What's in Jesus names?

December 24, 2011 Christmas Eve Isaiah 6:9 Year 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 is That 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 us Tonight is more than the birthday of Jesus Christ Tonight 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 names The 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 Jesus Mary 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 messiah Isaiah 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 you I 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 world Tonight 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

December 18, 2011 Year B Fourth Sunday of Advent “We all must be God-bearers” 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 Luke 1:26-38 This is the season of expectation We 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 Mark For 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 Mary Historically 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 story Scripture 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 angels Luke 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 Michael Rumor 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 a Conversation between God and the archangel Michael. It is a little long, so I won't share it with you in full. It seems there was quite a bit of Rivalry 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 that God has made a mistake and that Gabriel could never convince Mary to be the Bearer of the Son of God and that God must have rocks in his head to think That the plan would work. Michael's suggestion was something along the Lines of sending down a fully grown Son of God, in all his glory with the Heavenly host (lead of course by Michael) at his heals, which was sure to bring humanity back to God! It was a great yarn with much humour, until it came to the punch line. Michael can't believe that God is going through with the hair-brained plan or that Mary would say yes to it. God allows the company of heaven to watch what unfolds. First Mary's incredulity, then her acceptance and finally her visit to Elizabeth and her song 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 the vision 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 still don't understand. Why? Why are you risking everything by sending Jesus to be the child of such a poor family; to risk the childhood deaths all earth's children risk? I know Mary will love your Child. But the odds are so against her!" Slowly, with a gentle smile on a mighty face, God once again ascended to the throne 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 being outcast would be but the prelude to a sudden and painful death. She knew all that, and she said, 'yes.'" "Just one yes, and the world has changed. Just one yes, and the darkness is gone forever." "One day my Child's people will cower in fear. One day they'll feel its useless to go on. One day they'll decide all is against them: that the way I 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 do is remember a teenaged peasant girl. And as they remember they'll see how even one person saying 'yes' can change death into life." "What do you say, Michael," the Lord God quietly asked? "Is my plan a good one?" [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 our expectations as we wait for Christmas? Story told by Rev. Sally Buckley – St. Andrew’s Anglican Parish- Western Australia In 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 bearer Catholics 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 bearers The 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 birth Linzi 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 home If 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 possible It 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 magnificat My 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?

“Why is He Coming?” Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 Third Sunday of Advent Year B December 11, 2011 Whoever got us into the mess should be killed A 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 prison Someone 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 me The 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 theology These 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 anawim The 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 Thessalonians Our 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 God Anne 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 joy The 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 joy I 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 joy There 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 always We are not called, we are recalled The 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

December 4, 2011 Year B Second Sunday of Advent Isaiah 40:1-11 2 Peter 3:8-15 “The One Who Comes” Eschatology is our word for today Eschatology 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 Easter The 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 Christmas Without 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 blooom Have 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 messiah The 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 a highway 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 40 Those 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 people What 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 matter Comfort 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 Peter 2 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 baby When 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 seat Being 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 benediction I 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

Ephesians 1:15-23 Matthew 25:31-46 Christ the King Sunday November 20, 2011 Year A “Christ My King” An important invitation Imagine 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 invitation Now 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 Ephesians The 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 Jesus One 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 judgment That 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 bad The 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

Englewood UMC “Press on, Move Forward” Galatians 5:13-16, 22-26 Galatians 6:2-9 Philippians 3:12-14 138th Anniversary Celebration November 13, 2011 Story of 3 sisters who didn’t know if they were coming of going 3 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 Forward Press 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 backward And 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 army Alexander 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 church Okay 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 6:9 Speaking 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 obedience If 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 hope The 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 forward One 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

November 6, 2011 All Saints Day Revelation 7:9-17 Matthew 5:1-12 Year 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 saint I 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 story Every now and then someone sends you something on the email which is worth Keeping. Some years ago a friend, and I can't remember who it was now, sent An email entitled "who packed your parachute". I was interested to see Recently that it is doing the rounds again. It was one of those you are meant to send on to people who have a special Place in your life. It is the story of a US fighter pilot from the Vietnam War, called Charles Plumb. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air Missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and Spent 6 years in a Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now Lectures on lessons learned from that experience. One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam 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 kept wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform, a white hat, a bib in the back, and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said, "Good morning, how are you?" or anything because, 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 table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't even know. "Now," Plumb asks his audience, "who's packing your parachute?" Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. Plumb also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory --- he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He called on all these supports before reaching safety. Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important. We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, congratulate someone 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 parachute There 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 here One 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 us We 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 lives One 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.

October 30, 2011 20th Sunday after Pentecost Year A Matthew 23:1-12 Are you a professional or amateur Christian? The Sports world today There 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 team One 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 amateur But 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 Movement Another 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 participate People 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 pharisees It 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 laity Now 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 folk The 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 humility We 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 amateur Anthony 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

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

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

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…..