tells us what that thorn is, but the point that he want us all to remember is that suffering is a part of life. As long as we are in this fleshly body – there is something wrong, there is something to worry about, there is something to learn to live with, there is a reason to go forward. We don’t always have control over the circumstances of our lives, but we do have control over how we deal with them.
If we are in Christ Jesus – then we have the mind of Christ and the spirit of Christ. Romans8: 11 says of the spirit of him who raised Jesus dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

Christ gives us the power to live in the flesh
Because Jesus Christ came to the world to live our life, was crucified, dead buried and rose from the dead. Even though we are fleshly people. We don’t have to live in the flesh. We can always choose between the life of the flesh and the life of the spirit.

Hearing the gospel as fertile soil
The good news of the gospel this morning is that not only are there two ways to live our lives. There are also different ways to hear the gospel of the lord. We can choose to be a fly by night hearer – who hears the word one minute – and pursuing the desires of the flesh the next, we can be a fair weather hearer – who hears the word when it is good for us, but forgetting it when it is not. We can be a too busy hearer – who hears the word, but is too busy to apply it to our lives, or we can be a productive hearer – that not only transforms our own lives, but has learned to transform the lives of others. Just by how we listen and obey the bible and what Jesus says.
Jesus tells the parable of the sower to the crowds the he was teaching. The disciples asks him what does it mean – why would he tell that story – what are we supposed to get out of it. The standard explanation of the story is that God is the sower, the word of God is the seed, and that we are the soil in which the word falls. But the point is that it means that and it means so much more.

Story of church clothes pantry – and planting seeds
There is the story of a church – a small church in a changing community- which started to see its membership declining. They noticed that there were no children in the Sunday school and wanted to do something to attract new members.
They decided that as an outreach project – they turned their Sunday school rooms into a clothing center. They would collect old clothes and give them away to anyone who needed them. Anyone could take as many clothes as they needed.
One winter day – a mother came with her many children. She said that she needed clothes. The kids took bags and bags of clothes. The church realized that this was a needy family – so they asked the pastor and some others to stop by to visit the family. While at the house – they noticed a pile of clothes that they had taken so much time to fold – being used as bedding for the dog. One lady noticed a dress that had belonged to her late grandmother torn and crumpled on the floor. As they were walking back to the church – they decided that the clothing ministry was a waste of time. People did not care anyway. And the help that you gave most people was wasted, because there were ungrateful about what you do for them.
Until one snowy day a winter later – when the pastor noticed an old beat up pickup truck in the parking lot before church service. The pickup was plowing the parking lot – when the pastor asked why – it was one of the older children of the family who had taken all of those clothes – the young man was now eighteen. He replied that the church had helped out his family when they were down on their luck. Now that they were on their feet and doing a little bit better, this was their way of helping out.
For many years later – the family plowed the churches parking lot. Most parishioners never even noticed.
In this story, the church members were the sower and the seeds were planted within the lives of those they served. It is not our responsibility to make the seeds grow – the life is inside of the seed not inside of our actions. We may never know the difference that our Christianity makes to those whose lives we touch. But it does indeed make a difference. Our job is to plant freely and abundantly – just as God has done for us.

The Mystery of God
Isaiah 55:10-11 says “My word is like the snow and the rain that come down from the sky to water the earth. They make the crops grow and provide for planting and food to eat. So also will be the word that O speak – it will not fail to do what I plan for it; it will do everything I send it to do.” The wonder and mystery of God is contained in the seeds that we plant for God. Why did Jesus tell parables with no real definite meaning – because he understood that God was a mystery that we have to experience for ourselves. The life is in the seed itself, not in the sowing.

Jesus trusts that what is planted will bloom
Speaking of parable – we may have heard of the parable of the rich young ruler. He asked what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him to sell everything that he had and to give it to the poor. He told Jesus that was more than he could bear. Jesus did not argue with him, or try to convince him otherwise. Jesus walked away. The seed had been planted, all there was to do now was to patiently wait for it to grow within the heart of the hearer. The seed of God, the seed of life, the seed of the eternal, is somewhere inside of us all. What does it take to make it grow? Let us pray….

Come to Jesus

2011-07-02T22:47:00.001-07:00

July 3, 2011
Come to Jesus
Genesis 24: 34-38;42-49;58-67
Matthew 11:16-19;25-30
Third Sunday of Pentecost
Year A

The Fourth of July and Freedom

On this 4th of July weekend, we can all relate to the song “America the Beautiful. We can all agree that we live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. America is a very special country, a country where all are free to pursue their happiness and well being.

And even though we all enjoy that freedom, we all know that freedom is not free. We know the cost that many have paid with their lives, and that many others pay for with their obedience to continue to defend our country. We know that America is not perfect, our forefathers and leaders have done their fair share of injustice.

Freedom and discipline
But we also know that freedom is not free, because we cannot go around doing what we want to do. We cant just sit around and expect freedom to hand deliver everything that our heart desires. It takes much hard work and discipline. It takes obedience to our laws and rules. It takes being yoked, as Jesus would say. Jesus says to put on his yoke. The burden is easy and light. We are called to be obedient to his way of life.

Rabbi and the woman
There is an old story of a widow – who had two daughters and a field. Since her daughters were young – she would plow the field herself. But the law said to her that she was not supposed to plow with an ox and an donkey together. When she began to seed the field the law said that she was not to seed with a mix of different seed. When she began to reap and to stack her corn – the law said that she should not be reaping if she still had corn in the field. When she began to thresh – she was commanded to give her offering for the first and second tithe. She accepted the law and gave all that she had. But she sold her field and thought it easier to raise sheep – until the law said that she had to give her first fleece to the temple. She killed the sheep so that she could eat it – until the priest told her that she had to give the shoulder, the cheeks and the stomach of her sheep to the temple for sacrifice. Frustrated – she threw up her hands and asked the priest if there was anything that she could do to be free from the law. I have killed me sheep – and you are still asking for more - you killed the sheep asked the priest? Yes replied the woman. In that case the whole sheep belongs to me – he took her sheep, her lively hood and left her alone with her two daughters. There was absolutely nothing that she could do to escape the yoke of the law. It demanded everything of her. That is not the kind of yoke that Jesus is asking us to bear.

Freedom in Christ
Jesus asks us to take on the burden of freedom. Freedom in Christ. Galations 5:13 says that you were called into freedom. Matthew 11 says Come to me all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.
The yoke of Christ is voluntary, easy, and peaceful. The yoke of Christ is faith in Christ. The yoke fulfills all of the promises of God.

The freedom of Rebekah
Genesis 24 is a beautiful story of the faithfulness of Rebekah in fulfilling the promises of God. God promisedAbraham that he would have a family as numerous as the stars. In spite of himself destroying the promise. God works to fulfill the promise and saves Isaac. Now Sarah has died, and Isaac is unmarried. Before he dies he asks his servant to find a wife for Isaac. The servant prays for a successful mission, but it is Rebekah herself who offers herself as a faithful servant, by being willing to go home with the servant. When she sees her fiancé for the first time, she is estatic. And happily accepts the yoke not only of marriage, but of the faith to follow God.

Where are you in the story?
This unique perspective may be the point of this story, not only narratively (after all, the aged and well-off Abraham is not going to do this himself), but also theologically. This next phase of God's promise unfolds through the faithfulness not so much of the one calling the shots (Abraham), but of a trusted servant and kinfolk hundreds of miles away. God's story and promise is embedded in the interactions of all these people across all these cultures. Perhaps most importantly, that promise now depended on the decisions and discernment of the two who had the least power, but had been given the most trust by all involved — the unnamed servant and Rebekah.
Where does your worshiping community find itself in this story?
Where do some people in your worshiping community find themselves in this story?
(Note: These are two different questions which will likely have very different answers!)
Are you or some of your worshiping community Abraham, entrusting the hopes for the continuation of God's promise to another?
Are you or some of them the trusted servant, trusting God and skillfully navigating the negotiations that will help that promise come to fruition?
Are you or some of them Rebekah, suddenly finding yourself invited to be part of a story you didn't know could be opened to you?
Or are you or they Laban, invited to make a bargain that may seem like sending a sibling far away?
Put another way, is your congregation or are some in it releasing control, actively negotiating, being invited to consider a new future, or entering into some sort of exchange in which you may lose one thing to gain another?
Now a third level — where is your community — not just where your building is located, but the networks of relationships you have as individuals and a congregation — in this story?
Given where you are as a congregation, where your people are, and where you discern your community is, how might this story encourage you to understand the kind of role or roles you may have in continuing to embody God's promise, God's kingdom, where you are?
But don't stop there. Remember that the response of every person in this story involved a new commitment.
Abraham had to commit to ensuring the line would continue through his family and to sending a servant with clear boundaries but no micromanaging instructions to take care of that. The servant had to commit to fulfill Abraham's commission and to trust that God would indeed help that happen. Laban had to commit to allowing his sister to join the journey his uncle Abraham had embarked on many years, several cultures, and hundreds of miles ago. And Rebekah had to commit; indeed, she was given final say and freedom to choose — to take up the role of matriarch in an extended branch of the family and with a husband she had never met in a land far away.
How is God at work in our story?
Where we see ourselves, depends on where we see God on our lives. How is God blessing us today? How is God at work in our lives. In the story, we hear from everyone except God. God speaks to know one, God directs no one, there are no miracles present that point to an obvious God.

God at work not in knowledge but in faith
And yet God’s promises are fulfilled, just in the actions of those who are powerless over their fate, yet obedient and faithful to what they are supposed to do in life.
Jesus thanks God that God has hidden the promises of God from the wise and shown them to infants. Those who have the innocent faith of a child.

The faith of a farmer
A farmer was hard at work on his farm, and he did not realize that it was time for the Sabbath. Nightime Saturday came upon him, and he could not go home. The law forbid him from walking that far on the Sabbath. He had to spend the night in the field. He missed his home that night, he missed his family. But most of all he missed his scriptures. Without them he did not know how to pray to honor God. The next day, he told his rabbi what happened. The rabbi told him that he did not need scripture in order to praise the glory of God, to tell God that God was the head of his life. The farmer confessed that he did not think that far in his faith. He was not that wise. But he did pray the letters of the alphabet – a, b,c. Knowing that if he said the letters, then God would put the words together to hear what needed to be said. The rabbi could do nothing but praise the simplicity of his faith. Freedom is not free….but faithfulness is always rewarded and understood by God.

The invitation of Christ
All that God is to us is revealed in the lessons that Christ taught us. Jesus invites us to come. On this day and in the days to come. Take on the yoke of Christ and find rest, peace, and a freedom that is fulfilled forever. Real freedom is a promise of God to the faithful. Amen.

God and daddies

2011-06-19T05:34:00.000-07:00

Is God Like Daddy?
Think of a four-year-old coming home one Sunday after a lesson that taught about God as our Heavenly Father. Sound theology would quickly note that God is neither male nor female, but youngsters do not concern themselves with theological niceties. A four-year-old hears "Father;" the only father he knows anything about is the one that lives with him and says, "Pass the biscuits, please;" so he asks..."Is God like Daddy?" Wow! What a heavy load! But a good load to consider on Fathers' Day...and a good one to consider when we realize that what Daddy is can become a role model for our children's concept of God.
On this fathers day, that is the question that we are faced with, is God like daddy? Or is daddy like God?

Today scripture was the story of creation, and the great commandment – to go make disciples of all nations.

We read of the magnificence of God in all of God’s glory. The father, the son and the holy spirit.

We read of what was present before creation. God did not create out of nothing, God created out of chaos and confusion. He created order first. Scripture says that the spirit brooded over chaos and pondered on what to do about it. You may not realize that there are actually two creation stories in genesis, and this is the second. In the first God created adam first and then eve out of adam’s rib. In this one God created male and female together at the same time, and intended them to be equal. He created them with the other animals, and yet humans are the only creature that was blessed. Blessed to do more, blessed to take care of all of the rest of creation. He created them in our image, in the image of heaven.
Is Daddy like God? yes he is. He is created in the image of God.

Science spends a lot of time explain what creation is, the bible helps us understand why creation is. Why did God create the world in that way – because he wanted to. Creation is God’s vision for the future. Creation is the beginning of order. Creation is also the beginning of a promise of hope. Creation is the revelation of God’s nature – it shows us all that God is predictable, dependable, promise filled, progressive, and bigger, stronger, more powerful than anything in our lives.

At the end of each of the six days of active creation, the bible says In the beginning, God created… and it was good. Everything in God’s creation was good, even daddys and mommies. God created the world to fulfill his plan for redemption of our times today.

The life of Jesus Christ adds an even greater dimension to the magnificence of God. the trinity. Jesus tells his disciples to go and baptize all nations of the world in the name of the father, the son, and the holy ghost. God the creator, the son the redeemer, and the spirit the sustainer.

In the despair of what to do after Jesus death, Jesus appears to his disciples. He tells them to go home, back to gallilee. Back where their ministry began. He tells them to go to the top of the mountain, for mountain tops are the place in our lives where we experience the presence of God. He tells them to go out into the world and to baptize and to tell everyone the good news of the father the son and the holy ghost. The creator, the redeemer and the sustainer.

The good news is that creation is still going on today – and God wants us all to be a part of it. If we are a part of creation and it is good, then we all need to be good for something. We all have a job to in the name of the father the son and the holy ghost – the full magnificence of God. Is daddy like God? daddies are a part of creation, daddys have a job to do. And a role to play in the world.

But how important Christian fathers are! A study of church attendance sometime back showed that if both Mom and Dad attended church regularly 72 percent of their children remain faithful to the church. If only Mom attended regularly, only 15 percent remained faithful.
According to Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, a father's involvement with a child increases the child's IQ, the child's motivation to learn, and the child's self-confidence. In addition, children with involved dads are more likely to develop a sense of humor as well as an "inner excitement."

Is daddy like God? A pastor had to hold 2-3 jobs in order to take care of his family. On Sundays of course, he was always very clean. But during the week, when he would return home from work he would be dirty. He never thought anything of it until he saw his two young sons cleaning the car, and his one son started to put gravel and dirt on his pants. The son replied that he wanted to be dirty like his dad. Children pick up who we are and what we do like sponges – what are we passing on the them, what model do we present to them to follow.

In the jewish home it is the father’s job to provide religious teachings for their children. Jesus would have gotten his image of what a father does from his earthly father – Joseph. What kind of model must Joseph have been for Jesus to experience God as a father. TO describe the entire magnificence of God – as God the father? Jesus teaches the entire world to pray – Our father – not just our father, but our abba – our daddy.
Is God like Daddy? Jesus seems to think so.

A father had always taught his 3 year old to live life with his all. To try as hard as he could to do anything. So he watched with fascination out the window as his son tried to lift this very heavy rock out of his sandbox. The boy struggled, but he just couldn’t lift the rock. The little boy sat on the edge of the box with his head in his hands frustrated. That father came and sat next to him. Youre having a hard time with the rock I see, said the dad. The boy didn’t really answer. Did you do everything that you could the boy asked? Yeah the boy responded? Are you sure the dad asked? The boy looked puzzled. Did you come to ask me to help?

Is God like daddy?

Our magnificent God saw fit to bless us amongst all creation. Our magnificent God saw fit to send his son to us to teach us what it means to be a part of the family of God. Our magnificent God saw fit to make us a part of creation by becoming disciples and preaching the good news to all nations, Our magnificent God cares about every hair on our head, and our magnificent God in involved in our lives enough to answer our prayers – if we just ask.
Is God like daddy?

I think that we spend so much time in the black community talking about the dads that are absent, are not around, are not helping. When there are many dads who are doing their job, and helping with our faith.

I would invite anyone who would like to share a story about their dad.

Let us pray this prayer…..

Reverance to an Unkown God

2011-05-29T05:23:00.000-07:00

May 29, 2011
Acts 17:22-31
John 14:15-21
Reverance to an Unknown God
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Year A

Introductory story - a children’s story of love

"I love chocolate," mumbled Paul as he stuffed the last fragment of Mars bar into his mouth.

Matthew grinned. "I love bubble gum," he announced.

Carolyn refused to be outdone. "I love - whatever group is number one!"

All the children looked at Sam. But his face clouded and he shook his head. "I don't love anyone or anything," he said and pushed his hand into his pockets and hunched his shoulders.

There was a pause. After a while Carolyn said, "You must love your mum and dad. Everyone loves their parents. You have to."

"Huh!" exclaimed Sam. "I haven't got a dad, and my mum's got a new boyfriend and I hate him. And I hate her too, because she doesn't love me any more, she only loves him."

Nobody knew what to say, for they all suspected Sam was right. He'd never really known his father except for occasional visits, and his mother had lived with a succession of boyfriends. Some of them had been quite kind to Sam, but none of them had lasted. Just when he cautiously began to like and trust one of them, that one would disappear only to be replaced by someone new. Sam was growing up into something of a loner; it was safer that way, you didn't get hurt.

What is true love for Christians?

Sam is a lot like a lot of children in our world – like a lot of people in our world today. Who are asking themselves what is love is, what is true love. A love that gives us meaning, a sense of peace, a sense of security, a sense of confidence.

Many of us here know, that the only true love that we have is the love of God. It is God’s love that underlies all of history. God’s love bought Jesus to our world, God’s love is the point of the resurrection. God’s love s what bought us here today, and God’s love is what brings meaning to our lives. If you don’t know God, you don’t know love.
We all know that God is the most important thing in our lives, and yet we too are a part of this story.

We freely talk about how we love ice cream, we love candy, we love the latest movie star. Sam asks each of us is that really love? Or is it somethings else, affection, affinity, a strong like, a bad habit? Even as Sam looks at his own life, at those who should love him, and he continues to ask the question of God really in that relationship? Is it really love? Is love a feeling an attraction. In the gospel lesson, John 14 – Jesus makes it clear that true love is obedience. If we really love God, then we obey his commandements. We do what God says, we live according to what the bible says, we have a relationship with God, we believe whole heartedly in Jesus Christ.

Commentary of John 14
John 14:17 says This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him, nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, he will be with you.

If you don’t know god, you don’t know love. We live in a world where the love of god is present, yet us unknown.

And yet we live in a world where people don’t know love, and yet they continue to talk about how much they love ice cream, candy and Justin bieber. There are plenty of substitutions available for the love of God.

Commentary on Acts 17
That is the world that Paul is talking to when he goes to mars hill in Athens, Greece and he sees a monument to an unknown god. I have been to the park that is now on mars hill. And seen the monument to an unknown God – just a small low level square stone.

Representing the hopes and dreams of the people. Showing the world that they were open to the religious. That they wanted to believe in something more, that their hearts were open to a change, but they like Sam, like a lot of people, had to admit that they did not really know love, because they did not know God.

What are our present monuments to an unknown God?
When you walk around the city, our city today – I think we still can see lots of monuments to the things that we love. How many liquor stores, fast food restaurants, ice cream stores, shopping malls are there- where people are flocking to trying to feel better. They have no idea of what love is, so they don’t know where to look for it.

Are churches monuments to an unkown God?
But something else to think about – how many churches do we have in our neighborhood, but do the people in them really know God enough to know God’s love. Jesus says that the only the only way to love god is to ……obey god. Keep God’s commandments in everything that we do.

To continue our story….

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Continuation of story of children’s story of love
"Anyway," continued Sam, "I don't know what love feels like. But I do know you can't love chocolate or bubble gum or pop stars. You can like them really, really much, but you can't actually love them."

"Well, I know what love feels like," exclaimed Carolyn. "Maybe I don't actually love any pop stars, maybe I just adore them and like them loads and - and almost worship them and want to listen to them all the time over and over again. And maybe that's not real love. But it's a bit like love."

"No, it isn't," argued Paul. "I love my parents and even my little sister, but I don't want to be with them all the time. I don't adore them, and I certainly don't want to listen to them over and over again! But I do love them, and I'd be really sad if they weren't around. I guess I kind of rely on them. Perhaps that's love."

Matthew was frowning. "This is boring," he said. "All that love stuff is boring. You should see my big sister. She's 15 and she's always mooning around some boyfriend or other. They're always kissing and cuddling, it's disgusting."

"You don't need love," declared Sam. "I get on OK without it. Nobody loves me and I'm never going to love anyone else ever again. Love's awful. I used to love my mum, and look what happened to me. I just got hurt. If you don't love anyone, you don't get hurt."

They all heard what Sam said, but it didn't feel right. Deep down inside they all felt really sorry for Sam. Somehow they knew he was missing out on something important, even though they weren't sure exactly what it was. But they were all aware that Sam was becoming a lonely and solitary figure, that most people kept away from Sam because he was somehow prickly, and that they were the only friends he had. They also had the feeling that they were very important to Sam because he had no other friends. And they vaguely suspected that had something to do with a mild kind of love.

Carolyn lay on her back, gazing up into the sky. "I know who I really love," she suddenly announced. "I love God. It's easy to love God because he somehow lives inside each human being, and if he lives inside me it's like he's part of me and knows me really well. God loves every human being more than anything in the whole world. And you don't have to trail round after him, or think about him all the time, he's just there. Always around when you need him, but never interfering or making a nuisance of himself. You could love God, Sam. God would never let you down, and he'd always be there if you felt hurt. God is great."

Not a part of the sermon
Sam stared at her, a small frown between his eyes. But he looked thoughtful, and for the first time there was a hint of hope in his eyes. Then he shrugged. "Come on," he said, "let's play football." And the children jumped to their feet and ran outside.

John 14 is Jesus final advice to us. He reminds of to love him, to love god , to obey God, the believe in God. He knows the world that we live in, and the challenges that we face. He knows that there are lot of Sams out there –looking for love with no idea of where to look. He knows that even we have questions about true love, how do we know that we are in relationship with God. What happens when we get lost?

Story of Jim Reed, his wife whispering in his ear
Many of you probably have stashed away in a drawer somewhere around your home the old 45 rpm records. If you have some from the 50s and early 60s you will have Elvis' grinding out "Hound Dog," Buddy Holly and the Crickets' hiccupping "Peggy Sue," Chuck Berry's joyful hot licks in "Maybellene," the Coasters' slapstick tour de force "Charlie Brown," the mournful "Tears On My Pillow" by Little Anthony and the Imperials, the impenetrable and probably scandalous "Louie, Louie" by the Kingsmen, and the teenaged gropings of the Paris Sisters' "I Love How You Love Me."
Here and there in these dusty stacks, one can find an occasional recording by the great blues master Jimmy Reed. A share-cropper's son, Reed brought the throbbing harmonica-and-guitar-driven black rhythm-and-blues of the Mississippi Delta into the popular rock-and-roll mainstream. Many of us, when we were in high school, fancied ourselves a budding rock band. My friends and I did. We would play and replay our 45s attempting in vain to capture the sound. But how do you imitate someone like Reed. The pain-soaked cries of his mahogany voice could not be imitated by our too-tight, too-white, suburban throats.
There's an interesting story behind the Jimmy Reed records. In placing the phonograph needle again and again in the grooves of Jimmy Reed's records, you began to notice something curious. If one listened very carefully, there could sometimes be heard, ever so faintly in the background, a soft woman's voice murmuring in advance the next verse of the song. The story that grew up around this -- and perhaps it is true -- was that Jimmy Reed was so absorbed in the bluesy beat and the throbbing guitar riffs of his music that he simply could not remember the words of his own songs. He needed help with the lyrics, and the woman's voice was none other than that of his wife, devotedly coaching her husband through the recording session by whispering the upcoming stanzas into his ear as he sang.
Whether or not this story is accurate, Christians will surely recognize a parallel experience. Jesus tells his followers that the role of the Holy Spirit is, in effect, to whisper the lyrics of the gospel song in the ears of the faithful. When Jesus was present, he was the one who instilled in them the right words, coached them through the proper verses, taught them the joyful commandments. But now that Jesus approaches his death, now that he draws near to his time of departure, now that the disciples will be on their own without him, that task is to be handed over to the Holy Spirit:
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth ..." (John 14:15-17).

The Holy Spirit does the same thing for us
primary task, then, of the Holy Spirit is reminding the faithful of the truth, jogging the memories of the followers of Jesus about all of his commandments so that they can keep them in love, whispering the lyrics of the never-ending hymn of faithful obedience in their ears. It may surprise us to think of the Holy Spirit in this way, as a quiet, whispering teacher of the commandments of Jesus. Often the Spirit is advertised in flashier terms: The Spirit gives ecstasy; the Spirit evokes speaking in unknown tongues; the Spirit prompts dramatic and miraculous healings. Indeed, the Holy Spirit of God does perform such deeds, but these are all derivative of the one, primary activity of the Spirit -- reminding the children of God about everything that Jesus taught and commanded (John 14:26), whispering the gospel lyrics into the ears of the forgetful faithful.
Conclusion
All of us are looking for loves, all of us have some monument in our lives to that search.

But only those who love God enough to follow his commendments have the presence of the holy spirit – in our lives, in our ears guiding us, leading us, revealing to us to love of God.
God with us, Jesus with us, the Holy Spirit with us – the promise of power, comfort and guidance.

Let us pray….

The Love of a Woman

2011-05-02T19:09:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunday
April 24, 2011
Acts 10:34-43
John 20:1-18
Year A

What I want to know if what was she doing up that early? Why would she need to come to his tomb by herself? What was going on that she didn’t want anyone to know about? Who did she think she was? What was her relationship with him anyway? That she felt that it was her responsibility to put spices on his body.

These are the questions that many of us are asking; after all, we all know that Mary Magdalene has a reputation. Magdala means evil city. We know that Jesus cast out 7 demons from her; she is the woman we love to hate. She was the sinner of sinners of all of the things that she did wrong.
And yet God chose her for a special purpose. God chose her to be a special witness.

Mary was witness to two separate events – one the empty tomb and the resurrection.

Mary represents all of us – faithful, devoted, looking for answers, trying to make it right.

We are here to witness the risen Christ.

We are here on Easter, like Mary hoping someone will roll away the stone. We just want to get a glimpse of his body. Proof that he was here, proof that he loves us as much as he claimed.

We go to the tombs of our lives, looking for a new life, but secretly hoping we will find a body, or can make things the way the way they used to be. Not really ready for anything different.

Story of the stone

There was an eighth grade teacher in a catholic school who decided that she wanted to put on a passion play – the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection. She started to assign the parts – and one by one, students took the part of Mary, of Jesus, of the soldiers, of the angels, of Pontius Pilate, of the disciples, one student even volunteered to be Judas. Johnny was still left to be assigned a part. When she asked what part he wanted to play – he volunteered to be the stone. I want to be there to let Jesus out of the tomb – he said.
The teacher explained that the stone was not rolled away to let Jesus out – he was already out – the stone had been rolled away to let Mary see in. To let Mary see that a miracle happened – and that no Sunday morning would ever be the same.

If that stone was not there, we could see the body – we would know what was going on.

When Mary got there, the work has already been done for her. The stone was rolled away.

Jesus was standing in front of her, she didn’t even recognize him.

Resurrection is not jut resuscitation of the same old thing, it is total and complete transformation. He was changed to something different.

If God can do it for Jesus, he can do it for us.

Something in his voice helped Mary to recognize him.
He called Mary, she responded – teacher.

He helped her to understand – to understand clearly who Jesus Christ is...

How do we get from the empty tomb to believing in Christ?

Jesus chose to reveal the gift of life to a faithful Mary. She told her friends, they came and saw and went home unsure of what to make of it all.

But Mary testified to the truth _ I have seen the Lord.

Have you seen the Lord today?

Do you know that he has been resurrected? And gives you the power to be transformed?

Who was she? She was a faithful servant looking for salvation. What wondrous love is this? Is not just the love of Jesus for his people, it is our love for him. The love that drives us to come out.

Easter is about liberation – the freedom to come out of the tombs.

I want to share these 8 ways to keep the resurrection alive

1. Know that God is God
God raised Jesus, Jesus did not raise himself. So that God may be glorified God is good all of the time. See the goodness of God in your life.

2. Whatever it is turn it over to God
And leave it there

3. Cast our fear
Mary was not afraid to seek God because she loved him

4. Testify to what God has done
Jesus told Mary to go to her brothers and tell what she has seen.

5. Stay humble
God is teacher – you are the student

6. Walk to Emmaus
Servant found God in places that they did not expect along the way.

7. Pray always and everywhere
8. Recognize the God in all thin

Who was she? A woman of faith and love. Someone that we can all learn from. The lesson that Mary teaches is that Jesus is right on front of us.

The same Jesus who fed 500, who walked on water, who opened the eyes of the blind, who raised Lazarus, healed Mary.

The same Jesus who was not in the tomb them is here now present in a new way.

Same Jesus does not leave us too our own devices, but resurrects us to new life.

God raised Jesus, God cleared Mary of her confusion, and will God do any less for us?

My God, My God why Have you Forsaken Me - Good Friday - 7 last words

2011-05-02T18:30:00.000-07:00

Good Friday service
7 Last Words
Mark 15:33-34
My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?
Fourth Word
April 22, 2011

Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachthani – translated My God, My God why have you forsaken me.

That’s actually the title of a short story about a man who developed an explosive that can create darkness. He was also fascinated by the passion story. He considered himself a devout Christian.
Mr. Baumoff was also a scientist, when he saw the explosives of war, he was fascinated. He couldn’t wait to tell his friends about his new invention. But none of them seemed to be interested.
Mr. Baumoff wanted to impress his best friend so he actually drank the invention to demonstrate it’s effectiveness. His friend really did not want to watch to see what would happen, but Mr. Baumoff told him the he should be priveledged to watch, and should document all that he saw.
Mr Baumoff started to sweat and to turn red. His friend became scared. Then Mr. Baumoff felt that he needed to reenact the crucifixion. He started to out nails in his hands and feet, he tied himself to the chair. All of a sudden there was a loud boom and everything dark. The friend fainted. When he woke up, he found Mr Baumoff dead. When they did an autopsy, they found that he died from heart failure, not from the cruxifixion. But the friend remembered that the last thing that he said before he died was “Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani.

The story is intended to remind us of cruxifion – the darkness – the last words, the torn curtain, the anguish of Christ.

Baumoff is not intended to be a hero- he is sort of like a suicide bomber. He had a confused and contorted theology of pain and suffering. He was also confused about why Jesus died on a cross. Confused about the darkness surrounding the day and the events of the cross

God’s response of darkness is not about his disappointment of Jesus. But disappointment with others, with us: our need to blame, to not take responsibility for our actions, to disregard for how our actions affect others, disappointment basically in our sin.

The darkness surrounding the cross, darkness surrounding our lives. Our world today.

Arthur Blessit got a call from God to carry the cross across the country in 1968. In 1969 he was called to carry the cross across Ireland. 42 years later, he has taken the cross to 315 countries, and travelled over 39,000 miles. Wherever there is calamity, he brings the cross. One day a reporter asked him if its heavy – he reported that it is not nearly as heavy as the burden of listening to peoples stories –stories of pain, war, loss hunger, and untold suffering.

The New York times says that the mood of the nation is worse then it have ever been. That is the darkness of the day – the suffering of Christ.

The suffering of Christ was not about his physical pain, but about his spiritual and emotional pain. The pain of bearing our suffering and sin.

Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachthani – My God, My God, whi have you forsaken me.

We know from these words that Jesus spoke Aramaic. Hebrew, araimaic and Arabic are very similar but not the same. But aramaiic is a beautiful language, because words can carry double meanings at the same time.

Eli – means My God
Not the God of the situation, that the God that I have always heard about, Not the God that I read about, but My God.

The God of my soul, the God of my life, who knows me and understands my situation and feels my pain, My God.

Lama – means why
I am asking you a question God – why?
Why is this happening , why does it hurt so bad, why is the darkness so deep?
It’s the question that God never answers, not for me of for Jesus. But Jesus has to ask anyway
Why god, Why?
Not a day goes by in my life that I don’t ask that same question.
Why God, why?

Jesus was speaking in Aramaic…

In hebew the word is azabathani, in greek it is transliterated sabachthani. But it cant be properly translated in Aramaic.
It is a grief that is too deep for words. A sorrow that cannot be explained.

It is the pain of being abandoned by God. jesus is literally saying that the spirit of God inside of him has left – after he cried a second time he gave up the ghost.

But it also means totally and completely separated from God. beig abandonded by God.

Why would god abandon his son on the cross?

Habbukuk 1:13 says that God cannot look upon sin and approve it. God cant ignore that it happens, god cant pretend it is okay, God cant participate in it, not even for his Son.

The consequences of sin is death.
The darkness cant be dispelled, but dark and light cannot exist in the same place.

My God, My God why have you forsaken me? Those are the first words of palm 22. This is a cry of aganoy – a request for relief and victory over the darkness

But it is also a psalm that speaks of the cruxifision of Christ. Verse 17-18 says I can count all m bones, they stare and glote over me. The divide my clothes amongst themselves and for my clothing they cast lots.

In times of despair – I believe Jesus us leading me to this psalm. The first 21 verses speak of suffering of the world, of people of the results of sin. The last 10 verses are the hope of God.

Verses 23-23 says that he has not despised me or afflicted me. Thse who seek him shall not be disappointed. Praise the Lord in your hearts forever!

The work of Christ on the cross – to give hope to overcome all despair, no darkness, cant be overcome by light.
No pain that can be sung in a song
There is no time in my life that God will ever leave me. There is no death that will not someday find new life. All because Christ’s work on the cross.

There are times when I might abandon God, times when I may think God has left me.

Those are the times when I need to remember the cross, Christ unspoken love for me, and know that I am never alone.
Amen.

Lost and Found

2011-05-02T16:38:00.001-07:00

September 12, 2010
Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28
Luke 15:1-10
Lost and Found
Year C
16th Sunday after Pentecost

A man walks out of the hospital, prepared to go to his car. But he cant find his car, frustrated that his car has been stolen, he calls security. They look around for his car and sure enough it is no where to be found. Until the man realizes that the door he just came out of is not the door that he walked into. And this is not the parking lot where he parked his car. In the midst of his frustration and pain, he has somehow lost his way…

A colleague of mine tells a story of being in seminary in new York, and being invited to a professor’s house for a gathering. She was given instructions on how to get there on the subway system. But once she gets on the subway, discovers that it is an express train, which takes her a few steps past where she is supposed to go, into a section of town that she is not familiar with. She panics as she gets out of the train, and it is obvious to others that she is lost – because one woman walks up to her and tells her to be careful, this is a dangerous neighborhood, the last time she was in this neighborhood someone set her hair on fire, so she has better be careful. This frightens her that much more, and she runs out of the subway station to see if there is another way to travel. The cab never shows up, and the bus seems to take forever.
She remembers her fear and resentment while sitting at the bus stop. Everyone was suspect – anyone around her could be the person who was going to set her hair on fire. She is white, and the neighborhood that she is lost in is black. Which only adds to her sense of uneasiness, and her mistrust of everyone around her.
We have all gotten lost in our lives somewhere. I think we have all been stuck somewhere where we are unfamiliar, but we have heard the stories of the people there. And as ludicrus as it may sound – we have been in that situation , where everyone we don’t know is a potential enemy to protect ourselves against.
The man who lost his car eventually realized that he had come out of wrong door, and that his car was even in that particular parking lot. He had been in such pain and frustration when he left the hospital, he was not paying attention.
The seminary student was finally put at ease in waiting for the bus when a group of ladies, all in their hats and dressed – came out of the building next to her, singing and celebrating at what a wonderful workshop they had just been too. They were all from the same church- and helped her to see the humanity in that neighborhood, before her bus finally came and she went on to her destination.
Being lost is not so much about the neighborhood we are in, or the people we are around, or even whether we know where we are going or not. Being lost is a feeling in the soul – it can a place of fear and uncertaintly, it can be a place of mistrust of others just because you don’t know them. I think at some point in our lives we all know that sense of fear we experience in making sure that no one sets out hair on fire.
I think that goes on in our world on a global scale. The anniversary of September 11th reminds us of that. Nine years later there is still a lot that we don’t understand about others. And that it is easier for us to condemn them then it is to understand them.
We have all seen the story of Pastor Terry Jones as it unfolds on the news. His instistance to burn the Koran on September 11th. And the reactions of so many all around the world – that would only make matters worse not better. It is a perfect excuse for retaliation in a situation that has been simmering for more than nine years.

I see the arrogance
I see the fear of being lost
I see insensitivity to danger.
But what does the bible say about how to treat others? The bible is full of paradox – opposites. It says that Jesus is the way – but also says to love unconditionally. The way to bring people to Christ is love – not punishment and condemnation.
Jerimaiah is full of despair. There is no hope for people. Things are so bad there is only destruction of created order. An yet even he says that not God’s final word.
The end of our world is not the end of the world. God has more in story for us.
Know what it is to lose – now what it is to be lost. Wants us all to know what it means to be found.
God is in the business of finding the lost. Giving us a home – making us useful. Jesus tells the story of sheep. 99 found, but one lost.
Kneel for prayer
Symbolism is that God is waiting for you in this place – now you are found. You are the 100 candle.

Wishing more people could be in that place. Being found not visiting the Vatican. Being lost about where you are – is a feeling in your heart.

99 candles surrounding your life now. God giving you a place to call home. To be found, love and accepted.

Give up fear – turn on the trust.
Turn from your old ways – accept the new
Rejoice – so that God is our there to find everyone. Rejoice when they come to church, when they come home.

Does Easter still matter?

2011-05-02T16:26:00.001-07:00

Easter Sunday
March 23, 2008
Year A
Does Easter Still Matter?
Matthew 28:1-10
Acts 10:34-43

Introduction (Easter is a hard holiday to relate to)

I was in a very crowded Whole Foods yesterday. I thought that it was interesting that even in the midst of the long lines, one worker comments to another that unlike Christmas, this was not their busy season. People don’t make such a bog deal over Easter as they do Christmas. Ad I guess it is like that here at church also. Coming to church at Christmastime is a tradition, coming to church at Easter is a chore. Just a part of the family visit. It is easy to relation to babies, and shepherds and wise men. Those are all things that we can relate to. But what do we do with torture, and death and empty tombs? We can relate to God coming to be with us here on Earth. But what do we do with God raising someone from the dead bringing him back to life? Easter is the true test of our devotion and our faith.

What are you relating to?

The most popular version of the story of this day comes from the book of John. John 20 – where Mary spots the tomb and she runs back to tell the disciples, who come to see for themselves that leader that they buried just days earlier is no where to be found. When they see him, they don’t recognize him – and he tells them not to hold onto him, because he must still be raised into heaven. This morning we heard a slightly different version of the story – found in Matthew 28. In this version there is an earthquake when Mary appears at the tomb. Everyone is trembling until an angel tells them not to be afraid. Whenever an angel appears in the bible, they always tell us not to be afraid of the unnatural. The angel does not explain what has happened overnight – the angel just explains that Jesus is not here. The angel tells Mary to go to Galilee to tell the others. And as Mary is walking Jesus appears. He too tell her not to be afraid. But continue on her journey and sheill will see Jesus later.

Mary’s Story

I will meet you in Galilee

Experience with those who have passed on

As I have been a pastor, and as I have had more experience with death, I have found that not to be an experience that is out of the ordinary. I have heard many people who have said that their loved ones appeared to them after death to tell them things would be okay. That she was moving on, and that I should not mourn for too long and to move on too.
Just last year a member passed away. She was in the hospital for some time before she died. And whenever I would visit her, she would always ask me to take her home. I did her funeral, and a few weeks afterward, I seemed to feel her presence while walking into a Walgreens. I thought to myself about how much I missed her. As soon as I walked into the story and spoke to an employee – the only thing the woman said to me was that she wanted to go home. I had to laugh , because I knew that was Kay speaking to me in a language that only she and I would understand.
So we are not getting into strange territory yet, for Jesus to appear to his disciples and to tell them to meet him in Galilee.

Where are the other places that Jesus says that you will see him?

Where we do get into strange territory is the places where we meet Jesus in our lives today – 2000 years later. Jesus speaks of ways in which he would appear to us in the bible. He says that he is in the presence of those who are hungry, in need of clothing, or imprisoned. He says that he is the morning and evening star. He says that there is no place on earth or heaven that we can go that he is not there, he says they he prays in heaven on behalf of us, he says that anything that we ask God for in his name will be given to us.

Who is Jesus for today?

But in order for us to believe that in life? We have to have an experience of Jesus in our own lives. Jesus comes to us in the midst of our sorrow, in the midst of our despair, in the midst of our questions, in the midst of our doubts. Even in the midst of our unwillingness or our ability to believe that he has appeared to us.

Story of the stone

There was an eighth grade teacher in a catholic school who decided that she wanted to put on a passion play – the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection. She started to assign the parts – and one by one, students took the part of Mary, of Jesus, of the soldiers, of the angels, of Pontius pilate, of the disciples, one student even volunteered to be Judas. Johnny was still left to be assigned a part. When she asked what part he wanted to play – he volunteered to be the stone. I want to be there to let Jesus out of the tomb – he said.
The teacher explained that the stone was not rolled away to let Jesus out – he was already out – the stone had been rolled away to let Mary see in. To let Mary see that a miracle happened – and that no Sunday morning would ever be the same.
God is till in the business of rolling away the stones in our lives. The stones are things that stand in the way of us seeing Jesus in our lives. The stone is the attitude to which we look ahead to the future. Are we looking for Jesus or are we looking for failure?
If you have ever seen something in your life that you have given up on, come back to life, of you have ever seen something that you doubted turn our perfectly, if you have ever been afraid and able to do something anyway. Then you have seen Jesus. If you have seen hope, joy, celebration, life, vibrancy, or even the newness of Spring, then you are a witness to the Risen Christ.

What burden can Christ take away from you, so that you can see life more clearly?

The power of the Resurrection of Christ is not to fact that Jesus is no longer present in an empty tomb. The power of the resurrection is the fact that death has been totally transformed into life. Jesus didn’t tell the disciples to remember me on the cross – but to look for me on your way to Galilee. What stone can Jesus roll away in your life that will help you see life more clearly? What lies ahead is a surprise – that you will only see if you are looking for Jesus. Easter is a celebration of God’s wonderful surprise for our life.
When you go forward on your journey of life, may you see Jesus in each moment of hope, of peace, of love and of grace that you experience in life. Amen.

Late for Easter

2011-04-30T18:25:00.000-07:00

May 1, 2011
Year A
Late for Easter
Acts 2:14, 22-32
John 20:19-31
Second Sunday of Easter

Introduction – How reputations get started
I recall a story my grandmother told of a man in west Kentucky around 1900. He never touched a drop of "Demon Rum" except for one memorable occasion. He got roaring drunk, stole a horse and buggy, and raced down the main street of Arlington, Kentucky, all the while singing at the top of his lungs the song, "There'll be a hot time in the old town tonight!" For the rest of his life he was known as "Hot Time." One night and a reputation for a lifetime! It wasn't fair to call him "Hot Time". He never lived down that one night.

Thomas’ reputation
But you know, that is how we are about people. We love to associate people with our opinion of their reputation and not of who they really are. And have you noticed that we never ever think about whether that reputation is fair or not, we just keep on perpetuating it. We are quick to judge others.

That is how we know about the disciple Thomas – by his reputation. In one story in the whole bible, we heard that he doubted Jesus, and we have labeled him doubting Thomas.

That reputation is very prevalent; there are three stories in the bible that everyone knows about. People who have never picked up a bible in their lives, know three characters from the bible – the Good Samaritan, the prodigal son, and doubting Thomas.
Everyone thinks Thomas was from Missouri – the show me state, all because he asked the resurrected Jesus to show him the nails in his hands. How did his reputation get so famous? We who have read the bible went around spreading the reputation of a fellow disciple.
When the truth is, Thomas did not ask anything of Jesus that the rest of the disciples did not already ask. We would have done the same thing.
Thomas did not do anything wrong, he was just late, late for Easter. All of the other disciples have already got the proof they were looking for. They did not believe that Jesus was alive either, until he appeared to them and talked to them. Thomas was not there at the time.
We like to give Thomas a bad reputation, because Jesus says blessed are those who don’t see and yet believe. But was he really talking about us? Are we really that faithful. If we did not see Jesus for ourselves, how many of us would be here now? If we didn’t have proof that Jesus was alive, would we be here? Probably not.

The relationship of fear and doubt
The real danger of this story is the relationship we give to fear and doubt. The relationship we give to fear and doubt. In order to make sense of this story we like to make them opposites. If you doubt, then you can’t have faith, and if you have faith you can’t have doubt. I hope that you know that is not true. We’ve all doubted something in our lives. We have all needed proof of something in our lives. We have all doubted God in some way. We all wonder whether this Christian life is all that it is cracked up to be. We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t. And just as Jesus didn’t have a problem proving himself to Thomas, god shows god self time and time again.

The human need to doubt God
The humanist society was formed in 1955. It was designed for people who needed to deal with life, without having to resort to the idea that there was a God. They believed that science had an answer for everything in life. One year a distinguished scientist was asked to address the group. He explained that he was a Christian, and that he grew up in a Christian home. His parents were very religious. When he and his brother grew up, they went to college to become scientist. They became convinced that science was the answer to everything. To them religion was just some old folktale. That was until his brother died. His mother and father had the resources to deal with the unspeakable – the scientist didn’t. His mother and father had hope in the midst of pain, he didn’t. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet still believe.

It hurts to hope
We have all been in that situation where it just hurts too much to have hope. Hope just seems so far removed from our situation. The good news is that if you are ever in a situation where you can’t find God, just hold on and God will come and find you.
The disciples were upstairs locked in the upper room. Now there are not too many places in America where you can go, where you don’t lock the door. But in Jesus times, a locked door meant that you were doing something that you had no business doing. Not only did you not lock the door – you expected a spy to open your door and check on you at any time to make sure that you were doing the right thing.

God will come to you
It wasn’t privacy that caused the disciples to hide – it was fear, hopelessness, and defeat. Scripture says the doors were locked and Jesus came and stood amongst them. Here is what is so cool about that scripture. We don’t know how Jesus got in the door. Did he have the key, did he just walk through the door like a ghost. We don’t know. The point is that he got through the locked door. If you don’t know how to find god, god always knows how to find you. Just like faith and doubt are not opposites, neither are hope and fear. You can have hope in god, you can have fear – and either way God is still going to find a way to find you. Faith, doubt, hope, fear – all pathways to the same God.
Thomas was just asking for what all of the others already had. An encounter with Christ that would lead him to believe. He did say – my Lord and My God.
All Jesus was asking of Thomas was to believe in Jesus Christ are you savior. That is all Jesus asks of any of us. An experience that makes you believe….

Testimonies
Englewood will do testimonies……

Resurrection is the way we choose to live
Resurrection is not a story about Thomas being late for Easter, resurrection is a story about us, our lives, our faith, and the way we treat one another as people of faith.

3 gifts of Jesus
Jesus gave us three gifts in this story.
First he have peace, - the power to overcome doubt and fear
Second he have the Holy Spirit – the comforter that will teach you to love all
3 is the most important – the power to either forgive or hold onto the sins of others.

The power of forgiveness

Everyone has had an experience like this: You are walking through a shopping mall during a busy holiday season. People are everywhere. Shoppers are looking in stores, going into and out of shops, pushing baby buggies and carrying armloads of packages. Suddenly, and without warning, someone crashes into you. It might be just a bump, or full-on shoulder slam, but there it is. Your packages go flying; you may even lose your balance and stumble.
And then what happens?
The person who bumped you says, "I am so sorry I ran into you. I didn't even see you there. I guess I just wasn't paying attention. Please forgive me."
There it is, "Please forgive me." And of course, you do.
"Oh, it's okay. It was just an accident. Don't give it another thought."
That's the way it usually happens. But what would it be like if it happened differently? What would the reaction be if we did not forgive the accidental collision?
Imagine if the reply sounded like this: "No, I'm not going to forgive you. How could you be so careless? I could have been injured. You better hope none of my purchases are damaged because if they are, you are going to pay for them."
What would be the reaction of the person who bumped into you? Shame? Anger? Someone who already feels bad about an accident now feels even worse.
That is the deadly power of not letting something go.
And by the way, the biblical word for letting something go is "forgiveness."

Prescription or description
The key to understanding what Jesus means is to first determine if he is speaking prescriptively or descriptively.
If he is speaking prescriptively then, according to this text, Jesus has given us the power to forgive and retain sins. But if he is speaking descriptively, then the words actually serve as a warning.
It's as if Jesus said, "Be careful. You will collectively yield enormous power in the world as my followers. If you decide something is allowable, and you let it go, it will be let go. If you decide something is sinful and you condemn it, it will carry a condemnable weight. Be careful what you tell people. You may forgive something God doesn't, and you may retain something God forgives. But for the people you are forgiving or not forgiving, you may be their only access to God."

The power to let go
You can either hold on – or learn to let go. Forgive others, forgive yourself and live in the power of the resurrected Christ. But don’t be late for Easter.

Let us pray….

So that we May See

2011-04-03T02:50:00.000-07:00

April 3, 2011
Fourth Sunday of Lent
Year A
John 9:1-41
In Order that We May See

Introduction – how we treat people with disabilities

Imagine how different your life would be if you were born blind? What in your life would you have never witnessed, how would you talk to people different? Who is it that you would have to depend on to get things done? Who would you have to trust to get you places? How would you be a different person? How would life be different with any disability? In the past years, we as a society are being more intentional about how we integrate people who don’t fit our view of what is normal, but the reality is that we still have a long way to go in how we treat one another, the labels that we put on one another, and how we accept people for who they are, and not for who we expect them to be.

The blind man’s encounter with Jesus

The encounter with Jesus today is the only story in the bible of Jesus dealing with someone who is blind, and Jesus heals not only his blindness, but is able to restore his life – so that he is able to return to life without the stigma of having a disability. Some people are not even sure that this is the same beggar that they knew all of their life. He acted so differently, now that it appears that he had his sight.

John’s Jesus – The Son of God
This whole chapter has many important messages for us. We won’t be able to focus on them all this morning. I just want to bring you a few of them, that I thought were important. When you read the book of John, John has a special message about the nature of Jesus Christ for us. He wants to make it plain that Jesus is not only a special person; he is the son of God. Jesus has all of the attributes of God. He is a healer, a restorer, a guide, a leader, a transformer, a way maker. He is the one who can supply all of our needs. Jesus is the messiah – the fulfillment of the promises of God.

Jesus came so that we might have life and have it abundantly
But the only way to take advantage of the attributes of God is to believe in Jesus and to believe in what Jesus can do. Have you ever noticed that people who don’t believe in Jesus, tend to be people who don’t need Jesus for anything?

The only way to really know Jesus, and to know what Jesus can do for us is to have an encounter with Jesus in some way in our lives. We know who Jesus is, and what Jesus can do, by the story of what Jesus has done for us in our lives. In that encounter, we come to know Jesus, but Jesus also comes to define us.

Story of a teacher giving a student identity

A sixth grade English teacher, really seemed to love her subject and her class. She would have them sit in a circle so that she could see them, and she would teach them her subject in a way that seemed to make sense to them. James seemed to love her class. She had him write a play, and then had his classmates read the lines and perform the play. It was a great feeling for him to see others perform his work. He started to write other plays and other writings. One day after class, she told James that she saw him as a writer, and that she did all that she could to bring that quality out of him. James grew up and became a famous playwright- because a teacher believed in him, and treated him as she saw him. He responded by tailoring his lifestyle after those expectations.
Jesus does the same for us. We give Jesus his identity as the messiah, as our lord and savior. He gives us our identity as the faithful people.

The blind man makes a choice
The gospel lesson for this morning is not a story of a man being blind. It is the story of how Jesus saves him. How that man dealt with the consequences of being saved, how he made a conscious decision to be saved, to be healed. And how he endured when it became evident that was not going to be an easy choice. Being saved, is not just one moment in time in our lives, it is a lifetime of making difficult decisions.
Remember that show extreme makeover, where they would radically change the appearance of people. At the end of the show at the big reveal, problems that people had dealt with all of their life had been taken away. I think one of the reasons that show is not on the air anymore, was because they realized that changing someone’s appearance, was not enough to change their lives. Along with those lifelong problems, were also lifelong habits. If you did not rehabilitate those habits, that person would continue to be miserable.

Blind man chooses life
Being cured of blindness does not mean that you will automatically go on about your life. Someone who was born blind has no idea of how to use their sight. They will still bump into walls, and not be able to pick up things, because they have no idea of depth perception, or what colors are. They are seeing all of these contraptions, a telephone, a radio, a salt shaker. But they have no idea of what these things are, or what they are used for or how to use them. You start to see all of these strange people, who know who you are, but you have no idea of who they are.

The new life can be overwhelming enough to make someone want to go back to being blind. And yet the bible says that this man not only was happy to be able to see, he embraced his sight. He went on with his new life. Because that is what Jesus told him to do.

After the healing, Jesus goes away and is not a part of the story. And even more hardship comes about. People start to talk about him, his family is threatened, he is eventually kicked out of the synagogue. But he holds strong to the new life that Jesus gave him. Making sure that he won’t turn back. He makes a conscious choice that he will be a new man with a new life. Salvation is not a moment in time, it is a lifetime of choosing to follow Jesus.

Story of a driver choosing sin
A man looks back at his life, and recalls that when he learned to drive as a teenager, he felt that it was a waste of time to stop at stop lights. Whenever he would come to a stop light, if there were no cars around, then he would slow down for a moment, and just keep driving. He continued that habit for years. He got to be a pro at looking out for cars and going on. He even go to the point where he did not even slow down, he just checked for cars. Well as you can imagine, one day that habit was challenged. Anyone who drives, knows that there are times when you can check and double check, and there is always this car that appears out of nowhere. The car that appeared out of nowhere for this man just happened to be a police car. He was able to stop on time so that he would not get a ticket. He vowed from that time forward to give up that habit and to intentionally stop at all stop signs. It wasn’t the police car that scared him. It was his own actions. When he go to the stop life, his foot went for the gas pedal. It then went for the brakes. But no sooner had he hit the brake, that out of habit his foot automatically went for the gas pedal. He was so used to running the stoplight, that his body could do it without thinking. He realized that it was time for a change.
That is what a life of sin does to our bodies, our minds and our spirits. It takes over our lives. It takes less effort for us to do the wrong thing, that it is for us to stop and to think and do the right thing. The path of least resistance is the path of sin. The decision to stop, think and to endure is salvation. What is the path that Jesus leads us on. Jesus says I am the light of the world. To embrace the light is to choose to be a child of God. But most of the world still prefers to live in darkness. They don’t want to see, the want to remain blind.

Jesus is the light of the world
Jesus says I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind. Those who see may become blind, what does that mean. There are many in the world who want to keep things the way they are, who can’t accept the change of salvation. Because to be saved, means that they would have to change their habits, their beliefs, their lives. If Jesus was to truly come into their lives, it would take too much effort on their part to maintain their salvation. After all, the Pharisee considered themselves pretty faithful people. They too made a choice. But the choice wasn’t to follow Jesus. Are you calling us blind? Jesus comes back by saying if you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty of your sin. But since you say you can really see, then your sin remains. There are a lot of people who claim to live in the light, but still embrace the darkness. But what about you? Have you had an encounter with Jesus? Are you willing to accept that things will never be the same? Do you really want to see, or is it easier to stay blind?
We need Jesus in order to see
If you want to see the stars you use a telescope, of you want to see the small things of life you use a microscope, of you need to see your insides you uses a x ray machine, but if you want to see your sin and the way to salvation – you need Jesus in your life.

Who is Jesus for you? Let us pray….

Jesus meets us at our point of need

2011-04-01T17:33:00.000-07:00

March 27, 2011
Third Sunday of Lent
John 4:5-42
Jesus meets us at our point of need
Year A

One image that stands out in my mind this week is the picture of a governor in Japan drinking a glass of water to prove that everything was okay with the water, even though we all know that is not the case. I thought he must really love his country.
I can’t imagine living somewhere where the basic essence of life has been tainted by a substance that you can’t see, you can’t taste – but will eventually destroy your body.
Water is so much a part of our lives – we in America take water for granted. Water is so readily available to us- that we can afford to say that we don’t like water. Imagine if you lived in a place where water was not readily available just by turning on the faucet? We would love water, whenever we could get it, however, we could get it.

In Jesus’ time you had to go to the well everyday to get your water. It was the woman’s job to get water for the family. She usually went in the morning, so that she would not have to run into a man. It was not appropriate for men and women to be in the same places in public.

So why was the Samaritan woman at the well at noon? Why was Jesus sitting at the well by himself? Why would he be disrespectful enough to talk with a woman in public? He was single, even if he was married; he was not allowed to talk to his own wife in public, much less a stranger. And if he was a Jew, why was he talking to a Samaritan?

If Jesus us the symbol of righteousness for us, why would he be in the wrong place, at the wrong time talking to the wrong person?

He wanted to help us understand the nature of God. There are too many of us who spend our lives in the wrong place, at the wrong time, talking to the wrong people.

There are too many people out in the world, who even though it is Sunday- who are in the wrong place at the wrong time talking to the wrong people. And they need to know that there is a man named Jesus. Jesus understands them perfectly. Jesus understands their needs perfectly.

In the book of John, there is a series of encounters of Jesus with ordinary people. Last week it was a faithful man with a genuine question – Nicodemus. Today it is a not so faithful woman, looking for water and finding so much more.
A man who knew all about her.

We tend to think of the Samaritan woman as one of the bad girls in the bible – we know her reputation. She had 5 husbands – the one she is with is not her husband. Some churches however, call her a saint. Saint Photini. Photini means one equal to the apostles. Yes, she was a woman with a reputation, but she got the chance to talk face to face with Jesus. An honor many of us dream of. Because of that encounter, she was able to go out and save others.

This passage is so long because this is the longest recorded conversation that Jesus has with anyone. Also if you look at the verses, you will see that she talks 7 times and Jesus talks 7 times. There are no happenstances in John.
Jesus tells her that she has 5 husbands and that the one she is with is not her husband. Everything in John has a double meaning. This could be a conversation about 5 husbands; it could also be a conversation about idolatry. The things in our lives that stand in the way of us having a relationship with God.
There were 5 times that the Samaritans had intermarried with other people – and diluted the purity of their worship to the one true God. The one they are living with now who is not a husband – could be Rome. There were in control of the whole region, but had no allegiance whatsoever to the people and their beliefs and values.
For the Samaritans, the thing that stood in the way of their truly loving God was their need to identify with another people. What about us? Who are our five husbands? What stands in the way of our relationship with God? Is it our career? Friends? Consumerism? Nationalism? Needs? Addictions? Desires?
Why was Jesus at the wrong place, at the wrong time, talking to the wrong person? To give you the message that whatever your soul is married to besides God, you can let go of.

And whatever it is in your life that you are committed to that has no commitment to you – you can let that go too. God is always going to be with you no matter what. If you work on your relationship with God, everything else falls into place.
Why was Jesus at the wrong place at the wrong time talking to the wrong person?

Jesus and the Samaritan woman get into an interesting conversation about worship. Where is the proper place to do worship? That Samaritans believed this mountain, close to Jacob’s well. The Jews believed only the temple in Jerusalem was the place to worship. But Jesus says that the day is coming when worship won’t be about a time and a place, but about our relationship with God and the condition of our hearts.

This last illustration is in honor of the spring concert tonight….o worship experience.

When my son was in kindergarten, his first field trip was to the Milwaukee Zoo. I was so excited that I signed up to be a chaperone. We all had to prepare a bag lunch to take on the trip. I was so excited – it reminded me of field trips when I was a little girl. I went to the store the night before to get all of the ingredients. I prepared my lunch and put it in the brown paper bag. That morning we had a fun time at the zoo. At lunch time I was excited to talk with the boys about what we had done that day. Until I opened my bag to eat. I don’t eat cold food, I don’t eat processed food, I don’t eat white bread, I don’t eat cheap processed meat, I don’t eat store bought cookies, or hot store brand pop. I knew that when I went to the store to buy that crap in the first place. But I honestly believed in my mind that if I put that junk in a bag and carried it to the zoo – that I was going to be caught up in the moment enough to eat something that I don’t even like. I tell that story because that is how we do church.
We come to church expecting to be wowed. We leave church saying that I was not touched by anything. It did not make a difference. I didn’t like the sermon. What did you bring with you this morning in your brown paper bag? Something that you would eat- or something that you know you don’t like. Worship is a celebration of the relationship that we have with God before we get here. If we don’t bring the hot Jesus with us- we won’t find it when we get here.
Worship starts at home. Worship comes with you; worship is what you already have with God.
We need to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.
Why was Jesus at the wrong place at the wrong time talking to the wrong person – so that you can worship God will all that you are…..Let us pray…… Amen.

Ash Wednesday

2011-03-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

March 9, 2011

When I was a little girl, living in a small town, my mother used to tell me that she did not care what I did in the neighborhood, because there was no where in town that I could go, that someone would not see me and call her if I got out of line.

Where there was a little village just like that in Europe. Everyone knew everyone else, and everyone knew what the children were two doing. There were two young teenage boys who liked to steal the neighbors sheep. And the neighborhood could not figure out what to do with these two to help them to stop. They were young, but old enough to know right from wrong.

The townspeople decided that they would put the letters ST on the boys forehead to stand for sheep thief.

One of the brothers never changed, he seemed to stay the same. He ended a life of crime in jail. The other brother felt sorry for what he did and changed his ways. He became a very helpful person, someone whom you could always depend on. He was a very nice person, and did whatever he could. But the letters St was still in his forehead. One day the younger people in the neighborhood, who knew nothing of his past, asked what the St stood for. One person said, I am not sure, but he is such a special person, I think it means saint.

We are here today, because there are some saints here, who have become sheep thieves.

We are all sinners, we all mess up sometimes. But it is time for a change.

Change is a part of who we are as faithful people. Change is the heart of the gospel – jesus came into the world to tell us that it is time for a change. The mission statement of the United Methodist church is making disciples for the transformation of the world. We need to change our definitions and conditions that lead us to sin.

Becoming aware of our sinfulness is the major task of lent.

Lent is a german word for long. The days are longer. Life is getting better.

Easter is as late as it can ever be in the year. There is a formula for determining Easter. I think that Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after Passover.

Lent is determined by a formula. It is forty days between ash Wednesday and holy Saturday. But the good news is that the Sundays are not included in the count. So whatever you give up for lent, you can do on Sundays.

Jesus spent 40 days in the desert, time spent for an important duty.

There are three things associated with lent: fasting, abstinence and almsgiving.

We tend to associate lent with the catholic tradition, but lent is for all of us. This is our change to get real with ourselves and with God. God is a God of abundance, not sacrifice. We don’t have to give up, we can add something to our life.

We also need to confess that we are sinful.

Here is another story….

A couple got married, right before the husband had to go into the army. He was excited when he got out, and his wife got pregnant soon after that. They did not have a lot of money, so they needed to move back into their old neighborhood in Chicago. They did not have to move in with his mom, they could afford their own apartment near her. They were excited that they would be able to raise their child in the same neighborhood, that they would be able to give their child the same values that they had. Just one thing, they noticed that the neighborhood had changed. It was not as nice, people did not take care of it. Their was trash and abandoned cars everywhere. They prayed about what to do to clean up their neighborhood. They decided that they would have a back yard party. Mom would cook food from Puerto Rico and everyone would come.

The party came, they wanted to convince people to clean up. But it seems that everyone wanted to talk about how bad the landlord was. The landlord did not do this, the landlord did not do this. What were they going to do. The building inspector was coming to shut down the building. The couple was really disappointed, that was not the point of this conversation.

The landlord is God, and the building inspector is the devil. They told people that this conversation was not about the landlord, they could invite the landlord at another time. This conversation was about people learning to clean up their own mess.

That is what lent is all about – cleaning up our own mess before god comes. God is coming in a mighty way – are you prepared for the meeting? Be the change you are asking for in others. Work with God as a cocreater. Change your living habits, do our part, remember God this lent…. Let us pray…..

A New Way of Thinking

2011-03-14T21:27:00.000-07:00

February 17, 2008
Second Sunday of Lent
Year A
John 3:1-17
Repreached from 2/28/1999
A New Way of Thinking
Repreached on 3/20/11

Introduction
I have actually preached this sermon at this church before, but that was in seven years ago in 2001. That was long enough ago that it is okay to refresh your memory. It is a sermon that is will force you to think – actually as I ask you some of the riddles- you may remember the answers from last time. I actually first preached and wrote this sermon in 1999. However, I felt that the message was still relevant for today. And I can assure you that even though I didn’t write a sermon this week, I did do my background research for it.

There are two brothers, the mother gave birth to one at two oclock, and she gave birth to the other an hour later. But they are not twins, how can that be?

Today, on this second Sunday of lent, we are going to deal with riddles, the riddles of life, the riddles of what it means to be a Christian. Those are the riddles that a wealthy prominent citizen, Nicodemus struggled with. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, he was expected to have the answers to everything, but obviously he didn’t. These questions were so difficult for him that he couldn’t sleep and had to come to Jesus in the middle of the night.
The answers that Jesus gave him confused him even more. Jesus answered him with a birth riddle, much like the one that I talked about before. Jesus told him that in order to have eternal life, you must be born again. How can you be born again? Do you have to go back a second time into your mother’s womb? After all, how can two brothers be born at about the same time and not be twins? There is an answer to both, but to come up with you, you have to think about things in a new way. First let us try Jesus riddle. Jesus in the book of John does this all of the time. Someone comes to him with a question and he answered with a riddle – a hard saying. They are confused and say something stupid and Jesus answers with an even harder saying. And if they don’t just trust that Jesus knows what he is saying, then they leave as confused as ever. Jesus even teases Nicodemus – How can you be a teacher of Isreal and not know these things.

I don’t know about you, but I get confused a lot. The problem is that Nicodemus is a left brain thinker. He is used to clear cut memorized rules. A pharisee’s job was to make sure that all of the thousands of rules that had become Jewish law were able to be kept. At the end of the day, he could judge whether it was a good day or not by the number of rules that he broke. If he remembered all of the rules and he obeyed them, everything was okay. The thing is, the good news of the gospel is a right brain activity. It has to do with images, not words, it breaks all of the rules. Being a Christian is not about following the rules – it is in believing that God loves you. But more on that later. If you can answer this question, you are truly a good Christian. How many animals did Adam and Eve put in the ark. If you are awake this morning then you will know that it was Noah who put the animals in the ark, not Adam and Eve.
But the thing that we can celebrate about out faith, is that we don’t have to explain it, or even understand it clearly. Our faith is in the mystery of God. Our faith is like the wind, you don’t know where it comes from, but you can feel its presence. All of those left brain activities like balancing your checkbook, or maintaining your car or using your computer are not things that will get you into heaven. Thank God, I would not have a chance. But when you think about your favorite concert, or a walk in the sun, or what you got on your best birthday ever, then you are on the road to understanding the faith of Jesus. If you put that part of the mind in charge, the part that remembers feelings and doesn’t need concrete answers, then you will get an understanding of what Jesus was trying to get across to Nicodemus.
Here is another one for you, how many birthdays does the average person in America have in a lifetime? Well the answer is negotiable. If you are only born once, then you can only have one birth day. If Christ tells you that we must be born again, then that means that Christians have two birth days right? Well that depends on what it means to be born again. Jesus says that the first birth is a physical birth, and that the second is a spiritual birth. It is sort of like the moment that you have been trying to get the answer to a riddle that has you stomped. It is when all of the solutions that you have been trying to come up with are exhausted. And then the answer just comes to you out of the middle of nowhere. But have you ever noticed that along with this new answer, comes a whole new way of thinking. The Jesus of the book of John liked to speak in riddles, because riddles force us to think until we come up with a new way of thinking. To be born again is to undergo such a radical change of thinking that it is like a new birth. It is to have something happen to the soul which makes us a whole new person. It is a point in your conscious existence when you allow the spirit to move within you and you say Yes to God.
The passage for today contains one of the most familiar bible passages in the world. For God so loved the world that he have his only begotten son. So that we may have life and have it abundantly. God’s love is eternal. God’s love last forever. There is nothing else in the world that will be with us forever, through all circumstances.
When we are open to the new way of thinking that the spirit allows, then we all know the love of God. God’s love is unlimited, unconditional and redemptive.
It is easy for us to be tempted to finish the sentence god so loved with world with conditions. God will love you if you are righteous, God will love you if your study the word, God will love you of you do what others expect of you.
For God so loved the world. Even John is tempted to say that God loves only those who do the will of Jesus. Even the disciples are tempted to say that God only loves Christians. But God loves all people. God loves all of creation. God loves political and corrupt powers, God loves the strucutures in our world which pollute and oppress people. God love those who we agree with, and those whom we don’t. God loves us just as we are
God is concerned with this world and bringing all of this world into the fullness of creation. We are all a part of creation. God is not through with us yet, we are still a work in progress. God still loves this world and is still creating and working to make us complete.
God’s love is redemptive. God loves us just the way we are because God is working to redeem us and make us better persons. God sent Jesus into the world to save us. I follow Jesus in his mission to make a difference in the world then we share his love of creation and of all people.
I have another riddle for you. Frank is a night watchman, who works seven nights a week at a manufacturing plant. His boss is supposed to fly overseas on a business deal, but this really bothers Frank. Frank warns his boss that the previous night he had a dream that his boss would die in a plane crash. The boss ignored Frank’s warnings and left for his trip. On his trip he has some time to think about what Frank said – he returned a few days later and fired Frank.
The business deal turned out wonderfully – so what would make Frank’s boss fire him?
The key to that riddle is what you think about dreams. A dreamer is someone who is not bond by rules and laws. A dreamer is free to think of life in a new way. When we understand the love of God and who that love works in our lives, then that makes us all dreamers.
Have you ever noticed that there is a time just before you wake up where your mind is free to think in all types of new ways.
This twilight time is the time that Nicodemus came to Jesus, he came in the middle of the night. You can tell from his questions that he yearned to be free from his life of rules. He wanted to be from how they controlled his life. Jesus riddles about being born again gave him permission to be a dreamer. He was free to see the world in a whole new way. There is nothing wrong with dreams, unless you are a night watchman and you are dreaming when you are supposed to be watching. That is a cause to be fired.
It is not in the middle of the night for we, we are no sleeping. It is a new day for us, a day of celebration because it is a day that we can be born again and see life in a whole new way.
Okay, I have one more riddle in honor of leap year. Some months have 31 days, some have 30 days. How many months have 28 days? Mind you I did not ask how many months have exactly 28 days. All months have 28 days. We have 28 days and more to feel that love and Christ and to spread it all throughout the world.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Jesus came into the world to give us love. A love unlimited, a love unconditional, a love redeemed – how do you intend to respond to such love?
Oh before I forget, let me tell you the answer to the birth riddle that I told at the beginning of the sermon. The two brothers who were born an hour apart are not twins because they are triplets.
God’s love also gives us the opportunity to see life in ways that we would have never thought of before. That is what is means to be born again. Amen.

What am I being tested for?

2011-03-14T21:23:00.000-07:00

What am I being tested for?
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
Matthew 4:4-11
Year A
First Sunday of Lent
Repreached on 3/13/11
2/10/08

Introduction

You don’t have to even go to church to know the story of adam and eve. I would think that this story takes the cake as one of the most significant bible stories in all of the world. I don’t even have to repeat that one for you I am positive that you know it. What you might not know is that there is a tradition in Jewish culture called midrash – that is the story behind the story. Folklore that everyone in jewish culture would have know, but it is not written in the book. For instance, in the creation story when it talks about how it think it was in the first day that Jesus made separated the water from the land and bought order out of chaos. Everyone would have known that chaos is actually the name of a water dragon. And it was a pretty big fight to bring get the water dragon chaos out of the water so that the water would be calmed and ordered.

The meaning of the Adam and Eve Story
There are lots of midrash stories around the story of adam and eve – for instance did you know that eve is actually Adam’s second wife. His first wife is named Lilith. God created adam and Lilith at the same time as equals. So Lilith had a fit when Adam started bossing her around and telling her to clean the house and pick up after her. She refused under the premise that as equals, his hands were just as good as hers. Lilith stood up to him about everything. So adam finally divorced her and went to God to explain that the arrangement was just not going to work out. That’s when God put him to sleep and created eve out of adam’s rib. Eve, being younger and not being an equal was willing to do everything that Adam said. So they got along fine. While Lilith lived as a single woman on the other side of the garden. But anyway….

The questions is addresses

There are many stories like that about this the story of first. Because even though simple it addresses the fundamental questions of who we are as human beings. Even the name adam is actually the Hebrew word for mankind. The story of adam and eve addresses the question of why do we have to work so hard to be happy in life, why do we have to earn the things we need in life, why do we have to wait for things to grow, why must there be regrets in life, why do women have to suffer in order to have children, why do we age, why do we die? The questions go on, but the story of adam and eve addresses them all.

New adam and eve story

We all know that the story has also been used to justify the denial of equal rights of women. That it was Eve’s fault that the couple was banished from the garden of eden – the Lilith story takes care of that. But I want to share a new story of adam and eve. I like it because I think that it addresses the fundamental question of lent of the definition of sin and how it affects our lives – I would think each of could relate to the story in some way.

In the beginning God covered the earth with broccoli, cauliflower and
spinach, with green, yellow and red vegetables of all kinds so Man and Woman
would live long and healthy lives.
Then using God's bountiful gifts, Satan created Dairy Ice Cream and
Magnums.
And Satan said "You want hot fudge with that?
And Man said "Yes!"
And Woman said "I'll have one too with chocolate chips".
And lo, they gained 10 pounds.
And God created the healthy yoghurt that Woman might keep the figure
that Man found so fair.
And Satan brought forth white flour from the wheat and sugar from the cane and
combined them.
And Woman went from size 12 to size 14.
So God said "Try my fresh green salad".
And Satan presented Blue Cheese dressing and garlic croutons on the side.
And Man and Woman unfastened their belts following the repast.
God then said "I have sent you healthy vegetables and olive oil in
which to cook them".
And Satan brought forth deep fried coconut king prawns, butter-dipped lobster
chunks and chicken fried steak, so big it needed its own platter.
And Man's cholesterol went through the roof.
Then God brought forth the potato, naturally low in fat and brimming
with potassium and good nutrition.
Then Satan peeled off the healthy skin and sliced the starchy centre into chips
and deep fried them in animal fats adding copious quantities of salt.
And Man put on more pounds.
Then God gave lean beef so that Man might consume fewer calories and
still satisfy his appetite.
And Satan created McDonalds and the £1.00 double cheeseburger.
Then Satan said "You want fries with that?" and Man replied "Yes, and super size
'em".
God then brought forth running shoes so that his Children might lose
those extra pounds.
And Satan came forth with a cable TV with remote control so Man would not have
to toil changing the channels.
And Man and Woman laughed and cried before the flickering light and started
wearing stretch jogging suits.
And Satan said "It is good."
And Man and Woman went into cardiac arrest.
God sighed ......... and created quadruple by-pass surgery.
And then Satan chuckled and health insurance and all of the paperwork which goes with it.

The story of temptation

I would think that is the story of temptation in our lives. The things that are right and good for us are bountiful in our lives, but we want something more. Something differerent. Something more exciting. Temptation is the recognition that we have the power in our lives to do what we want to do, even if we know within our lives that it is not the best thing.

Temptation in our lives

God gave us the right to make choices in our lives. That was a really big thing in the garden of eden – choices and the right to think for ourselves and to know that we will bear the consequences of those choices. Adam and eve were not driven out of the garden of eden for the choices they made, but because they were not prepared for the consequences of those choices. We are all faced with temptation, that is what it means to be human. But how do we know to make the right choices and prepare ourselves for those consequences?

Temptation in Jesus life

Because we have the priviledge of knowing the story of Jesus. Every first Sunday of lent, we hear of Jesus was tempted. In todays version of the story, the spirit led him into the wilderness. And while there satan came to Jesus and gave him three choices – choices we face everyday about prestige, plenty and power. In each choice, Jesus chose to do what he knew was right, rather than what would benefit him.

What Jesus shows us about ourselves

In the wilderness Jesus was being tested for the task that God had in store for him. If the essence of God was present in Jesus as we believe, then this would have been easy for him. The essence of what it means to be human was also present in Jesus – so it was a struggle. But Jesus made the right choice and proved that we are capable of doing to same.

A man was the sole survivor in his platoon in world war I. His lost all of his friends in a horrible battle. Years later as he read the story of the battle, he was disturbed to find that history recorded this battle as inconsequential. A newspaper article reported that this was an easy battle and that not many men had been lost. The sole survivor knew different. This battle had been a huge sacrifice, and a lot of effort had been put into defending his territory.
When we hear of Jesus temptation, our reaction is the same – how hard could it have been for the son of God to resist temptation? In the battle of life, when we see the consequences of those who have given in to sin in their lives – we know that it was, and continue to be a huge battle for the son of man. And yet Jesus wanted to show us that the battle could be won. And that we as humans can win the battle.

Power and energy

Like the word Adam, the name satan is not a name for a person it is a technical term. It means the one who asks questions. Satan is not a red man with a pitchfork. Satan is the challenger in our lives, the one who asks pertinent questions – like are you going to eat that? Are you going to let that person get away with that? Are you going to just let that happen? Do you really need to do that? It is in how we answer those questions that determines our sin in life.

Sin is about who we use our power

Dumbledorf, a character in the Harry Potter story once said that there is no good or bad in the world, there is only power and those who do not know how to use it. In the story of adam and eve, God had the power to create. The story says God formed, God formed, God breathed, God planted, God took, God put, God said. God had actually did all of the work of creation. When you look at the story of the serpent, there are no action verbs, the snake didn’t do anything but ask questions about what God had already said. In the story of Jesus temptation – It was the Spirit that led and once again Satan’s only power is to ask Jesus questions about what God had already done. In both stories the people don’t have the power to act- they only have to power to respond. That is something to think about – Jesus power was not in what he did – it was in what he was willing to wait and to let God do for him. Each of us indeed has that same power. There is no good or bad, only power and those who don’t know how to use. Sin is always a misuse of our power – to depend on a God who always acts.

This lent – depend on the power of God

Lent is a chance for us to be reminded of what it means to be human – like adam from dust you came and to dust you shall return. We have no power within ourselves to do anything. And yet God created us to take an active role in the continuing story of creation. Adam and Eve only started the story – God calls you to help God create the rest of the story. It is human for us to have to work and to wait for things to come. Jesus showed us that it is also human to depend upon God to be the powerful force behind making our work useful.

Angels ministered to him….
Matthew ends with a promise that the devil left him and suddenly the angels came and waited on him. As you make the right choices – may you look for your angels.

Amen

Dazzling as Snow

2011-03-10T15:05:00.000-08:00

Dazzling as white as snow
Transfiguration Sunday
February 3, 2008 – repreached on March 6, 2011
Exodus 24:12-18
Matthew 17: 1-9
Year A

My Special moment

I have two questions for you – have you ever had that time in life, when everything came together for you? When life just seemed to make sense. It may have been your wedding day, or graduation, or birthday or some other special day that you felt that you were on top of the world.

My second question is if you could talk to any two people, dead or alive to get advice, who would you ask. For Jesus those two people were Elijah and Moses.

Thursday was that moment for me. I have not been that excited about anything in a very long time. I have not had a chance to sit on edge, and watch such an exciting scene unfold before me. A moment of intrigue, a moment where I question what is real. A moment where you can clearly see that there is a thin line between life and death, between the past and the future, between what you expect and what you don’t understand. It was that moment where you realize that there are those rare moments in our lives where all of our questions are answered, where we realize that the anticipation of waiting is finally fulfilled. But most of the time you realize that you have to spend most of your life in a cloud of confusion, that never goes away, because the answering of one set of questions, just brings about more questions.
Perhaps Jesus did not have the season premier of the television series lost in mind when he bought his most trusted disciples with him to a mountaintop to pray. Season premiere or no, Lost is just a very clear mind game that is not scheduled to end until 2010. But Jesus must have known that there are those moments in all of our lives. The moments where the true identity of the Christ becomes clear to us.

The transfigurations story
When Jesus took his disciples up to the mountain – it must have seemed like a very cruel mind game to them. Jesus takes those 3 of the brothers that we talked about last week – Peter, James and John to the top of the mountain……..

The significance of clouds

In the gospel, God talks to the disciples through a cloud and encourages them to listen to Jesus. In the Hebrew gospel God also talks and acts through a cloud. Moses takes his trusted helpers with him to Mount Sinai to talk with God to get the Ten Commandments. No one is allowed at the top except Moses. But once again a cloud covers the mountain for six days, and on the seventh day – a special day Moses comes out of the cloud with a message for the people.

Now we tend to think of clouds as a bad thing- a bad time in our lives, a time of uncertainty, a time of confusion, a time when we are not able to see things clearly. What are the things that cloud your vision? What are the clouds in your life that prevent you from doing what you really want to do.

The Shekinah Glory

Clouds are actually a good thing in the bible. A cloud signifies the presence of God on earth. The presence of God was somewhere far away on a throne on heaven, but there is also a presence of God here on earth. God’s earthly presence is called the Shekinah glory – and you knew the Shekinah glory was present when you saw a cloud. It was a cloud that guided the Israelite to freedom by day and a pillar of fire by night. It was in a cloud in the mountain that Elijah was able to find the silence of God, it was a cloud that constantly talked with Moses to give him instruction to lead the people, it was a cloud that talked with the disciples to tell them that he was his beloved son listen to him, and when you think about it is that cloud of confusion, doubt, questioning, misunderstanding that constantly stays with us and shapes our faith journey. Cloudiness is a way of life for us.

I just learned about this, this morning. But if you climb a mountain. If you stand between a cloud and the sun, then a halo will develop around you. A round circle with a rainbow on the outside. The phenomenon is called a glory. But isn’t that how we spend most of our lives, somewhere in the middle of a cloud and sunshine?

Moments of Sunshine

When you think about it – those moments when things are totally clear and obvious are few and far between. An organization that I am a part of calls them moments of sunshine- those times when you are totally happy, when you are on the top of your game, when all of your questions have been answered, when you see life very clearly.

The disciples hold onto that moment

We are a lot like the disciples in those moments – we want to worship them forever – do you know anyone who still talks about that moment in high school. We want to build a temple so that moment can last forever, so that we can keep that feeling of clarity, so that we can live in that high of understanding. When the disciples asked if they could build temples for the appearance of Moses, Elijah and Moses, Jesus says no. Jesus usually reminds us that those moments in our lives are not intended to last forever. They come to give us perspective on the clouds, they come to give us a sense of hope to go on, and they come to give us special memories. But they always come to end

Most of our lives are lived in a cloud

Most of our life is to be lived in the cloud – a cloud of confusion and questions – because life is to be lived in the presence of an awesome, overwhelming, unknowable, mind boggling God. A God so big and so wonderful that we will never find the words to describe God. And yet a God who cares so much for you – that God is with you all of the time.

Consulting an oracle
God presence is with us all of our lives – but we have to take special times to learn to move and navigate our way through the thickness and beauty of the Shekinah glory – of god’s presence on earth. Lent is one of those times. Time to get in touch with the cloudiness of God. In the midst of cloudiness many people consulted special people to get the answers to your questions. Perhaps you are still thinking about what to do in Lent – so I have a special way to help you think about what to do for lent……

Okay some of the suggestions may not really be helpful – you will have to eat something in 40 days, and it is probably not a good idea to stay in bed for 40 days. Only God can truly tell you what to do- to see God more clearly in your life. ( not used)

The man at the new company
One man had just been hired by a new company – people started to complain- because he seemed to sit in his office all day and they didn’t see where he was doing anything. So one day his supervisor confronted him and asked what he was doing all that time – nothing he said. But 40 days later he was able to present a plan which increased the company sales by 50% - He had spent those 40 days on silence quietly waiting for an answer from God.

This lent I don’t know what your questions for God are, I don’t know what God has in store for you, I don’t know how God intends to use you to build God’s wonderful kingdom.

But I do know that God’s glory is surrounding your life- may you embrace that cloud in your life.

The significance of the transfiguration

The significance of the transfiguration was that it was a moment of sunshine – where the true nature of Jesus was revealed to the disciples. As they left he told them to tell no one until after the resurrection.

There was a magician who got hired to perform tricks on a cruise ship. And on a ship your performance schedule can be pretty demanding. Every night that he performed, there was always a parrot around. The parrot seemed to love to complain. While the magician performed, he would always yell to the audience that he was a fake, and that he did not know what he was doing. This seemed to get on the magician’s nerves. He did not like that parrot. One day the ship sank. And the parrot and the magician ended up in the same rescue boat. Since there was animosity between them- they sat in total silence, until the parrot finally asked “So, what did you do with the ship?” what was really going on was too deep for the parrot to really comprehend, so he just said what came out of his mouth. That is the same thing that the disciple did. That is why Jesus tells them to tell no one until the resurrection. Nothing that happens to them will make sense until the resurrection. After that they will understand who Jesus really is, and God’s true purpose for us. That is the same for us in lent, today we are just going through the motions, doing what needs to be done, but after Easter, we will walk in the sunshine, and everything will be clear.

My wish for you this lent

May you enter into the clouds of lent, discover the sunshine of Christ in your life- and be willing to keep God’s little secret to yourself until after Easter. Amen.

God will not forget you

2011-03-10T14:34:00.000-08:00

God has not forgotten
8th Sunday after Epiphany
February 27, 2011
Isaiah 49:8-16
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Year A

Erma Bombeck said that the only thing that she ever listened to from the Bible was the command to consider the lilies of the field… she missed the whole point of the text. Jesus did not tell us to consider the lilies, but to consider their situation. If God takes care of them in all of their beauty, then surely God will take care of us also. Even though it is a good idea to consider the lilies.
If God takes care of nature, then God will surely take care of us.

We tend to think that our problems are too big for God to really understand. We tend to think that we have to come up with our own solutions to our problems. In reality, there is nothing going on in our lives that is too big for God. We would prefer worry and strife in solving the world problems, instead of relying on the true source.

The world has changed a lot. There was a time when you were planning a trip, you could call AAA and they would map out your whole trip for you. They would give you a map of how to get there, where to stop, where to eat, and what to see.

The Bible, God’s word is the same. Every day the holy spirit gives us a sense of direction, and the holy spirit gives us an answer.

The theme of the scriptures for today is to trust and obey.

Isaiah 43 – there are three different writers for the book of Isaiah. They were addressing three times in the history of the Israelites, but it seems that they seemed to have the same old problem. They were discouraged, they felt that nothing was going their way, they felt that God must have forgotten about them.

When we worry, we come to all sorts of conclusions. We think our problems are God’s fault, leaders, fault, neighbors fault, or someone else’s fault.

I got an email from a former parishioner, who go t so mad at me that he left the church for some reason he recently sent me an email talking about what would happen if Obama’s health bill passes. He was a republican and knows I am a democrat, so he thought I would have cared.

The problem is that blaming leads to judging. And judging stands in the way of us being what God called us to be.

Paul says that we are servants of Christ, and stewards of God’s mysteries. We are to live for Christ’ hope for the world – to take care of the things that God cares about.

That goes back to the need to trust and obey. Worry is a sign that we need to step back and ask God.

In keeping with the journey theme – we are all on a trip from here to there, to who we need to be.

The parishioner that I talked about earlier, went on a yearly trip to Hawaii. He and his air force buddies would always join together in February.

There was a couple who was taking a trip to Hawaii. The husband was intentional about renting cars ahead of time, so that when they arrived at each island, all of the details would be taken care of. When he got to the first island, their car was not ready. To help out, the company gave them an upgrade from a Ford Escort to a Ford mustang. It seems the same thing happen at the next island – the car was not ready. Instead of the car they ordered, they were given a Lincoln town car. The same thing happened at the next island and they were given a BMW. At the next island they drove a Mercedes. After the trip was over, the wife asked her husband how he liked the trip. His response was the it would have been a wonderful trip if only the rental car had had their cars ready for them when they came….
That’s how we are – always complaining when God does not do what we ask – never paying attention to the fact that God does not give us what we ask for, because God has so much more in store for us.

With discouragement comes the old friends of hopelessness and blame.

God’s plans are so much better than our plans.

In Isaiah 43 God says…
I answered you
I kept you
I helped you
I have given you

We need to stop worrying and listen. It is not what you expect, but it is what you need. Just trust and obey.

Can a mother forget her child? How much more I will not forget you.

When I was a child, if I was not prepared for a test, I used to write the answers on my hand. But by the time I got to school, the answers had worn off, because they were written in pen.

God says that not just your name, but YOU are engraved on God’s hand. God cannot forget you!

Let us pray…..

Angels Watching over me

2011-02-21T09:11:00.000-08:00

Angels Watching over Me
February 20, 2011
1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23
Matthew 5:38-48
7th Sunday after Epiphany
Year A
Version 2

I think that if we had to think of enemy #1 for America, we would still say Osama bin Laden. I saw a television show advertised last night on how to kill Osama Bin Laden. Not a very Christian show, but would get some attention.
What do we do with are enemies? Do we really have a relationship with this who hate us, who intentionally disrespect us? What does it really mean to love you enemies?

We have finally reached the end of the Sermon on the Mount in chapter 5 of Matthew. This is the toughest saying of them all.

I have been a Christian all of my life, but didn’t become a committed Christian until college. I have Read Matthew as a child and as a teenager, and college student. I Got scared. There is no way that I can become a Christian, there is no way that I can change my behavior and do all of these strange things that it calls me to do.
I understand that it is wrong to murder, but don’t think bad thoughts. When you are angry, be intentional about reconciling with that person. Love those who hate you?

There has been debate about these last texts for years. And no resolution to how seriously are we to take these texts. Turn the other cheek when someone is trying to slap you, go an extra mile with someone who is trying to cheat you, give to someone who is trying to steal from me what does that mean?

More to the story that we don’t get. It is not saying to offer your check to someone who is slapping you – when you turn your cheek when someone slaps you – you rob them of their slap.

A roman soldier traveling in your land was allowed to demand that any citizen carry his bags for a mile, if you carried his stuff 2 miles, then he would be wrong for allowing you to do that.

In Jesus times, people have two items of clothing, an inner cloak and an outer cloak. If you gave someone both – then you would be naked.

You have to understand also that Mediterranean society was a lot like American society today. There was a lot of inequality and oppression.

The military had power, the rich had power, those in charge had power, and the people had nothing.

If someone took it upon themselves to slap you in the face in public, there were saying that they had power and control over you. If you turned the other cheek, you were saying that you have no right to make that claim. I am equal to you.

If a soldier ordered you into service, and you went an extra mile, you were saying that you did not make me do this; I did it on my own free will.

Resisting that attempt was a way of reclaiming power.

In Mediterranean society honor and shame was everything. Honor was a very public issue. The Ten Commandments say to honor your mother and father. Honored those higher in society than you, honored those older than you. Actions either bought honor or shame.
Today girls who may choose not to follow family tradition are killed- because they have shamed their entire family.
That’s our whole problem with the scenario of how literally do we take the verse of turning the other cheek – we are shamed when we let another hurt us – and we do not retaliate. Does Jesus really want us to be shamed?
Jesus was actually trying to redefine honor and shame. When we honor ourselves in the face of disrespect, we not only honor ourselves, but we also honor god.

An eye for an eye – is the law of retaliation, that whole point of the law was to preserve honor and to prevent shame. There is nothing wrong with the law- but it doesn’t stop the cycle. It doesn’t take away hurt feelings. It doesn’t change the status quo of inequality. It doesn’t change the relationship – as a matter of fact it means that there is no relationship at all.

But when you actively resist the activities of those who hurt you, it exposes that action as inappropriate.

The nonviolent resistance of the 60’s did much the same thing. Trained to accept being hit, spat upon in reviled. In order to claim a higher justice- justice of God. In prayer that your loving actions would change that person, and help them to realize that you were a person just as they were, and that they had no right to disrespect you.

Did it work? Some say yes and some say no. Today – the southern Christian leadership commission that Martin Luther King started and trained for nonviolent resistance is pressured to disband. It no longer serves it purpose. We live in a different world now – and yet can we really say that there is equality and justice for all people? Even for black people?

Jesus work with the world is not done yet. We still need to learn to love those who hate us. Bin laden is still out there somewhere.

But in life there are enemies out there, but there are also enemies in here. Sometimes we hate ourselves more than anyone; we sabotage ourselves more than anyone.

Story of master builder…
Trace was known for his strong, durable buildings. They weren't anything spectacular to look at, no works of art, but they were solid. He built barns, machine sheds, and quonsets. Big, burly buildings to hold big, burly machinery and equipment were his specialty, and he stood behind his buildings. He had learned from his grandfather and father and had shown an exceptional eye for detail and was an expert craftsman. Trace was respected for his work, and he never lacked for projects.

Just 27 years old, Trace had had a good life - until his wife of six months ran off with a neighbor. They had no children and Trace felt himself becoming lonelier and lonelier. He would come in from a long day of working, sometimes out in the cold and wind, and he had no one to turn to for companionship, love, or conversation. He eventually turned to alcohol for comfort.

Trace went on drinking binges, often falling asleep on the couch in front of a blaring television set. He ate poorly and his judgment started to fall short. He felt like he was falling into a pit of darkness. He was working on a big machine shed for a wealthy farmer and Trace found that he wasn't measuring as accurately, his orders didn't match what he needed, and the work was not going as effortlessly as it normally had in the past. He knew he had to do something.

His wife had certainly left him, but Trace had many friends in his hometown. They begged him to take care of himself, to get a hold of himself, to turn around from the brink of despair. All their pleading worked and slowly Trace started to come out of his depression. He spent more time with his friends and family. He took better care of his orders, his work was more accurate, and his judgment was once again keen.

About a month later, the farmer called him to say his sliding barn door didn't work quite right. The door was on the working end of the huge machine shed Trace put up right when he was in the middle of his sadness, right when his perception was blurred, right when things were not going quite right for Trace. Trace drove out to the farm to speak with the owner, who complained of a door that was sticking on the way up.

Trace looked at the shed. It was crooked. His trained eye could see that although it was only a fraction of an inch off, it was definitely crooked. The wall was not straight and the door, which was pulled up by heavy chains, was getting caught by the crooked wall. To an untrained person, the shed looked fine: it was big and square, and the walls were very high. But Trace was an expert, and when he examined the shed closely, he knew he had done a poor job. The farmer didn't guess that, but Trace could see it as plain as day.

There was no way Trace could afford new materials. Yet he knew he had not done the best he could do. He was in a quandary. The farmer thought the door needed oil; Trace knew it was much, much more.

Trace told the farmer, an old family friend, not to use the door and that he would be back in a few days to fix it. It wasn't spring yet and the farmer wouldn't need to move machinery for several weeks. Trace would be back.

What Trace really needed to do was think about the situation. He had paid over $130,000 for materials for the shed and had gained twice that much in labor. But that money was already spent on the double quonset he was building at the west end of town for the city works department. He knew it would be easy to bend the wall a bit and ease the door framing so the door could pass easier, but it would never hold over the years. And the mechanism had to be just right to work well or the door could get stuck or even worse, fall. The farmer needed to move machinery in and out of the shed often during the spring planting season and the fall harvest time. He could be in danger if the door didn't work right. Trace knew he needed to rebuild, but he didn't know how to tell the farmer, or how he would pay for some additional materials he would need.

Trace wasn't big on going to church, but he loved the small town's only pastor. Pastor Eldred was an older man who had been there 32 years and had seen Trace grow up. He had been the one to marry Trace and Janet last summer. Pastor Eldred had been there when the family experienced the trauma of death and illness, and he had been there to see the joys of births, baptisms, and weddings. Trace had always regarded Pastor Eldred to be the family's pastor, not his personal pastor. But right now Trace needed the older man's wisdom. Maybe if he could debate aloud, he could get a handle on what to do. Trace called and would see Pastor Eldred that evening after supper.

Trace and Pastor Eldred exchanged pleasantries for a while, and the pastor asked about each family member by name. Then Pastor Eldred smiled and looked Trace squarely in the eyes. "What's on your mind, Trace? How can I help you be the person you would like to be?"

Wow! Trace wasn't expecting that kind of question. He sincerely didn't know what to say, and so he looked down at his feet, noticing his shoelace was untied. He bent down to tie it. He looked around the room and noticed the picture frame askew about a sixteenth of an inch. He'd have to fix that after Pastor Eldred left.

Pastor Eldred smiled again. "Trace, what's troubling you? I'm so sorry about Janet. I imagine you are quite lonely at times, but what is really troubling your heart right now?"

Trace stood up. He was quite nervous. He had wanted to debate with Pastor Eldred on what to do about the shed, but he knew he couldn't pull the wool over his eyes. He sat down again and blurted out the situation, telling Pastor Eldred about the building he had put up. It was a poor job, not like he would normally do, and he didn't know what to do about it.

"Yes, you do, Trace. I know your reputation for exactness. You have always stood behind your work, just like your grandpa and daddy taught you. You know what to do. You just have to have the courage to explain the truth to the farmer. You don't need me to tell you that. I just need to remind you that you need to be true to yourself. Be the person you really are, the best you can be. And I need to remind you that God loves you - with or without Janet - happy or sad, through thick and thin. You can make this right or you can take the easy way out. Just consider your future with either option. Fix it and you will be out lots of money, but you will also be a hero for being honest. Ignore it and you could put someone in danger, and who will come to you for work? You know what to do and I will leave you to get on with it and do your best. Say hi to your parents for me."

Trace felt like a five--year--old as he watched his dear friend leave. He knew what to do, and although he'd be out thousands of dollars, he knew the right thing would be to tear down the shed and start over, being more exact this time. He knew what God wanted him to do.

He picked up the phone to call the farmer.

This is a perfect story to explain Corinthians. Paul says that he is the master builder, with a responsibility to build the right foundation. Church is the temple of god. We are also temples. See our faults better than anyone. But least likely to address them.

We tend to redefine our holiness and forget that Jesus called us to be active in our discipleship.

This quote says it best…
"People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord.

We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated." -- D.A. Carson

We have to be in guard to the enemies out there, but also to the enemies in here.

You are God’s temple God's spirit dwells in you
The church is God’s temple – do we put God first in all that we do
The universe is God’s dwelling place – do we see all people not as we see them but as God sees them?

We are a temple, not a house – building a place for God to dwell.

Jesus says we do that by being perfect as our father in heaven is perfect. Perfect is not is doing to right thing never making a mistake, or even occasionally forgetting that I am sanctified, and thus relate to people in a different way.

Full, complete, trust in god’s word, even when it does not make sense. Not my understanding but gods. See people though Gods eyes not mine.

How would the world be a different place if treated people as if they were a child of god?

Enemies without, enemies within; love them not hate them, see them as a gift from God. Come to teach me the lessons of Jesus Christ.

Forgiveness, not retaliation, honor not shame, love not hate.

Jesus just might be on to something. Never know until you live it. Let us pray….

Table Food

2011-02-14T11:45:00.000-08:00

Year A
February 13, 2011
Sixth Sunday After Epiphany
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Matthew 5:21-37

Franklin doing to right thing
Benjamin Franklin was a genius, but he refused to become a Christian. Spent time trying to prove to the world that he didn’t need religion. He had the tools to be righteous on his own. He designed a notebook, and a 13 week course to work on the virtues important to life. Conquered them all but one.

We have that same challenge, what tools do I need in order to be a righteous person in the world

A man said his prayers one morning – dear Lord I ask for you blessings – I have not gotten mad at anyone, I have not cheated anyone, I have not stolen, and I love everyone. Once I get out of bed and go into the world – help me to continue to do the right thing.

Being a righteous person in this world is a constant challenge for us all

The challenge in scripture

Both Matthew and Corinthians address that challenge. Said that Franklin was able to find a way to beat all but one of the virtues of a righteous person.

The one he couldn’t conquer was pride. How to not think you are better than other people, just because you did the right thing.

Paul tells us that being a Christian doesn’t protect us from that sin. Easy for us to fall into it.

Paul is addressing that in the Corinthian church. They were a very spiritual church, very determined to live as Christians. Thought that made them different from the rest of the world. They became guilty of spiritual arrogance. Remind them that they were still humans. Still very much a human church. Still guilty of very human emotions.

As long as there were jealousies, and diversions, and anger they were still very much present in the flesh. As long as they needed to put their name on what they did and get credit, they were still human.

All that we do is for God, not for us.

Uses the example of those who say they belong to Paul and Apollos. Have to know that Paul and Appollos were competing evangelist. Did not get along.

Yet for the sake of God, they working together. Working together for God’s plan. God is planting the seeds for the future. We are god’s building – the church belongs to God. Work we are doing belong to God.

Personal experience
Walking along in woodfield mall last week, passed a kiosk selling scented hot packs. Being nice, listened to his spiel – tried to walk away. But he had a very special deal for me, refused and would not give up. Bought what he wanted, gave him credit card, and had another deal. More tried to pay for it, kept coming back to make a deal. Ending up buying twice as much of stuff didn’t need anyway. Realized holding a Nordstrom’s bag, was probably speaking a lot louder then I was.

But in the course of our conversation told him that I was a pastor. Fascinated – because he was a Jew. Worship for him was very boring. Christian worship more uplifting.

What makes Methodist different than all of the rest?
Had a very good understanding of religion, knew the right questions to ask. What denomination are you? So what makes Methodist different from all of the other Christians. Know how to answer that question to a Christian, but what do I say to a jew.

Jesus addresses that same issue in Matthew 5 – what sets you apart from a faithful Jew? Challenged to better than the best. You have heard in scripture – but I say to you….

Wont go into the issues he addresses – all sermons within themselves. Wrong to murder – but wrong to be angry enough not to be in relationship. Wrong to divorce – but wrong to entertain thoughts that lead to disrespecting that relationship, dont make a promise – just live your word.

Being a Christian means that we not only control our actions, but control the feelings that lead us down that path to our actions.

Palestinian Pastor makes a choice to love
Both Jesus and Paul would agree – nothing wrong with anger. Natural human emotion. Anger can destroy the God in us, it can change relationships. Anger and faith can help us to repair relationships and work to redeem not only ourselves, our church, but our world.

The Palestinians and Jews are in a bitter battle today. A Palestinian pastor struggled with his anger at jews and the way they were persecuting his people. He started to pray for God to help him with his anger and resentment. Realized that to love instead of hate was not about his emotions, but about his decisions. Decide to be loving every day. When he would have to go through checkpoints he would hand his id, but would also hand a note which said real love – quote from Isaiah 53. Being that it was a part of the Hebrew bible, the soldiers appreciated the message and would talk to him about it.
The change did not happen all at once, but as time went on, went from hating being stopped, to praying to be stopped to have a chance to share God’s love. Life changed in that decision – old feelings were not there anymore.

Three levels of Methodist grace
What makes Methodist different from others – would say that totally dependent on grace. God’s grace is what makes us what we are – not our spirituality, or righteousness. Too easy for us to get caught up in pride. Nothing that we do, makes a difference, what God does through us. God get all the credit.

According to John Wesley, grace is a process. Three levels of grace. Preveniant grace – say it…
Grace given to all people, whether they come to church or not. Once we are baptized – under justifying grace. Say it… leads us to learn more about what it means to be a Christian, and what the benfits are. Sanctifying grace – grace that allows us to lead a Christian life. To do the right thing, and to show love in difficult situations. What makes us holy.

Paul talks about feeding milk, not solid food. Easy words, make it easy for us to follow and believe. Gets more challenging. Sanctification is table food. That you can do right, and that have special tools to past the test. We can feel love, but we can choose love. Grace means that we can choose in all situations.
Next week, the challenge continues, and the stakes get higher. Are you ready to go further along the path? With God’s grace can do anything. Let us pray…..

Can a Christian Lose their Christianityness?

2011-02-06T02:25:00.000-08:00

February 6, 2011
1 Corinthians 2:1-16
Matthew 5:13-20
5th Sunday After Epiphany
Year A

"Why Are We Here?"
Once upon a time, (which means this is a fairy tale, a made up story from long ago, containing great truth) –
Once upon a time, there lived a rich man who had three daughters. He was a little insecure and needed some reassurance one day so he called each of his daughters into his counting house (where he counted all of his money, of course,) and asked each
one of them, “Dearest daughter, how much do you love me.”
The first to visit his counting chamber was his oldest daughter and she replied, “O Father, I love you more than all the gold in the world.” The father knew that there was a great deal of gold in the world so he was happy with this answer and he gave her some gold coins to spend as she wished.
The second daughter came in and was asked the same question. She replied, “O dearest most loving and special Father, the
best father ever, I love you more than all of the silver in the world.” And the father was pleased with this answer. He gave her some silver coins so she could order some new dresses which she had been wanting.
The third daughter came in and when she was asked the question she paused and then replied, “Father, I love you more than fresh meat loves salt.”
The father exploded in a rage and ordered that the daughter be thrown out of the great house and not allowed to return.
The servants threw her out of the house with nothing but the clothes on her back and she was left to wander in the woods. She decided to disguise herself so she made clothing out of the rushes she found in the nearby swamp. She knocked on the back door or a large mansion, owned by one of her father’s friends, and asked the servant who answered the door for a job so that she could eat. She would not tell them her name so they called her “Cap O’Rushes” because of her clothing. She was given a job washing
the pots and pans and keeping the house clean. She worked very hard and everyone liked her work, but she seldom spoke.
One day the servants were all abuzz because a great party was to be given. There was food to prepare, room to clean, silver to polish and lots of other things to do. Cap O’Rushes discovered that her own father was invited. She convinced the cook to let her prepare the meal for her own father, though of course they did not know he was her father.
She prepared all of his favourite dishes, but did not use any salt at all. (Remember, this was back when people used a lot of salt and well before blood pressure had been invented.) When the food was brought to him and he began to eat he was most unhappy with the meal and the host ordered the cook be brought to apologize to his guest. The cook brought Cap O’Rushes and explained that she had cooked the meal for this particular guest.
“What is the meaning of this”, he
demanded. “You have embarrassed me. He says his food is bland and tasteless. Why have you done this to me and to him?”
She turned to her father and said simply, “I love you as much as fresh meat loves salt”. He father recognized her and wept in sorrow as he asked for her forgiveness. His other daughters had been nothing but a trial to him and were always wanting more and more fine clothes and jewellery and he realized that this daughter had really loved him a great deal.

I think that story is a good demonstration summary of the entire gospel of Jesus Christ. The heart of the gospel is God’s love for us. God loves us more than fresh meat loves salt. The challenge for us in our loves is always how we demonstrate our love for God.

In the gospel lesson for today – Matthew 5 – Jesus has just went up on the mountain to talk with all of the people below who are following him and listening them. This is a mixed crowd, some are his committed disciples, some are his fair weather disciples, and some are just interested parties. But the point that Jesus us trying to make to all is what it means to be a righteous person. He is telling what it means and the gifts that God will give to those who are faithful.
In verses 13-20 which we read for today he is continuing that conversation, and speaking more about the character of a Christian.

It was said that in WWII that in some cities, people were asked to make black curtains to put on their windows, so that when the enemy planes flew overhead, they would not be able to distinguish towns and cities to drop bombs on them. Washington DC was of course very vulnerable to attack, so workers got to work making black curtains for the white house. One of the workers commented however, that it did not make sense to try and camouflage the white house. The white house was such an icon for America, it was so clear to everyone in the world where the white house was, it was such a distinctive house, and was so well advertised, that if someone was looking for it, they would have no problem finding it. There was just no way to hide its identity.
Jesus has the same message for us as Christians. Christianity should be so much a part of who we are, following God should be so much a part of our character, that there was no mistaking who we are. You are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world.
Salt, light, water, fire, are all key ingrediants for our lives. Today, we are told that we are to cut down on our salt intake, but salt is still an important part of our lives. What are some uses of salt ?........

Salt has the properties of flavor, of preserving, of healing, of preventing germs, of cleansing, and many other things.

In Jesus’ day salt was also used in cooking. Every house or neighborhood would have had a stove in front of it. The fuel for these stoves would have been animal manure. In order for the manure to burn, they would add salt to it and make it into patties. Once all of the salt burned from the patties, they were no good. The Hebrew word for earth is the same word for an earthen stove. We are the salt used to burn the manure of life.

In other words, we have a mission and a purpose as the people of god. As the church we are the body of Christ for the world. Our challenge is to not just be Christ, but to be Christ crucified and resurrected.
We have also been looking at the lessons of Paul for us as the church, and the challenges to be the body of Christ in the world. Paul talks about what stands in the way of us living our our mission in the world, but also the hope we have for overcoming those challenges. And the gifts that God has given us in spite of our humanness to be rightuose in an unright world.
The Greeks loved knowledge, and the Corinthians were no different. They were willing to learn everything, and to talk about what they knew and what they learned. They even formed secret society of special knowledge, that you had to be intiated to be able to know. They even began to think that in order to have a relationship with God, you had to know God.

Not atheist believe that there is no God, there is only human knowledge, and that you can get to the kingdom of God, to a live of happiness by learning and knowing. That is not the same as someone who says that they are agnostic. An agnostic person says that there might be a god, but we will never know through human knowledge. It is impossible to know God, so it is impossible to know if there is a God. That is sort of what Paul is saying, but not quite. Paul is telling us that as Christians, it is impossible to know god. God is a mystery. But if you are faithful, and you love God, then God reveals to you all that you need to know. And all that you need to know is that God loves you.

A preacher took a questionnaire that he received in the mail - how elgible are you to go to heaven? When he scored his answers, the scale put him on the category of being too close to call. I think that decribes the average Christian today. We have one foot in the world and one foot in the bible. We try to do right, and yet there is this question in the back of our heads. How much can sin and still be called righteous? How many times can do wrong, and still be forgiven. How much can I get away with doing and still call myself a Christian.
Interestingly enough the answer is in Matthew. How many times can be forgiven? Jesus says 70X7. And yet also wants us to know that it not the point of how much we can get away with. We can get away with as much as we want, God is always going to love us.
But when we start to love God – our focus changes, from how much we can sin, to how much we can do right. From how much God has done for me, to how much I can do for God. From how many times can I be forgiven, to how many times do I have to remember that I am sanctified and freed from sin.
Righteousness if a choice that I make in how I live my life. I have complete control over it, and can seek to know as much as I can about living a righteous life. But salvation is a gift from God. Paul says that God doesn’t waste God’s time in giving that gift to those who don’t seek it.
The other gift that we are given as the body of Christ, is the mind of Christ. None of us within ourselves is strong enough, or worthy enough, or smart enough to hold the mind of Christ alone. But as a collective body of faithful people, trusting in as Paul says, Christ crucified, we together hold the gift of Christ’s holy spirit to guide our every move. And it is not about is, it is about the power of God that works through us to fulfill god’s mission and purpose.
How much can we sin and still be Christian. Jesus says that unless you surpass the righteousness of he scribes and Pharisees you cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
I am switching scriptures a little, this is the last sentence of Matthew and it will be my last point. The scribes were professionals, usually priest who had been given the task of putting God’s word into writing. The Pharisee were committed lay people, who committed every part of their lives to God and doing what God said was right. Jesus was saying that they were pretty good people, they were faithful and righteous. Jesus set the bar pretty high for us. They were the best of the best, and we are being called to be even better. They were extraordinary, but we are called to be even more. As Christians we are to give the world an unheard of amount of generosity, love, and understanding. Such as the world has never seen. Your are the salt of the earth, the light of the world. The good news is that we don’t have to do anything or know anything. All we have to do is to love God.
Ann Landers printed a story a few years ago from a lady who had attempted suicide. She lay unconscious for three days before the police found her and took her to the hospital. But they went above and beyond the call of duty by calling her every day and once she returned home they would visit her and bring her cards and flowers on a regular basis. They went out of their way to show kindness and love.
We are not all called to be police, or nurses, or firemen. We are not all called to have to faith of the scribes or Pharisees. But Jesus point is that whomever we are, and whatever we are doing, we are called to show compassion and to go out of our way to express it. That is what being a Christian is all about. God loves you, how to you show the love of God in your life? Let us pray…..

Boast in the Lord

2011-01-30T03:07:00.000-08:00

1 Cornthians 1:18-31
Micah 6:1-8
Year A
4th Sunday of Epiphany
January 30, 2011

Today I want to start exactly where we left off last week. If you look in Corinthians – our scripture does the same thing.
“For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Christianity is the only religion that celebrates the death of its leader. The jews would be appalled for the messiah to die on the cross. Muslim scripture denies the death of Christ, Hindus explain death away, and say that it did not really happen. 3/4th of the scripture of the new testament go into detail about Christ dying on the cross and what it means to those who are faithful to that event.

For the world – the story of the cross s foolishness, but for those of us who are being saved – it is the story of our salvation.

The cross is one of the simplest symbols in the world. A vertical line and a horizontal line. It is easier for a child to draw a cross then it is to draw a circle.

Some say that the cross is a symbol of life, of the intersection between the holy and the world. It has been a symbol of God for times even before Christianity.
But what does it really mean?
Paul would say that it depends on who you are talking to.

For the romans the cross was a symbol of shame. A form of death reserved for only the vialiest and most resented criminals. Intended to be a form of torture on a symbol of shame.

For us, hopefully it is the exact opposite. It is the place where Christ lost his life, so that we could have ours. It is the place where Christ went to suffer on our behalf, so that we could be free tolive and enjoy salvation. It is the place where Christ conquered shame and hatred, and death so that we could have life.

A writer tells of the time he was traveling – and went to a mcdonalds. He noticed that the server had on a beautiful cross. He complimented her – she said thank you- but told him that it was not the cross that was important. It was the man who died on it for her. The man who rose from the grave to wash away her sins and give her life. For this man, and all who saw her cross, she became a living testimony of what God can do in all of our lives.

The cross was her wisdom. Paul’s lesson for us today is the difference between foolishness and wisdom. As a community called out and blessed by God, what do we consider wisdom and what do we consider foolishness.
The congregation at Corinth was a young congregation, finding it identity, its mission and purpose. Fully dependent on the gifts that God had given them to work with. This was also a congregation of learned people. People who valued education, who kept up with current events, who knew and understood all of the latest philosophies of the day. And who unfortunately did not have a problem letting other people know how much they valued the world of ideas.
Paul had to remind them that education and high ideals were great. And yet that was not the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus is not concerned about how smart we are- whether it be street knowledge or book knowledge. Jesus cares about the condition of our hearts. That may be foolishness to the rest of the world, but for us it is the power of our salvation.
A man worked as a case manager in a very poor neighborhood. He did not make a lot of money, but enough to take care of himself. He drove a pretty modest car, but at least it was paid for. It was a little old and in need of repair. Some costly repairs as a matter of fact. Repairs that he could not afford. Since he could not drive his car to work – his brother gave him a brand new Jaguar, complete with gold rims. In actuality, probably not the kind of car that you would drive to work everyday if you worked in Englewood. One day, he had to make a home visit. When he parked his car, he noticed a young boy on crutches on the stoop next door. On the man’s way out, the little boy struck a conversation with him. That’s a really nice car. Thank you said the man. Did you buy it? No it was a gift from my brother. Your brother just gave you that car? Yes, I am really blessed, my brother gave me this car.
Wow – said the little boy – I wish I could be a brother like that.

We would expect this boy to say that he wished that he had a brother like that, I know I wish I had a brother like that, even though I don’t know if I would want the car – insurance on the car that I have doubled the closer moved to Chicago. At one point my insurance payment was half as much as my car payment. But anyway….

The point being – our ways are not God’s ways. The values of common sense are just the opposite of God;s values. When we want to care about the kindness that others give to us, God ask us to care about the kindness that we can give to others.

Paul says that God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. He does that so that if we chose to brag, then we need to brag on the things of God, not on ourselves and our own knowledge.

Things that stand in the way of us living out our mission and purpose in Christ……forgetting that the source of all of our blessings is the grace of God, not our own work. And that God blesses us to be a blessing to others.

If you are going to brag about anything that you have, including knowledge brag in the Lord, not in yourself.

We can be grateful that we are called out – and in the community of the righteous. And God shows time and time again that God is always on the side of the righteous. God calls us always to be the righteous in the world.

Micah is God’s lawsuit against his people. Scripture never really says what they did wrong. But you can imagine. They forgot who they were. They forgot they were the righteous of God. They got caught up in their own understanding. They forgot to boast in the lord.

God gives the people a summons to court – and I love it- he tells them to plead their case to the mountains and the hills. Nature has never done wrong by God, it serves as a fair judge of our behavior, right or wrong.

Another powerful message of the text that god doesn’t need your sacrifices, your offerings, or even your first born child. If you give all of that and you forgive to give you heart- it really doesn’t matter.

John was tall for his age. Even in grade school, he towered over his classmates by three or four inches. He was also clever and excelled in his school work. John loved to read, and numbers fitted themselves together in his head without him really thinking about them, so he was good at both Maths and English.

Everybody adored John. His teachers were delighted to have someone so talented at school, who would boost the school's SATS results. His classmates loved him too. He was fun to be with, and when they were all stuck for an answer during lessons, John could be relied upon to save the day. And John's Mum and Dad were very proud of John. He was clever enough to go into any job he wanted when he grew up and he would be certain to make lots of money.

Jane struggled. She was a little on the plump side and she hated sports, which always made her puff and pant. She was dyslexic, so she struggled in class, too. The words on her page refused to stand still when she looked at them and when they danced all over the page, she couldn't understand what they said. Reading was a huge effort, but Jane persevered and struggled on.

Mostly Jane kept herself in the background. She was content with her own company but very willing to listen to other people if they wanted to talk. Sometimes she'd spot children who were unhappy, and wander over just to talk to them and gradually people would drift in her direction if they needed someone to listen to their woes.

Jane wasn't a very exciting person. Her parents loved her dearly, but they feared for her future. What sort of a job would she get when her reading was so poor and all she could do was to help other people? She would never make any money.

When John grew up he became the owner of a string of shops. He became a famous businessman who was always invited to exotic parties and he lived in a huge house with its own gym and swimming pool which he used to keep himself fit. He moored his boat in the channel at the bottom of his garden and often used his boat to spend time away from all the stress of his life.

When Jane grew up she became a Carer. She used to go into other people's homes when they were so old or so sick that they couldn't manage by themselves. Jane would help them to get out of bed or to dress or she would cook a meal for them. It wasn't a very well paid job and Jane never earned enough to buy a house of her own, but she was happy in her work. She liked being with other people and she enjoyed caring for them. And she had a nice little flat which the Council provided at a rent she could just about afford.

When both Jane and John saw news of terrible flooding in one of the very poor countries of the world, neither of them hesitated. John immediately fished out his cheque book and wrote a cheque for £50,000 for the relief fund. Jane went along to the relief fund's headquarters and offered her services. She was put to work sorting through old clothes which people had given. It was a boring and backbreaking job, but Jane worked with a will, because she knew that her efforts would help that poor country.

Later, John received a medal for his efforts and became Sir John.

Jane received nothing for her efforts but she was happy, for she knew she was especially blessed by God.

Which Had God’s favor- they both did. Which was a righteous person? They both were. The real Question is how is our relationship with God. God asks the people - what have I done to you that you have walked away from me? That you forget what you are supposed to do and how you are supposed to live. What does the lord require of you? Sacrifice, or a righteous heart. The Lord requires of us to do justice, love kindness and to walk humbly with God. Mishput, hesed, and halak. The qualities of God- that God asks for us to live out in our lives.
Justice, kindness and humble faithfulness are not just things that we do, it is not just who we are, not just how we live.
But church it is also the environment that we create around us, in the sanctuary and without it. It is what we demand of ourselves and of everyone around us. It is what we defend and what we we give.
It is our way to the cross, and beyond…..
Let us pray…..

What Holds us Together?

2011-01-22T18:59:00.000-08:00

Third Sunday of Epiphany
January 23, 2011
1 Corinthians 1: 10-18
Matthew 4:12-23
Year A

Mission statement of each church……….

Mission and Purpose

Mission and purpose, that is our focus for the next two months. What is our mission and purpose for being here, what has God bothered to call all of us here for, and are we going to follow God, or stay stuck in our excuses for why that it not possible?

There is nothing wrong with the mission, that mission always stays the same. But there are always reason why we are not living up to it. Paul goes over those reason for Corinth, but it doesn’t help for us to listen in, to see if in some small way- those things still are present today.

What you do the the least of these you do to Christ

Mr Smith tried an experiment with his social studies class – he invited each person to draw a picture of their enemy, when they were finished, she invited them to they could tack it up and throw darts at it. Sally had the perfect picture, she took her time and drew a picture of Mr. Smith. She got every detail just right, down to his pimples. She hated him and she wanted him to know it. This was her chance. Each child got their chance to stand in line and to throw their darts at the person they hated the most. Some of the children were so angry that they destroyed their pictures. And there were times when it was really hard to pull the darts out, but for some reason halfway through the line of children, Mr. Smith stopped the game. Two persons aways from her time, Sally was stopped, she would not get her turn to through the darts, this made her even madder.
But Mr Smith pulled the darts away, and all of the pictures of enemies away. And behind it all was a picture of Jesus (this must have been a catholic school). Jesus on the cross, his chest nearly torn away from all of the puncture holes. Each time one of the students threw a dart at their enemy, they were also throwing a dart into the heart of Jesus.
Jesus last words to his disciples were to feed my sheep. Take care of the things that Jesus cared for. At some point he also told that that what they do the least of these you do to me. We tend to think of that advice in a positive way. When we feed and take care of others, we take care of Jesus. But when we hurt one another, when we speak even of one another, what we do to our enemies, we also do to Jesus. Jesus takes a lot of punishment from our evil ways….

Paul’s first lesson to the church

Paul is talking to the Corinthian church, reminding them of their mission and purpose and revealing to them what stands in the way of them living out their mission and purpose. The first thing that he addresses if their disunity. We don’t have that problem here, but he tells them that there are different factions in the church. Each evangelist that came to the church bought new people into the church. Instead of joining the church, those people were following a pastor. So some people were loyal to appollos, some loyal to peter, some to paul. It never occurred to them to be think about all of the other people in the church. That they were members of the church, not of a time in its history. It doesn’t matter when or how we joined the church, we are all the body of Christ. There is only one church, the church of jesus Christ. He asks if we are on such different pages, can Christ be divided? Trick question – because apparently he can – if we are separated and living in disagreement.
Christ shouldn’t be separated, but when we disagree with one another – he is.
We don’t have to like one another, but we do have to love Jesus. And if we really love Jesus, then there is no reason for us to hate one another. What we do to the least of these – we also do the Christ.

The beginning of the Christian community in Matthew 4
Church should be a united community of people are who holy and set apart, sacred and important, called out for a purpose. The purpose is to love Jesus above all else. To leave everything else behind and to follow jesus .
Matthew 4 shows us that being called out is the beginning of community.
We know that John was in the desert baptizing people and telling them to repent for the kingdom of God was near. Many people think that Jesus started out as a disciple of John. And when he found out that John had been thrown in jail, he knew that he had to take over the job. He went throughout the countryside with the same message, repent, for the kingdom of God is near. But he had another message in addition to calling people, he asked them to follow me. He wanted them to be clear that the only path to the kingdom was to follow.
He moved to Capernaum, a fishing town on the sea of gallilee and gave that invitation to perfect strangers. Simon, Peter, James, John. No one knows what they saw in jesus. Why they gave up job, family, tradition, pride and everything else. And they accepted that invitation to become a part of community, the body of Christ.
Why do any of us accept that invitation to discipleship? What is it that any of us see in Jesus – salvation, healing, reconciliation, repentance, love, peace, joy. Whatever it is what we do see if that becoming a disciple requires a intentional decision. When we accept that invitation to follow me, we enter into a community, we will never walk alone. We may not like the people we walk with, but once we give up our lives, and we accept that invititation, we are a part of a special community called to reach out and make disciples of others – our mission and purpose.
Either we make it to heaven together as the body of Christ, or we goto hell together as we pull each other down with our disagreements and misunderstandings. What we say about one another is a reflection of ourselves.
Paul says that we should be united with one another in the same mind and the same purpose in the name of the lord Jesus Christ.

Alaha means unity
Lately I have been reading several books on the meaning of the Jesus words in his original language. Jesus didn’t write anything down, and the words of what happened were not written until hundreds of years after he died. Jesus would have spoke Aramaic as he went throughout the countryside preaching the good news. Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, are very similar languages, but not quite the same. The Hebrew word for god is elohim which means the one that is also many, Arabic – allah, aramiaic is alaha. But heres what is interesting – guess what alaha means. It means unity. Alaha is the one who cannot be separated, or divided, who is all things all people at the same time. Alaha is the sacred unity which is beyond names, forms, ideas, symbols, and concepts.
In Aramiaic, blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God means – ripe are the consistent in heart; they shall see sacred unity in all things.
Have faith in God means remain within yourselves, - live in a place of rooted confidence in sacred unity.
Can the church be divided? Not if it understands the sacred unity of god and the presence of god in all things.

Keep the Bull out of the pasture
Louie Newton was a Baptist preacher a generation ago. He used to answer all of his mail with a handwritten letter. Right before he was about to retire, he wrote two letters. One to a church that was so deeply divided that it was about to split, he gave intention instructions about what they needed to do to heal their differences. And the other was to the caretaker of his farm who was having trouble with a bull. By the grace of god when he was ready to mail the letters, he put them in the wrong envelopes. The caretaker, for the reconciliation instructions. The church council met to open this short note – close the gate and keep the bull out of the pasture. At first they were puzzled at what that had to do with all of their problems. Then the light went on in one church leaders head – I get it – the bull is the devil. We have been letting him run free in our lives. He has been running free in our church and destroying the flock. We need to keep the devil out and let Christ rule his pasture. Made sense to everybody – and they prayed for strength to live a more holy life.

Do we live out the characteristics of God?
Are disrespect, disregard, and an unwillingness to understand the needs of others the characteristics of a God who is the one which encompasses all things, who is sacred unity, above division? Can Christ really be divided? I don’t know. All things encompasses both the good and the bad in life and in people.
What I do know is Paul’s words, is that when we are divided as the church, we empty the cross of its power. When we have our own agendas, our own clicks, our own opinions, God is thinking of us, but are we thinking of God?
For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. Let us pray……

Gifts of the Church

2011-01-17T17:09:00.000-08:00

We don’t have to doubt that Martin Luther King is a called man. One of my favorite pictures of him is a icon, with him with a halo. All cultures recognize how important he was and that he had a heart to serve God.

He dedicated his life to what God told him to do.

Is. 49 is the second servant song. It spells out what the perfect servant does. Last week, in the first servant song – the bible said that a servant was a very gentle person, who loved peace, and who fought for justice, and who went in the world to make sure righteousness was done.

Today the servant says that he was called before birth, and given the gift of speaking up on behalf of the lord.

I just got my email from president obama, reminding us about Monday as a day of service, and to participate in services, but to also make sure that I worked on behalf of others on Monday. Marking this day with something useful.

In Hebrew, holy is the word qadeesha. Pure, holy saint, set apart. But it is not used with all of the baggage that we attach to it.

If I say that this cup is to be used solely for the pastor to drink out of, it is a holy cup, not because of who drinks out of it, but because it has been given purpose and meaning.

It is just like all of the other cups that it was made with, it will melt, it can be destroyed, it can be broken. It can be misused, it can be used for the wrong purpose.

But it is still holy – because it has a job to fulfill.
Nithqadash shmakh – means let the name of God be holy or set apart.

God cannot be misused, or destroyed, or broken. God is set apart from our lives. And yet God is also a part of our lives, our misuse, our brokenness.

But God continually tries to make things right, to bring things back to God, to bring reconciliation.

That is why God needs holy servants. Servants who understand that they are set apart for a special purpose, they have something to do. The will of God.

Isaiah talks about that work, but so does Paul in Corinthians. Paul set about on a journey all throughout Greece and parts of Europe and aisia visiting churches. Asking them to give from what they had in order to help the widows of Jerusalem. He soon learned that not only was each congregation different. But that they each received his message differently depending on what was going on. Some gave cheerfully and willingly to the cause, and others gave an excuse for why they could not give.

That gave birth to his letters to these congregations, addressing those issues in order to make them into missional communities who understood their mission and purpose. Which is to serve God through jesus Christ. Which is to be jesus Christ for those who don’t know that God is at work in the world.
Today we read the introduction of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. And yes he had to write two letters, they were a particularly troublesome group of people, with lots of problems that needed to be addressed. But we read both of those letters, in hopes that we can learn from their mistakes.

The greeting is pretty standard, I greet you in the name of jesus Christ. But Paul starts out right from the bat reminding them that are holy people. Called to be saints, sanctified in Christ Jesus. What does that mean? And what difference does that make in our behavior?

Paul also acknowledges that fact that they have gifts, the gifts of knowledge, speech and wisdom. What does that mean for them. The presence of gifts in a community means that God is present in that community and that god has commissioned or set aside that community for a certain purpose.

In the coming weeks Paul will talk a lot about spiritual gifts in the coming weeks. Gifts are a sign of being called by god for a certain purpose. But Paul also makes it clear that these gifts are not ours to use for our personal glory, that they are our to hold and use together in community. The body of Christ is an community not a person. When god speaks of the servant he is speaking of a community and a man. The two have to go hand in hand. In the coming weeks, we will speak more about gifts, but I do want to point out
That Paul points out that because Corinth has gifts, because the holy spirit is with them, they have to strength to get through anything that stand in the way of them fully serving God.

We will also learn that the things that Paul points out today as gifts, are really the problems that Paul is trying to address. They have knowledge but they know too much, they have speech, but they use it for the wrong things.

In our lives, it is not a matter of whether any of us are called, or whether we have to gifts to live out that call – but it is always a question of how we are using them. Are we using them to further God’s will or our own?
“It all started with two questions put to me by my grandmother during one of
our family’s regular Sunday afternoon visits with her in the nursing home where
she spent the last 3 years of her life. She was always glad to see us. There
were smiles and hugs all around every Sunday. But once in a while she would let
her guard down and tell us just how difficult life had become for her. Grandma
had outlived her husband and two of her sons, and she was bedridden. One day
she said to me, “Why doesn’t God let me die?” That was the first question.
Naively, I said what many of us have said in response to questions like that;
“Maybe God has something more for you to do.” These words would prove to be
prophetic. Years later I would recognize that moment as the beginning of what
was to be a great change in my life.
“The second question was much less dramatic than the first. Grandma simply
asked, “What did the preacher say in church today?” We had to admit that we
didn’t know, because we hadn’t been in church that day. We knew that we didn’t
dare tell her any stories, because the pastor called on her regularly and she
was sure to find out the truth. We went to worship the following Sunday, and
every Sunday after that, so that we could give Grandma accurate reports about
the content of the services. Sometimes we actually took notes during the sermon
so that we wouldn’t forget what the preacher said.
“This went on for about a year, and as the Sundays passed we found ourselves
more and more drawn to the gospel message. One day, my wife and I both realized
that we were going to worship for ourselves, because we wanted to go, and not
just so we could give a good report to Granma. We became excited about god and
the church. It was a genuine conversion experience for both of us. Christ
became real to us for the first time in our lives. Grandma didn’t have to pump
us to tell her about church anymore. We shared without being asked, because we
couldn’t help ourselves.
“That’s how it all started, but that was only the beginning. God wasn’t
finished with me yet. A few months later, at the end of the ordination service
at Annual Conference, the Bishop invited everyone who felt called into ordained
ministry to come forward to the altar. I had a very strong feeling that I ought
to go. It felt like someone was tugging at me, urging me to go. I didn’t
understand what was happening to me. My father and I had just purchased a
business together. It was no time to be thinking of a career change, so I
overruled the feeling. I remember literally hanging onto my chair to prevent
myself from going forward.” [Lectionary Stories: 40 Tellable Tales for Cycle A
by John Sumwalt]
Well you can imagine how this story ends. Once God starts knocking on your
door for one thing or another, God can be pretty persistent and Stephen Groves,
the man in the story, did in the end get both a college and seminary degree and
become an ordained pastor. But what I liked about his story was that it wasn’t
only about his calling. It also was about the struggle his grandmother was
having the discern what God was doing in her life and how with a simple question
she planted a seed in her grandson that would have an impact on many people.

It is a very simple story, but with a question we all have to ask ourselves, why is God doing this in my life, and what does God intend for me to get out of it. And when I see God, how will I respond.
Just a few days ago, a friend of mine asked me that question, where is god in this, I made the mistake of frowning and saying I am not sure. She reminded me that I was a pastor, and should be able to answer that. I have been wrestling with that question every since, I am a pastor, so I know God is always there – but its been something to think of how am I responding. Am I set apart or set upon? Am I being obedient, or spoiled? We have to answer that question as people, but most importantly as a church. What does it mean for us to be the body of Christ? What is our mission and purpose, and how to we live it out in our every day lives?
We wukk undoubtedly hear many words of king today and tomorrow. But let us most importqnt see the spirit of king and live accordingly. King fought for justice for black people, and when that wasn’t enough he fought for justice for all poor people, and when that wasn’t enough he started to define and redefine the meaning of poor people, and it was just at that moment that someone thought he was meddling too much and they killed him. And yet he faithfully followed the words of Isaiah 49 God says it is too light a thing that you should be my servant and to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to resotre the survivors of isreal, I will give you as a light to the nations that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.
How do we let out light shine?