Prayers for the City

February 24, 2013 Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 Luke 13:31-35 Prayers for the City 2nd Sunday of Lent Year C Second Sunday of lent This is the second Sunday of our Lenten journey. Its winter, it is cold and many of our days are dark. This winter we don’t know what it going to happen, some days it is raining, some days its snowing, and the worse are the days when it is doing something icy in between. But it is fitting weather for lent, a time of darkness when we are waiting for the joy of Easter. It is a time when we focus on the promises of God, and we prepare ourselves for the day that they will come true. Focus of our text The old testament readings focus on our relationship with God. the promises that God makes of us and the things we do for God in return. In the gospel readings for lent focus on the journey of Jesus to the capital city of faith- Jerusalem. Today I want to focus on both readings – Genesis and Luke. They both have important lessons for our faith. The importance of Jerusalem Luke mentions the city Jerusalem 99 times – he tells the story of Jesus knowingly journeying to Jerusalem – the place where the cross has been waiting for him for decades. Jerusalem literally means the city of peace – and yet Jesus sees that there is anything but peace in the city. He sees sin, corruption, people who are not willing to listen to the good news of salvation. Jesus overlooks Chicago A friend of mine, a fellow pastor says that if you go into the Chicago temple, the largest United Methodist church in Chicago – downtown – if you go into the main sanctuary you will find a large picture of Jesus overlooking Jerusalem in tears. Scripture says that Jesus wept over Jerusalem. Our scripture for today days that Jerusalem is a city so sinful, that it kills those prophets sent to turn it around. Jesus says that he wants to make a difference but the people wont let him. And yet he knows that is where God calls him. There are many portraits of him like the one in the Chicago Temple, longingly looking over Jerusalem. But in that church in the prayer chapel there is another picture, of Jesus looking over the city – but it doesn’t take long to realize that it is not Jerusalem – you look at the skyline and realize that it is Chicago. Jesus looks over our city too – praying, hoping, inviting, forgiving and waiting. Chicago 4th most miserable city A report was just released over the weekend which says that Chicago is the 4th most miserable place to live in the nation. Rockford is #3 in the nation, Lake county #9 – the list also includes Gary as one of the top 20. The report list crimes, high forclosure rates, and declining values of homes as reasons for the misery of its residents. For someone who is looking, you can find a lot of things wrong with this city. As one who does ministry in Chicago – there are a lot of things that are discouraging. But the one thing that gives me hope if the tenacity of Jesus – who that in the midst of rejection and hopelessness, find hope. I remember attending a gardening meeting, and talking with a women – and telling her that the youth cannot come across the street to work on a garden because of the danger of violence. And the woman replied, but that is why I come to these meetings, in the hope that one day things will be different. If I keep believing, if I keep working, if I keep living, then one day our city will change. And all of the negative things that affect us, all of those conditions will disappear, and our children will live in a better community. Children of Abraham Now I don’t know that woman’s religious background – but I can say that she is truly a child of Abraham. She has the faith in the invisible, the impossible, the improbable, things that cant possibly make sense in our circumstances. How do you know when you have a call from God? when you been given a vision of a world that can’t possibly be, when you have been called to a place where there are no known pathways – you could be a child of the faith of Abraham. Emily Dickenson said – I dwell in possibility. The children of faith dwell in what is possible with God, not in what the news tells them about the world. William Cary, who started the missionary movement said that we should expect great things from God and attempt great things for God. Galatians 3:6-8 Just as Abraham believed in God and reckones it righteousness, those who believe are the descendents of Abraham. God promised Abraham that he would have children as numerous as the sea. It is Paul that reminds us that those descendants are his natural children, but more importantly those descendant are those who were able to have faith like Abraham. After these things Look at the scripture in Genesis for today. It starts out – after these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. After these things? After what things? After Abraham had been called to leave his family and go live in the middle of the dessert, after being tested by his family, after fighting enemies in order to rescue his family, after being tested by kings to worship them, after being married for years with no offspring, after claiming a new life – he had a vision from God. Scripture says that this was one of the darkest times of his life. Not so much because things were going bad for him. But because he was scared. He had been through so many changes, he had listened to God for no reason. He had no idea of what God was going to ask of him next. All God asked of him – was to believe God. to have faith in what God was calling him to do, to go where he had never been before, to create what he had never seen before, to stand up where he had never had to take a stand – and to believe. Believe in an invisible, impossible, improbable God. And Abraham responds, I don’t have a problem believing in you. But Abraham did what most of us do. We look at the one thing in our lives that we don’t have, and we say that we will believe when that problem is solved. When we receive that one thing in the world that we need. For Abraham is was an heir – he and his wife were in their 90’s and they still did not have a child. If God could do anything – why did God not give him a child. Storms and anchors come from the same place A young naval student was being put through the paces by an old sea captain. "What would you do if a sudden storm sprang up on the starboard?" "Throw out the anchor, sir." "What would you do if another storm sprang up aft?" "Throw out another anchor, sir." "And if another terrific storm sprang up forward, what would you do?" "Throw out another anchor." "Hold on", said the captain. "Where are you getting all your anchors from?" "From the same place you’re getting your storms, sir." You don’t have to worry whether or not God has enough anchors for your storms! We worship a God who is invisible, impossible, improbable and most important – omnipotent. He is the God of all things in our lives. God creates our needs, but he also fulfills our needs. God will always provide. In the midst of this dark time in Abraham’s faith – God invites him to go outside and look up at the sky and count the stars. If he could count the stars he could count his children. God provides for our needs, The God who calls us to the impossible, will equip us to succeed – if only we are willing to believe. Tight rope worker and the believer Jean Francois Gravelet was considered one of the greatest tightrope walkers in history. He was the first man to walk across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. But that was not enough for him, he liked to show off. One day while crossing, he lowered a rope to a ship, pulled up a bottle of Coke, sat down on the rope to drink it. When he achieved all of that he needed to do more. He crossed in a sack, on stilts, on a bicycle, one day he was blindfolded. By this time, he had the attention of the world, so whenever he would walk across crowds of thousands would come to watch, cheer and scream his name. Finally, one day – he announced that he was the greatest tight rope walker – he asked the crowd if they believed in him. They shouted – we believe. Okay he shouted back, I will walk back across the tightrope. But this time I am going to walk with one of you on my shoulders. – do I have any volunteers? There was not a sound – no one said anything. Until one man finally raised he hand, and said he would be the one to sit on the tightrope walkers shoulder. He rose forward, got on the man’s shoulder and they went across together. Of course the crowd roared – the tightrope walker asked once again – do you believe? He corrected them – when I asked you if you believed – more than 10,000 people shouted yes. But the truth is – there was only one of you who really believed in me. God asks us every day if we believe – how many times in our life do we really answer yes? We are the children of Abraham – when we have faith in God. when we believe in the words of God there is nothing that we cant do and achieve. Lent is a lot like that dark time in Abraham’s life. When he was holding on the a vision that he could not see. Lent is our time to wait for God’s Easter promises to come true. The opposite of darkness in life is not necessarily light – it is the faithfulness of endurance. It is waiting on God, waiting with God, faithfully believing until circumstances change. Change comes to those who have the endurance to believe, in the invisible, the impossible and the improbable. May our prayer – be like the prayer of a young girl entering the faith of Abraham – “In a city torn by pain, a city far from wholeness and peace, a city waiting still to be redeemed, give us lord the courage to say: there is but one God in heaven and earth, in dark and light in good times and bad. Amen. Dr. Charles Blair, pastor of Calvary Temple, Denver, Colorado, said, “My first year as a pastor was a floundering experience. The turning point came when I read a book of sermons by Dr. Robert G. Lee, then pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, Memphis, Tennessee. I went to Memphis to interview Dr. Lee. For a week I trailed him as he made sixty pastoral calls, and I said to him one day, “Dr. Lee, if I made that many calls, I might have a big church too.” He replied, “Well, why don’t you?” “Then I wrote to Dr. Louis Evans, pastor of Hollywood Presbyterian Church, and later went to see him. He could spare me only twenty minutes, but they changed the course of my study life. “Son,” Dr. Evans said, “for every minute I preach I study an hour.” When I came back, Denver looked different to me.” In ancient Israel six cities were founded as cities of refuge. Thither for refuge could flee men who, without malice or premeditation, had taken the life of a fellow man. Once within the gates of the city of refuge, they could not be touched by any hand of vengeance or judgment. The rabbis have an interesting tradition that once every year the roads leading to these cities of refuge were carefully repaired and cleared of obstacles and stones, so that the man fleeing for his life would have no hindrance in his way. The Cross is God’s great and eternal city of refuge from the penalty upon sin. In the liturgy of the Jewish bat mitzvah of Julie and Valerie Glauberg was this beautiful prayer: “In a world torn by pain, a world far from wholeness and peace, a world waiting still to be redeemed, give us, Lord, the courage to say:”There is one God in heaven and earth:” Summary Depression, while serious, is not to be feared. By God’s grace and with the help of modern medicine, it can be healed. Through Many Dangers, Toils and Snares “A deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him.” So says Genesis, chapter 15. The man those ominous words describe — the one who is surrounded, enveloped, by “deep and terrifying darkness” — is revered as a spiritual guide by perhaps more people on the face of this earth than any other. His name is Abram. We know him as Abraham. He’s the common ancestor of not one, but three great religions of the world: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. So you may be surprised to hear an interpretation of the biblical narrative that describes Abram this way — as a man struggling with depression. Might depression, in fact, be a possible way to explain this “deep and terrifying darkness”? It comes upon Abram suddenly, without warning. It comes upon him at a time in his life when he has little reason to be depressed, when nearly everything about his life has been going well. Man of blessing “Look toward heaven and count the stars,” a generous Lord has said to him, not long before. “Count the stars, if you are able to count them. So shall your descendants be.” Now, having lots of descendants may not seem an attractive thought to many of us — most parents today prefer smaller families. Yet, most of our ancestors valued children as though they were wealth — which, in a very real sense, they were. For a man of the ancient Near East — a nomadic herder of livestock, like Abram — having many children is the be-all and end-all of life. For Abram, wealth is directly related to biological reproduction. Every time a ewe drops a new lamb, or a nanny goat a new kid, Abram’s net worth creeps up a little. Every time a young woman of Clan Abram bears a new child, that means another set of hands will one day hold a shepherd’s crook or bake the flat loaves of bread that sustain the community. The paradox, among all this divine blessing, is that Abram himself has, as yet, no children. His wife, Sarai, seems unable to conceive. Using a word that sounds harsh and hurtful today, the Bible calls her “barren.” This is the greatest sadness in Abram’s life, that as yet, he has no son and heir. Yet, hasn’t the Lord just assured him that his descendants will be as numberless as the stars of heaven? Hasn’t the Lord just promised to give Abram and his descendants a rich land one day? When I was a child, I was afraid of the dark. I would go get in bed with my dad, and he would tell me a story, and I knew everything was okay. As long as I was with him, I knew nothing would harm me. That is the way our heavenly Father wants us to feal about Him. He wants us to know that He is always near us, just a prayer away, and He will protect, lead, and guide us, and we can feal sheltered in His arms.

First comes the test, then the Testimony

February 17, 2013 Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Luke 4:1-13 First Sunday of Lent “First a Test, then a Testimony” Year C Read Psalm 91 In honor of the season of lent I want us to start out our time by reading psalm 91 responsively, it is in the hymnal #810. I wanted to start out with this hymn because it sums up our lesson for today in a perfect way. With just the right words - look at verse 2 – it says my refuge and my fortress; my God in whom I trust. We can feel safe, not just because God is God, but because we trust in God. One of the lessons for today is to learn to trust and have faith in God. Verse 9 says because you have made the lord your refuge, no evil shall befall you, no scourge shall come near your tent. No danger comes to you, not because you are special, danger comes all of the time – but when you trust in God the dangers of life don’t affect you. Verse 11 -12 says – for God will give his angels charge over you to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up on their hands lest you dash your foot against a stone. These are probably the verses that Jesus was thinking of when he was in the desert being tempted by the devil. In the third and final temptation the devil challenges Jesus to jump from a high place- for if he is truly the son of God, he will command his angels concerning you, to protect you. And on their hands they will bear you up so that you will not dash your foot against the stone. Luke – Jesus Son of God Today, I will use some other scriptures – but I want to focus on the intent of Luke. And why Luke is important to us during this season of Lent. Interesting enough, Luke’ s Jesus is tempted in proving that he is the son of God. that is one of Luke’s biggest points – that this man, is the Son of God. We need to take his story, his actions, his love for us and for the world seriously – he is no ordinary man – and his actions are no ordinary actions – in him we see the acts of God. Spiritual grounding of Luke On the first Sunday of lent – we are reminded of the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness. Jesus was baptized, the sky opens and said this is my beloved son. Luke 4 opens by saying Jesus full of the holy spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the spirit in the wilderness, where for 40 days he was tempted by the devil. Now I want us to look at that verse for ourselves, because it says that holy spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. And you will notice in Luke wherever, Jesus is – the holy spirit has led him there. Luke likes to focus on the spiritual life of Jesus. In every lesson from Luke we see that Jesus prays, he talks regularly with God. Why is Jesus talking to the devil? And yet interestingly enough in this verse he is not talking to God. who is he talking to? He is talking with the devil. If Jesus is the son of God, and he prays, and he follows the spirit- then why would he be talking with the devil? He talks to the devil – because he knows that the devil talks to us – daily. God sends his son to earth to live our life, to have our concerns, to even die our death. Because between God and the devil is the life we live every day. Every day we face sin, evil, the devil and death. Jesus engaged each of those threats to our faith, so that we would have the strength to overcome them each and every time that they come along. Jesus first day of work The local sheriff was looking for a deputy, and one of the applicants - who was not known to be the brightest academically, was called in for an interview. "Okay," began the sheriff, "What is 1 and 1?" "Eleven," came the reply. The sheriff thought to himself, "That's not what I meant, but he's right." Then the sheriff asked, "What two days of the week start with the letter 'T'?" "Today & tomorrow." Replied the applicant. The sheriff was again surprised over the answer, one that he had never thought of himself. "Now, listen carefully, who killed Abraham Lincoln?", asked the sheriff. The job seeker seemed a little surprised, then thought really hard for a minute and finally admitted, "I don't know." The sheriff replied, "Well, why don't you go home and work on that one for a while?" The applicant left and wandered over to his pals who were waiting to hear the results of the interview. He greeted them with a cheery smile, "The job is mine! The interview went great! First day on the job and I'm already working on a murder case!" In our Gospel reading this morning in Luke 4 it is Jesus' first day on the job. Immediately he is confronted with three major temptations. And he is confronted with this basic question: Would he take the crown without the cross? These are the most basic temptations in life and they form the foundation for all other temptations… The problems of temptations We always start our lent conversation with the subject of temptations. Because temptations are the biggest threat to our trust, faith and loyalty to God. First, recognize that we are most vulnerable when, like Jesus, we are stretched to our limits. Exhausted, hungry, weak, beaten down by deadlines, stressed out by the demands that pull us in every direction -- if we cannot keep our lives in order, if we do not put Christ on the throne in the center of our lives, if we neglect the rest that God has given us in the sabbath, we are asking for trouble. Even the King of kings and Lord of lords had to face temptation when he was famished and exhausted Temptations of being a self proclaimed leader The three temptations that Jesus encountered in Luke 4 was first to turn stone into bread, to force all of the world to worship him and live a dangerous life and let God save him from his own mistakes. I thought that it was interesting that one commentator noted that Luke was attacking the leaders of the day. The emperor of Rome would have been tempted to have others bow to him and to serve him and to go as far as worship him – and Jesus tell the devil in each instance that one who is loyal, trusting and faithful to God does not need to give in to those temptations. Temptations are things that stand in the way of serving God I would say that is what temptations are – things in our lives that stand in the way of us giving God the ultimate praise and glory in our lives. They are just obstacles for us to overcome. They remind us that we are all vulnerable, and if we are not aware of what makes us vulnerable – them we give in to sin. And yet the son of God, the one who prays to god, who talks to God about everything in his life – talks to the devil – so that we can rise above our temptations and move on the life under the cross. Devil does not go away Another interesting that about this scripture - - verse 13 says that when the devil had finished every test he departed from him until an opportune time. In other words the devil does not flee and go away. He just sits down to be quiet. If you continue to read about Jesus journey to save us – evil is lurking around somewhere in the scene. – just waiting for another chance to stand up and create a problem. And evil and temptation never leaves our life either. One of the greatest temptations of life is thinking that we have overcome our sins. They can always reappear in our lives, sometimes even as good intentions. Jesus talks to the devil not so that he can defeat the devil, but so that he can show us the way to overcome the effects of the devil. You can tell how big a person is by what it takes to discourage him. Temptation are those things which stand in the way of our faithfulness to God. our faithfulness to God is the only way for us to overcome temptation. A friend of mine writes this poem about temptation OUR WILDERNESS Somewhere, sometime each one of us takes an unchosen path through the wilderness. Not the rocky, broken land, nor the frigid night winds, nor the terrible beasts, nor the parching thirst will frighten us most. But it is the loneliness, the utter fear that we are forgotten and that nothing makes sense-- this is the barrenness where we finally cry out, pray for love to find us. And then He comes. Deuteronomy says that the Lord bought us out of the wilderness into the promiseland. I like this scripture because it addresses another important lesson about lent – when you get to the promisland – never lose sight that it was the Lord that bought you through. Another lesson for lent – for all of our lives – is to remember to give our best to God – because God always gives us his best. STORY: Did you know that a person with six kids is more satisfied than a person with six million dollars? What do you think? The reason for this is that the man with six million dollars wants more. At this Lenten season, what do you like about your present giving patterns? What do you dislike? What would you like to change? Deuteronomy reminds us about the first fruits – to give the first of what we have. We don’t live on farms and grow fruits and vegetables. We go to work and earn money. Which is why the conversation is about tithing today and not first fruits. But the challenge is to look at all of our lives, all of what God has given and all of what we can give back to God. Lent is a time to look at what part of our lives are we giving to God. how are we intentionally being faithful, truthful and loyal. 2. To Deny Ourselves: Why don’t we give God what’s left of our paycheck, or of our time, of our efforts? Many people will say, “if I don’t have anything else to do Sunday, I’ll be at church. If I don’t have too many bills to pay, I’ll give a little bit.” If you operate on that principle, you will never give of your time or money. You’ll always be too busy or too broke to do anything. STORY: A Japanese artist painted a picture on a fairly large canvas. Down in one corner was a tree, and on the limbs of the tree were some birds, but all the rest of the canvas was bare. When he was asked if he was not going to paint something more to fill the rest of the canvas, he said, “Oh, no, I have to leave room for the birds to fly.” We often fill our lives so full of obligations that there is not room for the birds to fly and there is no room for God besides. This recitation helped them to remember what God had done for them. They told their story. During the Lenten Season what is the history of your relationship with God? What is your story? We need to share our story with someone this week. “Give God YOUR BEST; expect HIS BEST.” If we give God just the bare minimum, that doesn’t take much faith. Give to God your very best even if it stretches your faith. If you were giving your best to God, what would it be? What would you consider to be your very best? What would your best look like? CONCLUSION: Has God fulfilled His part of the bargain when you gave him your very best? God promised to be with you. Did He? to deliver you from whatever bound you. Did He? to teach you how to live abundantly. Did He? Are your vows a testimony to God’s blessings to you? Are they meaningful vows that connect with your whole life and vows that give God the best of your lives? What stands in the way of you giving all honor and glory to God in your lives? What temptations do you need to overcome. How do you give back to God? Have you made space in your life to give honor and glory to God? If not, lent is a good time to stop and think about how to overcome temptation, and to live in faith, loyalty and trust in God. No matter how we pray, how we go to church, how we trust God – temptation will not go away – evil will not go away. But good always defeats evil. Trust in the lord, in Jesus Christ gives us the strength to over look evil. Verse 14 of psalm 91 says o Because they cleave to me in love, I will deliver them, I will protect them, because they know my name. I will satisfy them with a long life and show them my salvation. Let that be our prayer this day Amen. We Haven’t Been Up To Bat Yet Temptation tries to blind us to other possibilities. A business man driving home from work one day, saw a little league baseball game in progress. He decided to stop and watch. He sat down in the bleachers and asked a kid what the score was. "We’re behind 14 to nothing," he answered with a smile. "Really," he responded. "I have to say you don’t look very discouraged." "Discouraged?" the boy asked with a puzzled look on his face. "Why should we be discouraged? We haven’t been up to bat yet." Brett Blair, The story is told of four high school boys who couldn't resist the temptation to skip morning classes. Each had been smitten with a bad case of spring fever. After lunch they showed up at school and reported to the teacher that their car had a flat tire. Much to their relief, she smiled and said, "Well, you missed a quiz this morning, so take your seats and get out a pencil and paper." Still smiling, she waited as they settled down and got ready for her questions. Then she said, "First question--which tire was flat?" Lent: Spring Training For Christians When I was a boy, I was told, "Baptists don't do Lent." No one knew why. I suspect that it was an anti-Catholic thing which I pray we are over. It was the old argument, "whatever they do, we don't!" - a curiously convoluted, twisted and unhealthy way to decide on religious practices. Whatever the reason for "not doing Lent," I think it is a great loss for any Christian not to prepare for Good Friday and Easter. Every spring the baseball players prepare for the season with spring training; every spring ordinary people prepare for summer by doing "spring cleaning." So why shouldn't Christians prepare for the most important events in Jesus' ministry - what he did for us on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, what he did for us on Golgotha's cross and at the empty tomb? If it helps you, think of Lent as a kind of Christian spring training and spring cleaning. John Ewing Roberts, Remembering and Forgetting

The Day Everything Changed

February 10, 2013 Transfiguration Sunday 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 Luke 9:28-43 Year C “The Day Everything Changed” Waiting for a change I don’t know about you, but the one prayer that I have had for the last 7 years now has been a prayer for change. I have been praying for a deep change, something that I can feel in my spirit. I just want everything to be different. And I have learned to be specific, I am praying for a positive change, not all of the negativity in my life. I have had enough of that. I feel like the last seven years has been one thing after another, a lot of struggle, a lot of suffering. I have been waiting for the day when everything will be different. I just want to also make sure that I don’t get so busy in my life that I miss that moment. I don’t want to get overwhelmed that I don’t get a chance to see God at work in my life. 2 Corinthians speaks to life today as being under a veil. The world is overcome with so much. It not only affects the way we live life, but it affects our relationship with God. There are so many different things in life, that we miss God – we are overwhelmed with wishful thinking, fragmented thinking, disobedience, unteachable spirit amongst other things - it is like we live life with a mask on. Change is everywhere – we just don’t see it. We have our expectations, understandings, - like a young man, who was looking for a job, and got a call one day from the zoo…. Someone tells about a man who was looking for work without any luck for many weeks. So he decided to take a break and visit the zoo. While he was at the zoo, he asked the zookeeper if they had any openings. The zookeeper motioned the man over to a tree and whispered, "Our gorilla just died last night, and we’re expecting a group of children to come this afternoon. They will be very disappointed if they don’t get to see a gorilla. If you’re willing to get into a gorilla outfit and just swing around in the cage, I’ll pay you $10 an hour." The man thought about the children, and he thought about the money, and then he said, "yes." So he got into the gorilla suit and entered the gorilla cage. Just then, the children began to file by. The man decided he was going to give the children a show by swinging on a tire. He swung so high, that he landed into the next cage, the lion’s cage. Immediately the man in the gorilla suit began to scream and rattle the cage. The children also began to scream as the lion slowly approached the gorilla. When the man in the gorilla suit thought all was hopeless, the lion said, "Mister, you better shut up before we both lose our jobs." Only mankind dresses up as something other than what God intended. We never see a dog wanting to be a cat, or a cow wanting to be a horse. But mankind has struggled with confusion about who we are, what we ought to be doing and what we are capable of. living under a veil affects everything. Including the way we see life. Change is a part of every day. God is a God if change. God of surprises. God of turning negative into th positive, flowers blooming, sun shining. But we just don’t notice it – until we take off the veil of life. And decide to find God in each day. 2 corinthians verse 14 says but their minds were hardened, indeed to this very day. Key verse for today – verse 16 – but when one turns to the lord, the veil is removed. When we see life as God directed us, see ourselves as God sees us, and our future as God sees it – change happens every day. That change that we have been waiting for, happened today. Being stuck in our ways Concluding Illustration: Openness is essentially the willingness to grow, a distaste for ruts, eagerly standing on top-toe for a better view of what tomorrow brings. A man once bought a new radio, brought it home, placed it on the refrigerator, plugged it in, turned it to WSM in Nashville (home of the Grand Ole Opry), and then pulled all the knobs off! He had already tuned in all he ever wanted or expected to hear. Some marriages are "rutted" and rather dreary because either or both partners have yielded to the tyrrany of the inevitable, "what has been will still be." Stay open to newness. Stay open to change. I am a lot like that man. My television might as well be glued to channel 7 – watch all day wake up at 4:30 am with the news, and ends at 2am with windy city live going off. Know every show in between on channel 7. Hundreds of channel – only watch one. But I would say that is how we go to church. Expect the same thing all the time. Only want to hear – what we already know. We all say we want change – but when it comes not ready to accept it. Saying that some people change when they see the light – some people change when they feel the heat. The hope in that is that we all are able to see the light. That is why we have this season before lent – epiphany a chance to really see the light of Christ in your life. Today is the last Sunday of epiphany – last day is transfiguration Sunday. Sunday Jesus went through a change. But it is kind of hard to understand. We know the symbolism of Christmas, easter. But what does it mean when a man is said to glow in the dark? And why is this story so important, why is it told at the beginning of lent? First of all can’t explain it – but it happened in Jesus life. But second was intended to give the disciples present and each of us strength. Told before Jesus went to the cross – intended to give us strength to know that the dark days don’t last always. Better days ahead. Strength for the ultimate change – the resurrection. Realizing that change is not about getting better, improving our skills or our life. About being willing to be recreated, reprogrammed, redefined, most importantly resurrected. Truly getting a new life. Sermon is not about change – about finding a new life in Christ. Only in Christ do things truly change for the better. Every gospel has a story of the transfiguration. Goes up to the mountain and meets with the masters. Disciples are witnesses to all that happens, and they don’t have a clue about what it all means. Luke tells the story – but want to point out two very special lessons in Luke. First, prayer is important to Luke. Every action of Jesus begins in prayer. He has to talk to God to make sure he is doing the right thing. Blow dryer, radio, television can do some remarkable things. But if they are not plugged up – they don’t work. Same with us – if we are not in prayer with God – we are not very effective Christians. We are back to living life with the veil on. But Luke uses a different word for change than the other two. Mark and Matthew use metamorphisis – means a total change. Change so drastic don’t recognize yourself. In a totally different form. The word Luke uses is egento heteron – change, but a subtle change. Altered – something different, something the same. I would say that change is on the inside. Just enough to go on with life and to prepare for what is next. We know that if Christ can move on in life, so can we. As a matter of fact it is the Christ in us that makes things different. One famous preacher, Barbara Brown Taylor calls it dazzling the darkness. Says when Jesus lit up inside he learned what he was made of – who was inside of him and what was on the inside became obvious on the outside. Confidence to move on and trust God in the good and the bad. Does He Show Through? One Sunday on their way home from church, a little girl turned to her mother and said, "Mommy, the preacher’s sermon this morning confused me." The mother said, "Oh? Why is that?" The little girl replied, "Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. Is that true?" The mother replied, "Yes, that’s true honey." "And he also said that God lives in us? Is that true, Mommy?" Again the mother replied, "Yes." "Well," said the little girl, "if God is bigger than us and He lives in us, wouldn’t He show through?" If the light of God showed through Jesus, should shine through us also. We should be alive to the process of transformation that we are going through – always going through – whether realize and understand or not. We bear the glory of God in our lives. Last story – 3 gold miners traveled to Montana to find gold. They found a stone – it was awful heavy – broke it open and discovered gold inside. Looked around and noticed gold everywhere. They started to dance and sing. But they soon got worried – what if someone else find out what they found. They made a pact that no one would say a word to anyone else. When they got back home – they noticed that people started to follow them. It was as if they knew the secret. So they asked each other, who broke the covenant not to tell. But the townspeople said – you did not have to say a thing – we could tell by the expression on your face – that you had found Gold. This is not a sermon about change – it is sermon about turning to the Lord – when one turns to the Lord –the veil is removed. If Christ is inside – it is obvious in your life. You cant hide it , mask it, or deny it. The glory of God is written all over your face for everyone to see. When the spirit of Christ is inside of us- we don’t have to wait for change – because our spirit is transformed! VII. Our base verse, 3:16 - “but whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” A. Whenever a man turns to the Lord, the Spirit will give understanding B. Whenever a man turns to the Lord, that man will begin to see himself through the glory of the God. C. Whenever a man turns to the Lord, little by little; bit by bit, that man will be transformed into the image of God. D. Whenever a man turns to the Lord, then the Lord will be able to remove the veil to give understanding. E. But only when we trust fully in God to deal in every situation. Happy Transfiguration Day! Let this be the day that everything changes in your spirit! Let us pray…. Amen. 1.A young girl once consulted with her minister. “I cannot stick it out any longer. I am the only Christian in the factory where I work. I get nothing but taunts and sneers. It is more than I can stand. I am going to resign.” “Will you tell me,” asked the minister, “where lights are placed?” “What has that to do with it?” the young Christian asked him rather bluntly. “Never mind,” the minister replied. “Answer my question: ‘Where are lights placed?’ “ “I suppose in dark places,” she replied. “Yes, and that is why you have been put in that factory where there is such spiritual darkness and where there is no other Christian to shine for the Lord.” The young Christian realized for the first time the opportunity that was hers. She felt she could not fail God by allowing her light to go out. She went back to the factory with renewed determination to let her light shine in that dark corner. Before long, she was the means of leading nine other girls to the Light. One of the greatest tragedies for people would be to live in darkness when they could live in the light… Rose Crawford had been blind for 50 years. Then she had an operation in an Ontario hospital. She said, “I just can’t believe it,” as the doctor lifted the bandages from her eyes. She wept - when for the 1st time in her life she saw a dazzling and beautiful world of form and color greeted her eyes and she could now see. The amazing thing about her story, however, was that 20 years of her blindness was unnecessary. She didn’t know that surgical techniques had been developed, and that an operation could have restored her vision at the age of 30. The Dr. said, “She just figured there was nothing that could be done for her condition. Much of her life could have been different.” The bible idea of TRANSFORMING is not simply change, nor is it just improvement. God is at work, re-creating who you are, re-programming how I think, re-defining what we value, why we do what we do. He is doing this so that we will be conformed to the image of His Son, the model and pattern. George Duncan once went to visit some friends in the English countryside. For years they had lived in an old-fashioned, rundown building. To Mr. Duncan’s surprise, he discovered that the house had been completely remodeled. The people had installed new lights, an electric stove, and many other pieces of modern equipment. But he was even more surprised to see the lady of the house still using a kerosene stove for cooking and oil lamps for lighting. After greeting him, she said, “George, don’t look so confused. We’ve had a great change here, but we just haven’t turned on the power yet.” I. In these verses, Paul is talking about allowing God to work in our lives; allowing God’s will to be done in all areas, A. Those areas of sin that we resist, B. Those areas of frustration in our personal or even our work relationships. C. Those things that we know need to change, but they seem beyond our ability to change. D. And in fact they are unchangeable in our power. E. We need God’s wisdom and intervention, but it seems not to come. Even the Darkness Can Dazzle To lead our exodus, Jesus had to die like we do: alone, with no particular glory. Otherwise he would have been an anomaly instead of a messiah, and it would have been hard for us to see what he had in common with the rest of us. As it was, he died very much like those who died on either side of him, one of them begging to be saved from what was coming, the other asking to be remembered when Jesus got where he was going. Jesus could not do anything for the one who wanted to be spared, but he did a great favor for the other. He told him that the darkness was a dazzling one, with paradise in it for both of them. I think it was something he learned on the mountain, when light burst through all his seams and showed him what he was made of. It was something he never forgot. If we have been allowed to intrude on that moment, it is because someone thought we might need a dose of glory too, to get us through the night. Some people are lucky enough to witness it for themselves, although like Peter, James and John, very few of them will talk about it later. What the rest of us have are stories like this one, and the chance to decide for ourselves whether we will believe what they tell us. It is a lot to believe: that God’s lit-up life includes death, that there is no way around it but only through, that even the darkness can dazzle. Barbara Brown Taylor, "Dazzling Darkness," article in the Christian Century, February 4-11, 1998, page 1-5 (Illustration) Years ago I read the story of a young man that wanted to work at a zoo. And he was immediately hired when he applied for employment. But there was a problem. The zoo’s gorilla had died and its replacement hadn’t arrived. Since bus loads of school children were scheduled for tours that week, the young man was asked to wear a gorilla costume and play the part. He figured he could last a week so he arrived the next morning, outfitted himself, and began roaming his territory next to the lions. The kids came and he entertained them by eating bananas, lurching along the hillside, and swinging on limbs. All of the sudden he looked to the back of the corral where a lion had passed through an unlocked gate. It was coming straight toward him. Without hesitation he panicked and began yelling for help as onlookers stood near. And his cries intensified when the lion prowled closer. Finally, the lion pinned him against the wall and with his hot breath panting in the man’s face the lion opened his mouth and said: “If you don’t hush we’ll both lose our jobs.”[2] Now I heard about a man. He was unemployed, and he had no place to live and no place to go, and he was just living on the streets. And he had nothing to eat, and he was so hungry. And he was walking down the street one day and he passed a zoo. And there was a sign outside in front of the zoo that said, „Help wanted for today." And so he went inside the zoo. And the man at the zoo talked to him, and he said, "Now listen." He said, "I need a guy just for today." He said, "We had our gorilla get sick and it had to go to the vet, and it is not available. And the Girl Scouts are coming in today to the zoo. And one of the attractions they really like is the gorilla. And so we don't have a gorilla, so we need to hire you and put you in a gorilla suit, and we want you to play the gorilla for the day for the Girl Scouts." And he said, "Well, how much does it pay?" He said, "At the end of the day I'll give you $50.00. But I'm not going to give you anything until after you work the day." And so the man was so hungry, and he said, "Okay." He said, "I guess I can hold out until the end of the day to get my $50.00 so I can get something to eat." So he puts on the gorilla suit. And he's there in the cage pretending to be a gorilla. And the Girl Scouts come by. And he does a few things. You know, the Girl Scouts are looking and saying, "Well, that gorilla doesn't do anything." So he, he kind of jumped around al little bit, you know, like gorillas do, and he makes a gorilla noise, ha-ha-ha. You know, he does that stuff. And the Girl Scouts, one of them broke a cookie in half and threw it in the cage. And he was starving to death. So he picked up that cookie and he ate it. And he realized that if I start doing some tricks, they start throwing some cookies. So he did some more tricks. And he jumped around, and he jumped on the cage. And they thought that was so good, and so they threw more cookies. And then, he got on the swing and he began to swing on that swing. And they loved that, and they were throwing boxes of Girl Scout cookies at him. And he was so excited. And he got on that swing and he swung as high as he could possibly go. And he swung over the lion's den. And when he did, the rope broke and he fell into the lion's den. And he saw that lion, and he began to scream and yell and run. And that lion cornered him and knocked him down. And that lion put his paw on his chest and said, "Shut up, you fool, or we'll both lose our jobs!" (laughter). Strange zoo (laughter). Some imposters at the zoo. They were men in animal's clothing. The Mormons and certain Eastern religions believe that mankind can evolve into gods. The naturalists believe that nothing evolved into something, which evolved into mankind, and when we die, we return to nothing. And there are those who are not concerned about God and are simply doing the best they can, making a living, even if it means being or doing what God never intended. They don’t know any better. Heres what Cambridge scholar N.T Wright has to say about the subject, "Why did christianity arise, and why did it take the shape it did? The early Christians themselves reply: We exist because of Jesus’ resurrection…. There is no evidence for a form of early Christianity in which the resurrection was not a central belief. Nor was this belief, as it were, bolted on to Christianity at the edge. It was the central driving force, informing the whole movement."

Faith, Hope and Love

February 3, 2013 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Luke 4:21-30 4th Sunday of Epiphany Year C Is it too early to preach about valentines day? It is February 3rd – probably a little too early to talk about Valentine’s Day, chocolates, and romance, and all that goes with it. But the good news is that it is never too early to talk about the true love of God. Valentines day is the day after Ash Wednesday – That should be an interesting challenge – the day after you promise to be good and do everything right, comes the day of indulgence. What are you going to do with all of the chocolate candy that you get for Valentines day? People are obsesses with love It seems that we are obsessed with love. You turn on the radio – and that it all that you hear about – Do you love me? If you search on amazon for book – you can find about 2500 titles on the subject of heaven, 10,000 titles on money, 16000 titles about sex. But 30,000 titles with the word love in them. WHAT'S GOD GOT TO DO WITH IT? If you “Google” the word love, and you have to be very careful doing this, you will find all sorts of websites,120,000,000 to be exact. Here are some examples that you will find: I love Dogs.com I love Cats.com (Although this one is a plea to spay or neuter) I love Cheese. Com I love Lucy.com We love the Iraqi Information Minister.com True Romance Dating Service.com Love Test.com Matchmaker.com The Love Calculator.com On this site you type in your name and your mates name and it gives you the odds of your relationship lasting. Alana and I got 41%) The interesting aspect is that on all these sites, love is seen as almost an entirely human endeavor. Love is a very important part of what it means to be a human being. Everywhere we are go – we are looking for love. And yet, if we think of love as solely something between two people- then we are looking for love in the wrong place. Pauls definition of love We have been studying the words of Paul for the last few weeks. He has talked about spiritual gifts, he has talked about the unity of the body of Christ. Today he talks about the importance of love. Chapter 13 – is the love chapter. If you go to ten weddings this year – you will hear this verse read at 91/2 of them. The virtues of love. Applying these verses to the relationship of two people – is actually a total misinterpretation of Paul’s point. The last thing that paul says in chapter 12 is - and yet I will show you the most excellent way. Love between two people is certainly something important to be celebrated. But the love that paul speaks of is bigger than that. Paul is not the pastor marrying two individuals. Paul has come to a troubles congregation to help them to get along in a better way. The more excellent way – is to live in the love of god in everything that you do – including going to church. Remember Paul is talking about spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts in a community is a sign that the holy spirit is working in that community. If we are a part of that community, then the holy spirit has given us a gift to use for the glory of god. We can celebrate that, we can use that gift. But don’t just stop there. We know the words – but do we live the life? There is a story about a man who was walking down the street. He passed a used-book store, and in the window he saw a book with the title How to Hug. He was taken by the title and, being of a somewhat romantic nature, went in to buy the book. To his chagrin, he discovered that it was the seventh volume of an encyclopedia and covered the subjects “how” to “hug.” Everyone knows that the church is a place where love ought to be manifested, and many people have come to church hoping to find a demonstration of love—only to discover an encyclopedia on theology. 1. What kind of church is Somerset? 2. Is it a place where folks can find a demonstration of love? 3. Or is it only an encyclopedia on theology? 4. Or is it people who only care about themselves? 5. Can people see and experience demonstrations of God’s love? 6. Folks need to see our love! All any of us really want is someone to love us. all any of us is looking for in life is love. In a world where domestic violence, unfaithfulness, and broken relationships are the headlines of the day – we are all looking for stories of love. Remember at the carnival there was always this machine called the love tester – you would pay your money, put you and on the lever, and it would tell you whether the relationship you were in was true love. Yet paul gives the true test of love here in Corinthians 13 Love Tester Is it patient? Is it kind? It’s certainly not envious, nor boastful, nor arrogant, nor rude Does it insist on its own way? Is it irritable or resentful? That love always seeks the truth It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things Love never ends Man plays Jesus – but does not live Jesus words The story’s told of an actor who was playing the part of Jesus in a passion play. As he was carrying his cross up the hill a heckler in the crowd made fun of him and said terrible things to him. The actor threw down the cross, walked over… and decked the guy. The director took him aside and told him “I know he was a pest, but I can’t condone what you did. Besides, you’re playing the part of Jesus, & Jesus never retaliated. So don’t do anything like that again." Well, the man promised he wouldn’t. But the next day the heckler was back worse than before, & finally the actor exploded and punched him out again. This time the director said "That’s it. I have to fire you. We just can’t have you behaving this way while playing the part of Jesus." The actor begged, "Please give me one more chance. I really need this job, and I can handle it if it happens again." So the director decided to give him another chance. The next day he was carrying his cross up the street. Sure enough, the heckler was there again. You could tell that the actor was really trying to control himself, but it was about to get the best of him. He was clinching his fists and grinding his teeth. Finally, he looked at the heckler and said, (pause) "I’ll meet you after the resurrection!" We have to work in the way we love one another Paul’s message to us – love the person, change the circumstance. Be patient with the person in all things, fix the circumstance. It is not only how we treat one another that shows love, it how we choose to live together that show true love to the world. How we forgive, how we cooperate, how we work together - demonstrates who we are as the church of Jesus Christ. When we know that God loves us – and that the love in our lives comes from God: we can love our enemies, we can love those who don’t deserve it, we can mature in the faith that God has for us, we can move away from self centeredness, and we can think about what is in the best interest of everybody. Love is always the more excellent way. How we feel in here, demonstrates how we love out there. But more importantly how we love in here demonstrated how we love out there. How we meet the needs of all of those out there who look for love, not just on Valentines day – but every day. Missionary cannot preach until he shows what love is There is a story about Doug Nichols I want to share with you because I think it illustrates what I have been trying to say this morning. Doug Nichols went to India to be a missionary there, but while he was just starting to study the language he became infected with tuberculosis & had to be put in a sanitarium. It was not a very good place to be. It was not very clean & conditions were difficult because there were so many sick people there. But Doug decided to do the best he could in that situation. So he took a bunch of Christian books & tracts & tried to witness to the other patients in the sanitarium. But when he tried to pass out tracts, they were rejected. No one wanted them. He tried to hand out books, but no one would take them. He tried to witness, but he was handicapped because of his inability to communicate in their language, & he felt so discouraged. Here he was. Because of his illness he would be there a long time. But it seemed like the work that he had been sent to do would not be done because no one would listen to him. Because of his tuberculosis, every night at about 2 o’clock he would wake up with chronic coughing that wouldn’t quit. Then one night when he awoke he noticed across the aisle an old man trying to get out of bed. He said the man would roll himself up into a little ball & teeter back & forth trying to get up the momentum to get up & stand on his feet. But he just couldn’t do it. He was too weak. Finally, after several attempts the old man laid back & wept. The next morning Doug understood why the man was weeping. He was trying to get up to go to the bathroom & didn’t have enough strength to do that. So his bed was a mess & there was a smell in the air. The other patients made fun of the old man. The nurses came to clean up his bed & they weren’t kind to him, either. In fact, one of them even slapped him in the face. Doug said that the old man just laid there & cried. Doug said, "That next night about 2 o’clock I started coughing again. I looked across the way & there was the old man trying to get out of bed once more. I really didn’t want to do it, but somehow I managed to get up & I walked across the aisle & I helped the old man stand up." But he was too weak to walk, so Doug said, "I took him in my arms & carried him like a baby. He was so light that it wasn’t a difficult task. I took him into the bathroom, which was nothing more than a dirty hole in the floor, & I stood behind him & cradled him in my arms as he took care of himself." "Then I carried him back to his bed & laid him down. As I turned to leave he reached up & grabbed my face & pulled me close & kissed me on the cheek & said what I think was `Thank you.’" Doug said, "The next morning there were patients waiting when I awoke & they askedif they could read some of the books & tracts that I had brought. Others had questions about the God I worshiped & His only begotten Son who came into the world to die for their sins." Doug Nichols says that in the next few weeks he gave out all the literature that he had brought, & many of the doctors & nurses & patients in that sanitarium came to know Jesus Christ as their Lord & Savior, too. He said, "Now what did I do? I didn’t preach a sermon. I couldn’t even communicate in their language. I didn’t have a great lesson to teach them. I didn’t have wonderful things to offer. All I did was take an old man to the bathroom & anyone can do that." SUM. Someone has said, "They will not care how much you know, until they know how much you care." There is a more excellent way, & that is the way of Jesus Christ. This morning if you are here & outside of Jesus Christ & you don’t know Him as your Lord & Savior, we extend His invitation to you. We pray that you will respond as we stand & as we sing. Faith, Hope, Love Finally, faith, hope and love are the most important parts of our faith. Faith in what we can’t see, and hope in the promises of God. One day – our faith will be replaced with sight, and things hopes for will be replaced with reality. But in the meantime – love remains the same. Faith, hope and love – all of these are important parts of our live – but the most important is love – Because when we recognize the love of God that is present in your life – there is no limit to the things that you can accomplish or the gifts that God will give you to use! Short paraphrase of chapter 13 If I talk like an angel but I don’t have love I am nothing. If I talk like a prophet, If I give away my money, but I don’t have love, I am nothing. Love is good, Love is kind. And love will never end. Prophets will stop talking, teachers will stop teaching, but love will never end. When I was a baby, I spoke like a baby, I thought like a baby. But not I am growing. I am not a baby anymore and I know how to love. So God gives us faith, and god gives us hope, and god gives us love. But the best thing of all, is love. Let us pray….. The story is told of a Franciscan monk in Australia assigned to be the guide and "gofer" to Mother Teresa when she visited New South Wales. Thrilled and excited at the prospect of being so close to this great woman, he dreamed of how much he would learn from her and what they would talk about. But during her visit, he became frustrated. Although he was constantly near her, the friar never had the opportunity to say one word to Mother Teresa. There were always other people for her to meet. Finally, her tour was over, and she was due to fly to New Guinea. In desperation, the Franciscan friar spoke to Mother Teresa: If I pay my own fare to New Guinea, can I sit next to you on the plane so I can talk to you and learn from you? Mother Teresa looked at him. “You have enough money to pay airfare to New Guinea?” she asked. Yes, he replied eagerly. “Then give that money to the poor,” she said. “You'll learn more from that than anything I can tell you.” Mother Teresa understood that Jesus’ ministry was to the poor and she made it hers as well. She knew that they more than anyone else needed good news. On a Saturday morning, in Nazareth, the town gathered in the synagogue to listen to Jesus read and teach. It was no big surprise. He was well known in the area; it was his hometown. He was raised there. They wanted to learn from him. So when he read from the Isaiah scroll, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor” everyone understood these words to be the words of Isaiah. It is how that prophet from long ago defined his ministry. When Jesus finished that reading he handed the scroll to the attendant and sat down. In that day you sat in the Moses Seat to teach to the people. Today preachers stand in a pulpit. So all eyes were on Jesus, waiting for him to begin his teaching… Hope Do you remember the story of Pandora's Box in Greek Mythology? The lovely Pandora was sent by Zeus to be the bride of Epimetheus. One of Pandora's more endearing charms was her curiosity, but that quality also proved to nearly be her undoing. One day Mercury, the messenger, sent a box to the young couple. It was meant for them to enjoy, but under no circumstances were they to open it. Well, of course, it is the old story of the forbidden fruit. Told that she could not do it, it became the thing that she desired to do the most. So one day she pried it open and peeked inside. Suddenly out flew swarms of insects that began attacking them. Both lovers were stung with the poison of suspicion, hatred, fear and malice. Now the once happy couple began to argue. Epimetheus became bitter and Pandora wept with a broken heart. But in the midst of the quarreling, they heard a tiny voice cry out: Let me ou t, to sooth your pain. Fearfully they opened the box again, and this time a beautiful butterfly flew out. It touched the couple and miraculously their pain was healed and they were happy again. The butterfly we are told was hope. It is hope that sustains us; it is hope that sooths our pain.