How to be Rich and Happy

Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 1 Timothy 6:6-19 Year C 19th Sunday after Pentecost How to be rich and happy What would you bring back if you could travel through time? It’s a common gambit in science fiction stories: some people build a time machine, or uncover a rift in the space time contimuum, or stumble into a wormhole. Before they know it, they find themselves in the future. After walking around in the future for a little while – tasting the future food, smelling the future flowers, - they decide it is time to go back home. But before they leave the future, these time travelers look around for somethine to take back withthem. What will it be. What is the one thing they can bring back that will make the most difference for tem as they return to their former life? Just to make things more interesting, let’s say their leap into the future is fairly short: just a week or two. If we were one of those time travelers, journeying a week into the future and back, what would we choose to bring back home with us? There is one answer that may come immediately to mind: winning lottery numbers! That one tidbit of factual information, gleaned from the mysterious future would be enough to transform our lives? Our omnipotent God can give us the same advice as the future It would certainly turn that little piece of paper into a blue chip investment. If we trust in God don’t need a time machine. God knows the future, God know everything. Not only the winning numbers, but other countless ways for us to get rich quick. Listen to God may get the answers. And yet we know God may have the information, but no desire to give it to us. God has different ideas about riches, investment, the future. But if we have a relationship with God, then we really learn how to invest in our future, and get riches beyond belief Timothy is failproof advice on getting rich Today, I want us to look at 1 Timothy 6:6-19 because this is where we get fail proof advice on how to gain riches and happiness. If we follow this advice, we can be sure that we will hit the jackpot on our lives. But in order for this advice to work in our lives, we have to be clear that there is a huge difference between the definition of having money and the love of money. Money Speaks I have this quote from money as it tells us the difference….. Money talks, we have been told since childhood. Listen to this dollar speak: “You hold me in your hand and call me yours. Yet may I not as well call you mine. See how easily I rule you? To gain me, you would all but die. I am invaluable as rain, essential as water. Without me, men and institutions would die. Yet I do not hold the power of life for them; I am futile without the stamp of your desire. I go nowhere unless you send me. I keep strange company. For me, men mock, love, and scorn character. Yet, I am appointed to the service of saints, to give education to the growing mind and food to the starving bodies of the poor. My power is terrific. Handle me carefully and wisely, lest you become my servant, rather than I yours.” —Ray O. Jones Message for us about money Money within itself is not good or bad, money is a means to an end. We get in trouble when we start to think that money is the end itself. Did you notice that we talked about money last week, and here we are talking about it again. I think that as we enter into a new economy in our church as as we approach stewardship season, the spirit is talking to us for some reason. As I looked at the lectionary texts for today, I noticed that all 4 of them talked about money. I actually choose Timothy because it was the most …benign. It expressed it message in a positive way and not as an accusation. Godliness is contentment Paul, as a spiritual mentor is giving advice to Timothy. He is actually preparing Timothy to became a pastor. But the advice that he gives is important for all of us who are genuinely seeking to be in service to God. If we want to call ourselves a Christian, we need to take this advice to heart. In the beginning of chapter 6, Paul bringing some clarity to what it means to serve God and to get rich. There are some who think that the scripture tells them that if they consider themselves to be godly people, then they will automatically become rich. I know a lot of Christians who are faithful, because they are well off. Paul is telling us that serving God is a little bigger than that. In the first sentence of today’s lesson, Paul starts out by saying – Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world so that we can take nothing out of it. In other words. Godliness is not about being well off, godliness is about being content with what we have. The word for contentment used here means self sufficient. Not so much depending on our selves, but in living inside of our own skin and not looking outside of ourselves for things that we don’t have. Contentment means – having enough, trusting in God’s provisions and promises. True happiness in our lives comes from relationships, not things. And our most important relationship is the relationship that we have with God. Contentment is always inside of us Contentment never comes from the possession of external things. As George Herbert wrote: “For he that needs five thousand pounds to live Is full as poor as he that needs but five.” Contentment comes from an inward attitude to life One of the sayings of the Jewish Rabbis was: “Who is rich? He that is contented with his lot.” Most of us are content with what we have until we look around and see what others have. I AM REALLY CONTENT... I am really content — until I start looking through the Sears catalogue. I liked my car — until I saw the new P T Cruiser. I am satisfied with my clothes — until I stroll through American Eagle, or the other Mall stores. I love our home — until I think of what it would be like to own a log cabin on the shore of some remote lake. I am satisfied with every area of my life — until I start comparing with someone else’s life. I feel like I have enough of everything — until I see someone who has more. SOURCE: Rodney Buchanan in "An Attitude of Gratitude" on www.sermoncentral.com. If an egg is broken from the outside then life ends, if an egg is broken from the inside then life begins. Great things happen on the inside. True contentment comes from within ourselves. And we can only find it in our own heart. Someone pointed out that millionaires rarely smile – there is so much going on in their lives. We celebrated when a group of coworkers won the powerball. Now one of them is saying that he wished he could give the money back – his life has changed way too much. Charles Barclay – an old preacher says that the love of money is based on an illusion. Money Will Buy: A bed BUT NOT sleep. Books BUT NOT brains. Food BUT NOT appetite. Finery BUT NOT beauty. A house BUT NOT a home. Medicine BUT NOT health. Luxuries BUT NOT culture. Amusement BUT NOT happiness. A crucifix BUT NOT a Saviour. A church-pew BUT NOT heaven. Timothy’s mentor spends so much time trying to make sure that we know the difference between money and the love of money. Between being rich and being content. the difference goes back to making sure that you have a relationship with God. And making sure that all parts of our life are a part of that relationship with God. Paul says pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. He tells us to fight the good fight of faith. And in verses 17-19 Pauls stresses that there is nothing wrong with having money. As long as you trust God, do right, and put your relationship with God first. Paul is preparing Timothy for future service. He gives advice, but he also calls Timothy a man of God. That is a huge honor! Moses was called a Man of God, David was called a Man of God. But when we honor God, He honors us. When we respect God, he respects us. When we give to God, God gives to us. there is nothing wrong with money – when we understand that it carries with it a responsibility. . In the Third part of Henry the Sixth, Shakespeare draws a picture of the king wandering in the country places unknown. He meets two gamekeepers and tells them that he is a king. One of them asks him: “But, if thou be a king, where is thy crown?” And the king gives a great answer: “My crown is in my heart, not on my head; Not deck’d with diamonds and Indians stones, Nor to be seen; my crown is call’d content— A crown it is that seldom kings enjoy.” Contentment is not about what we have in our pocket, it is about what we have in our hearts. God’s failproof advice to us on getting rich – flee from those who mislead us, follow the ways of God, fight the good fight, be faithful to the truth, so that we can finish our race with God. I want to end with this prayer – on how to get rich – just listen PRAYER FOR GETTING RICH Lord, Source of all that is good, Creator and Sustainer of the universe, Giver of awesome gifts and undeserved blessings, Help me to be rich. Shower me with enough That I will no longer worry my way through each day, But instead live in gratitude, Cherishing my utter abundance. Help me to have enough of this world's treasures That I may know the joy of sharing what I have, Spreading it around instead of holding on tight. Let me feel rich with wonder at the great mysteries, Receiving each day with anticipation Of the surprises you have in store for me. Remind me that my wealth is best measured In the love that I give and the love that I receive, And that what I own are small things compared to The splendor of the stars, the brightness of sunlight, The joy of music, the sweetness of food, And the glory of this amazingly beautiful world. Teach me, Lord, to be content, So that my heart may know peace even in lean times, And so that my laughter and my joy May add to the richness of those around me. And when it is time to leave this world, Let me go with a thankful heart, my Lord, Knowing that, through you, I have been rich indeed. Amen. --Timothy Haut, for September 29, 2013 Right on the Bull's-Eye Passage: 1 Timothy 6:11-21 • Lectionary: Proper 21 Item 6 of 9 | Back to Results But as for you, man of God, shun all this; aim at righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Object: A target. Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have ever used a bow and arrow? (Let them answer.) A lot of you have shot an arrow with a bow. How many of you have ever played the game of darts? (Let them answer.) Some of you have done this also. Now, when you use a bow or throw some darts, what do you aim at? (Let them answer.) That's right, a target. You need a target if you are going to shoot an arrow or throw a dart. Otherwise there would be no fun to it. What do you try to hit on the target? (Let them answer.) That's right. The bull's-eye. That is the most important point on the target. If you hit the bull's-eye then you have really done the job. That is the center of our target, and it means you have very good aim. The Bible tells us we should be aiming at some things also. The Bible teaches us that we should be aiming at the good things in life and not just at anything. If you are not aiming, then your shot might end up anywhere. For instance, the Bible tells us that we should try to aim at being gentle. How many of you know what being gentle means? (Let them answer.) What would the opposite of gentle be? (Let them answer.) I think that "rough" is probably the opposite of gentle. Would you like your mother to be rough with you or gentle? (Let them answer.) You want her to be gentle. We would like everyone to be gentle with us. And, of course, other people would like you and me to be gentle with them. Being gentle is in the target's bull's-eye. Another quality we find there is love. What is the opposite of love? (Let them answer.) The Bible says that we should aim at love and never hate. Loving other people and being loved is one of the very best things about life. These are just a couple things the Bible teaches us we should aim for in our lives. In the bull's-eye of the target is gentleness and love. We have to aim at the target. We may not always hit the bull's-eye, but if we are aiming at our target we will come much closer than if we forget to aim. The Apostle Paul gave this kind of advice to his young pastor friend, Timothy, and today I can pass it on to you. Try to think about doing right all day long. Think about it a lot and you will do what is right most of the time. That is what we call taking aim at the good things and having a good life. 1-55673-114-0 ¬¬¬¬¬¬ Long ago the Greek philosophers had gripped the right end of the matter. Epicurus said of himself: “To whom little is not enough nothing is enough. Give me a barley cake and a glass of water and I am ready to rival Zeus for happiness.” And when someone asked him for the secret of happiness, his answer was: “Add not to a man’s possessions but take away from his desires.” The great men have always been content with little. It pleads for the realization that it is never in the power of things to bring happiness. E. K. Simpson says: “Many a millionaire, after choking his soul with gold-dust, has died from melancholia.” Happiness always comes from personal relationships. All the things in the world will not make a man happy if he knows neither friendship nor love. The Christian knows that the secret of happiness lies, not in things, but in people. Two things alone a man can take to God. He can, and must, take himself; and therefore his great task is to build up a self he can take without shame to God. He can, and must, take that relationship with God into which he has entered in the days of his life. We have already seen that the secret of happiness lies in personal relationships, and the greatest of all personal relationships is the relationship to God. And the supreme thing that a man can take with him is the utter conviction that he goes to One who is the friend and lover of his soul. Content comes when we escape the servitude to things, when we find our wealth in the love and the fellowship of men, and when we realize that our most precious possession is our friendship with God, made possible through Jesus Christ. Money in itself is neither good nor bad; but the love of it may lead to evil. With it a man may selfishly serve his own desires; with it he may answer the cry of his neighbour’s need. With it he may facilitate the path of wrong-doing; with it he may make it easier for someone else to live as God meant him to do. Money is not itself an evil, but it is a great responsibility. It is powerful to good and powerful to evil. What then are the special dangers involved in the love of money?

Thanking God for Everything

September 22, 2013 1 Timothy 2:1-7 Luke 16:1-13 Year C 18th Sunday after Pentecost Thanking God for Everything Brer Rabbit Earns a Dollar-A-Minute A Georgia Folktale retold by S.E. Schlosser One fine morning, Brer Fox decided to plant him a patch of goober peas. He set to with a will and before you know it, he had raked and hoed out a beautiful patch of ground and he put in a fine planting of peas. It didn't take too long before those goober vines grew tall and long and the peas ripened up good and smart. Now Brer Rabbit, he'd watched Brer Fox planting the goobers and he told his children and Miz Rabbit where they could find the patch. Soon as those peas were ripe, the little Rabbits and Brer Rabbit would sneak on in and grab up them goobers by the handfuls. It got so bad that when Brer Fox came to the goober patch, he could hardly find a pea to call his own. Well, Brer Fox, he was plenty mad that he'd worked so hard on those peas only to have them eaten by someone else. He suspected that Brer Rabbit was to blame for this, but the rascally rabbit had covered his tracks so well that Brer Fox couldn't catch him. So Brer Fox came up with a plan. He found a smooth spot in his fence where a cunning rabbit could sneak in, and he set a trap for Brer Rabbit at that spot. He tied a rope to a nearby hickory sapling and bent it nearly double. Then he took the other end of the rope and made a loop knot that he fastened with a trigger right around the hole in the fence. If anybody came through the crack to steal his peas, the knot would tighten around their body, the sapling would spring upright, and they would be left hanging from the tree for everyone to see. The next morning, Brer Rabbit came a-slipping through the hole in the fence. At once, the trigger sprung, the knot tightened on his forelegs, and the hickory tree snapped upright, quick as you please. Brer Rabbit found himself swung aloft betwixt the heaven and the earth, swinging from the hickory sapling. He couldn't go up and he couldn't go down. He just went back and forth. Brer Rabbit was in a fix, no mistake. He was trying to come up with some glib explanation for Brer Fox when he heard someone a-rumbling and a-bumbling down the road. It was Brer Bear, looking for a bee-tree so he could get him some honey. As soon as Brer Rabbit saw Brer Bear, he came up with a plan to get himself free. "Howdy, Brer Bear," he called cheerfully. Brer Bear squinted around here and there, wondering where the voice had come from. Then he looked up and saw Brer Rabbit swinging from the sapling. "Howdy Brer Rabbit," he rumbled. "How are you this morning?" "Middling, Brer Bear," Rabbit replied. "Just middling." Brer Bear was wondering why Brer Rabbit was up in the tree, so he asked him about it. Brer Rabbit grinned and said that he was earning a dollar-a-minute from Brer Fox. "A dollar-a-minute!" Brer Bear exclaimed. "What for?" "I'm keeping the crows away from his goober patch," Brer Rabbit explained, and went on to say that Brer Fox was paying a dollar-a-minute to whomever would act as a scarecrow for him. Well, Brer Bear liked the sound of that. He had a big family to feed, and he could use the money. When Brer Rabbit asked him if he would like to have the job, Brer Bear agreed. Brer Rabbit showed him how to bend the sapling down and remove the knot from his forepaws. When Brer Rabbit was free, Brer Bear climbed into the knot and soon he was hanging aloft betwixt heaven and earth, swing to and from the sapling and growling at the birds to keep them away from the goober patch. Brer Rabbit laughed and laughed at the sight of Brer Bear up in the sapling. He scampered down the road to Brer Fox's place and told him that his trap was sprung and the goober thief was hanging from the hickory tree. Brer Fox grabbed his walking stick and ran down the road after Brer Rabbit. When he saw Brer Bear hanging there, Brer Fox called him a goober thief. Brer Fox ranted and raved and threatened to hit Brer Bear with his walking stick. He yelled so loud that Brer Bear didn't have time to explain nothing! Brer Rabbit knew that Brer Bear would be plenty mad at him when he found out he had been tricked, and so he ran down the road and hid in the mud beside the pond, so that only his eyeballs stuck out, making him look like a big old bullfrog. By and by, a very grumpy Brer Bear came lumbering down the road. "Howdy, Brer Bullfrog," Brer Bear said when he saw Brer Rabbit's eyes sticking out of the mud. "You seen Brer Rabbit anywhere?" "Brer Rabbit jest ran on down the road," he told the grumpy Brer Bear in a deep croaking voice that sounded just like the voice of a frog. Brer Bear thanked him and trotted down the road, growling fiercely. When Brer Bear was out of sight, Brer Rabbit jumped out of the mud. He washed himself off in the pond and then scampered home, chuckling to himself at how he'd escaped from Brer Fox and Brer Bear, and already thinking up a new way to get into Brer Fox's goober patch to get him some peas to eat. Why are trickster stories so important? My family used to tell Brer Rabbit stories all of the time when I was a child. I would always listen to see what Brer Rabbit was going to get a way with next. It seems as if we love to hear stories of the trickster. I think that they are especially important in cultures of oppression. It seems that in a corrupt world – where the odds are stacked against us, where the system always win, we like to hear stories of the one who is able to outsmart the system. If we cant get ahead, we like to hear stories or how someone with a little conniving does win. Why else would Jesus tell a story about a cheating steward who gets the best of his master. Why else would Jesus say that he has done well and should be commended for cheating. Doesnt every other story in the bible tell us that cheating is wrong? Why does Jesus tell the story of the dishonest steward? Well most of the bible tells us not to steal – and cheating is indeed a form of stealing. But Jesus seems to know that there is one story – where cheating is good for you. Jesus puts himself in the story as the conniving steward – who cheated the devil out of what was due him. For we are all sinners, and the wages of sin is death. But Jesus died on the cross so that we could be free of our sin. Our debts have been forgiven, we don’t owe the devil nothing. And we can be grateful for what Jesus has done for us. What does it mean to be a good steward? But the lesson that I want to talk about today from Luke 16:1-13 is the lesson of what it means not so much to be a cheating steward, but to be a good steward of what God has given us. This story is a lesson on our attitudes toward money, our attachments here on earth, how we give to others, and also how we are able to make friends. This story reminds us that whether we are in debt or not, we are not the sum of our possessions. No matter how much we have- it is all lent to us by God. And the day will come when we will not have any of it, because it will be left here on earth. It is not so much what we have on earth that is important, it is what we have with us when we go to heaven. What we have we will lose – but what we give to God will last forever. There is a saying that those that give help those in need in this world, but those in need help those who have in heaven. We have to be willing to be used by God in every circumstance that God puts us in. Like Running a Business There was an interesting legal question posed in The Saturday Evening Post recently. It seems that one lovely Sunday when the sermon was overlong, the congregation rushed, as usual, from its pews on the first syllable of "Amen!" Faithful Abigail, the only worshiper held entranced by the sermon, moved slowly and was trampled. She sued the church and its officials for damages. "Those in charge of the church knew that most of the congregation stampedes after long sermons," Abigail argued. "They should have recognized the danger in the situation. Not being prepared to cope with it, they were negligent." The church's attorney argued like this in response: "A church is a nonprofit organization manned for the most part by volunteers. No one has a right to expect it to be run with the smart efficiency of a business concern. Abigail, therefore, has no real claim." If you were the judge, asks the writer, would you award damages to Abigail? What I found interesting in this hypothetical situation was the characterization of the church. "A church is a nonprofit organization manned for the most part by volunteers. . . No one has a right to expect it to be run with the smart efficiency of a business. . . ." Why not? What if we were as good at what we do as McDonald's is at what they do, or Coca Cola or Microsoft? What if we were as committed to spreading the good news of the kingdom of God as American business is to winning new customers? This is the point Jesus is trying to make. He wants people who bear his name to not only be nice people but to be people who make a difference in the world. Imagine what the world would be like, if the church was just as determined to be the body of Christ, as Apple was to make money? If everybody was as excited about the church as they were about the new apple phone – think of how many people we could reach. This lesson is also about learning to make friends with the world. Everybody was greatful to the conniving steward because he did them a favor, they all wanted to be his friend and welcome him onto their homes. How can we help people understand that Jesus has done so much more for them and they should be grateful. Even in our own lives – where do we place God amongst our priorities? We give to our hobbies, we give to the interest that capture our hearts, we give to our lives – what do we give to God? It is not so much about how much we give, it is about how much of our hearts do we give to God? Do we put God in one corner, and our lives in the other, or do we realize that God comes first in all things. And that we can give to God from what we have. The sons of light Luke calls Christians the sons of light. For Luke, sons of the age where the Jews, sons of the world were others, and sons of the light were those who were able to put God first in their lives. One God, One mediator, One Christ I am not focusing on the lesson of 1 Timothy today, but I think that it helps us to remember to put God first. It says that there is One God, One mediator, One Christ for all people. If there is one God for all people – then our hearts should be in one place. That is on the things of God. John Wesley a model of giving Before John Wesley became the founder of the Methodist Church he was a teacher at Oxford University back in the 1700's. When he began his career he was paid 30 pounds per year - in those days a lot of money. His living expenses were 28 pounds - so he gave 2 pounds away. The next year his income doubled - but he still managed to live on 28 pounds - so he gave away 32 pounds. The third year he earned 90 pounds - lived on 28 - and gave away 62. The fourth year he earned 120 pounds - lived on 28 - and gave away 92. One year his income was a little over 1,400 pounds - he lived on 30 and gave away nearly all of the 1,400 pounds. Wesley felt that with increasing income, what should rise is not the Christian's standard of living but the standard of giving. Increasing our standard of giving. What a great Christian man and what a great lesson he taught us. In a world were raises and extra income is scarce, we are free to determine how much of what we have can we give to God. Jesus’ stewardship sayings When I was doing my research last night, one commentary said that this lesson was do difficult, that I should find something else to preach. It is not that it does not have enough good news, it has too much good news to process. Luke quotes Jesus as saying whoever is faithful in a little, will be faithful in a lot, if you are dishonest in a little, you will be dishonest in a lot, and no slave can serve two masters – you can serve God and money. Each of those sayings is a sermon in their own right. You can steal our money, you cant steal our commitment to God But the bottom line is the he is reminding us to be good stewards with our money. As a matter of fact, being Christian is all about money. It is about how you spend it, what your attitude is about it, and about how your faith determines what you do with it. Are you on the earth to make a living or to make a life. is your treasure here on earth or is it in heaven? Only what we give to God will truly last, and what we do for God we do for others in need. One day a church was burglarized, and when the robber opened the bank bag he found $70,000 – in pledge cards. One can only imagine his disappointment. The burglar learned a lesson the unjust manager knew very well: that you can’t steal commitment. Neither can unprincipled people in the marketplace steal our commitment to be disciples of Christ. Amen. Children’s sermon 2 + 3 = 4? by Wesley T. Runk Passage: Luke 16:1-15 • Lectionary: Proper 20 Item 1 of 11 | Back to Results Object: Some notes with answers to math problems writ ten on them. Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have ever heard of the word "cheating?" What does the word cheating mean? [Let them answer.] Those are pretty good answers. When someone cheats he hopes to get something that does not belong to him for nothing. When you cheat, or someone you know cheats, it can cost a lot. I want to tell you about people who cheat because they think that they can make friends by cheating. I want to show you some things that a teacher gave me that she took away from some of the people in her class. Do you know what these things are? [Show them the notes and let them guess.] These notes have answers on them. [Show them the inside of the note.] The person cheating was giving the answers away to other people with the hope that these people would be his friends. This person thought that the other boys and girls would like him if he wrote the right answers to the test on pieces of paper and gave it to anyone who did not know the answers. Of course, the person cheating did not think that the teacher would catch him. Some people think that they can make friends by cheating. God knows how men think and he also knows that we try to do things like this to win friends, but he warns us about doing them. Jesus told a story about a man who acted just like this boy. Jesus said that the friends you win like this only last for a little while, and soon the friends disappear and you still have to face God. Jesus taught us about honesty and said that to be honest is the best way. It may mean that we have to work a little harder and have a little less for a few years, but someday we will be glad that we are honest. There is no room in God's kingdom for a cheater and that is where we want to live forever. The teacher told the boy who passed the cheat notes about what God teaches and how little good it does for us to make friends by cheating. She thinks that the boy learned a lesson, and I pass this on to you so that you can learn also. These notes would not help anyone for very long, and they could hurt for a very long time. Paper Flowers And Disciples, Wesley T. Runk, CSS Publishing Co., Inc., 1977, 0-89536-197-3 From my sermon on the Wasteful Steward.) We have already been given all the energy and talent we need to feed the hungry, teach every child, settle disputes, and make it through the toughest times. These skills and resources are evident in our hobbies, our friendships, our grudges, and our schemes. We have it in us!. Jesus, as usual, uses an odd metaphor to point this out. And now, a poem: Often the gifts we have are really being used, They’re just aimed incorrectly and being abused. If you abhor waste and desire success Then love God and your neighbors with all you possess. Humor: You Took Me In Henry Ford was known for both his frugality and his philanthropy. He was visiting his family's ancestral village in Ireland when two trustees of the local hospital found out he was there, and they managed to get in to see him. They talked him into giving the hospital $5,000 dollars (this was the 1930's, so $5,000 dollars was a great deal of money). The next morning, at breakfast, he opened his newspaper to read the banner headline: "American Millionaire Gives Fifty Thousand to Local Hospital." Ford wasted no time in summoning the two hospital trustees. He waved the newspaper in their faces. "What does this mean?" he demanded. The trustees apologized profusely. "Dreadful error," they said. They promised to get the editor to print a retraction the very next day, stating that the great Henry Ford hadn't given $50,000, but only $5,000. Well, hearing that, Ford offered them the other $45,000, under one condition: that the trustees erect a marble arch at the entrance of the new hospital, with a plaque that read, "I walked among you and you took me in." Billy D. Strayhorn, Let's Make a Deal

God knows you better than you know yourself

September 8, 2013 Jeremiah 18:1-11 Psalm 139: 1-6; 13-18 Year C 16th Sunday of Pentecost God knows you better than you know yourself Are you a salmon or a jellyfish? ((This jellyfsh and salmon illustration was borrowed from another Sermon Central contributor, Joel Smith) This will sound like a strange question to start off with, but let me ask you: Are you more like a salmon or a jellyfish? Okay maybe you don’t know much about them. I’ll describe each one and then you can decide. Salmon begin their lives in the fresh water rivers of the frigid Northwest. Not long after they’re born they begin a long swim down stream. Their destination is the ocean. It is here that they spend the majority of their adult lives. Then something strange happens. Scientists don’t even understand how, but at some point the adult salmon begins to swim back home. Though they may have swum thousands of miles from that original river location they head back home. That’s right! They swim upstream, against the current of the river. You’ve probably seen nature programs on TV that show them leaping out of the water to overcome waterfalls and other barriers impeding their progress. They face predators like bears and people. Incredibly, though they’ve been gone for years many of them return to the exact spot where they were born. I saw a documentary on one determined salmon that even swam through a maze of pipes and nudged open a grate to re-enter the hatchery where it was born. After an incredible effort the fish spawn and then does it and how He chooses to do it. God’s will is a way beyond our understanding, yet it is a way in which we are called to think and live. die. The new salmon are soon born and repeat the process. Does that describe you? Does your life have a destination? Are you going in a specific direction and are you willing to face all the obstacles to get there? If so, you’re like the salmon. Then there’s the jellyfish. There are numerous species of these yucky-looking little creatures. Some of them are tiny. Others have tentacles that can be measured in feet. Jellyfish are born in the ocean and die there too. They have limited movement, but never really use that ability to go in any particular destination. They’re moved along primary by the wind and waves and tides. They drift about stinging and surviving. Occasionally one will wash up on the beach and, if you’re not careful, you’ll step on it and mess up your vacation. circumstances or other people’s plans, but you really have no particular destination of your own. The difference between salmon and jellyfish is the same as the difference between people. Some have a direction. Most just drift. Which one are you? A salmon or a jellyfish? Someone who lives out your call or someone who just goes along with what is going on? The world expects us to be jellyfish It is not as easy as you think to live a life being called my God. As a matter of fact, the world encourages us all to be jellyfish. To wallow on our desires, abilities. Freedom means doing what we want and depending on ourselves for everything. A sense of call in our time is profoundly counter cultural.. the ideology of our time is that we can live an uncalled life, one not referred to any purpose beyond one’s self. Walter Bruggeman A man on tin roof prays for salvation until… A man was fixing his roof, a tin roof that had nothing to hold onto. He made a wrong move and started to fall off of the roof. And of course he called out to God to save him, until his pants got caught on a nail, and he was saved. He called out never mind God, I got it, I saved myself. Never even realizing that God can provide the nail, it was not just a coincidence. But that is how the world wants us to think- things just happen, they have nothing to do with God’s will. And unfortunately, the church does not make it any better. When we talk about being called, we save that term just for clergy. We think that there are special requirements to being called. Being called is something that applies to certain people. Bing called means living a life in the presence of God. It means living faithfully according to your relationship with God. God is present with everybody in the church, everybody has a calling, a meaning, a purpose. Martin Luther was one of the first to rediscover the ancient, biblical doctrine of vocation. The medieval world drew a sharp boundary between the sacred and the secular, but Luther said no, it isn’t meant to be that way. It isn’t just priest and monks, and nuns who have a vocation, but every Christian. Curiuosly, Luther uses the word vocation more often in his writing to refer to things like marriage, and familu then it does to paid employment. Vocation to him has to do with all of life, with it living it faithfully. We can have a calling to do anything, so long as it glorifies God. 1. 3446 “We Are Everywhere” 2. The growth of Christianity in the early centuries was phenomenal. By mid 2nd-century, an apologist said, “We are everywhere. We are in your towns and in your cities; we are in your army and navy; we are in your palaces; we are in the senate; we are more numerous than anyone.” 3. By AD 300, the church was spreading so fast that it appeared the entire civilized world could be evangelized by AD 500. 4. But Constantine decreed that every one in the empire was already Christian. And slowly the idea prevailed of a division between laity and clergy, for pagans could not evangelize nor did they know how. And Christianity’s movement was checked. When we started to put the presence of God in the church and not in our lives, we changed to definition of what it meant to work for God. More importantly we forgot that God is everywhere, in everything and in everyperson. It is like the young boy who was moving from Kansas to Minnesota. On the night before he moved, he prayed – God when we move we are going to miss you, but we will always remember what you have done for us while we were here. Not realizing that God was in Minnesota, long before he was. God is in Kansas and Minnesota at the same time. God is omnipotent and everywhere. Psalm 139 – reminds us that God is everywhere – where can I go that your presence is not already there?- nowhere because God is everywhere. It also reminds us that God knows everything. But more importantly, God knows you, God knows your purpose. in Psalm 139:1-6 You Examin You Know You Know You See You Know You Know You Go You Place 5. God Examins Your Heart Psalm 139:1 A. What is it to examin? B. What will God Find in Your Heart? 6. God Knows You Psalm 139:2 A. Your Actions B. Your Thoughts C. Your Words 7. God Sees Psalm 139:3 A. Your Travels B. Your Rest 8. God Goes Psalm 139:5 A. Before You B. Behind You 9. God Places Psalm 139:5 A. His Hand on You B. His Blessing My favorite verse in psalm 139 is that I am wonderfully and fearfully made. That is a reminder of God’s love for us. In a world that would like to tell us that we are uncalled. That we are unworthy of God’s service. That what we do is nothing special, and that work that we do is not sacred. There's a Great One Inside You During a practice session for the Green Bay Packers, things were not going well for Vince Lombardi’s team. Lombardi singled out one big guard for his failure to "put out." It was a hot, muggy day when the coach called his guard aside and leveled his awesome vocal guns on him, as only Lombardi could. "Son, you are a lousy football player. You’re not blocking, you’re not tackling, you’re not putting out. As a matter of fact, it’s all over for you today, go take a shower." The big guard dropped his head and walked into the dressing room. Forty- five minutes later, when Lombardi walked in, he saw the big guard sitting in front of his locker still wearing his uniform. His head was bowed and he was sobbing quietly. Vince Lombardi, ever the changeable but always the compassionate warrior, did something of an about face that was also typical of him. He walked over to his football player and put his arms around his shoulder. "Son," he said, "I told you the truth. You are a lousy football player. You’re not blocking, you’re not tackling, you’re not putting out. However, in all fairness to you, I should have finished the story. Inside of you, son, there is a great football player, and I’m going to stick by your side until the great football player inside of you has a chance to come out and assert himself." With these words, Jerry Kramer straightened up and felt a great deal better. As a matter of fact, he felt so much better he went on to become one of the all-time greats in football and was recently voted the all-time guard in the first 50 years of professional football. God often uses the least gifted people when some great service is neede. Because people who know their own weakness are fully open to the power that God offers God uses the least likely. A practical application of this is right here in the church. We are all gifted, we all have something that we can give to help the church, and there is a place in the structure of the church for us to be a part. When we see people participating, and helping, I think that we still place a value on that person, and what church they are from. It is not that individual who is doing a certain job, but a representative. As God is reshaping us, remolding us into a new church with a new mission, it is important for us to remember that we all have gifts, and the church is the place for us to explore and grow in those gifts. And it is our job as church members to honor the gifts of all people. We wouldn’t be here, if God was not using us. It is our collective gifts that do the work of the church. That is the message of Jeremiah – as God called him to go into the potter’s house. God often does not speak in words, but in images. Jeremiah saw that his nation was being remolded and reshaped for a new time and a new mission. God did not give up on them for their sins, God took the time to give them a new life. But many of us don’t want to be touched by God, we don’t want to be reshaped. And yet God sees the best in us, and prepares us for our destiny. I thought this poem said it best….. Written by Irenaues from the 2nd Century. From God’s Hands It is not you who shape God; it is God that shapes you. If then you are the work of God, await the hand of the Artist who does all things in due season. Offer the Potter your heart, soft and tractable, and keep the form in which the Artist has fashioned you. Let your clay be moist, lest you grow hard and lose the imprint of the Potter’s fingers. He is the potter; we are the clay. He is the shepherd; we are the sheep. He is the Master; we are the servant. No matter how educated we are, no matter how much power and influence we may think we possess, no matter how long we have walked w/ Him, no matter how significant we may imagine ourselves to be in His plans, none of that qualifies us to grasp why He does what He does when He God takes our sin and turns it into service, God takes our weakness and uses it as a strength. God takes what is least, and makes it into the most important. God calls clergy, but God calls laity also. Remember when 5000 people on the beach needed to be fed. Jesus asked his disciples to feed them, but they were too stuck in their doubts and what makes sense with the world that they couldn’t do it. God used a little boy with 5 loaves and 5 fishes. When God needed someone to take care of his son as he came into the world – he didn’t send an angel to an older woman, but to a young girl. A young girl who willingly accepted his word, that she would be the mother of Jesus. She didn’t think about the consequences, she just accepted God’s word for her. We all have value in God, God knows us, God knows what we are capable of, God knows what we have trouble with, he knows what we cant do. And he uses all of that to shape us into a faithful servant, who can answer God’s call. It is in our willingness, our obedience, that we respond to God’s touch. Amen. Whither shall I go from Thy Presence? From thee is there some hiding place? The deed is a thing so private, so inside the prefect working of desire that its inward part seems known to me, to me alone. The ebb and flow of thoughts within my hidden sea, the forms that stir within the channels of my mind, keep tryst with all my hidden hopes and fears. The ties that hold me fast to those whose life with mine makes one, The tangled twine that binds my life with things I claim as mine, are held in place by folds of my embrace. The sealed stillness that walls around the heartaches and the pain, is held against all else that would invade. Awe-filled contrition emptied clear of violence and sin, seeps slowly from the wilderness of my deserted soul. Almighty joy mounts to the brim and overflows in wild array, with music only ears attuned can hear. And yet, always I know that another sees and understands every vigil with me keeps watch. The door through which He comes no man can shut, He is the Door! I cannot go from Thy Presence, there is no hiding place from Thee.