A Tale of Two Pray-ers
What would life be like if you knew that you only had a few months or days to live. What would you do? What are the things that would become important to you? Who are the people in your life that you would reach out to. There is still so much in life to say and to do, there are so many people in my life that I have not reached out to – that I couldn’t imagine where to begin.
Randy Pausch, is a professor at Carnegie-Mellon University, who will die in a few months of pancreatic cancer. He was featured on Oprah last week giving what he called “his last lecture to his students” – encouraging them to define their dreams and to pursue them. From what I understand, there is a tradition among professor to give a lecture as if you know that it will be you last day on earth. He was keenly aware that he was living his last days. Wo don’t like to think of our death, we don’t like to be faced with the fact that we are mortal, finite beings. And that all that we have done in the world, no matter what it is, will come to an end. As Professor Pausch begins his lecture – he says that the elephant in the room, is that this is real for me, I will be dying soon.
The Timothy scripture that you just heard, could probably be classified as Paul’s last letter – words of advice to the one person who he knew would carry on his life’s work. Basically his advice was to fight the good fight of faith, to run the race of life and to keep the faith no matter what.
I learned a lot about Paul and his faith and have developed a lot of respect for him. In 2000 the Women’s division asked me to write the school of Christian missin youth study on the book of Corinth. In my preparation for writing I took a tour of Greece and Rome following in the footsteps of Rome. On that trip I realized, that as we read the scriptures, even though Paul is very graphic about his troubles- It doesn’t register just how hard his life was. But in actually seeing the places where he preached, you begin to see that he was thrown out of every place that he preached. Even though his message sounds very convincing to us on paper –he made a lot of enemies in reality. Even though he was a roman citizen, it was the roman government that eventually killed him for being a nuisance to society.
It is not certain if this letter to Timothy was written by Paul himself, or a student of Paul’s. But it definitely is a good by letter. It speaks of the last time that Paul was imprisoned, and he realizes that most of the other students that he had trained to evangelize, had by now abandoned Paul and went on with their lives. We know that he has been imprisoned, he (or someone for him) speaks of his impending death. But scripture never records that he was actually killed. Which is probably why most of us have heard Paul’s teachings in some form or another, but his suffering is not real. We don’t think about that moment that comes for him, and for all of us , when we become keenly aware that life is a finite thing – that runs out and ends. A colleague had a friend who died after a long fight with cancer – one of her last realization in life was that it all mattered – everything that she experienced in her life, good and bad was important. As Paul is reflecting on his life, he becomes keenly aware of all of the suffering. He sees all of the people that he touched in his ministry. Many who are no where to be found in his hour of need. He also realizes that no matter how many people who have come into his life have gone away – that the spirit of Christ was with him in the beginning and had never left him. And that was all that he needed. Continually he reminds those who read his final words – that Christ is all that matters in the journey of life. He tells us to fight the good fight, run the race of life, and keep the faith no matter what. Because in the end – Christ loves you enough to do the same for you.
One of the things that is common knowledge about Paul was that before Christ converted him, that he was in training to be a Pharisee- an upstanding jewish man who went the extra mile to uphold the jewish faith. A Pharisee took vows to tithe as much of 30% of his income to help others, to pray, to study scripture, to live a righteous life. Jesus didn’t always appreciate the Pharisee lifestyle, but this is the type of person that we would welcome as part of our church.
One of the common prayers that they prayed to God – was a celebration that they were living a blessed life and that they were fortunate to do everything right. This was seen as a sign of God’s blessing. This was even the prayer that Paul prays in his last letter. That in the midst of all of his suffering, and all of the people that he knew that were misrepresenting the gospel – that he was thankful that he had always done what was right and remained faithful to Christ.
Jesus tells the story of a Pharisee who came into the temple praying – god I thank you that I am not like other people, thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like a tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give a tenth of all of my income. He was celebrating the fact that not only did he do what he was supposed to as a Pharisee, that he was able to go above and beyond the call of duty. God bless his soul – how many of us could say the same in our journey to the ultimate cross?
And yet for some reason, Jesus was not impressed with is prayer at all.
Another man comes into the room – a tax collecter. Now you have to understand that a tax collector is not quite the same as an IRS agent in today’s world. We might resent an IRS agent – but at least we know that person is working for the government – and in some convulated way – might actually be on our side. In Jesus’ time if a begger received money from a tax collector, he or she would give it back. Because a tax collector was thought of as a traiter – someone who chose Rome over his own nation of Isreal. They were thought of as thieves who robbed money from their own people- because they often pocketed money after they paid the assessment to the Roman state.
But anyway, this tax collector also walks into the temple and prays God be merciful to me a sinner. A Very simple but heartfelt prayer.
There is a saying that there are two types of people who pray – those who pray because it is the right thing to do and those who pray because their life depends on it. Which type of prayer are you?
I want us to take a test- everyone get a pen and keep score o you bulletin. This test is to see if you have gained enough points to get into heaven. You don’t need to keep exact score – you can estimate if you would like.
If you have been baptized, you get 25 points. Now give yourself 2 points for everytime you have ever been to a church service in your life – just guess-. Give yourself an extra point if you made a prayer request when you came to church. Give yourself 5 point for each bible verse that you have ever remembered. 10 points for doing a personal devotion for 10 days in a row.
Now you also get points for deeds of kindness. An act of kindness for a neighbor is worth 10 points. If you have ever volunteered at a hospital you get 1 point for each hour worked. If you have never cheated on a test you get 1 point per test. If you have had to turn the other cheek instead of seeing revenge – you get 20 points each time. If you have ever gave someone your coat when they were cold – yo get 25 points. For giving all of your possession to the poor you get 10,00 points. But if all that you had to give away from the start was less than $100 – it is only worth 5 points. If you have ever been on a church mission trip you get 1000 points.
Now you also have to deduct points for incorrect attitudes.
If you have ever gone to church – you get two points for each service. But if you were thinking of something else during the sermon – then you lose 4 points for each service. If you made fun of the pastors clothes or hair- then you lose 2 more points. If you have ever said something unkind or mean then you lose 10 points for each time. If you have ever done something that you knew was wrong then you lose 1000 points for each time. If you have had an argument with a family member – any family member – then you lose 150 points for each time. If you have ever forgot to water your plants – them you lose 100 points for each time.
Now there is a chance to win extra bonus points. If you have are willing to give a million $ toward upkeep of the church – you get a million points. Or if you prefer to donate $3 millions to mission work of the church you get 3 million points.
You need 3 million points in order to get into heaven. Did anyone come even close? I usually give this test to my confirmation classes. It is much more fun to give to youth because they aren’t so stuck on being righteous, and are more willing to admit when they have done things wrong. So they see their point disappearing pretty fast.
The point of the exercise is to realize that no matter who much we do right, no matter how much money we give to god (that doesn’t mean don’t give), no matter how much many good things we do for others, no matter how much we pray – It is not enough to be right with God. never a time in your life when you will have a right to say- I am justified – I am okay. You can’t earn grace from God Grace is a gift that is freely given.
Two men walked into the temple to pray. One of them prayed about all of the things he had done for God – one asked for God to have mercy on him as a sinner. Jesus says that only one of them left truly forgiven, and justified, made right with God. That was the one whose life depended on his prayer. Because no matter how much we do right – we are all sinners. We all depend on God’s grace to live. After that lesson, our temptation would be to pray a prayer thanking God that we are not like to Pharisee. We thank God That we are righteous enough to admit that we are sinners and in need of God’s mercy. And yet, if we pray like that we have lost the point of god’s grace in our lives. I want us to end by praying a prayer that I always pray in my deepest times of fear, my deepest times of questioning, the times when I need god the most, the times when my life depends on prayer. It is the Jesus prayer – Lord Jesus, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. Amen.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
October 21, 2007
If Granny can do it so can you!
Grannies are Coming to TownTune: Santa Claus is comin’ to town
Oh, you better watch out, you better go hide Stay in your room don’t venture outsideThe Grannies are Coming to TownAnd right on their heels, the National GuardThey heard us say, "we hate Election Fraud"The Grannies are Coming to Town
Old ladies in big dresses, big hats and lacey shawlsThere surely must be danger, in their purple parasols
Oh you better watch out, you better go hideStay in your room don’t venture outsideThe Grannies are Coming to town!
The grannies are coming to town. The raging grannies that is. Every since 1997 the grannies have been gathering all over Canada and the United States. They protest, they sing, they act out, they knit, they do whatever they can to bring situations of injustice to the attention of whomever is able to listen. In order to be a raging granny – you have to be between the age of 52 and 67.
Rose Deshaw, a Raging Granny from Canada describes the philosophy of the group as always nonviolent. They call attention to evil by singing songs that all can relate to. I thought this one was kind of fun…….
Are You Voting?
(tune- Frere Jacque) Are you voting? Are you voting? You and me? (point to another RG & to self)You and you? (point to audience) Schools, jobs, healthcare. Hunger and environment. Read. Think. Vote! Read. Think. Vote!!
Rose goes on to say, “we are spreading green branches of a great tree.- for those who come behind us. Grannying is the least understood yet most powerful response that we have to the evil of the world. The raging grannies phenomena started when some older women discovered that a UN ship was coming to their town, which had a nuclear reactor on board. They were concerned that there was no emergency plan for the community if something was to go wrong. So, they went to the local mall, dressed in big hats and aprons, and bought turkey baisters to test the surrounding water to see if it was contaminated. It got the attention of the public, and the issue was addressed by local officials. Every since then, grannies have been gathering in granny gaggles – discuss the issues and to protest in the most effective ways.
I liked Rose Deshaw’s comment that grannying is the least understood, but most yet most powerful method that we have of addressing evils of the world. Even she says that it is effective, because no one expect granny’s to have an opinion, to know what it going on in the world – much less to have a voice to express injustice.
And yet it really has been our grannies who have cared the most about the conditions of the world and who have the wisdom to address it.
I have a feeling that Jesus must have had great respect for the power of raging grannies too. When everyone else is coming to give their offerings to the treasury – Jesus comments on the lady who gave all that she had – a mite – hoping that it would make a difference.
Jesus also speaks of the widow who comes to the judge to ask for justice over and over again. Scripture says that she was a widow – but we don’t really know her age of circumstance. But in our minds – we do think of her as an older woman – someone who had no other means of taking care of herself but to depend on the kindness of others. In that society, she could have been twelve- and if she was a widow with no children she would still have to beg for a living. But in our minds eye – I think that we all imagine this woman as a raging granny – someone with the wisdom and the fortitude to stand up for her rights.
The bible takes a very disturbing situation and puts a little humor in the story. Scriptures says that this was a judge who had no fear of God and no respect of another person. As a public servants – judges were expected to be intentional to watch out for and to care for widows. In Hebrew the word widow meant silent one or one unable to speak. A woman’s identity was totally tied up in the men in her life. Even the new testament says that a woman was not supposed to speak in public – if you have a question you were supposed to save it and ask your husband at home. If you had no husband – then you had absolutely no voice to speak about anything.
Jesus has a particular concern for the widows of society. He speaks a lot of being intentional to care for the widows – because they had no other means of support. The entire missionary focus of the early church was support of the widows. Paul wrote his letters to the churches in the new testament – all because he was collecting money to support the widows in Jerusalem. Any self respecting public servant would know that they had a responsibility to help a widow. And yet this judge was determined not to help a widow in need. He eventually granted her justice, so that she would not wear him out by continually coming. The humor is that is that the greek term used means to give someone a black eye. Her constant nagging for justice would badger him to the point of physically wounding him. I think that qualifies as a raging granny act. Afterall, her demands really were nonviolent.
And yet – when I think of this story I have to ask myself – where is God in this story – is God the nagging widow or the unconcerned judge. And who am I supposed to be in the story – the one who must constantly ask for justice or the one who has been entrusted with the responsibility to help others, yet chooses to have no respect for anyone else but myself?
I think that finding God in the story is a little easier to see. This is known as an if/ then story. Jesus uses this a lot in his storytelling. If a public servant who has admitted to not caring about people can grant a defenseless widow justice, then surely a God who is always just, who always cares, who is always on the side of he defenseless will grant us justice if we ask. We don’t have to give God a black eye to get God’s attention or to get God to grant us justice. God will always give us justice – which is not the same as giving you anything that you want when you want it. Justice is the love, care compassion and grace that is your birthright as a child of God – but that the world is not always so willing to let you have access to. The moral of the story is that God always hears your cries and will always give you an answer.
But what about you – where are you in the story of the widow and the judge. Are you the one in need of justice – or the one who needs to learn to give it. I think that there is a part of both characters in all of us. Jesus is telling us this story because this is a time in our lives when we need to speak up – but we also need to learn to listen compassionately.
Not all of us are poor and defenseless. Even women today not only have a voice to address injustice, they also have the power to change things. But in the eyes of God we are all poor and defenseless. There are areas in all of our lives which we have no control – and all that we can do is to appeal to God and hope that God really cares. That is the point of prayer – turning our lives over to God and humbly waiting for an answer.
But we have to be careful because the careless judge is also a part of us. We are called to be the answer to the prayers of others. Are we truly listening to their cries. When we are given power – do we use it to help others – or to save our own reputation. God is crying out to us to build God’s kingdom – are we truly listening to those cries? Prayer is the ability to be honest with yourself and generous with others. As the children of God – as the church we are called to be in constant prayer for the coming of God’s kingdom. A place where even the most voiceless of persons are heard and the most vulnerable of people are able to live a productive life.
I wanted to share with you another song of the raging grannies – It struck me as addressing a poignant issue of our time.
Just Say NO to War
One little two little three little soldiersMarched off to war and never got olderIt makes us sad and it makes us bolderJust say NO to war!
One billion, two billion, three billion dollars, Wasted on war if we don’t holler,You can go but we won’t follow !Just say NO to war!
Their kids, my kids, your kids too,Facing death - it’s up to you !Here’s what we all need to do -Just say NO to war!
I don’t feel that it is important to address what people think or don’t think of the present war. But to think about the value of life. To think about our place in it – to think of the need for us to constantly cry out for justice, to think about the part that we all play in injustice. And to remember to power of prayer, specifically of our prayers to make a difference. Amen.
Grannies are Coming to TownTune: Santa Claus is comin’ to town
Oh, you better watch out, you better go hide Stay in your room don’t venture outsideThe Grannies are Coming to TownAnd right on their heels, the National GuardThey heard us say, "we hate Election Fraud"The Grannies are Coming to Town
Old ladies in big dresses, big hats and lacey shawlsThere surely must be danger, in their purple parasols
Oh you better watch out, you better go hideStay in your room don’t venture outsideThe Grannies are Coming to town!
The grannies are coming to town. The raging grannies that is. Every since 1997 the grannies have been gathering all over Canada and the United States. They protest, they sing, they act out, they knit, they do whatever they can to bring situations of injustice to the attention of whomever is able to listen. In order to be a raging granny – you have to be between the age of 52 and 67.
Rose Deshaw, a Raging Granny from Canada describes the philosophy of the group as always nonviolent. They call attention to evil by singing songs that all can relate to. I thought this one was kind of fun…….
Are You Voting?
(tune- Frere Jacque) Are you voting? Are you voting? You and me? (point to another RG & to self)You and you? (point to audience) Schools, jobs, healthcare. Hunger and environment. Read. Think. Vote! Read. Think. Vote!!
Rose goes on to say, “we are spreading green branches of a great tree.- for those who come behind us. Grannying is the least understood yet most powerful response that we have to the evil of the world. The raging grannies phenomena started when some older women discovered that a UN ship was coming to their town, which had a nuclear reactor on board. They were concerned that there was no emergency plan for the community if something was to go wrong. So, they went to the local mall, dressed in big hats and aprons, and bought turkey baisters to test the surrounding water to see if it was contaminated. It got the attention of the public, and the issue was addressed by local officials. Every since then, grannies have been gathering in granny gaggles – discuss the issues and to protest in the most effective ways.
I liked Rose Deshaw’s comment that grannying is the least understood, but most yet most powerful method that we have of addressing evils of the world. Even she says that it is effective, because no one expect granny’s to have an opinion, to know what it going on in the world – much less to have a voice to express injustice.
And yet it really has been our grannies who have cared the most about the conditions of the world and who have the wisdom to address it.
I have a feeling that Jesus must have had great respect for the power of raging grannies too. When everyone else is coming to give their offerings to the treasury – Jesus comments on the lady who gave all that she had – a mite – hoping that it would make a difference.
Jesus also speaks of the widow who comes to the judge to ask for justice over and over again. Scripture says that she was a widow – but we don’t really know her age of circumstance. But in our minds – we do think of her as an older woman – someone who had no other means of taking care of herself but to depend on the kindness of others. In that society, she could have been twelve- and if she was a widow with no children she would still have to beg for a living. But in our minds eye – I think that we all imagine this woman as a raging granny – someone with the wisdom and the fortitude to stand up for her rights.
The bible takes a very disturbing situation and puts a little humor in the story. Scriptures says that this was a judge who had no fear of God and no respect of another person. As a public servants – judges were expected to be intentional to watch out for and to care for widows. In Hebrew the word widow meant silent one or one unable to speak. A woman’s identity was totally tied up in the men in her life. Even the new testament says that a woman was not supposed to speak in public – if you have a question you were supposed to save it and ask your husband at home. If you had no husband – then you had absolutely no voice to speak about anything.
Jesus has a particular concern for the widows of society. He speaks a lot of being intentional to care for the widows – because they had no other means of support. The entire missionary focus of the early church was support of the widows. Paul wrote his letters to the churches in the new testament – all because he was collecting money to support the widows in Jerusalem. Any self respecting public servant would know that they had a responsibility to help a widow. And yet this judge was determined not to help a widow in need. He eventually granted her justice, so that she would not wear him out by continually coming. The humor is that is that the greek term used means to give someone a black eye. Her constant nagging for justice would badger him to the point of physically wounding him. I think that qualifies as a raging granny act. Afterall, her demands really were nonviolent.
And yet – when I think of this story I have to ask myself – where is God in this story – is God the nagging widow or the unconcerned judge. And who am I supposed to be in the story – the one who must constantly ask for justice or the one who has been entrusted with the responsibility to help others, yet chooses to have no respect for anyone else but myself?
I think that finding God in the story is a little easier to see. This is known as an if/ then story. Jesus uses this a lot in his storytelling. If a public servant who has admitted to not caring about people can grant a defenseless widow justice, then surely a God who is always just, who always cares, who is always on the side of he defenseless will grant us justice if we ask. We don’t have to give God a black eye to get God’s attention or to get God to grant us justice. God will always give us justice – which is not the same as giving you anything that you want when you want it. Justice is the love, care compassion and grace that is your birthright as a child of God – but that the world is not always so willing to let you have access to. The moral of the story is that God always hears your cries and will always give you an answer.
But what about you – where are you in the story of the widow and the judge. Are you the one in need of justice – or the one who needs to learn to give it. I think that there is a part of both characters in all of us. Jesus is telling us this story because this is a time in our lives when we need to speak up – but we also need to learn to listen compassionately.
Not all of us are poor and defenseless. Even women today not only have a voice to address injustice, they also have the power to change things. But in the eyes of God we are all poor and defenseless. There are areas in all of our lives which we have no control – and all that we can do is to appeal to God and hope that God really cares. That is the point of prayer – turning our lives over to God and humbly waiting for an answer.
But we have to be careful because the careless judge is also a part of us. We are called to be the answer to the prayers of others. Are we truly listening to their cries. When we are given power – do we use it to help others – or to save our own reputation. God is crying out to us to build God’s kingdom – are we truly listening to those cries? Prayer is the ability to be honest with yourself and generous with others. As the children of God – as the church we are called to be in constant prayer for the coming of God’s kingdom. A place where even the most voiceless of persons are heard and the most vulnerable of people are able to live a productive life.
I wanted to share with you another song of the raging grannies – It struck me as addressing a poignant issue of our time.
Just Say NO to War
One little two little three little soldiersMarched off to war and never got olderIt makes us sad and it makes us bolderJust say NO to war!
One billion, two billion, three billion dollars, Wasted on war if we don’t holler,You can go but we won’t follow !Just say NO to war!
Their kids, my kids, your kids too,Facing death - it’s up to you !Here’s what we all need to do -Just say NO to war!
I don’t feel that it is important to address what people think or don’t think of the present war. But to think about the value of life. To think about our place in it – to think of the need for us to constantly cry out for justice, to think about the part that we all play in injustice. And to remember to power of prayer, specifically of our prayers to make a difference. Amen.
Monday, October 15, 2007
October 14, 2007
Have you said thank you today? - Your faith depends on it
Makeover’s have become really popular these days – people write Oprah hoping for the knock on the door that will change their lives. Extreme makeover is not just a show about houses that have rebuilt – but about people who have been rebuilt. We hear the stories of their past- we hear their dreams for being fixed – we watch their progress as they go through countless surgeries or other things will totally erase their past. We celebrate with them as their share with the community the new them – after they have lost weight, or whatever they needed to do.
There are a lot of shows that use this as a concept – but I would imagine that an even more exciting show – would be extreme makeover follow up – what happens to these people after the show- how do they deal with the changes after all of the excitement is over with. Do they become the person they were before the makeover? Or do their lives really change. And are they really emotionally prepared for these changes.
Afterall, the changes that are made are always cosmetic changes – things are fixed on the outside – but who these people are on the inside is never addressed. What inner habits may have created the outer reality is never addressed. What scars have been permantly formed from being the person they are, is never even talked about. But I think that for ages, we have all bought into the concept of living happily ever after – but we don’t want to hear the real story of what that means.
Imagine being a young man, in the prime of your life, just married the woman of your dreams, and one day she notices some white spots on your neck – and your life as you know it is over – because she has to report to the community and the priest that you have leprosy – and have to immediately move away from the community. Or imagine that your first child has been born two months ago – a son to carry on your name – and you too are diagnosed with leprosy- Or after a long period of trying to find your life work – you realize that you want to go into farming with your father – and as you celebrate your new found life – you lose it to leprosy. The laws in the book of Levitcus are very clear – if anyone notices a swelling in his skin or a scab or boil or pimple with transparent skin they are to be brought to the priest for examination. If the spot turns white – or if it looks more than skin deep, then the priest must declare him a leper. It could happen to anyone at any time in life. If they were a leper- the most important thing was protecting the rest of the community from they – so they were to live outside the gates of the city. They were to keep their distance from everyone and to declare to all that they were one of the untouchables. Life as they knew it was over – no family, no job, no meaning in life. Just gathering together with other lepers – totally dependent on the goodness of others to live. I could imagine that anyone in this condition would think of themselves as likely candidates for an extreme makeover.
Even back in that day – they had heard of an extreme makeover – they listened to that man Jesus as he talked about makeovers. They listened to his sermons as he talked about being restored to community. How even though the whole world treated them as outsiders, that there was a God who loved them and would treat them like anyone else.
No one really knows why Jesus would have been in this no man’s land on his way to Jerusalem. He was somewhere between Galilee and Samaria. Galilee was the home of the Jews, the people he was trying to reach with his message. Samaria was the home of their cousins – those who were no longer considered Jews. Yet Jesus noticed that these were the people most likely to listen to his message and to apply it to their lives. So as he was traveling to Jerusalem, this was the perfect place to stop and to preach. As he passes by the lepers – they cry out – Lord have mercy on us. To ask for mercy is to ask for what it due to you – what you deserve but for some reason it has been denied you- They wanted their lives back – they wanted the right to return back to their lives, their wives, their children, their jobs, their community – all the things that made life worth living. They had heard enough to know that Jesus had the power to give them just what they asked for. With no special potions, no special words – Jesus tells them that they will be healed. All they need to do is to show themselves to the priest, so that they can be restored into community.
They don’t even question Jesus – they immediately go back to their lives. Only 1 returns to thank Jesus for what he has done. Jesus gives him an additional blessing and tells him that his faith has made him whole. The others are healed on the outside – and yet Jesus knows that this one has been made whole on the inside too.
Jesus was in between Galilee and Samaria – his audience was mixed – we really have no idea how many of the lepers were Jewish and how many were Samarian. We never hear what happens in their lives after they return. What we do know that the one who thought to return to thank Jesus was a Samarian. Maybe he did not have a priest to return to. Maybe he did not have a family or life to return to. Maybe his mom had always taught him to say thank you – we don’t know what it was that made this one leper out of ten return to Jesus. What we do know is that this one was different – when all ten asked for mercy – nine were looking for cosmetic changes. Leprosy back then was understood as any type of skin condition. One was looking for changes in mind, body and spirit. Nine lepers were looking to get on with their lives – one wanted to live. Nine were looking for the acceptance of society – one was looking for the acceptance of God. One was looking for their past to be restored – one was looking toward the future. Nine were looking for changes – one was looking to be transformed. He was changed from the inside out. He was not the same person that he had been. He knew that from this moment on, once he had been touched by Jesus – things would never be the same. His life would be so much more than those dreams of the life that had been taken away from him. God had shown him a love that he could never imagine in a million years.
When you look at your life, which one are you – one of the nine or the one who stood out? Bear in mind that in those days- to say thank you was the last thing that you said to someone when the knew the relationship was over. If you knew you would never see the person again – you said thank you. The nine others had their lives restored – they were a part of the community again – they probably were not quite ready to saw good bye to Jesus – whereas the one – realized that no matter how hard he tried – things would never be the same for him- he could never go back to the man he used to be. That gesture of thanks seemed to really make a difference to Jesus. But this is not a sermon on gratitude – but on faith.
I can really relate to the story of Edward Spencer – he and I went to the same seminary – Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston. Edward attended that school in 1860 – a little bit before my time. One night, he was woken in the dorm – people were shouting that there had been an accident in the Winnetka harbor. A cargo ship has hit a cruise ship- people were in lake Michigan drowning. Edward was a good swimmer – so he ran the 31/2 miles to Winnetka to do what he could to help. He jumped in the water and started pulling people out- by dawn he had been able to rescue 15 people. He lay exhausted on the beach, when someone yelled that two more people were trapped on the ship. He swam back into the water and rescued them two. 300 people perished in the accident. 98 were rescued – Edward had saved 17 by himself. Unfortunately, Edward was never able to run the 3 ½ miles back down Sheridan Road to Garrett. As a matter of fact, Edward never returned to Garrett. After that night he lost the use his legs. He died an invalid in California. Late in his life, a reporter from the LA times interviewed him about his heroic rescue- he was asked what he remembered most about that night. He said that he remembered that of the 17 people that he rescued – not one of them ever said thank you. At least Jesus did get a thank you from one person. That one person who made all of the difference in the world.
I am sure that we can all identify with those 17 people. Some probably were healed – some did go on with their lives – some were genuinely grateful for being saved on that night, some probably even remembered that courageous seminary student who saved them. They just never got the chance to say thank you in person to him. Having no idea of what difference it would have made in the life story of the one who gave his legs, his hopes, his calling to save them. We are all grateful for the saviors that God has sent into our lives – who have given us life in so many ways. We really are grateful in our hearts – even though we don’t think to say it with our lips. Today is a perfect day to write a note, to make a phone call, to take someone out to lunch – to say thank you for all of the Edward Spencers in our life. But this is not a sermon about being thankful – this is a story about being faithful.
This is not a sermon about the nine lepers who went on with their lives – it is a sermon about that one who had been transformed and given new life by Jesus Christ. Jesus told the Samaritan- that his faith had made him well – not his thank you.
It is our faith that makes us well- not our thank you’s. The more faith is focused on Christ – the easier it is for us to remember to say thank you for each and every gift that we have been given.
Christ is always faithful, Christ always hears our cries of mercy. Christ always gives us love and life, but it is our response to Christ that gives us transformation and new life. It is our desire to say thank you that indeed makes the world a wonderful place to live for all people. What do you have to be thankful for today? How will you choose to live a thankful life today?
Makeover’s have become really popular these days – people write Oprah hoping for the knock on the door that will change their lives. Extreme makeover is not just a show about houses that have rebuilt – but about people who have been rebuilt. We hear the stories of their past- we hear their dreams for being fixed – we watch their progress as they go through countless surgeries or other things will totally erase their past. We celebrate with them as their share with the community the new them – after they have lost weight, or whatever they needed to do.
There are a lot of shows that use this as a concept – but I would imagine that an even more exciting show – would be extreme makeover follow up – what happens to these people after the show- how do they deal with the changes after all of the excitement is over with. Do they become the person they were before the makeover? Or do their lives really change. And are they really emotionally prepared for these changes.
Afterall, the changes that are made are always cosmetic changes – things are fixed on the outside – but who these people are on the inside is never addressed. What inner habits may have created the outer reality is never addressed. What scars have been permantly formed from being the person they are, is never even talked about. But I think that for ages, we have all bought into the concept of living happily ever after – but we don’t want to hear the real story of what that means.
Imagine being a young man, in the prime of your life, just married the woman of your dreams, and one day she notices some white spots on your neck – and your life as you know it is over – because she has to report to the community and the priest that you have leprosy – and have to immediately move away from the community. Or imagine that your first child has been born two months ago – a son to carry on your name – and you too are diagnosed with leprosy- Or after a long period of trying to find your life work – you realize that you want to go into farming with your father – and as you celebrate your new found life – you lose it to leprosy. The laws in the book of Levitcus are very clear – if anyone notices a swelling in his skin or a scab or boil or pimple with transparent skin they are to be brought to the priest for examination. If the spot turns white – or if it looks more than skin deep, then the priest must declare him a leper. It could happen to anyone at any time in life. If they were a leper- the most important thing was protecting the rest of the community from they – so they were to live outside the gates of the city. They were to keep their distance from everyone and to declare to all that they were one of the untouchables. Life as they knew it was over – no family, no job, no meaning in life. Just gathering together with other lepers – totally dependent on the goodness of others to live. I could imagine that anyone in this condition would think of themselves as likely candidates for an extreme makeover.
Even back in that day – they had heard of an extreme makeover – they listened to that man Jesus as he talked about makeovers. They listened to his sermons as he talked about being restored to community. How even though the whole world treated them as outsiders, that there was a God who loved them and would treat them like anyone else.
No one really knows why Jesus would have been in this no man’s land on his way to Jerusalem. He was somewhere between Galilee and Samaria. Galilee was the home of the Jews, the people he was trying to reach with his message. Samaria was the home of their cousins – those who were no longer considered Jews. Yet Jesus noticed that these were the people most likely to listen to his message and to apply it to their lives. So as he was traveling to Jerusalem, this was the perfect place to stop and to preach. As he passes by the lepers – they cry out – Lord have mercy on us. To ask for mercy is to ask for what it due to you – what you deserve but for some reason it has been denied you- They wanted their lives back – they wanted the right to return back to their lives, their wives, their children, their jobs, their community – all the things that made life worth living. They had heard enough to know that Jesus had the power to give them just what they asked for. With no special potions, no special words – Jesus tells them that they will be healed. All they need to do is to show themselves to the priest, so that they can be restored into community.
They don’t even question Jesus – they immediately go back to their lives. Only 1 returns to thank Jesus for what he has done. Jesus gives him an additional blessing and tells him that his faith has made him whole. The others are healed on the outside – and yet Jesus knows that this one has been made whole on the inside too.
Jesus was in between Galilee and Samaria – his audience was mixed – we really have no idea how many of the lepers were Jewish and how many were Samarian. We never hear what happens in their lives after they return. What we do know that the one who thought to return to thank Jesus was a Samarian. Maybe he did not have a priest to return to. Maybe he did not have a family or life to return to. Maybe his mom had always taught him to say thank you – we don’t know what it was that made this one leper out of ten return to Jesus. What we do know is that this one was different – when all ten asked for mercy – nine were looking for cosmetic changes. Leprosy back then was understood as any type of skin condition. One was looking for changes in mind, body and spirit. Nine lepers were looking to get on with their lives – one wanted to live. Nine were looking for the acceptance of society – one was looking for the acceptance of God. One was looking for their past to be restored – one was looking toward the future. Nine were looking for changes – one was looking to be transformed. He was changed from the inside out. He was not the same person that he had been. He knew that from this moment on, once he had been touched by Jesus – things would never be the same. His life would be so much more than those dreams of the life that had been taken away from him. God had shown him a love that he could never imagine in a million years.
When you look at your life, which one are you – one of the nine or the one who stood out? Bear in mind that in those days- to say thank you was the last thing that you said to someone when the knew the relationship was over. If you knew you would never see the person again – you said thank you. The nine others had their lives restored – they were a part of the community again – they probably were not quite ready to saw good bye to Jesus – whereas the one – realized that no matter how hard he tried – things would never be the same for him- he could never go back to the man he used to be. That gesture of thanks seemed to really make a difference to Jesus. But this is not a sermon on gratitude – but on faith.
I can really relate to the story of Edward Spencer – he and I went to the same seminary – Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston. Edward attended that school in 1860 – a little bit before my time. One night, he was woken in the dorm – people were shouting that there had been an accident in the Winnetka harbor. A cargo ship has hit a cruise ship- people were in lake Michigan drowning. Edward was a good swimmer – so he ran the 31/2 miles to Winnetka to do what he could to help. He jumped in the water and started pulling people out- by dawn he had been able to rescue 15 people. He lay exhausted on the beach, when someone yelled that two more people were trapped on the ship. He swam back into the water and rescued them two. 300 people perished in the accident. 98 were rescued – Edward had saved 17 by himself. Unfortunately, Edward was never able to run the 3 ½ miles back down Sheridan Road to Garrett. As a matter of fact, Edward never returned to Garrett. After that night he lost the use his legs. He died an invalid in California. Late in his life, a reporter from the LA times interviewed him about his heroic rescue- he was asked what he remembered most about that night. He said that he remembered that of the 17 people that he rescued – not one of them ever said thank you. At least Jesus did get a thank you from one person. That one person who made all of the difference in the world.
I am sure that we can all identify with those 17 people. Some probably were healed – some did go on with their lives – some were genuinely grateful for being saved on that night, some probably even remembered that courageous seminary student who saved them. They just never got the chance to say thank you in person to him. Having no idea of what difference it would have made in the life story of the one who gave his legs, his hopes, his calling to save them. We are all grateful for the saviors that God has sent into our lives – who have given us life in so many ways. We really are grateful in our hearts – even though we don’t think to say it with our lips. Today is a perfect day to write a note, to make a phone call, to take someone out to lunch – to say thank you for all of the Edward Spencers in our life. But this is not a sermon about being thankful – this is a story about being faithful.
This is not a sermon about the nine lepers who went on with their lives – it is a sermon about that one who had been transformed and given new life by Jesus Christ. Jesus told the Samaritan- that his faith had made him well – not his thank you.
It is our faith that makes us well- not our thank you’s. The more faith is focused on Christ – the easier it is for us to remember to say thank you for each and every gift that we have been given.
Christ is always faithful, Christ always hears our cries of mercy. Christ always gives us love and life, but it is our response to Christ that gives us transformation and new life. It is our desire to say thank you that indeed makes the world a wonderful place to live for all people. What do you have to be thankful for today? How will you choose to live a thankful life today?
Sunday, October 07, 2007
October 7, 2007
Today we celebrate world communion Sunday, this is a time when we know that we are united with Christians all over the world in a common task- and we can think of the power that we have to build God’s kingdom and celebrate that it is working – the world is changing. The power of transformation is in our unity – in what we are able to do together.
But while preparing for sermon on unity in world communion, I was struck with an email that I received from another pastor. She was asking for prayers for her cousin, Danny – who felt isolated and alone in Thailand. She says,
Dannie is an American and a cousin of a friend of mine. His wife is Thai(she isn't a Christian). She became homesick for her village in Thailandso Dannie agreed to move. I spoke of Dannie last year on World CommunionSunday because he had sent an e-mail that touched my heart so very much. It read, "Keep me in your prayers. Believe me, I need it. It's so hardto be alone as a Christian. But I do talk to my Lord a lot." Because ofhis request for prayers, members of my church committed to praying forhim. When I relayed that to Dannie, his response was, "I am sitting herein tears. I can feel the prayers of my brothers and sisters. I praiseGod and I give Him the glory. Now the prayers that I and so many otherChristians who are alone need are coming to fill us with the joy of JesusChrist. Please let the people who are praying for me know that they arealso in my prayers." That was a year ago. The e-mail I just received read, "I will takeCommunion 'with you'. I will be alone, but not alone in spirit. Jesus iswith me everywhere I go. There are no churches in the mountain villagewhere I live. No missionaries either. Your prayers are important to me. I do try to 'walk the walk' and I have been able to witness several times. This is a hard land for Christians, but it is full of wonderful people." Let us not forget that as we greet each other and embrace each other asone community of faith to another throughout this world, and as wecelebrate Communion together on this very special of days, there are thoseChristians who are alone. As Dannie's sister in Christ, I will pray fordaily focus for him, for steadfastness and for opportunities for him toreflect the love of Jesus Christ to his neighbors. Thank you again for your wonderful blessings and greetings. They will beframed and in our windowsills, on our altars and yes, on the Table. Wewill truly be surrounded by your fellowship and love. I was touched by the email – because I think that it is important to always remember the other side of unity – isolation. I always tell people that it is impossible to be a Christian on our own. When people tell me that they are Christian, but not spiritual, that they are religious, but they don’t want to go to church- I truly believe that the only way to be a Christian is to go to church – to be in community. Our faith is only challenged, and thus only grows when we are around people- people that we don’t understand, people that we don’t agree with, people that we have to learn to love. And yet we have all had those moments in our lives when we have felt like Danny – we felt lonely and alone – not necessarily by chance – but by situation. We have all had our moments when life didn’t make sense. Times when the normal things in life that gave us so much comfort – are painful because they bring back memories of the way things used to be- when they are no more. All summer, we have been following the plight of the isrealites. They have been threatened with exile from their land because of their sin. Well the moment happened – the Babylonians have led some of them away. They are fed, they are taken care of, the young are even educated – but as they sit by the canals of Babylon – dreaming of the rivers of Isreal – they become keenly aware that they are not at home – God has broken the promise to them – that they would always have a home. They got such joy in singing songs of praise- songs that celebrated God’s promise to them. To make a bad situation worse – their captors taunt them – seeing their grief by asking them to sing. But how can we sing the songs of zion in a foreign land. There are many people in the world today – who are just like Danny, just like the isrealites – wondering how to maintain their faith in a foreign land. On this world communion Sunday – let us remember those who are in exile from their countries – like those from Darfur, in Africa who are escaping famine and a government who are killing them. There are many in Africa who have to escape widescale genocide. There are those who are in Pakistan who are still trying to escape the effects of an earthquake. Those from Cuba, who come to America seeking a life of freedom. We remember these and many more today – because they are a part of the Christian family – when we take communion – we are solidarity with their situations and we pray for God’s healing of their situations. Exile is a physical situation, but it is also a spiritual situation. There are times when we can feel cut off from God and what God has called us to do. Many years later, when the isrealites were able to return to community, jesus was on the way to Jerusalem with his disciples. Jesus was reminding them of the importance of forgiveness. No matter what happens to us – it is okay to feel our grief. To refuse to sing the songs of praise. But as some point we have to move on, and the only way to move on is to forgive our brothers and sisters. The disciples were a lot like we are – how do you just forgive, when someone has done you wrong. We are faitfhful people – but reality always challenges our belief of the way things are supposed to be. They asks Jesus a question that we have to ask everyday. Can you increase our faith – because as it stands – we are not able to do what you asks of us. We want to be able to forgive and forget, but we just cant. We are inadequate, there are still things that we need to learn and understand, it will be a minute before we have the energy to move on, right now – we are still in our grief and we still need time to heal. Jesus tells the disciples – that they don’t need to increase their faith. Any amount of faith at all with make a difference. Jesus tell them that the faith of a mustard seed can move a mountain into the sea. A friend of mine says that she used to go outside and try to will the mountains in her back yard to move. Of course nothing would ever happen. Yet he real focus of he story is the power of our faith. Jesus is telling us that we don’t need to increase our faith – we can witness the power of God with what we have – even if it is just a small glimmer of hope. That glimmer can change our life – and is enough to change the world. Faith is not about our positive thoughts – faith is our willingness to trust that God will take care of us. God always does all of the work. Faith is a willingness to let God do the work without us needing to be in control. A small congregation on the smoky mountains built a new church on a piece of land willed to them by a member. Before the church opened, the building inspector came to the church to tell them that they could not open because the parking lot was not sufficient. The only way to expand the parking lot was to move a mountain behind the church. We all know by now that mountains don’t move. The pastor was determined to see the church opened. So she held prayer meetings every day. After the last amen on Friday – she told them that the church would be open on Sunday. Later that day – some men came to the church, explaining that they were building a shopping mall and they needed some dirt to build the foundation. They needed to get started immediately, if they could just take the dirt from the mountain. The mountain was literally moved, so that the parking lot could be built and the church could be opened. It only takes a little – to make a big difference. Most of us – in this area of the country it would be safe to say that none of us have a mountain in our back yard that needs to be moved. But all of us have prayers, all of us have dreams, all of us have hopes that something in the world will be different. We don’t know how things will change, we don’t know what we need to do to change things. We just have a little bit of faith – that things should change. It is that small glimmer of hope that will make a difference-God will do the rest. God wants us to remember that each and everything that we do in life is about God. Every situation that we find ourselves in, we need to ask – what does this have to do with God. Every challenge that we have we need to ask – how is God at work in this situation. We don’t need to increase our faith – we just need to use the little that we have. Even in the toughest of situations, remember that all things are possible with God. As we celebrate world communion Sunday, we are all keenly aware that unity amongst all Christians is not a reality – our differences still separate us. Even in our own church family – we all can’t work together on everything. There are many people who are not in exile from the Christian community, we still feel alone in a crowd. Who feel that no one is listening to them, no one cares for them. There are those who are suffering from grief. There are those who ask - how can I sing the songs of Zion, when I am amongst strangers. How can I praise God – when I hve nothing to celebrate. Jesus request to us all – is to just sing, just pray, just hope, just go forward, just celebrate our unity – God will do the rest! Amen.
But while preparing for sermon on unity in world communion, I was struck with an email that I received from another pastor. She was asking for prayers for her cousin, Danny – who felt isolated and alone in Thailand. She says,
Dannie is an American and a cousin of a friend of mine. His wife is Thai(she isn't a Christian). She became homesick for her village in Thailandso Dannie agreed to move. I spoke of Dannie last year on World CommunionSunday because he had sent an e-mail that touched my heart so very much. It read, "Keep me in your prayers. Believe me, I need it. It's so hardto be alone as a Christian. But I do talk to my Lord a lot." Because ofhis request for prayers, members of my church committed to praying forhim. When I relayed that to Dannie, his response was, "I am sitting herein tears. I can feel the prayers of my brothers and sisters. I praiseGod and I give Him the glory. Now the prayers that I and so many otherChristians who are alone need are coming to fill us with the joy of JesusChrist. Please let the people who are praying for me know that they arealso in my prayers." That was a year ago. The e-mail I just received read, "I will takeCommunion 'with you'. I will be alone, but not alone in spirit. Jesus iswith me everywhere I go. There are no churches in the mountain villagewhere I live. No missionaries either. Your prayers are important to me. I do try to 'walk the walk' and I have been able to witness several times. This is a hard land for Christians, but it is full of wonderful people." Let us not forget that as we greet each other and embrace each other asone community of faith to another throughout this world, and as wecelebrate Communion together on this very special of days, there are thoseChristians who are alone. As Dannie's sister in Christ, I will pray fordaily focus for him, for steadfastness and for opportunities for him toreflect the love of Jesus Christ to his neighbors. Thank you again for your wonderful blessings and greetings. They will beframed and in our windowsills, on our altars and yes, on the Table. Wewill truly be surrounded by your fellowship and love. I was touched by the email – because I think that it is important to always remember the other side of unity – isolation. I always tell people that it is impossible to be a Christian on our own. When people tell me that they are Christian, but not spiritual, that they are religious, but they don’t want to go to church- I truly believe that the only way to be a Christian is to go to church – to be in community. Our faith is only challenged, and thus only grows when we are around people- people that we don’t understand, people that we don’t agree with, people that we have to learn to love. And yet we have all had those moments in our lives when we have felt like Danny – we felt lonely and alone – not necessarily by chance – but by situation. We have all had our moments when life didn’t make sense. Times when the normal things in life that gave us so much comfort – are painful because they bring back memories of the way things used to be- when they are no more. All summer, we have been following the plight of the isrealites. They have been threatened with exile from their land because of their sin. Well the moment happened – the Babylonians have led some of them away. They are fed, they are taken care of, the young are even educated – but as they sit by the canals of Babylon – dreaming of the rivers of Isreal – they become keenly aware that they are not at home – God has broken the promise to them – that they would always have a home. They got such joy in singing songs of praise- songs that celebrated God’s promise to them. To make a bad situation worse – their captors taunt them – seeing their grief by asking them to sing. But how can we sing the songs of zion in a foreign land. There are many people in the world today – who are just like Danny, just like the isrealites – wondering how to maintain their faith in a foreign land. On this world communion Sunday – let us remember those who are in exile from their countries – like those from Darfur, in Africa who are escaping famine and a government who are killing them. There are many in Africa who have to escape widescale genocide. There are those who are in Pakistan who are still trying to escape the effects of an earthquake. Those from Cuba, who come to America seeking a life of freedom. We remember these and many more today – because they are a part of the Christian family – when we take communion – we are solidarity with their situations and we pray for God’s healing of their situations. Exile is a physical situation, but it is also a spiritual situation. There are times when we can feel cut off from God and what God has called us to do. Many years later, when the isrealites were able to return to community, jesus was on the way to Jerusalem with his disciples. Jesus was reminding them of the importance of forgiveness. No matter what happens to us – it is okay to feel our grief. To refuse to sing the songs of praise. But as some point we have to move on, and the only way to move on is to forgive our brothers and sisters. The disciples were a lot like we are – how do you just forgive, when someone has done you wrong. We are faitfhful people – but reality always challenges our belief of the way things are supposed to be. They asks Jesus a question that we have to ask everyday. Can you increase our faith – because as it stands – we are not able to do what you asks of us. We want to be able to forgive and forget, but we just cant. We are inadequate, there are still things that we need to learn and understand, it will be a minute before we have the energy to move on, right now – we are still in our grief and we still need time to heal. Jesus tells the disciples – that they don’t need to increase their faith. Any amount of faith at all with make a difference. Jesus tell them that the faith of a mustard seed can move a mountain into the sea. A friend of mine says that she used to go outside and try to will the mountains in her back yard to move. Of course nothing would ever happen. Yet he real focus of he story is the power of our faith. Jesus is telling us that we don’t need to increase our faith – we can witness the power of God with what we have – even if it is just a small glimmer of hope. That glimmer can change our life – and is enough to change the world. Faith is not about our positive thoughts – faith is our willingness to trust that God will take care of us. God always does all of the work. Faith is a willingness to let God do the work without us needing to be in control. A small congregation on the smoky mountains built a new church on a piece of land willed to them by a member. Before the church opened, the building inspector came to the church to tell them that they could not open because the parking lot was not sufficient. The only way to expand the parking lot was to move a mountain behind the church. We all know by now that mountains don’t move. The pastor was determined to see the church opened. So she held prayer meetings every day. After the last amen on Friday – she told them that the church would be open on Sunday. Later that day – some men came to the church, explaining that they were building a shopping mall and they needed some dirt to build the foundation. They needed to get started immediately, if they could just take the dirt from the mountain. The mountain was literally moved, so that the parking lot could be built and the church could be opened. It only takes a little – to make a big difference. Most of us – in this area of the country it would be safe to say that none of us have a mountain in our back yard that needs to be moved. But all of us have prayers, all of us have dreams, all of us have hopes that something in the world will be different. We don’t know how things will change, we don’t know what we need to do to change things. We just have a little bit of faith – that things should change. It is that small glimmer of hope that will make a difference-God will do the rest. God wants us to remember that each and everything that we do in life is about God. Every situation that we find ourselves in, we need to ask – what does this have to do with God. Every challenge that we have we need to ask – how is God at work in this situation. We don’t need to increase our faith – we just need to use the little that we have. Even in the toughest of situations, remember that all things are possible with God. As we celebrate world communion Sunday, we are all keenly aware that unity amongst all Christians is not a reality – our differences still separate us. Even in our own church family – we all can’t work together on everything. There are many people who are not in exile from the Christian community, we still feel alone in a crowd. Who feel that no one is listening to them, no one cares for them. There are those who are suffering from grief. There are those who ask - how can I sing the songs of Zion, when I am amongst strangers. How can I praise God – when I hve nothing to celebrate. Jesus request to us all – is to just sing, just pray, just hope, just go forward, just celebrate our unity – God will do the rest! Amen.
September 30, 2007
There was a man, who spent his whole life dreaming of spending time in heaven, there were so many questions that he had of God, all he wanted in life was to sit at God’s feet and to listen to God’s word everyday all day. Well eventually his dream came true, he died and went to heaven. It was all that he had imagined it to be. He was so happy to see his Lord face to face and to be able to talk with him. There was just one concern that he had in the back of his mind. He noticed that on the first day, when it came time for dinner he was served a bologna sandwich and potato chips. And when he looked down on the people in hell, he could have swore that they were having lobster. The next day he was served a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and the people in hell had steak. And on the third day, while eating his hot dog- he noticed that the people in hell had a full blown buffet - with every good food that he could imagine.
Finally, after dinner on this day he thought he would question God – God it seems that the people in hell seemed to have these fabulous meals. I am so happy in heaven, this has been a wonderful time – but I don’t quite understand why the meals are so bland – when the people in hell have a feast every night. God replied – well you know – it is just so hard to cook for two people. I told that story once at a meeting, and a really strict Christian woman looked at me in horror – how dare I talk that way about heaven. But that joke has special meaning for me- because I find that it really is difficult to cook for two people. At least when my son was home – I never really shopped for what I wanted because I knew that he would eat it before I got a chance. But at least when we had leftover – I could force him to eat them until they were gone. Now that it is just me, I get all of these cravings for all of the food that I really want. But after one day – it sits in the refrigerator forever, because I don’t want it anymore, I am not going to force myself to eat old food and it goes to waste. It is just so hard to cook for one or two people.
But I guess that really religious woman at the meeting was right – the real point is about heaven. How do we live our lives in order to get there, what happens when we get there, and doesn’t going to heaven give us certain rights and priviledges over the people going to hell? (by the grace of God I am expecting to go to heaven, and I am expecting each of you to be given that same grace – but really, does that mean that we have more rights and priviledges over the people who are going to hell? I think that is a question that could be debated over and over again.
Both 1 Timothy and Luke talk about the rights and priviledges of those who are going to heaven. In Timothy, Paul is giving advice to his mentee Timothy. He is addressing those preachers in Ephesus who loved to stir up controversy and to keep the people confused. We have all heard Paul’s advice whether we know anything about the bible or not. Most of us have heard to advice as money is the root of all evil. And yet that is not what Paul says – Paul was not talking about money at all. He actually says the love of money is the root of all evil. Your attitude toward money and all of your wordly possessions is what leads you to heaven or hell. Jesus would agree with that point. It is that craving inside to have more, to be better, to create bigger that drives us to steal more than our fair share of resources intended for all. It is our need to maintain the lifestyle that we think we are entitled to the leads us to forget about the needs of other people. We have to fill up our gas tanks on a regular basis. I have heard stories that in less than fifty years the world will have used up most of the natural oil supply. But when you depend on your car every day to get to work and there is no direct route of public transportation – using up all of the oil in the world is a very distant reality. What we need to get through our everyday lives – is just one example of how our needs and our desires and our cravings control our life. There is just no room for us to think of the big picture of how we affect others and our own future. The media thrives on creating needs in our lives – we are told everyday that it is time for us to buy a new car, - have you seen the Honda commercial where the man actually knocks on the tv and tells you that if you are seeing this commercial that its that time of year again – time to new car. We are also told that we need to update our wardrobe, and that if you really want to be cool – you need to drink Miller beer. These companies spend so much money creating needs for us because they depend on our attititude toward money to survive. They need us to need more, bigger, better, improved. The love of money is not the root of all evil, it is the feeling that what I have is not enough- so I need to get more that is the root of all evil. It is the root of our jealousy, our anger, our disappointment, our need to put our needs before the needs of other people. Because our needs are not only immediate, they are also important.
It is 1 Timothy that reminds us that there is great gain in learning to be content with what you have. You came into this world with nothing and you will leave with nothing and God will supply what you all that you really need in the meantime. Paul says that there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment.
There are many of us grace filled Christians, who think that God fulfilling our basic needs is a special blessing. When we are given extra money, when we are given more than what we need to survive, when we get that house that we have been praying for – we look at that as a sign that God really loves us, that God has given us special favor. Forgetting that on the day that we were given more, that there are countless others who don’t have enough money, who don’t have enough food, who were not cured of that illness that God loves just as much as God loves us. It is not what we possess that is evil, it is our attitude toward it that is. There is great gain in godliness – not in what we have- but in learning to be content with what we have. God had provided for us as a gift not at a special priviledge over others. Ephesus, where Timothy lived was a very wealthy town. I have walked down the streets of Ephesus myself – the sidewalks are made of marble, and each house actually had heated floors so that you could keep your feet warm in the winter. Paul reminds that people of Ephesus to take the blessings that they had been given to be rich not in possessions, but in good works generosity and the willingess to share. It is okay to have things, as long as you also have the right attitude. Paul would later point out that God blesses us, not because we are special – but so that we can cheerfully share with others. I read a quote from a bishop who put the concept of sharing in a very powerful way. To the hungry belongs the bread you keep, to the naked belongs the clothing in your closet, to the barefoot the shoes you leave to rot, to the needy, the silver you buried. I thought that was a harsh way to encourage us to share – yet definitely something to think about. Actually I learned that in greek the word for community and the word for generosity are the same root – koinania. Being the people of God means to live in both community and generosity. To be willing to not only see our needs, but also see the needs of others around us.
There were two men who were in a second story apartment. One of the men encouraged the other to look out the window and to report what he saw. Well I see a woman playing in the park with her children. I see a couple taking a walk – I see, a man sitting on a bench. They walked away from the window – and there was a mirror directly opposite the window and he asked the man to look in the mirror and to once again report what he saw. The man reported – I see a reflection of myself. The other man responded – isn’t that interesting a window and a mirror – both are made on glass. It is just that one has a little silver behind it, and in the presence of that silver all that you see is yourself – when the reflection of all of the people that you saw in the mirror is still there- but you were not looking for them, so you didn’t see them. It is not the love of silver that is the root of all evil – it is our attitude toward silver that is the root of all evil. And I know that most of us here consider ourselves to be grace filled Christians – we think that we don’t have a problem with our giving – we give what we can – but let me ask you, How many of us look in the mirror everday – looking only for ourselves – being totally blinded by what we see. How many of us look in our lives everyday – looking at only our concerns, our needs for the day – never thinking to look for the presence of others.
Jesus drives the point home by telling the story of Lazarus and the rich man. This is actually a very old story told in a new way. The Egyptian god of the underworld – Osirus was the one who would give the cup of life to the favored dead – so that they could indeed be renewed and refreshed with new life. Jesus takes this old concept and instead of Osirus giving the cup of life – it is Abraham the father of all of the faithful who gives the cup of new life to Lazarus who had a very tough life, but now that he is in heaven finds rest and comfort, while the rich man who had it all in life finds discomfort and painful realizations. The switching of fate that we expect in heaven. Now in life- the man was not mean, he didn’t do harm to Lazarus, he was not responsible for Lazurus suffering. As a matter of fact, he didn’t even see Lazurus – he didn’t even know that people like Lazurus existed. It wasn’t wrong – but when he got to heaven it was enough to make him feel connected to God. Hell is longing for something that you realize that you can never have. He missed an opportunity of grace that will never be offered to him again. In getting caught up in fulfilling his daily needs – he never even thought to listen to the call of God to be in generous community.- to share what he had with those who asked.
Last week a man came into the church to ask for money to get back to Gary Indiana. He had been stuck in Oak Park for 48 hours and no one would give him the money to get home. I gave him $10 to get home and asked that when he got it that he be sure to give $10 to someone else. The day care director chastised me for giving the money – saying that he could have used it for drugs. I explained that I did not give him the money because I thought that he needed it. After 48 hours he could have walked to Gary Indiana, if he was that interested in getting home. But I gave him the money – because I am trying to change the way I see people in the world. How do I respond to people in need. When people are on the street asking for a donation – I make a point not to have anything to give. If I give it all to them – then there won’t be enough to take care of my own needs. Is it God who supplies for my needs or my money. Money is not the root of all evil – our attitude toward it is. How do we determine who much we spend on others and how much we spend on ourselves. How do we determine to trust God in our lives to bless us, not because we are special, but so that we can bless others. The rich man realized that in caring for his daily needs, he had forgot to care for his relationship with God. And now there was no fixing that gap in his life.
The man realizes what he cannot redo, but he asks that Lazarus go to warn his brothers who are living the same way. Jesus responds with one of the most ironic lines in the bible – if they are not willing to listen to Moses and the prophets, then neither will they be convinced by someone who rises from the dead. It is Ironic because Jesus is that person for us, who has risen from the dead to give us a message of generous community. It is never too late for us to realize how we have been blinded in life by the things that we look for – and if we look for him, Lazarus is sent to us each and everday to give us a message of God’s love for us. Who is that Lazarus in your life?
Finally, after dinner on this day he thought he would question God – God it seems that the people in hell seemed to have these fabulous meals. I am so happy in heaven, this has been a wonderful time – but I don’t quite understand why the meals are so bland – when the people in hell have a feast every night. God replied – well you know – it is just so hard to cook for two people. I told that story once at a meeting, and a really strict Christian woman looked at me in horror – how dare I talk that way about heaven. But that joke has special meaning for me- because I find that it really is difficult to cook for two people. At least when my son was home – I never really shopped for what I wanted because I knew that he would eat it before I got a chance. But at least when we had leftover – I could force him to eat them until they were gone. Now that it is just me, I get all of these cravings for all of the food that I really want. But after one day – it sits in the refrigerator forever, because I don’t want it anymore, I am not going to force myself to eat old food and it goes to waste. It is just so hard to cook for one or two people.
But I guess that really religious woman at the meeting was right – the real point is about heaven. How do we live our lives in order to get there, what happens when we get there, and doesn’t going to heaven give us certain rights and priviledges over the people going to hell? (by the grace of God I am expecting to go to heaven, and I am expecting each of you to be given that same grace – but really, does that mean that we have more rights and priviledges over the people who are going to hell? I think that is a question that could be debated over and over again.
Both 1 Timothy and Luke talk about the rights and priviledges of those who are going to heaven. In Timothy, Paul is giving advice to his mentee Timothy. He is addressing those preachers in Ephesus who loved to stir up controversy and to keep the people confused. We have all heard Paul’s advice whether we know anything about the bible or not. Most of us have heard to advice as money is the root of all evil. And yet that is not what Paul says – Paul was not talking about money at all. He actually says the love of money is the root of all evil. Your attitude toward money and all of your wordly possessions is what leads you to heaven or hell. Jesus would agree with that point. It is that craving inside to have more, to be better, to create bigger that drives us to steal more than our fair share of resources intended for all. It is our need to maintain the lifestyle that we think we are entitled to the leads us to forget about the needs of other people. We have to fill up our gas tanks on a regular basis. I have heard stories that in less than fifty years the world will have used up most of the natural oil supply. But when you depend on your car every day to get to work and there is no direct route of public transportation – using up all of the oil in the world is a very distant reality. What we need to get through our everyday lives – is just one example of how our needs and our desires and our cravings control our life. There is just no room for us to think of the big picture of how we affect others and our own future. The media thrives on creating needs in our lives – we are told everyday that it is time for us to buy a new car, - have you seen the Honda commercial where the man actually knocks on the tv and tells you that if you are seeing this commercial that its that time of year again – time to new car. We are also told that we need to update our wardrobe, and that if you really want to be cool – you need to drink Miller beer. These companies spend so much money creating needs for us because they depend on our attititude toward money to survive. They need us to need more, bigger, better, improved. The love of money is not the root of all evil, it is the feeling that what I have is not enough- so I need to get more that is the root of all evil. It is the root of our jealousy, our anger, our disappointment, our need to put our needs before the needs of other people. Because our needs are not only immediate, they are also important.
It is 1 Timothy that reminds us that there is great gain in learning to be content with what you have. You came into this world with nothing and you will leave with nothing and God will supply what you all that you really need in the meantime. Paul says that there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment.
There are many of us grace filled Christians, who think that God fulfilling our basic needs is a special blessing. When we are given extra money, when we are given more than what we need to survive, when we get that house that we have been praying for – we look at that as a sign that God really loves us, that God has given us special favor. Forgetting that on the day that we were given more, that there are countless others who don’t have enough money, who don’t have enough food, who were not cured of that illness that God loves just as much as God loves us. It is not what we possess that is evil, it is our attitude toward it that is. There is great gain in godliness – not in what we have- but in learning to be content with what we have. God had provided for us as a gift not at a special priviledge over others. Ephesus, where Timothy lived was a very wealthy town. I have walked down the streets of Ephesus myself – the sidewalks are made of marble, and each house actually had heated floors so that you could keep your feet warm in the winter. Paul reminds that people of Ephesus to take the blessings that they had been given to be rich not in possessions, but in good works generosity and the willingess to share. It is okay to have things, as long as you also have the right attitude. Paul would later point out that God blesses us, not because we are special – but so that we can cheerfully share with others. I read a quote from a bishop who put the concept of sharing in a very powerful way. To the hungry belongs the bread you keep, to the naked belongs the clothing in your closet, to the barefoot the shoes you leave to rot, to the needy, the silver you buried. I thought that was a harsh way to encourage us to share – yet definitely something to think about. Actually I learned that in greek the word for community and the word for generosity are the same root – koinania. Being the people of God means to live in both community and generosity. To be willing to not only see our needs, but also see the needs of others around us.
There were two men who were in a second story apartment. One of the men encouraged the other to look out the window and to report what he saw. Well I see a woman playing in the park with her children. I see a couple taking a walk – I see, a man sitting on a bench. They walked away from the window – and there was a mirror directly opposite the window and he asked the man to look in the mirror and to once again report what he saw. The man reported – I see a reflection of myself. The other man responded – isn’t that interesting a window and a mirror – both are made on glass. It is just that one has a little silver behind it, and in the presence of that silver all that you see is yourself – when the reflection of all of the people that you saw in the mirror is still there- but you were not looking for them, so you didn’t see them. It is not the love of silver that is the root of all evil – it is our attitude toward silver that is the root of all evil. And I know that most of us here consider ourselves to be grace filled Christians – we think that we don’t have a problem with our giving – we give what we can – but let me ask you, How many of us look in the mirror everday – looking only for ourselves – being totally blinded by what we see. How many of us look in our lives everyday – looking at only our concerns, our needs for the day – never thinking to look for the presence of others.
Jesus drives the point home by telling the story of Lazarus and the rich man. This is actually a very old story told in a new way. The Egyptian god of the underworld – Osirus was the one who would give the cup of life to the favored dead – so that they could indeed be renewed and refreshed with new life. Jesus takes this old concept and instead of Osirus giving the cup of life – it is Abraham the father of all of the faithful who gives the cup of new life to Lazarus who had a very tough life, but now that he is in heaven finds rest and comfort, while the rich man who had it all in life finds discomfort and painful realizations. The switching of fate that we expect in heaven. Now in life- the man was not mean, he didn’t do harm to Lazarus, he was not responsible for Lazurus suffering. As a matter of fact, he didn’t even see Lazurus – he didn’t even know that people like Lazurus existed. It wasn’t wrong – but when he got to heaven it was enough to make him feel connected to God. Hell is longing for something that you realize that you can never have. He missed an opportunity of grace that will never be offered to him again. In getting caught up in fulfilling his daily needs – he never even thought to listen to the call of God to be in generous community.- to share what he had with those who asked.
Last week a man came into the church to ask for money to get back to Gary Indiana. He had been stuck in Oak Park for 48 hours and no one would give him the money to get home. I gave him $10 to get home and asked that when he got it that he be sure to give $10 to someone else. The day care director chastised me for giving the money – saying that he could have used it for drugs. I explained that I did not give him the money because I thought that he needed it. After 48 hours he could have walked to Gary Indiana, if he was that interested in getting home. But I gave him the money – because I am trying to change the way I see people in the world. How do I respond to people in need. When people are on the street asking for a donation – I make a point not to have anything to give. If I give it all to them – then there won’t be enough to take care of my own needs. Is it God who supplies for my needs or my money. Money is not the root of all evil – our attitude toward it is. How do we determine who much we spend on others and how much we spend on ourselves. How do we determine to trust God in our lives to bless us, not because we are special, but so that we can bless others. The rich man realized that in caring for his daily needs, he had forgot to care for his relationship with God. And now there was no fixing that gap in his life.
The man realizes what he cannot redo, but he asks that Lazarus go to warn his brothers who are living the same way. Jesus responds with one of the most ironic lines in the bible – if they are not willing to listen to Moses and the prophets, then neither will they be convinced by someone who rises from the dead. It is Ironic because Jesus is that person for us, who has risen from the dead to give us a message of generous community. It is never too late for us to realize how we have been blinded in life by the things that we look for – and if we look for him, Lazarus is sent to us each and everday to give us a message of God’s love for us. Who is that Lazarus in your life?
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