May The Lord Watch Between Me and Thee (a sermon on trust)

Harriette Cross Englewood-Rust United Methodist Church July 27, 2014 Genesis 29:15-28 Romans 8:26-39 7th Sunday after Pentecost Year A May the Lord Watch Between Me and Thee (A sermon on trust) The promises of God continue. God blesses the people of the world – because he was willing to bless the lives and families of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We continue to struggle with what that means to be the children of God – how do we treat one another, does my blessing preclude your blessing. I heard that there are more than 47 different wars going on in the world today – these are all fights over land, culture, economics. I would say that there are 47 different wars going on in our families, and in our community. You know we listen to the word of God, but we refuse to think about what the promise requires of us. So the stories of the promise – the stories of the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob continue to teach us something. I like this story of Jacob, there is a lot for us to learn about family dynamics. Jacob is looking for a wife – he finds what he is looking for and goes after it. Marriage is always a family story about family values. Jacob follows the rules and goes to his own family. He works to earn his wife only to discover that he was given the wrong wife. And he works 7 more years in the field to build his life. How long are we willing to work for what God has in store for us? In this instantaneous world – we forget how to be patient and to wait for what God has in store for us. We forget to trust God. There is a lot in this story. We know from his past that Jacob is a trickster. He gets away with what he wants. But one thing about people who like to get over on others – there is always someone better than you. When you need to get up on people- you always have to look over your shoulder. The fox learned that when he tried to get one up on the donkey. A donkey and a fox went into partnership and sallied out to forage for food together. They hadn’t gone far before they saw a lion coming their way, at which they were both dreadfully frightened. But the fox thought he saw a way of saving his own skin, and went boldly up to the lion and whispered in his ear, “I’ll manage that you shall get hold of the donkey without the trouble of stalking him, if you’ll promise to let me go free.” The lion agreed to this, and the fox then rejoined his companion and contrived before long to lead him by a hidden pit, which some hunter had dug as a trap for wild animals, and into which he fell. When the Lion saw that the donkey was safely caught and couldn’t get away, it was to the fox that he first turned his attention, and he soon finished him off, and then at his leisure proceeded to feast upon the donkey. Laban got one up on the trickster Jacob. He married off his daughter Leah and made Jacob work just as hard for what he really wanted. The second lesson of the story – Just because we are children of the promise- just because we are blessed – that we are not exempt from the consequences of our actions. You reap what you sow. Sometimes we reap the results of the actions of others. Bad things happen to blessed people. The promise does not preclude us from life. The Third lesson is the most important. Learning to trust in God is our most important task. But in order for the promise to be ours – we have to experience life and heartache. And decide to trust God in spite of what happens in life. There is a lot not to like about Jacob. This story was intended to get our attention. He married two sisters – and they spent the rest of their lives competing against one another for his affections. But in spite of his bad qualities, he openly shares his faith journey. He helps us to see how he came to know God. In his life, he started as a spoiled child – his parents taught him about religion, but it obviously didn’t mean anything to him. He ran away from home and in the midst of a crisis, he comes to know who God is for himself. But that did not change his personality. He was still a trickster at heart. It wasn’t until he was beat at his own game that he learned that when you cant trust people – you have to trust in God. There are a lot of us on the journey. We learn to see God’s presence in our lives, but we have to work to trust God. If you read this story – you don’t see God anywhere. The story is all about family, but not about God. God does not speak, God’s name is not called. The people who say they live in God’s promise, don’t even consider God in their actions. They know what they should do, but they don’t do it. A lot of time in our lives, in our families – we have to ask ourselves – where is God in this story. What does any of this have to do with God My biggest job as a preacher is to help us to see God in a life where it is not obvious that God is with us. This is the last time that we will hear about Jacob and Laban – so let me tell you the rest of the story. Jacob get his two wifes, he becomes very rich. And he decides that it is time for him to walk away. Rachel steals her father’s idols, and Laban comes after him. Jacob and Laban have to agree to disagree. They will never be friends- they are both tricksters – but they worship the same God. May this God watch between them while they are absent one from another. They both call on God to do the work of keeping them honest and true. Jacob finally learns to trust in God and to live in peace. He is a better person for it. Years ago am minister named Harry Morehouse was walking in a poorer section of a large city, and he watched as a boy of five or six came out of a store carrying a pitcher of milk. The little boy made his way carefully along the street; he slipped and fell; the pitcher broke, and the milk ran all over the sidewalk. The boy let out a wail, and Morehouse rushed to see if he was hurt. There was no physical damage, but the youngster would not be consoled; he kept crying over and over, “My mama’ll whip me! My mama’ll whip me!” Mr. Morehouse said to him, “Maybe the pitcher is not broken in too many pieces; let us see if we can put it together again.” The boy stopped crying at once; he watched Mr. Morehouse place the base of the pitcher on the sidewalk and start building up the pieces. There were one or two failures and each time the boy started crying again but was silenced by the big preacher. Finally the whole pitcher was complete except for the handle. Mr. Morehouse handed the piece to the little boy; he poked it toward the place it belonged, and knocked the whole thing apart once more. This time there was no stopping his tears, so Mr. Morehouse gathered the boy in his arms and walked down the street to a nearby crockery store. He bought a new pitcher; then he and the boy returned to the milk store and had the pitcher washed and filled with milk. He carried the boy on one arm andbalanced the pitcher of milk in the other hand until they arrived at the boy’s home. Very gently he deposited the lad on his front steps, put the pitcher carefully into his hands and asked, “Now will your mama whip you?” A smile broke on the streaked face. “Aw, no sir! ‘cause it’s a lot better pitcher ‘an we had before.” The lessons of this sermon: You reap what you sow; just because you are a child of promise that does not stop life from happening; and finally learning to trust in God is a process. The ups and downs of life prepare us to trust God. I haven’t been dealingwith Romans, but Romans 8 says nothing separates us from the love of God, not even our own actions. Not even our refusal to trust God. God comes through for us. God still loves us- God will still work it out. Remember learning to ride a bike – first you had training wheels, then someone rode behind you, and then one day you discovered that you could ride all alone. I don’t know about you – but for me that was a say of wonderful joy. I could do it all by myself! That must have been how Jacob felt when he realized in his life that he could trust in God. I hope that you find that Love in your life! Amen. Other illustrations…. Sermon Opener - Super-Size Your Faith - Romans 8:26-39 “Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down…in a most delightful way” How many of you can hear Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews) singing that? How many of you have no idea who Mary Poppins is? There’s the generational divide right in front of us…although Broadway has just introduced a new “Mary Poppins” musical to catch those of you who only know the more postmodern Nannie McPhee version of the story. Nanny Mary Poppins sang this song in the 1964 movie to get her employers’ closed-mouth children to open up and swallow down their daily dose of nasty-tasting stuff. Could any nanny get away with that today? Given the skyrocketing rate of childhood obesity, I suspect that any child-care worker caught shoveling spoonfuls of sugar down their charge’s throats would be instantly sacked. Still, we “sugarcoat” everything. “It smells like money” is how we sugarcoat the sickening stench of a slaughterhouse or the cloud of sulphur dioxide that spews out of paper-mill smoke stacks. Ironically, in the case of pulp mills, we are sugar-coating the release of sugars (and sulphur) in the wood. “Sugar-coating” is our attempt to disguise that which is truly awful with an artificial top-coat of sticky sweetness. We do this with everything from chocolate-dipped grasshoppers to 5 mpg SUV’s that run on Big Diesel. We love to take our sourest lemons and turn them into lemonade. But this attempt to “sugar-coat” the negative is not a part of biblical faith. A faith that is founded on the crucifixion of its founder as a blasphemous criminal cannot be good at cutesy coverups. Jesus never sugarcoated. He spoke openly to his admittedly uncomprehending, sugar-jonesing disciples about his impending arrest, conviction, and execution. Jesus baldly declared that “the poor will always be with you” and advised the rich, young man that the cost of discipleship was to “sell everything” if he wished to follow Jesus. Discipleship was never advertised as anything but a big-ticket item by Jesus, a commitment that, as its reward, demanded that followers “take up their cross,” embrace the real probability of suffering and death. Paul had first-hand, hard-core, hard-time experiences of the “hardship” that discipleship could bring to one’s life… __________________ Both Glad and Sorry There is an ancient legend about some men who were on a long journey. They came across a great desert, and rode into a wilderness area. At sundown they came to a river. They got off their horses and knelt down by the river to drink water. Suddenly a voice spoke to them. The voice said, "Fill your pockets up with pebbles from along the river. And tomorrow you will be both glad and sorry." So they did what the voice commanded. They got on their horses and rode away. On through the night they rode. Finally the sun began to peek over the horizon. They stopped and reached into their pockets and there they found diamonds and rubies. They held a treasure in their hands, and they were both glad and sorry. They were glad they had it, but they were sorry because they had not taken more. The good news for us is we can have all we want of the treasure of His kingdom, all we are willing to take. If you will take that treasure you will learn it is the discovery of a lifetime. Thomas A. Pilgrim, The Man From Galilee, CSS Publishing Company, Inc. Falling in Love Again The treasure of the kingdom is as new as hearing today the stories of God and God's love for us and falling in love with God again. It is as new as God's power living in our lives this very minute. It is as new as Jesus coming to us in bread and wine. Using slightly different terms, Jaroslav Pelikan makes a necessary distinction: "Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living." (The Christian Tradition, Vol. 1: The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600), page 9) Brian Stoffregen The Moment If you have learned to ride a bicycle, you had to face that moment when the person holding you up let go. The moment. Maybe you crashed and had to begin again. Eventually, however, there came the time when you could shout, "Hey, Mom, look at me!" and you zoomed around the block with the breeze in your face. In that moment, a joy filled you so full that your heart pounded and you were truly alive. The cost was worth it. The Christian discovers that such moments are little parables for the way God upholds us and gives us an amazing and exhilarating joy when we assume the costs and travel by faith. Glenn L. Borreson, A Taste of God’s Tomorrow, CSS Publishing Company ____________________________ This morning, I offer you the promises of God. Not the promises of a pastor, or the promises of a church, or a denomination, but the promises of God. When all around you crumbles and falls, I give you the promises of God. When you’ve been tricked, and deceived, I offer you the promises of God. When the deal goes bad, or the joke is on you, I present to you the promises of God. You may not be able to stand on the promises of people, but you can plant your feet firmly on the promises of God. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” -- Jeremiah 29:11. “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. -- Isaiah 40:31 Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. -- Psalm 37:4 “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” -- Matthew 28:20 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” -- John 3:16-17 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved....for, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” -- Romans 10:9,10, 13 This morning, I offer you the promises of God. Not the promises of a pastor, or the promises of a church, or a denomination, but the promises of God. When all around you crumbles and falls, I give you the promises of God. When you’ve been tricked, and deceived, I offer you the promises of God. When the deal goes bad, or the joke is on you, I present to you the promises of God. You may not be able to stand on the promises of people, but you can plant your feet firmly on the promises of God. Yet, we in our Christian Western thought have to be so cold and scientific that we see only the meaning that the Lord will keep a watch over us and totally neglect the rest of the meaning that He will keep watch over those of us He has bonded with like two lovers keep a watch over their hearts while they are separated. When that soldier went off to war his wife would pray for him, think of him, keep a special place in their home ready for him, and send him letters, packages of cookies and anything else to be a watchtower over his heart. In turn that husband would remain faithful to his wife while separated, send letters, money, words of encouragement, anything that will keep him as a watchtower over her heart. When I leave a worship service where God and I have shared an intimate time together, we say: “Mizpah” to each other. In that emotional word God is committed to protecting me, watching over me, providing for me, keeping a special place ready for me for the next time we come together in worship. He is promising to be a watchtower over my heart. In return when I say: “Mizpah to Him I am promising to be faithful to Him as my only God, to support his desires and do what He desires and never to be unfaithful to Him. I am promising to be a watchtower over His heart. - See more at: http://www.chaimbentorah.com/2013/01/word-study-mizpah/#sthash.YBEWoaem.dpuf MIZPAH goes back thousands of years, symbolizing a sanctuary and place of hopeful anticipation, a place where seemingly impossible may happen as of divine intervention or an inspiration. MIZPAH is mentioned for the first time in the Bible ( Genesis 31, around 1800 BC) as a powerful watchword, when Jacob and Laban agree at Gilead to a godsent peace. They built a memento of stone and named it like their wise covenant MIZPAH, saying: The Lord watch between me and thee when we are absent one from another". Mizpah of Gilead became the "blueprint" for more places called MIZPAH in the Scriptures. Building MIZPAH monuments was an ancient tradition in the promised land. MIZPAH signified a striking humane, tolerant and solution orientated approach to human issues, (a thought and act more than becoming to certain corners of the globe today). Before MIZPAH, and sadly until today too everything was about material possessions, hatred, power - the holy scriptures alone are full of it, let alone history. MIZPAH introduced the clearly defined moral qualities of GOODNESS, KINDNESS and the courage to UNDERSTANDING to a time so very tough that we can hardly imagine it now. Yet everything, any obstacle can be overcome with good will and determination. That was, is and always will be the heart of the true meaning of MIZPAH. As a reward for his long service, Jacob gets to exercise some stock options - literally. He gets some of Laban's sheep and goats. And then, by some amazing talent Jacob had at animal husbandry, Jacob's flock grows big and strong while Laban's flock becomes small and weak. Laban sees that HE has been tricked now, and sets out to kill Jacob. So Jacob rents a U-Haul truck into which he puts his wives, children, goats and sheep, and hot tails it out of town. But finally, Laban catches up to Jacob at a rolling roadblock near all the construction on I-40. And the two men have it out. "You cheated me over Leah and Rachel and all the years I had to work for you! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, and would kill you if I could!" says Jacob. "Yeah? Well, you cheated ME out of the choice goats and lambs, and now I've got to hire Arthur Anderson to restate my earnings! I'd love to kill you, too!" says Laban. "You cheated me first!" "No, you cheated ME first!" "Did not!" "Did too!" "Did not!" Did too!" "You're the biggest jerk in the world!" "I know you are, but what am I?" Well, this is obviously a family in distress. Sort of like some of our families! Jacob and Laban cannot agree on anything. They've both done things that make it impossible to trust the other. And they'd love to kill each other. But they choose to take another course instead. Do you know what they do? There in the desert, they agree to disagree. They acknowledge that they'll probably never get along. And so they build a big pile of stones, almost as high as a watchtower. And as they walk away from each other to go their separate ways, this is what they say, "May the Lord WATCH between me and thee, while we are absent, one from the other." Genesis tells us that this watchtower they built - this Mizpah representing the presence of God - was erected as a buffer between these two extremely conflicted and estranged people. And this is how they described the meaning of the Mizpah in Genesis 31:52: "I will not go past this watchtower to your side to harm you, and you will not go past this watchtower to my side to harm me." This is what it means when you say, "May the Lord watch between me and thee…" Children’s Sermon…. Better Than A Shadow by Wesley T. Runk Passage: Romans 8:28-39 • Lectionary: Proper 12 Item 21 of 22 | Back to Results Lesson: For I am convinced that neither death, nor life. nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Object: A life-size cut-out of a person Good morning, boys and girls. I'll bet you can't guess who this is! (Hold up cut-out of person. Let them guess.) Those are good guesses but they are wrong. I'll just have to tell you. This is my shadow! Isn't he a nice fellow? (Let them answer.) What kind of a person is a shadow, boys and girls? (Let them answer.) Right. A shadow belongs only to you. It goes wherever you go, regardless of where that might be. If I go home, my shadow is right there with me. If I have to go to the hospital, my shadow will go along, too. If I am in danger, so is my shadow, and if nice things happen to me, my shadow is there to be happy right along with me. What if I wanted to get rid of my shadow, boys and girls? Would I be able to? (Let them answer.) Not really. My shadow is always with me and if I get tired of having it around, that's just too bad for me. My shadow and I are never going to be separated. Today, in our scripture reading, Paul tells us that the love of God in Jesus is very much like my shadow here. It is always with us. If we are having a bad day, the love of God is right there having a bad day with us. If we don't feel well, or have to go to the doctor, the love of God goes right along with us. If we are happy because it is our birthday, God's love is happy with us, and if we are sad, God is there to help us feel better. The love of God is just like my shadow here. It will never leave us. I could probably tell God to go away if I decided I didn't want him around anymore, but God's love would remain. I could become a really nasty person and do all sorts of bad things -- like rob banks, cheat people, tell lies -- but God would not leave me. God wouldn't be very happy with me, though, would he, boys and girls? (Let them answer.) No -- God would rather have us live lives that are filled with good things -- good words and good deeds. God's love is with us all the time to help us live those kinds of lives. Boys and girls, the next time you see your shadow following you around (Hold up cut-out of shadow.) remember that there is someone else who is also always with you -- the love of God in Jesus our Lord. God bless you all. Amen. WE ARE THE CHURCH, Wesley T. Runk, CSS Publishing Company, 1994, 0-7880-0101-9