A Good Work in You

December 6, 2015 Philippians 1:1-14 Year C Second Sunday of Advent A Good Work in You The major themes of Advent are Hope, Joy, Peace, and love. So today I thought that instead of looking at the gospel lesson and the story of John the Baptist, that we would look at the Philippians text because it focuses on joy. Christian Joy. The joy of Christ. A priest once told his congregation that if you are a true Christian, - then your worse day in life is always ten times better than a non Christians best day. Why – because you have hope, joy, peace and love. And that makes all of the difference in the world. Several years ago Frank Court told the story of a student at Iowa State University who took to selling magazine subscriptions for additional income. He determined that a likely customer might be the president of the University. The student was greeted at the door by the president's wife who was able to resist his sales pitch by saying that her husband already received more magazines than he could read. The student assured her that he understood and turned to leave. It was then the president's wife saw something she had not noticed before. The student was crippled. She felt bad that she had turned him down, and probably out of a twinge of guilt called out to him and said, "I did not know you were a cripple." The student responded that his being a cripple was a result of having polio when he was a child. The woman then said, "My, how being a cripple must color your life." The young man brightly responded, "It certainly does, but, thank God, I can choose the color!" When we know Christ, which is a little different then just calling ourselves a Christian – them we get to choose to go through life with joy. Christ is responsible for our lives, not ourselves. Life has a way of getting us down. He shared how "there was a certain fox who wanted to eat the skylark. The fox, having a plan, caught a bunch of earthworms and tempted the skylark with them. When the skylark asked the price of the worms, the fox said, `I will give you one earthworm for one of your wing feathers.'' After making a bargain, one for one, the skylark was full, but he had no feathers in his wings. The story ends with the statement: `Here lies the skylark who sold his wings for earthworms.''" Dr. Brown believes "that there are a lot of Christians who have done that. We bargain off our wings for the earthworms of business, education, fame and money...and then we die because we can no longer fly." If we find ourselves pouting a whole lot more, rather than praying in life, then we can be sure we have traded the real gifts of God for a poor substitute. I am feeling a little down myself. But the message of Christ makes all of the difference in the world. Some people like to depend on hallmark to give words of comfort. But for me, there are no finer words of comfort than those in the bible. Paul had a way of preaching love like no other. There are no more poetic words than those in Philippians. Wanted to read this text for you again, It is short – but a powerful message. Paul is praying for you and for me and for our joy. Prayer makes all of the difference in the world. Prayer changes the situation, but it also changes ourselves. Prays for three things – your live will give you insight, you decide what really matters in life, and that as you go through life you are filled with righteousness. That we are partners in Christ. Joy is not a selfish things, it is given to us so that we can give it to others. As I watch each of you I am excited, because I see growth. Each person has a goal and working toward that goal. Not a dying church, a growing church. Everyone knows that we have so much farther to grow. Theme for advent is to think about our savior. What does Jesus mean to us. but to carry that one step farther and to give Christ to someone else. Doesn’t take a lot. Give what we have been given. A little boy was standing on a busy street corner near his home. There were two things odd about this. First, he had his school lunch bucket in hand. Second, it was Saturday morning. A neighbor noticed the oddities and came outside to ask him where he was going since it was not a school day. The little boy replied that he was running away from home, because his mother had refused to let him play some video games. The neighbor inquired how far he was planning to travel and where he was headed. The would-be fugitive said wistfully, “I don’t know! I’m not allowed to cross the street.” How many of us are like that little boy . . . . afraid of the other side, the overflowing and odd as we trod well beaten paths and stay in our boxes. That “overflowingness” is what Paul is talking about as the “norm” for all those who walk the path of Jesus smarts. The “good news” of Jesus smarts gets you a ticket to daily poverty, which is the secret of unbounded abundance. Share our joy with others, we are giving a lot. God does not always ask us to solve others problems or to have all of the answers, we just have to plant seeds in the hearts of others – God will make them grow. Text Illustration: There was once a farmer who went to town to purchase seeds for his farm. As he was returning home one of the squash seeds he had purchased fell from his pocket onto the ground. It happened that within a few feet was another seed of a different type. The place where the two seeds lay was rather fertile, and miraculously they took root. After about a week the squash seed showed signs of growth. The second seed showed none. After two weeks the squash began to sprout leaves. The second seed showed none. After seven weeks the squash began to show fruit. The second seed still showed no progress. Four more weeks came and gone. The squash plant reached the end of its life bearing much fruit in that time, but the other seed finally began to slowly grow. Many years later the squash was all but forgotten, but the other tiny seed, an acorn, had grown into a mighty oak tree. Many people want their faith to be like the squash. They want to experience it all right now… Love, hope, peace, joy. I never focus on them in advent, because we need all 4 in order to survive. Enjoy Philiippians, short , clear, positive message. Paul truly loved this church and truly wanted to encourage them. Praise them for who they are, not for who the could be. Prayer was a prayer of love for them. Said something about them that was said to no other church – treasure you in my heart. Carry tools in hands, carry thoughts in head. Only thing carry in your heart is love. Joy of Christ. Joy is not joy unless it affect our life, the way we talk, the way we treat people. Way we forgive people Treasure this church and the work ahead. Care we show for one another. The joy we share. Trust that God carries you also – just do the work of God in our lives. Gone are the days when open the doors and hope hear us and come in. go out into the streets and bring them in. not coming to see us, see God and who God calls them to be. Grow in spirit – grow in numbers. Show others our joy. Priest said sadness to the devil and his angels. Joy for who Christ is and for what Christ can do. My prayer continues to be for you Christian joy. Let us pray……. You Can Only Take 200 Pounds Glenn Adsett was a minister in China. He was under house arrest in the late 1940s, waiting to receive word concerning what the communists were going to do with him, his wife, and two children. They said, "You can only take 200 pounds with you." The family went home and began arguing about what to take. The conversation got heated around typewriters, vases, and toys. Finally they worked it all out and packed 200 pounds on the nose. The army men came for them and asked if they were ready. "Yes, we are," they replied. "Did you weigh everything?" They answered affirmatively. Then the soldiers asked, "Did you weigh the kids?" Suddenly there was an about-face: in that moment the typewriter and vase and books looked like trash in the shadow of their children's combined 200 pounds. Richard A. Wing, Deep Joy for a Shallow World, CSS Publishing Company DwightL. Moody once said, "There are two ways of being united frozen together or meltedtogether." Thank God that we are not rusted together by ritualism, frozentogether by formalism, linked together by liberalism, or even chained togetherby conservatism. We are melted together by the Holy Spirit and a blazing lovefor the Lord Jesus Christ. Paulsaid something about this church he never said about any other church. He saidin v.7 "I have you in my heart." You may carry thoughts in your head and toolsin your hands, but you only carry treasures in your heart. This church was atreasure to Paul, for where a man's heart is, there will his treasure be also. Thatexplains two things about Paul: The late Dr. David Roberts, a psychotherapist, told a story he had read somewhere of a French soldier who was suffering from amnesia. His face had been horribly disfigured by a shell blast at the front, and all his identification was blown away. When he recovered from his injuries, there was no way of telling who he was. The social services located three possible families he might belong to, on the basis of his general physical description, and made arrangements for him to visit each of the families in different parts of the country to see if the families recognized him. The first two visits ended sadly with no glint of recognition on either side. When he stepped off the train in the third village, something about the station and its environment seemed familiar. As he walked down the street, it all began to come back, and he turned this way and that growing increasingly more certain of where he was, until he arrived at the cottage where his family lived and knew that he was home. (2) Perhaps Saint Francis of Assisi said it best: "Let us leave sadness to the devil and his angels. As for us Christians, what can we be but rejoicing and glad." He said, "Sis, just remember, theworst thing that can happen to a Christian is the best thing that can happen toanyone else." St. Paul begins his letter to the church at Philippi by calling them "partners in the Gospel." That phrase aptly describes our relationship to those around the world with whom we share this celebration of bread and cup this day. That relationship cuts across national, racial, and ethnic differences. It is based on an elemental spiritual truth: WE ARE ALL ONE FAMILY. A reporter asked a white teenaged girl in Philadelphia why she participated in a riot to run a black couple out of her neighborhood. "I wouldn't want my kids to get to know the blacks," she said. "Why?" the reporter asked. "Because they might get to like them!" she answered. It is correctly said that the difference between a piece of coal and a diamond is pressure. The difference between an admirer of Jesus Christ and a faith-filled servant of Jesus Christ is how we handle the pressures of life and how we allow them to "to color" our lives. Christians are those who can cope with the changing circumstances of life because of the constant presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives. SERMON ILLUSTRATION Websites Will Help You Buy 'Friends' Whoever said that you can't buy "friends" didn't know about the shallow shortcuts of our internet age. An article in Hemispheres magazine explored a number of sites that are dedicated to helping you find online "friends." These companies will create fake users or pay real account holders to follow and like you on various social media sites. For instance, on the site Socialyup.com you can buy 500 likes for $30 or 20,000 likes for $699. For a mere $10, FanMeNow will find you 1,000 Twitter followers and for $1,750 you can buy a million followers. If you need to beef up views for your YouTube video, for $150 you can buy 30,000 views from a site called 500views.com. For $3,100 they'll make your video go "viral" by getting you a million views. The article concludes with the following advice: "No matter what social network you're on, you can buy your way to popularity." Possible Preaching Angles: Of course we can't "buy" real friends so use this illustration to focus on (1) Friends, Friendship, Community, Small Groups--by showing the the need for true friendships that can only be found in authentic community. Also use it to to highlight small groups. (2) Leaders, Leadership--Effective leaders have real followers, not fake followers that they have to purchase. Eric Steuer, "Best Friend$" Hemispheres magazine (April 2013)

Lookup, pray up, Stand up

November 29, 2015 Year C First Sunday of Advent Luke Author Doug Mendenhall shares a brief parable that should cause all of us to pause and reflect: Jesus called the other day to say he was passing through and [wondered if] he could spend a day or two with us. I said, "Sure. Love to see you. When will you hit town?" I mean, it's Jesus, you know, and it's not every day you get the chance to visit with him. It's not like it's your in-laws and you have to stop and decide whether the advantages outweigh your having to move to the sleeper sofa. That's when Jesus told me he was actually at a convenience store out by the interstate. I must have gotten that Bambi-in-headlights look, because my wife hissed, "What is it? What's wrong? Who is that?" So I covered the receiver and told her Jesus was going to arrive in eight minutes, and she ran out of the room and started giving guidance to the kids—in that effective way that Marine drill instructors give guidance to recruits. … My mind was already racing with what needed to be done in the next eight—no seven—minutes so Jesus wouldn't think we were reprobate loser slobs. I turned off the TV in the den, which was blaring some weird scary movie I'd been half watching. But I could still hear screams from our bedroom, so I turned off the reality show it was tuned to. Plus, I turned off the kids' set out on the sun porch, because I didn't want to have to explainJon & Kate Plus Eight to Jesus, either, six minutes from now. My wife had already thinned out the magazines that had been accumulating on the coffee table. She put Christianity Today on top for a good first impression. Five minutes to go. I looked out the front window, but the yard actually looked great thanks to my long, hard work, so I let it go. What could I improve in four minutes anyway? I did notice the mail had come, so I ran out to grab it. Mostly it was Netflix envelopes and a bunch of catalogs tied into recent purchases, so I stuffed it back in the box. Jesus doesn't need to get the wrong idea—three minutes from now—about how much on-line shopping we do. I ran back in and picked up a bunch of shoes left by the door. Tried to stuff them in the front closet, but it was overflowing with heavy coats and work coats and snow coats and pretty coats and raincoats and extra coats. We live in the South; why'd we buy so many coats? I squeezed the shoes in with two minutes to go. I plumped up sofa pillows, my wife tossed dishes into the sink, I scolded the kids, and she shooed the dog. With one minute left I realized something important: Getting ready for a visit from Jesus is not an eight-minute job. Then the doorbell rang. Used with permission from author. Doug Mendenhall, "Getting Prepared for the Arrival of Jesus,"www.reporternews.com (9-24-09); submitted by Kevin Miller, executive vice president, Christianity Today International Well the message for today is that it is time for us to get ready. Advent is here and Jesus is coming. And it does take more than 8 minutes to get ready. It takes a lifetime. But God reminds us that we don’t have a lifetime. We only have 27 days. A little less than four weeks. The rest of the world is dressing up for Christmas, but for us – it is time to get ready for the second coming. It is funny, no matter how I try to prepare for this day – I am always caught off guard. The Sunday after thanksgiving sneaks up on me. This is the first Sunday of a new year. We finished year B and now we are into year C. Last week we were reading from the gospel of Mark, for the rest of the year it will be Luke. I spent all weekend shopping for Christmas decorations for the church, while my pumpkins are frozen and rotting on my steps. Am I the only one who gets freaked out walking through the neighborhood and seeing some yards with santa claus and other Christmas decorations, while the house next to it still have fall leaves and turkeys, and then some people even have jackolaterns and other Halloween decorations up. It is a sign of the times that things are changing, and we are all in different places within the change. Advent starts with the end first and ends with the beginning last. Today – there are no manger scenes, no doting mother mary’s. no baby Jesus. – no glory to the newborn King. Today is not about the first coming of Jesus, it is about the second coming of Jesus. The words of today are not hope, joy, love and peace – it is destruction, despair, judgment. Once again this year if you look at the headlines in the news – you see upheaval. Once again this time of year people are marching in the streets, people are afraid of a war breaking out, we are even getting warnings of strange weather this year, as el nino season approaches. Perhaps the politicians waited to tell of the death of Mr. Mcdonalds – because they wanted it to be an advent announcement. I am being facetious. But my point is – this is a dark time in history. There is a lot going on. As we look at the first reading from Luke, we look at the end of the book, not the beginning. Luke speaks of the endtimes. It is obvious that Luke used Mark as a resource, but he takes Mark one step farther. Luke specifically talks about the second coming of Christ. And he reminds us of what it means to wait for Christ. The solution to this despair is not anything we can manufacture – we just have to wait on God to make an appearance. And God will make an appearance in each and every situation that we are going through. Advent is a new day, a new way of thinking and praying and beliving. We tend to face life with the tools of the past, we compare the future with what we have been through before. It is time to erase those old tapes. Put aside those familiar ways of doing things and to embrace a new way for a new day. This is the time for angels and prophets. The message of the angels is to fear not. Face the future with your hear up, unafraid of the darkness ahead. And prophets don’t know what God will do next anymore than we do - but they know the signs of God. They point to us evidence that God is indeed in the situation. Text Illustration: I DIDN'T GO AND SEE The story is about shepherd who was a youth on that first Christmas night. And now he is old and as his grandson sits on his knee he recalls that night, "A long, long time ago, when I was a little more than a boy, I was out on the Judean hills one night with some other shepherds, keeping watch over the flock. And an angel of the Lord came upon us and the glory of the Lord shone roundabout us. And we were very afraid. But the angel said, "fear not... for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord... you shall find the baby in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." When he had said this the old man’s lips quivered and ceased to move and there was silence. Then the grandson turns and looks with wide, puzzled eyes into his grandfathers face and says, " But, grandfather is that all? What did you do when you heard the good news? Was what the angel said really true? Was the Christ child ever really born?" The old shepherd sadly shakes his white head and answers, " I never knew. I never went to see. Some say that it is all a myth. Others say they found in Him, the light of God and the power for life. But for me I could never be quite sure. Because I never did go to see." Have the courage to face life unafraid of what will come next. Luke tells us that Christ is coming again – the signs of the times show us that. His message is for us to observe the signs and to watch and wait for his presence. Ancient philosophers used to believe that history repeated itself every 3000 years. There was no need to step outside the box, because life never changed. I remember in Thailand, there was a sign, that if you were having a problem with someone, not to despair. In 100 years there will be all new people. People pass away, human nature stays the same. We are still dealing with the same hatred, oppression, greed, violence that Jesus talked about, and that was in the old testament. 50 years later, we are still marching asking for justice for black lives. What is the point of us fighting to make a better world, when the same issues get recreated from generation to generation. Man does not have the power to change themselves – but God has the power to make all the difference in the world. That is why God sent his son Jesus to intercede in the world. The world has not changed, so he will intercede again. History does not repeat itself over and over – History has a purpose. The story is moving – and its final chapter will be the redemption of history by Jesus Christ. Christ is never on the side of the status quo - one friend said – You want to be first? Be last. You want to find your life? Lose it. You want to be exalted? Be humbled. You want wholeness? Face your brokennness. You want to be as wise as a serpent? Be as innocent as a dove. You want peace? Show me your sword. I am the Son of God. I am the Son of Adam. Jesus if fully divine. Jesus is fully human. You want the Lion of the Tribe of Judah? Meet the Lamb of God. You want rest? Wear my yoke and take up my cross. Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. Give to God what is God’s. But don’t forget to give to Caesar what is Caesar. If you’re not against us you’re for us. (Mark 9:38-41). If you’re not with me you’re against me (Matt.12:30). Don’t worry about tomorrow. But sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. The last words of our text – Luke tells us when you see sign of despair in your world – keep the faith and have hope. These are the signs that Jesus is on the way – and that it is time for a change. Don’t hold onto the past – but look forward to the future. Don’t give up, but keep going. Hope will change your present and open the door for Christ to come in. we are to look up, pray up and stand up. Bruce E. Olson tells of his experience as a missionary in South America. "I got off the plane in Venezuela that hot August day back in 1962 with only seventy-two dollars in my pocket, nineteen years old, alone, unable to speak Spanish, but convinced that the Lord had told me to go to South America and preach to the Indians." He made friends with some natives and learned to speak Spanish. One day a respected colleague asked him, "Have you ever heard of the Motilone tribe?" He then described a legendary Stone Age Tribe that had resisted civilization. No one had ever learned their language. Few entering their territory ever returned. Bruce felt his heart stir, and he wrote, "I sank back in awe. I knew then that those were the people to whom God wanted me to go." It was no easy task to reach these people. "We chopped our way through the jungle for seven days," he remembered. As they were making their way through the jungle, an arrow pierced his thigh. He fell to the ground. Out of the ferns stepped five squat brown men, eyes glittering under short-cropped hair. "I had met the Motilones," he writes. "They dragged me to my feet and I limped with them to their settlement." As the days passed his wounds festered. "I developed amoebic dysentery and began hemorrhaging blood," Bruce recalled. Things would get much worse before they got better. "The period that followed was a nightmare of pain and trial," he remarks. "I continued to try to bring God's love to those people." For two weeks he lay in a hut dying. Finally, one of the natives took him to a clearing where he was picked up by a helicopter and taken to a hospital in Maracaibo where he was told it would be six months before he would recover. He could never return to a jungle climate. "But I had a deepening peace in my heart," Bruce wrote. "God had brought me to the Motilones; God would help me to continue. Within three weeks I was back up the river." Bruce Olson never gave up. He lived with this tribe for four years and eventually introduced these people to the love of God. (4) Where do we get the ability to keep going even when everything appears to be going wrong? From God and God alone. In times of need we receive help from beyond. Thus we perseveLukre. This brings us final thing to be said. FOLLOWERS ARE NOT TO SIT BY AND DO NOTHING WHILE WAITING FOR CHRIST'S RETURN. While we wait we have work to do. There is nothing that we can do to make a difference in the world, But God makes all of the difference in the world. Luke says that this generation shall not pass away until things change. Sometimes I get sad as I see people pass away that they did not get a chance to see the fruits of their labor. They did not see the redemption of situations, they did not see the redemption of history. But I think that God’s message for us – is not to mourn but to do what we can. Deal with the issue at hand, do the work we must do. Address the problems of today. We were put on this earth for such a time as this. And if we deal with the evil of today – we are doing what God called us to to do. Text Illustration: A. Years ago an interesting sign was seen hanging in a store window during the Christmas season. The original message stated, “Let’s make this the best Christmas ever.” Underneath, some perceptive person had scribbled a legitimate question: “How will we top the first one?” God has promised an event that will easily overshadow the events that surrounded the first coming. Let us pray……. Text Illustration: I DIDN'T GO AND SEE The story is about shepherd who was a youth on that first Christmas night. And now he is old and as his grandson sits on his knee he recalls that night, "A long, long time ago, when I was a little more than a boy, I was out on the Judean hills one night with some other shepherds, keeping watch over the flock. And an angel of the Lord came upon us and the glory of the Lord shone roundabout us. And we were very afraid. But the angel said, "fear not... for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord... you shall find the baby in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." When he had said this the old man’s lips quivered and ceased to move and there was silence. Then the grandson turns and looks with wide, puzzled eyes into his grandfathers face and says, " But, grandfather is that all? What did you do when you heard the good news? Was what the angel said really true? Was the Christ child ever really born?" The old shepherd sadly shakes his white head and answers, " I never knew. I never went to see. Some say that it is all a myth. Others say they found in Him, the light of God and the power for life. But for me I could never be quite sure. Because I never did go to see." When the Play Is Over C. S. Lewis said that when the author appears on the stage, you know the play is over. This is how he understands the doctrine of the Second Coming of our Lord. It means that he who has begun a good work will bring it to the best conclusion of which he is capable. After all, no one has ever claimed that this planet earth was intended to exist forever. In what is called by scientists "the second law of thermodynamics," it is clearly predicted that the energy supply of this planet will eventually come to an end, which means that a conclusion of life as we know it here is inevitable. The concept of the Second Coming merely affirms that such a conclusion will be purposeful. The drama of history is not going to just fizzle out or end in a whimper! It is going to come to the kind of climax that he who conceived the drama wants for it. Gary L. Carver and Tom M. Garrison, Sermons for Sundays in Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany: Building a Victorious Life, CSS Publishing Company, Inc. When Everything Becomes "Merely" Virginia Owens in her book, And The Trees Clap Their Hands, suggests that we lose the wonder of it all, because along the way everything becomes "merely." Things are "merely" stars, sunset, rain, flowers, and mountains. Their connection with God's creation is lost. During this Advent season many things are just "merely." It becomes "merely" Bethlehem, a stable, a birth -- we have no feeling of wonder or mystery. That is what familiarity can do to us over the years. Owens goes on to say that it is this "merely" quality of things that leads to crime. It is "merely" a thing -- I'll take it. It is "merely" an object -- I'll destroy it. It is this "merely" quality of things and life that leads to war. We shall lose "merely" a few thousand men, but it will be worth it. Within the Advent narrative nothing is "merely." Things are not "merely" things, but are part of God's grand design. Common things, such as motherhood, a birth, a child, now have new meaning. This is not "merely" the world, but a world that is charged with the beauty and grandeur of God's design. It is a world so loved by God that God gave his only Son. What is so great about the Advent season is that everything appears charged with the beauty and grandeur of God. John A. Stroman, God's Downward Mobility, CSS Publishing.

God Loves Faitfulness

November 15, 2015 1 Samuel 1:4-20 Year B 25th Sunday of Pentecost "Mom, why am I called Samuel?" The boy asked the question one day during the evening meal. Nervously she toyed with her dinner napkin. She hadn't dared tell anyone for fear that they would think her foolish. After all, she lives in the modern world, not the world populated by Old Testament characters. All of her friends knew that for years she had tried everything possible in order to be able to have children. First there were the specialists who insisted on taking all sorts of tests, making all sorts of observations, and trying to figure out what the biological impediment was. Then there were the endless sessions with counselors trying to find out whether or not there were emotional blocks. Other counselors had indicated that perhaps her concerns about her husband were interfering with conception. The list of tests and the observations seemed to go on without end. Almost unconsciously she kept going to church. Every week she would be in her regular place. Every week she sang the hymns, prayed the prayers and joined in the celebrations of the church. She also prayed silently that God would be able to work a miracle. Yes, she had a certain amount of trust in the miracles of science and medicine. She would hardly have been willing to discount the insights of psychologists. But if anyone had bothered to ask her what she really trusted she would have had to say that she really trusts in the power of God. Among some of her friends this was a little too much. "Surely you don't think that prayer itself will make much difference, do you?" they would ask. "Surely you don't intend on trusting something you can't see or measure?" said others. In fact, she had overheard one acquaintance suggest that perhaps she was getting a little too involved in the church. Nevertheless, she kept her doctor appointments and remained active in the church. At length she and her husband received the great, long-anticipated news. Her pregnancy test revealed that she would indeed have a baby. The name, what should the child's name be? Should they name the child after a favorite aunt? an uncle? perhaps a friend. No, the now-expectant mother knew what the child's name would be. It would have to come from the Bible, maybe the Old Testament. If it's a boy, then Samuel would be his name. Years later, when the boy had gotten old enough to wonder, he asked one day, "Mom, why is my name Samuel?" her answer came softly, "Son, everyone else may say that you are the result of modern science and medicine. But your father and I are convinced that you are a gift from God. So we called you Samuel which means 'I have asked of the Lord,' You are an answer to prayer." The name Samuel means heard by God. This story we are going to focus on today is the third story in a series about women, who were thought of as worthless in society – whose faith was heard and rewarded by God. At their absolute lowest point in life God stepped in and made a difference. If God can do that for them, then God can make a difference in our lives also. Today I want to ask you what is your Samuel? And who is your Hannah. And yes I said what is your Samuel, not who is your Samuel. The world has not changed as much as we think it has, and the role of women has not changed much either. We still compare ourselves to one another, we still place value on one another. In this story Elkanah was a very rich farmer with two wives. This is a significant fact, because even though it was legal, it was not common for a jew at that time to have two wives. It was expensive, but as demonstrated in this story it fostered competition. Getting married and having a boy child to take care of you was everything. And when one wife was doing better than the other, it created a very unhappy household for everyone. That is probably why marriage evolved into one woman and one man. But even today, women don’t have to be married in order to fight over a man. Women would rather fight one another, than leave the man who is coming between them. As demonstrated in our story – women still pray for a boy child that will take care of them. Even today some of those prayers are answered, and some of those prayers are not. Today, women are present in every arena of life, not just the family. So the prayers of women may be a little different. There are other things to define us, besides our children. That is why I ask what is our Samuel, not who is your Samuel. What is your lifelong dream? What is the things that defines you. And makes a difference to you. Christian music star Kathy Troccoli shares how her ministry has filled an important place in her life: Being single at 42, I'm realizing I may never have a child. But God has repeatedly brought me stories from women who have chosen life over an abortion as a result of hearing a song I wrote. At a concert in Dallas, I had just finished singing when a 21-year-old woman's voice came over the loudspeaker. She talked about when she was pregnant with her second child and was being encouraged to abort the baby. During that time, she had come to one of my concerts. I'd sung, "A Baby Prayer": "But if I should die before I wake, I pray her soul you'll keep. 'Forgive her, Lord; she doesn't know that you gave life to me.'" The Holy Spirit used that song to clinch her decision. She kept her baby. God has shown me that more children have been born through that song than I could ever bear. Kathy Troccoli and Dee Brestin, Falling in Love with Jesus (Word, 2001) I just spoke with a university professor who said that in the Catholic church, a woman is not considered relavant unless she is a mother. And once again, in her 40’s she never married, thus never had children. In the meantime she pursued her education. And yet she works at a Methodist college, because she is not considered a real woman in the Catholic world. Hannah returned her Samuel back to God. She prayed and prayed for a son. Not just a baby, but a son. She made a promise that he would be in the service of God all of his life. When she has her son, she keeps him for three years and then returns him back to God. Samuel goes on to become one of the most important men in Isrealite history. He is the man who ushers them into a new way of living, he gives them a king, first King Saul, and then king david. In those days it was believed that either God heard your prayers, or God did not. The opposite of answering, was thought to be neglect. All those years that Hannah prayed for a son, was God neglecting her prayer, or was God preparing for what she was asking? Someone said that prayer is knocking at a locked door for years with your knuckles bloody, waiting for an answer. Samuel does not mean I prayed – it means God heard. What is your Samuel? What is it that you have prayed for and still waiting for answer? What is it that you have at stake, that you just need to know that God hears in order to a make all the difference in the world? More importantly, what are you doing to prepare yourself to receive it? And how will you say thank you to God? Your answer from God is not just about you. I want you to hear me this morning. Your answer is not just about you. It will affect your family, it will affect your life, it will affect the world that you live in. What is your Samuel. Two parents who went to church faitfully had two sons. But, as is often the case with kids, one of their sons (along about the fourth grade) protested that he didn't like Sunday school….didn't see what was so great about Sunday school….and didn't see why he had to go to Sunday school. Sunday school was boring. And in a world where there are enough kid-friendly electronic bells and whistles to make life exciting, why settle for boring? Fortunately, not all kids feel that way. Some do. But not all. Maybe you have heard the complaint. Or maybe, light years ago, you made the complaint. So, what to do? Some parents, of course, capitulate to the kid. "All right, stay home. We'll all stay home. We can't have this fighting, Sunday after Sunday. It isn't worth the hassle. When you're old enough, you'll choose for yourself, anyway." Which is true. The kid will….when older….choose for himself. The choice generally being: "None of the above." Other parents call us with a set of implicit demands. "Make it more interesting," they say. "Less boring," they say. "Recruit people who will capture my kid's interest," they say. "Go knocking on doors in my neighborhood and recruit seven or eight of my kid's best friends (so that my kid will see faces he knows when he comes to Sunday school)," they say. And we accept many of those challenges, given that a subtle justification often underlies them. While others beat the kid….bribe the kid….or hit the ecclesiastical trail, going from church to church with the kid, effectively surrendering all control to the kid, mumbling quietly: "Wherever he's happy, we're happy." Which may be a reason to make one change, but when you're staring at your fourth or fifth change, it may be time to inquire as to whether your home is a dictatorship….and if so, just who the dictator is. But back to my friends and the complaint of their son: "Why should I go when I don't want to go….don't need to go….and don't have many friends who go?" To which they said (after listening attentively to his concerns): "Son, you've seen baptisms in church, haven't you? Well, when you were really little….so little that we had to carry you in our arms….we had you baptized. And, on the day of your baptism, we made a promise to God that we would bring you to church (at least until you're a whole lot bigger than you are right now). You wouldn't want us to break that promise to God, would you?" Which he thought about. Then thought about some more. Before saying: "No, I guess not." Which is pretty much the last thing he's said about it since. I suppose you could say: "He's one smart kid." Or you could say: "He's one lucky kid." All I know is what I heard his parents say: "Hey, he's not our kid." Asking for Help The early church asked for the Spirit. They acknowledged His power and His way. Sensitive souls have always turned to the Spirit for help. The Spirit does not add qualities of life we do not possess. Those qualities are not something poured into us from the outside. They are inside humans and respond to the Spirit, developing every potential to its fullest. John Milton asked the Spirit to aid him as he began his epic poem, Paradise Lost. But it would have been of little help had he not possessed the genius of a poet. John Wesley declared that the success of his work was due to the Spirit, but we must remember that Wesley was a born leader. The Spirit used him. There was something in Wesley that responded to the Spirit. "God honors radical, risk-taking faith. When arks are built, lives are saved. When soldiers march, Jerichos tumble. When staffs are raised, seas still open. When a lunch is shared, thousands are fed. And when a garment is touched -- whether by the hand of an anemic woman in Galilee or by the prayers of a beggar in Bangladesh -- Jesus stops. He stops and responds." (Lucado, 69) What is your Samuel? Rest Assured that we worship a God who hears. The related question for each of us is who is our Hannah? Hannah is one of my favorite persons in the bible. I love her faith, I love her devotion, I appreciate her gift to God. There is a Hannah in our lives who prayed for us, but there is a Hannah in our lives who we need to love and understand and support in her prayer. Sometimes in the church today we fail to minister to those who have great odds stacked against them because we fail to look beyond our prejudices and rituals and see their real need. Bishop Noah Moore, Jr., often told of a woman who came to the altar during one of the worship services when he pastored the Tindley Temple United Methodist Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He said that the woman's clothes were torn. Her hair was not combed and her eyes were red and bloodshot. Assuming her to be drunk with alcohol, he said to her: "Daughter, you know better than to come to church drunk like this." She said, "Pastor, please let me pray. You don't understand. I had to fight my husband in order to get out of the house to come to church and I will have to fight to get What is your Samuel? Who is your Hannah? Let us pray….. …..additional illustrations….. 108 Daily Routine Of Bishop The late Bishop John H. Vincent had the custom of repeating to himself each morning the following simple but far-reaching solution, which may serve as a model for us: “I will this day try to live a simple, sincere, and serene life; repelling promptly every thought of discontent, impurity, and self-seeking; cultivating cheerfulness, magnanimity, charity, and the habit of holy silence; exercising economy in expenditure, carefulness in conversation, diligence in appointed service, fidelity to every trust, and a childlike faith in God.” —Christian Observer back in. But I had to come here this morning to get the strength to make it another week."

I want to see

i October 25, 2015 Mark 10:46-52 I want to see Year B 22nd Sunday after Pentecost If you could ask Jesus for one thing that would make all the difference in your life, what would it be? There are so many different things going on in my life, it would be hard to ask for just one thing. The gospel lesson for today tells the story of just one wish granted. This is the story of Bartimaeus. Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem, this will be the last miracle that he performs along the way. Every one was supposed to make it to Jerusalem for Passover. But in reality not everyone made it. those who could not afford the trip themselves, would line up along the main roads and cheer the pilgrims along the way. So as Jesus passed threw Jericho, the last major city before Jerusalem, there were crowds who has heard of his reputation gathered to cheer him along. In that crowd was a blind begger man, waiting for Jesus. He calls out Lord have mercy on me. Jesus responds what do you want, He says that I want to see. Jesus heals him, and in gratitude he joins with the followers of Jesus and continues the journey to Jerusalem. That is actually my sermon for today – he asks for mercy, Jesus asks what he wants, he gets it and lives a life of gratitude. Now there are actually 3 stories of Jesus healing a blind man in the bible. So I preach about the blind being able to see a lot. If you read the book of Mark – two of those stories happen in Jericho, in chapter 8 of Mark Jesus heals a blind man, and now again in chapter 9. Making the blind to see is a sign of the coming messiah. There are many ways to be blind. But this time I noticed something else about this scripture. Not so much that Jesus healed him. But he knew exactly what to ask for. Son of David, have mercy on me - to ask for mercy is to ask someone to pay your debts –I could use a lot of mercy. When Jesus asks him what that means- he says Jesus I want to see. How many of us are willing to say that we want to see. How many of us are willing to really see the world as it is. I think that we spend most of our lives - not wanting to see. Not wanting to deal with the hurts and pains of life. Painting our own pictures. When we do see the world as it really is, it is an accident. And yet here this man is saying I want to see. John 9 tells of Jesus healing the son of Timaeus of blindness. And the question is asked –who sinned this man or his relatives. In this story- Bar means son of - so Bartimaeus is Timaues’s son. As a blind man, all that he can do is sit on the streets and beg. When he hears that Jesus is coming to town –he knows that he has hit the jackpot. In a lot of ways when we pray – we too are beggers. Asking the master to have mercy on us. As a matter of fact, the church is a community of beggers, when we reach out to others, we are beggers reaching out to other beggers, telling them where to get some bread –Jesus is the bread of life. Jesus gives us life, Jesus gives us salvation. If there was one thing in your life that would make all of the difference in the world – what would it be? Do you have the courage to ask Jesus to see? See life as God sees your life, not as you want it to be? To be healed –to be made whole. Salvation comes from the same root as salve. A solution to make you whole and complete. Text Illustration: Illus.: “When Blind Eyes Were Opened” D.L. Moody, the famed evangelist, told this story at one of his meetings: One evening just before Christmas, a man was walking through the streets of an Eastern city. The store windows were all beautifully decorated, and he observed three little girls intensely interested in one of them. He discovered that the girl in the center was blind, and the others were trying to describe the beautiful things in the window. “Why,” they said, “can’t you see that Teddy bear and that doll? Just look at that pretty pink bow!” But the poor little girl stood with a blank expression on her face and could not appreciate the beautiful things before her. “Now,” said Moody, “this is an illustration of the effort we Christians are making to arouse the unconverted to an interest and delight in spiritual things. The reason we can’t do so is because the sinner is spiritually blind.” Moody had scarcely concluded when a reporter was on the platform asking him where he had heard that story. “Oh,” said Moody, “I read it in one of those daily papers. I have forgotten which one.” Then the reporter said, “I’m the one who wrote the story because I was there and saw the whole thing. I see now that I’m just like that little girl, spiritually blind.” That man was converted then and there. 836 Correct Use Of The Eyes A bishop of the early church, who was a remarkable example of the virtue of contentment, was asked his secret. The venerable old man replied: “It consists in nothing more than making a right use of my eyes. In whatever state I am, I first of all look up to heaven and remember that my principal business here is to get there. Then I look down upon the earth, and call to mind how small a place I shall occupy in it when I die and am buried. I then look around in the world, and observe what multitudes there are who are in many respects more unhappy than myself. Thus I learn where true happiness is placed, where all our cares must end, and what little reason I have to complain.” —Foster There is a significant variant reading of this text in an old Gospel translation called the Sinaitic Syriac. When Jesus asked the man what he wished. Our common version says, “Master, let me receive my sight.” That is the answer we might expect. It would certainly be our answer, for I can imagine that of all the terrible afflictions of humankind, blindness must surely be one of the worst. But the Sinaitic Syriac version has it: “That I might see Thee!” Religiously, that is by far the most significant statement. Either way, recovery of sight for this man was seeing Jesus! An old Black preacher was once asked what he intended to do when he got to heaven. He bowed his head for a moment, then raised his dark face, wrinkled with the years, and replied, “I’m gonna sit down for a thousand years and LOOK AT JESUS!” If there is anything that our troubled old world needs more than this, I do not know what it is. “Lord, that we might see Jesus!” The good news of the gospel is that we don’t have to wait until we get to heaven to see Jesus. We can see him right here on earth. When we see those who are less fortunate then ourselves, when we forgive those who have wronged us, when we show love and kindness to all of God’s children - we see Jesus. To gaze upon Jesus is the way to be saved. Life is beautiful when we open our eyes to the sight of Jesus. The Blessings of Sight I read an impressive story about a blind man who lives on the streets of New York City. On a beautiful day in the month of May people were enjoying a spring morning. Their emotions were stirred when they came upon this blind beggar who carried a sign reading: "It is spring and I am blind." The blind man knew there was beauty all around him: spring flowers, blossoming shrubs and trees, newly-sprouted leaves, but he could only imagine how wonderful all that beauty was. It must be vexing to smell spring in the air but not be able to witness it or during this wonderful time of year to hear the rustling of Fall’s leaves but never see their brilliant colors. Do we fully appreciate the blessings of sight which God has given us? Are we moved to express gratitude for so wonderful a physical sense? Do we see the gift so graciously given. Harold H. Lentz, Preaching the Miracles, CSS Publishing. Adapted The miracles of life are all around us. We have to pray for God to expand our sight – to see all that God has in store for us. To see the opportunity in the bad news, to see the joy in the pain, to see the success in the struggle, to see the peace, in the adversity. No matter whether our blindness is physical or spiritual – there is always more for us to see in God’s light. The story of Bartimaues has a lesson for us all. The last sentence of chapter ten sums up all that has gone before. It says, simply, “And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the way.” (10:52) When the shepherds heard the Christmas message, they rose up and went to Bethlehem. When Peter, James, and John heard Jesus’ call at the Sea of Galilee, they left their nets and went off to follow Him. When Bartimaeus heard Jesus’ call, he rose up to to follow Him “on the way.” When we hear Jesus’ call... Amen. Other illustrations……. The Power of Observation Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, told a story on himself. He was waiting for a taxi outside the railway station in Paris. When the taxi pulled up, he put his suitcase in it and then got in the taxi. As he was about to tell the taxi-driver where he wanted to go, the driver asked him: "Where can I take you, Mr. Doyle?" Doyle was astounded. He asked the driver if he knew him by sight. The driver said: "No Sir, I have never seen you before." Doyle was puzzled and asked him how he knew he was Arthur Conan Doyle. The driver replied: "This morning's paper had a story that you were on vacation in Marseilles. This is the taxi-stand where people who return from Marseilles always wait. Your skin color tells me you have been on vacation. The ink-spot on your right index finger suggests to me that you are a writer. Your clothing is very English, and not French. Adding up all those pieces of information, I deduce that you are Sir Arthur Conan Doyle." Doyle exclaimed, "This is truly amazing. You are a real-life counter-part to my fictional creation, Sherlock Holmes." "There is one other thing," the driver said. "What is that?" Doyle asked. "Your name is on the front of your suitcase." It wasn't the powers of deduction. It was the power of observation. That taxi driver's lenses were clean enough to observe what was going on around him. Billy D. Strayhorn, From the Pulpit, CSS Publishing Company, Inc. Let Me See When my wife and I were in Tanzania, we felt like socio-economic minorities for the first time in our lives. At worship, we were the only white faces in a sea of black. In the market, we weren't merely the only Caucasians; we were among the few wearing shoes! Everywhere we went, we were the wealthy, healthy ones. When we were approached by a roving gang of small children rushing toward us in Mlafu, we assumed they would beg for money. My wife clutched her purse, and I felt for my billfold. Here came the poorest of the poor! And when the children finally reached us, do you know what they asked for? They asked, "Will you take my picture? Will you take my picture?" And when we had snapped several photos of these beautiful children, they began to squeal with delight "Now let me see it! Let me see what you see!" Ultimately, that was the request of the blind man that Jesus met on the road outside of Jericho that day. The man simply wanted to see what everyone else saw. But the real miracle that day is that, when the man gained his sight, he chose to follow Jesus. He was not satisfied to merely see the sights, to find familiar faces and places in his hometown. He wanted to see the world from Jesus' point of view ... to see the people and the places and the problems and the possibilities that Jesus saw. Steven Molin, Sermons for Sundays after Pentecost (Last Third):The Final Exam, CSS Publishing Company, Inc. Treat Life as a Miracle Wendell Berry has suggested that "to treat life as less than a miracle is to give up on it." Well, today, eagerly, painfully, obediently, Bartimaeus refuses to give up on the miracle called life, the miracle called faith, the miracle called Jesus. He jumps up and grabs the guts and the grace of the Christian life. And he calls us to do the same. Susan Andrews, How Eager Are You? The year 1983 marked the five-hundredth anniversary of the great reformer, Martin Luther, whose stature increases with time. Found by his deathbed, scrawled in German and Latin, was this declaration: “We are beggars: That is true.” This statement may have inspired D. T. Niles to say, “Evangelism is one beggar telling another beggar where he can find a piece of bread.” Not a sweet roll and a cup of coffee, but a bite of the staff of life—bread! The church is a fellowship of beggars, receiving and offering love, support, and hope. Committed Christians acknowledge their dependence upon God and their interdependence on one another. They are always in the bread line, if not receiving, then giving.

The Reward of Righteousness

Job 1:1, 2:1-16 October 4, 2015 The Reward of Righteousness? 19th Sunday after Pentecost Year B Wow, can you believe that it is October 4th already. There is a lot going on in our world today. Once again, we are dealing with another mass killing, this is starting to be a common occurence. Even right here in Chicago, Just this week, there were 4 killed and 53 others wounded by guns. Every time there is a shooting in Englewood, I get an email from the 7th district police department, Just in case it happens near the church. Just last night I heard that in Cleveland, there was a 5month baby who was shot while sitting in her car seat in her mothers car. When does it all end? What are the answers to finally bring peace to our land? Even the President expressed his frustration about the situation. And we can’t help but to ask Where is God in the midst of all of this? What does God have to say about all of this? This is a day that we cant help but to turn to our faith. October 4th is St.Francis day – st francis of assisi was a priest who taught many about the way of peace. He wrote the poem-make me an instrument of you peace. Today is also world communion Sunday –where we are reminded that Christians all over the world our in communion with Christ and with one another. I thought it was interesting that president Obama said that the united states is the only nation in the world with this level of violence against ordinary citizens. Why is there this level of hatred on our streets. For those of you who are my facebook friends, you know that in my own life, I am going through a pretty dark tunnel in life myself. I spend a lot of time asking God-why, how and when. The last time I just wanted my mommy to just come and rescue me and make it better was when I was in labor with my son. But I am calling for her everyday. So in this sermon, I am looking for my own answers. That is partly why thought we should look at the old testament today. All summer we have been looking at the wisdom lessons in the bible. Today we start the book of Job, and we will look at it for 4 weeks. I know that we all have heard about Job, but I don’t know how many of you have actually read the story in the bible. Job was a foreigner, who had everything. He had a wife and ten kids- the number of perfection. Most of them were sons. He had a big farm, many animals, he was doing really well. More importantly, he had his faith. He truly believed that he was blessed. And I am not going to make this sermon about the devil, but it was the devil who questioned his faith. Saying he is only blessed because things are going well. If you take his life away –will he still say that he is blessed. Now scholars say that Job is not a real person – that he is just a folk hero. I would not say that Job is nobody, I think he is everybody. How many of you would say that you are blessed? How many of you would say that your faith has been tested at some point in your life? All of us are grateful for what we have, but if we were to lose it all tomorrow, would we still say that we are blessed? Corrie Ten Bloom said that I have held a lot of things in my hands, and lost them all. It is only the things that I put in God’s hands that I can still hold onto. That is a message that I needed to hear- put it in God’s hands. The president says that he doesn’t have any answers to how to stop all of this violence. If you look at the story of Job, he was anything but patient. He was struggling and looking for answers. And he got a lot of answers. It must have been something that you did, why don’t you just admit that you are wrong and go on. But Job knew that he didn’t do anything wrong. And Job struggled because he knew that would not solve the problem. He was still not willing to give up his faith, and his integrity. There is one thing that all of the people who use guns to solve their problems have in common –they are convinced that they are the victim. They are hurt, and they feel that they have no choice but to hurt others. They are out of any other options. Job is an example for us, in the darkest of situations, he did not want to be victim. He turned to God so that he could be victor. We didn’t read the psalm for today, because it was not in the hymnal and I could not find a responsive reading. But many of the psalms are of hard times in a person’s life when they are standing on their faith. Psalm71 says that I am an enigma to many – an enigma is a puzzle. Many people don’t understand Job’s response to suffering. Why be faithful, when you are getting the short end of the stick. When faced with a problem –most people want answers. And sometimes in life there are no answers. There is an Asian proverb that when you are shot, you don’t need to find our the make of the bullet, or thehistory of the gun in order to heal. Anwers don’t always solve the problem. Sometimes you don’t get an answer, all you get is to respond. You can respond with hurt or you can respond with love. You can be a victim or you can be a victor. I have always had appreciation for Leslie Wheatherhead's insightful statement suggesting that after we have had a painful human experience we ought to get from that experience everything it has to teach us, because we have paid such a high price for the wisdom it seeks to impart. Being blessed is not about what you have, it is about who you are. Do you love God? Are you willing to put it in the hands of God or do you need to hold on? 1509 One Year To Live The Baltimore Sun conducted a contest, and the following poem received a prize for the best answer to the question, “What would you do if you had one more year to live?” “If I had but one year to live; One year to help; one year to give; One year to love; one year to bless; One year of better things to stress; One year to sing; one year to smile; To brighten earth a little while; One year to sing my Maker’s praise; One year to fill with work my days; One year to strive for a reward When I should stand before my Lord, I think that I would spend each day, In just the very self-same way That I do now. For from afar The call may come across the bar At any time, and I must be Prepared to meet eternity. So if I have a year to live, Or just one day in which to give A pleasant smile, a helping hand, A mind that tries to understand A fellow-creature when in need; ’Tis one with me—I take no heed. But try to live each day He sends To serve my gracious Master’s ends.” —Mary Davis Reed We don’t know what our circumstances will be next year. Wedont know about next month, or even tomorrow. We haveto take life moment by moment. Turn it over to God. and be willing to claim that you are a blessed child of God, no matter what the circumstance. Amen. Children’s Sermon Materials: A large suitcase, a purse, and a backpack. Message: Can you believe all the things we have to help us carry around supplies with us every day? It seems that we can hardly go anywhere these days without bringing something to help us carry things! How many of you ladies here today brought a purse with you? How many of you men carried a wallet? What about you children, do you carry a backpack or some type of bag with you to school every day? Even when we go on vacation to get away from it all, we certainly take a lot of things with us. Just look at the size of this suitcase. In our family we take several of these! There is no doubt about it! Wherever we go, we usually end up taking a lot of supplies with us. Even before we are old enough to carry them ourselves, our parents carry those bags of supplies! That is very different from what the Bible says our lives were like when they began and what they will be like when they are nearing an end. God says that when we came into the world we had nothing - just the bodies He had given us. When we leave the world, we will take nothing - even leaving those bodies behind to go into Jesus' presence. That reminds us that we need to be aware of what is really important in life. The most important things are not the possessions we have, or the things we can accumulate, or the house we live in, or the cars we drive. The most important things in life are inside of us: our faith in Jesus, the love we hold for our family and others, our willingness to help people who need our support. When we get to heaven, those are things that will count the most, not the things that we can see and hold onto in life but the things that are unseen - inside our hearts. FROM A MUSTARD SEED by Mark A. Hultquist Additional illustrations…… Text: Job 1:21 Job declared: Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I will depart. The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; May the Name of the Lord be praised! Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my little apple tree and pay my debts. —Martin Luther • St. Francis of Assisi, hoeing his garden, was asked what he would do if he were suddenly to learn that he was to die at sunset that day. He said: “I would finish hoeing my garden.” It is said of Henry of Bavaria that at one time, becoming weary of court life, he determined to enter a monastery. When he presented himself to Prior Richard, the faithful monk gave him the strict rules of the order. The king listened eagerly and enthusiastically expressed pleasure at the prospect of such complete consecration. Then the prior insisted that obedience, implicit and expressed was the first requisite of sainthood. The monarch promised to follow his will in every detail. “Then go back to your throne and do your duty in the station God assigned you,” was the prior’s word to him. The king took up his scepter again, and from then until he died, his people said of him, “King Henry has learned to govern by learning to obey.” —The Treasury It is said of Henry of Bavaria that at one time, becoming weary of court life, he determined to enter a monastery. When he presented himself to Prior Richard, the faithful monk gave him the strict rules of the order. The king listened eagerly and enthusiastically expressed pleasure at the prospect of such complete consecration. Then the prior insisted that obedience, implicit and expressed was the first requisite of sainthood. The monarch promised to follow his will in every detail. “Then go back to your throne and do your duty in the station God assigned you,” was the prior’s word to him. The king took up his scepter again, and from then until he died, his people said of him, “King Henry has learned to govern by learning to obey.” —The Treasury

Don't Blame me

September 27, 2015 Mark 9:38-50 Don’t Blame Me Year B 18th Sunday After Pentecost Have you ever tasted gravy with no salt in it. it is like eating a grey or brown blob of nothing. But put a little salt in it and it makes all the difference in the world. Salt can add flavor to a lot of things. Jesus calls us the salt of the earth – the world is the gravy and those who follow Jesus are the salt. The flavor of God. Today I want to start at the end of the scripture where Jesus tells us to maintain your salt and keep the peace. Paul says to use your salt and keep your faith. The world is changing – we don’t put salt on everything anymore. I don’t even use salt anymore. There was a time when I did not even have salt in the house, and as time went on, I do. Our bodies need salt – salt is a part of who we are – it is a part of our earth. It is no wonder Jesus would use salt as an image of who we should be to the world. Someone said that salt is sort of like the soul of dead meat. A piece of meat with no salt will rot and decay. Take that same piece of meat and rub it in salt – and it will maintain it freshness. When Jesus tells us to be the salt of the earth- that was his intention. – be the soul of dead meat. Last week I told you that the first time that I read the gospel – I was scared into being a Christian. Jesus threats scared me into wanting to be a good person. This is one of those scriptures that scared me. It was the threat of going to hell for doing the wrong thing. All throughout the gospels, Jesus has much more to say about going to hell then he does about heaven. He wants to make sure that hell is a place that you do not want to go. To sin is terrible but to teach another to sin is infinitely worse. O. Henry has a story in which he tells of a little girl whose mother was dead. Her father used to come home from work and sit down and take off his jacket and open his paper and light his pipe and put his feet on the mantelpiece. The little girl would come in and ask him to play with her for a little for she was lonely. He told her he was tired, to let him be at peace. He told her to go out to the street and play. She played on the streets. The inevitable happened—she took to the streets. The years passed on and she died. Her soul arrived in heaven. Peter saw her and said to Jesus, “Master, here’s a girl who was a bad lot. I suppose we send her straight to hell?” “No,” said Jesus gently, “let her in. Let her in.” And then his eyes grew stern, “But look for a man who refused to play with his little girl and sent her out to the streets—and send him to hell.” God is not hard on the sinner, but he will be stern to the person who makes it easier for another to sin, and whose conduct, either thoughtless or deliberate, puts a stumbling-block in the path of a weaker brother. Being the salt of the earth means being the one who makes a difference. A positive difference in someone elses life. Changing the Signs William Barclay, a British theologian, tells the following story in his commentary on this Biblical text. He told a story about someone changing signs. That is, at an intersection of the road, one sign would point to the city of Seattle and another sign would point to the city of Tacoma. And the boy wondered to himself: How many people could I send down the wrong road if I changed the signs? Your very life is a sign post with a sign on it. Are you sending people down the wrong road or the right road? Being salt of the earth means leading people to the ways of God. Jesus was that if you mislead another’s faith, it will be better to have a millstone wrapped around your neck and for you to be thrown into the sea. That was a common punishment in Jesus time. When someone was a threat to the community, they would be thrown into the sea. We don’t do that to people anymore. Not physically, but spiritually we do it all of the time. Everytime we gossip, we don’t hold people accountable. We see something going wrong and we don’t try to stop it. We are putting a milstone around the spirit of others. We are not being the salt of the earth. If it is not enough to be threatened with hell, Jesus says if your hands, your feet, your eyes cause you to sin, then you need to cut it off. Many in the present generation would not agree to have surgery for any reason. My uncle got gangrene in his leg, and refused to get help, because he felt that he would not be any good without it. My cousin needs a knee replacement and yet refuses to have surgery. I hope that I never have to make a decision like that about my body parts. But once again in Jesus day – he knew a lot of people who had lost a leg or a foot or even an eye to an accident or even due to a punishment. In those days, if you were a thief you would get your limbs cut off. Jesus knew that the greatest sins that we commit are either with our hands, our feet and our eyes. We work with our hands. But the hand also has another special purpose. When you meet someone – what is the first thing that you give them? You give them your hand as a sign of welcome. You can do things with your hands, but you can also not do things with your hands. You can work and make things happen, or you can fold your hands and refuse to do anything. You can extend your hand and welcome people, or you can refuse to extend your hand and make watch them fall We go places with our feet. We can either go to the right places or the wrong places. We can use our feet to walk into the church, or to walk into the club. We can use our feet to go to the produce section of the grocery store and get healthy vegetables, or we can use our feet to get pizza. You have heard the term vote with your feet – we make choices with our feet and where they take us. We sin with our feet and the places we go. And it has been said – that blind people do not commit crimes of passion. We react to what we see with our eyes. We develop our desires and passions based on what we see with our eyes. Back in the day, it was believed that the eyes were the keys to the heart. If you wanted to know how someone really felt, all you needed to do was look in their eyes. Jesus says if your hands and your feet and your eyes cause you to sin, then cut them off. And most of us would rather die then lose a limb. More importantly though I think that when we do sin – we blame the sin on our hands, our feet, our eyes, - and not the heart inside that controls them all. We continue to blame the outside forces – and not take responsibility for our feelings, our thoughts, our spirit. What Jesus is really saying to us – is that we need to get rid of anything in our lives that stand in the way of us worshipping God. Hell – true hell is living outside of the will of God. As long as we ignore God’s plan for our lives – then we are miserable in this life and the next. Faith in God is a total commitment – and it requires all of your spirit all of your soul. A fellow by the name of Ed Peterman tells a story from his childhood, when he grew up on a farm in Preble County Ohio. His family discovered they had some rats in the barn, so his parents got some traps. One night they baited them with cheese, and set them out around the barn. The next morning young Ed went out to see if they had caught anything. The first traps he examined were empty. When he came to the last trap, he saw something strange. The trap had been sprung, and while there was no rat in it, he noticed that it did hold the severed leg of a rat. He ran to tell his parents about this unexpected finding. They followed him back to the barn. When they got to the trap with the rat's leg in it, his parents just nodded and smiled knowingly. "What happened?" Ed asked them. "Tell me what happened!" So they told him. The trap had caught the rat by the leg. The rat knew that its life was at risk, so it chewed off its own leg to escape. "That's the way rats are," his father said. "Better to go on living with only three legs, than to die with all four." Ed just stood there for a while, marveling at the courage it took for the rat to choose to survive by chewing its leg off and leaving it behind. It makes one wonder whether we would have the courage to do what the rat did. If you were caught in a life-threatening situation one day, would you be able to cut part of yourself off and leave it behind in order to go on living? That's one of those things we never truly know, unless and until we actually faced that situation. Would I be able to surrender a hand or a leg, a memory or a grudge, an obsession or a long-held opinion, if my life were at stake? Or would I cling desperately to the futile memory of how things have always been before, and so bring about my own death? Jan Campbell “Cut It Out” The analogy of an operating room, where radical surgery must be performed, is a most useful way to understand this Scripture. Most of us today would accept the notion that the whole body is worth more than any of its individual parts, and when we develop a cancerous tumor on eye, hand, or foot, we cast aside “the offending member” — with regret, of course; but we operate on the assumption that it is better to enter life without the diseased organ than not to live at all. If a troublesome organ hampers our life or threatens our very existence we eliminate it. We recognize the principle involved. When a gall bladder or appendix is so badly diseased that it gives us no peace, we cut it out. When a hand or foot is diseased beyond help, we are not loathe to amputate in order to save everything else. When a tumor is malignant and threatens to take our entire life away, we are not hesitant to say to the surgeon, “Cut it out!” It is far better to leave behind the tumor than to threaten one’s whole existence. We understand the principle involved. And what is true in the physical realm, translates over into the spiritual realm. If there is something in our lives: some habit, some action, some attitude, that gets between us and God, we must “cut it out.” Donald B. Strobe, Collected Words, www.Sermons.com God wants us to live our lives in freedom. He wants us to get out of the trap. He wants us to run free. Look at what is holding you down – and let it go – and go on with your life. With all of this talk about millstones around our necks, and losing limbs – what is the good news that Jesus is trying to tell us. Transform Your Heart Gregory of Nyssa, a fourth century church father said, “God never asks his servants to do what is impossible. The love and goodness of his Godhead is revealed as richly available. It is poured out like water upon all. God furnished to each person according to his will the ability to do something good. None of those seeking to be saved will be lacking in this ability, given by the one who said: ‘whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose his reward.’” Ask the Holy Spirit to transform your heart by the fire of his love that you may wholly desire what is good for your neighbor. Gregory of Nyssa, a fourth century church father's comments on this passage. Being the salt of the earth is not about the hard and difficult things – that we have to agonize over – it is about the things that are obvious and right in front of your face. Jesus also says that if you just give the person in front of you a cup of cold water when they are thirsty that you will be rewarded. Being a Christian is not about the hard things, it is about the easy things that you could do every day. It does not take a lot to say I love you. We use our hands, our feet, and our eyes everyday. We can do right just as easy as we can do wrong. We can help people or we can stand by and let the world run its course. Being the salt of the earth – means making a difference in the little things that God puts in front of you every day. Salt is sodium Chloride. Salt Sodium is an extremely active element found naturally only in combined form; it always links itself to another element. Chlorine, on the other hand, is the poisonous gas that gives bleach its offensive odor. When sodium and chlorine are combined, the result is sodium chloride. What is sodium Chloride? Salt. Common table salt. The substance we use to preserve meat and bring out its flavor. Love and truth can be like sodium and chlorine. Love without truth is flighty, sometimes blind, willing to combine with various doctrines. On the other hand, truth by itself can be offensive, sometimes even poisonous. Spoken without love, it can turn people away from the gospel. When truth and love are combined in an individual or a church, however, then we have what Jesus called "the salt of the earth," and we're able to preserve and bring out the beauty of our faith. Be the salt of the earth – and make a difference. Amen. Object: tape player or radio that plugs in, tape of pleasing music, volunteer to hold the cord of tape player or radio CHILDREN'S SERMON by Angela Akers Good morning, boys and girls. I brought some music for you to listen to today. (Have volunteer start the tape player) Isn't that pretty? This tape player is very handy. I just plug it in, pop in a tape, push PLAY, and out comes the music. (Have volunteer pull plug on tape player) Hey! What happened to our music? Somebody unplugged the tape player. Well, we'll just plug it back in and listen some more. There, that's better. Oh, I love this part! Listen really carefully. (Volunteer pulls plug again) What in the world is happening to my music? Oh, the tape player is unplugged again. Boy, that's frustrating! This tape player is in perfect condition, it's all ready to play beautiful music, but if it's unplugged from the wall, it just won't play. That's because all the power for the tape player comes from the power source in the wall. Without its main source of power, the tape player won't work. If it's plugged in, then it has all the power it needs. But if it comes unplugged, then it loses all its power to play beautiful music. Have you ever thought of yourself as a tape player? Our power for living a good, happy life comes from God. But sometimes we can become disconnected from God, just like this tape player was unplugged from its power source. You know what "œunplugs" us from God? Sin. Sin is what separates us from God. Sin unplugs us from our true source of power, God. (Plug in tape player and start the music) Things like lying, stealing, being mean to other people, gossiping about other people all these things are sins. (Pull the plug) They "œunplug" us from God and keep us from living good, happy lives. Let's pray and ask God to take away our sins and keep us "œplugged in" to Him. ……Extra illustrations There is an old eastern fable. A man possessed a ring set with a wonderful opal. Whoever wore the ring became so sweet and true in character that all men loved him. The ring was a charm. Always it was passed down from father to son, and always it did its work. As time went on, it came to a father who had three sons whom he loved with an equal love. What was he to do when the time came to pass on the ring? The father got other two rings made precisely the same so that none could tell the difference. On his death-bed he called each of his sons in, spoke some words of love and to each, without telling the others, gave a ring. When the three sons discovered that each had a ring, a great dispute arose as to which was the true ring that could do so much for its owner. The case was taken to a wise judge. He examined the rings and then he spoke. “I cannot tell which is the magic ring,” he said, “but you yourselves can prove it.” “We?” asked the sons in astonishment. “Yes,” said the judge, “for if the true ring gives sweetness to the character of the man who wears it, then I and all the other people in the city will know the man who possesses the true ring by the goodness of his life. So, go your ways, and be kind, be truthful, be brave, be just in your dealings, and he who does these things will be the owner of the true ring.” A missionary tells a lovely story. She had been telling a class of African primary children about giving a cup of cold water in the name of Jesus. She was sitting on the verandah of her house. Into the village square came a company of native bearers. They had heavy packs. They were tired and thirsty, and they sat down to rest. Now they were men of another tribe, and had they asked the ordinary non-Christian native for water they would have been told to go and find it for themselves, because of the barrier between the tribes. But as the men sat wearily there, and as the missionary watched, from the school emerged a little line of tiny African girls. On their heads they had pitchers of water. Shyly and fearfully they approached the tired bearers, knelt and offered their pitchers of water. In surprise the bearers took them and drank and handed them back, and the girls took to their heels and ran to the missionary. “We have given a thirsty man a drink,” they said, “in the name of Jesus.” The little children took the story and the duty literally. Edward F. Markquart, Millstones All too often, gossip, silence, and exclusion serve just these purposes, cutting off the prophetic from the congregation. This is what the Apostles were doing to this one man “caught healing.” They were demanding that Jesus hobble his powerful works because he wasn’t one of them. We can stop our pettiness by taking four actions: 1. Get out in the harvest; Recognize the crisis in harvesters and the ripeness of the harvest. If you don’t bring the harvest in during its due season, it will not just sit out there and stay ripe. This is the harvest time and we need laborers. Let’s be one and pray for more! 2. Quit defending the faith and take the offense in outreach; Rest with Gamaliel, the wise Pharisee who trained Saul. In Acts 5:38 he said that God doesn’t need us to defend his name; he is quite capable of that himself. If someone’s work is of God, it will continue. If not, it will cease. 3. Recognize the signs of pettiness in our life and flee them; If we are surrounded by ducks and quack; it usually means we are a duck. If those around us are petty and small, guess what... We must flee such people! Instead, we should move in the company of giants, heading towards the outer boundaries of our “known world.” If we seek out people who don’t have time or use for gossip, then we will be forced to live at their level. They will hold our behavior and conversation to a higher standard and we will either grow to meet those standards or begin talking behind their backs as well. Let us hope it is the former. 4. Maintain the habits of faith. We must maintain the habits of faith; a. Pray constantly, b. Hunger for God’s Word, c. Maintain a small group of accountability, and d. Be in personal relationship with “least of these.” Attending to these habits keeps us from becoming small-minded and hard-hearted. Jerry Goebel, Stumble The Fellowship of the Bearers of Cold Water An old man named Calvin had lived a good life as a farmer for years. One day an evangelist came to the community, and, in the course of his stay, visited Calvin and asked him what denomination he was. Calvin answered the question like this: "When my grain gets ready for selling, after I've harvested it and packaged it, I can take it to town by any one of three roads ” the river road, the dirt road, or the highway. But when I get my grain to town and go to the buyer to sell him what I have, he never looks at me and asks, ˜Calvin, which road did you take to get your grain to town?' What he does do is ask me if my grain is any good." Friend, is your grain good - the grain of your discipleship? That's all that really matters. When we get to Heaven we will probably find some (Roman Catholics) and some (Baptists) and some (Presbyterians). And they'll be just as surprised to see us as we will to see them. But we will all belong to just one fellowship. Let's call it the Fellowship of the Bearers of Cold Water. We will all be people who have lived out our discipleship through acts of kindness to others. King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Staff, www.sermons.com. Adapted from a sermon by David H. Johnson. Frederick Buechner defines the Kingdom of God in this way: “It’s like finding a million dollars in a field, or a jewel worth a king’s ransom. It’s like finding something you hated to lose and thought youUd never find again - an old keepsake, a stray sheep, a missing child. When the kingdom really comes, it’s as if the thing you lost and thought you’d never find again is you.” (Frederick Buechner, WISHFUL THINKING, New York: Harper and Row, 1973, p. 50) Escaping the Rat Traps

Aspiring to Serve God

September 20, 2015 Proverbs 31:10-31 Mark 9: 30-37 Aspiring to serve God Year B I have to admit that I cringe whenever I hear this scripture from proverbs. I don’t know what to do with it, and I ask what does it mean? I have heard some really good sermons on proverbs, and I have heard some really bad ones. As I was preparing this week, I thought at best I could use this text for a women’s day sermon to talk about what it means to be a godly woman. When I choose a scripture to preach on, I always ask, is it empowering. Is it going to give people hope and inspiration to be a better person? On the surface I just don’t see anything empowering about telling women to get up at 3am to start fixing breakfast for their family. And from there spend the rest of your day working and keeping everybody else happy, and doing nothing for yourself. The role of women is changing, we are discovering that we cant do it all. This poem reminds me of the time the trustees did an inspection of my parsonage, and gave me a list of things that needed to be clean – like the grout between the tile in the bathroom. I had to explain to this male trustee, that I was a single woman, with an apathetic teenage son. Who would rather die than help me – which meant everything was on me. I to the trustee, you pay my salary – you can either pay me to stay at home to clean the house, or to leave the mess and come to work and be your pastor. It is your choice, personally I don’t have a preference in how I spend my time – but I cant do both at the same time. And yet on the other hand, if you read this scripture of a woman’s work – it perfectly describes the work of our mothers and grandmothers. They did all of these things everyday – got them done and never complained. I would never preach on this scripture, and yet God works in mysterious ways. God has a way of turning our assumptions on their head. As I started my sermon prep, I learned to have a real appreciation for this scripture. And to rethink its meaning and message. First, let me give you a little background on proverbs. This is a mother’s advice to her teenage or young adult son. Lemuel is a young prince, who will one day become king. His mother wants him to be a good king, so she gives him advice on women, friends, and choosing the right path, instead of getting caught up on what it going on in the streets. Most of the advice that she gives him is about women. In this text she is telling him how to choose the right wife. She wants him to choose a good godly woman, and tells him the qualities of a good woman. Proverbs is the one place in the bible, where wisdom is described as a woman who stands out on the crossroads of life crying out to those nearby. Not everyone listens to her message. Lady wisdom, Sophia has been with God since the beginning of time. She stood by God’s side when he bought creation into being, she was a playmate with Jesus. She knows what she is talking about, but not everyone listens. Proverbs is important to us because as we look at the book of James, the words of Paul, and the rest of the new testament, it is all based on the wisdom books of the Hebrew bible. Unfortunately, in the church we misinterpret the message of being good with the message of being wise. Everything for us comes down to being a good person or a bad person. People outside of the church don’t want their actions to be judged as good or bad, so they think that church and the bible are irrelevant. In reality, there are a lot of good people, who are not wise. Or should I say there are people who look good, who talk good, who dress good, even act good – but in their hearts they are no good. I WANT TO BE PRETTY "I want to be pretty." This is the title of a popular tv program that was airing when we lived in Poland. It was a reality tv show in which in every episode you follow the changes of two women who are the heroes of the program. Each of these women work with a team of specialists for six weeks. During that time they are cut off from contact with their friends and relatives as they undergo major changes in their physical appearance and also their self-image. Finally friends and family are invited to the studio where they meet them face to face with great drama. An example was Gosia who said: "I was good looking all my life but I'm not able to accept how I look now....It's not about being older. But it's simply that I look different. Now I feel like an old used-up slipper. I'm ashamed of myself in front of my husband. This has gone on for nearly a year. How long can he stand it?" Does our life and happiness depend on our appearance? I'm sure Gosia was happier after her transformation but is she a better person? Is she a better wife and mother? Does the change of appearance change our character and make us better people? Right here in this country, I used to love to watch extreme makeover, but always wondered how much those cosmetic changes made in a persons life, when there was no change of heart on the inside. In the Christian bibles – the first words of this scripture say –who can find a good wife? He that does so finds a good thing. Interestingly enough, that is not what the Hebrew bible says. In the jewish religion there is no concept of being good or bad. The jewish religion is about being close to god, not about being good. In the Hebrew bible, the first words of this text actually say who can find a woman of valor. An eschet chayil. Eschet means woman, chayil means valor. A woman of valor is a big deal for them and there are many celebrations for the woman of valor in the jewish calendar. But what does valor mean – valor is one of those living words, which means more than it says. Logos means word, but it is a word that is always put into action. Shalom means peace, but you cant have peace without justice, wholeness and wellbeing. Valor means worth but you cant have value without having honor, dedication, kindness, and self worth. As a matter of fact, the word valor means strong and mighty in battle. Chayil – valor is used 250 times in the Hebrew bible (the old testament), and each time that it is used, it means something different. Most famously it is used in the story of the soldier Gideon. An Angel comes to him and calls him a man of valor. A man who fights on behalf of God and not himself. The angel is telling Gideon to see himself as God sees him – and to live into that vision. The problem is that we see ourselves and others through the lense of man. We strive for perfection based on our thoughts and not God’s thoughts. God did not create us to be perfect and to always do the right things. A lot of Christian men use this text as a checklist for choosing a good wife. There are 26 different qualities that the woman has to have if you are counting. The problem with trying to fit a real woman into this passage is like using the Barbie doll as a measure of beauty. Barbie is not a real person. Her measurements are ideal in man’s eyes – not what God intended. This scripture is an ideal personified, not an ideal person. As a matter of fact, a man is supposed to read those poem to his wife during Shabbat meal and to thank her for whatever she has done for him. The bible messages for both mean and women. And this poem applies to us all. In one way we can think of this poem as the human soul. God is the groom, and the people of God are his bride. Jesus is the groom and the church is the bride. A woman of valor is anyone who strives to have a relationship with God. One who bases their actions on their relationship with God and loves God in all things. A woman of valor is a woman who loves God, not a good wife. This poem is not so much about who I am, it is about who I strive to be in all things. It is an ideal that moves me forward in my relationship with God. not about being good. There are some good people, who don’t have a relationship with God. When you read James, Galations, Ephesians, and the rest of the new testament. The message is not to be a good person. Good and bad are just two different sides of the same coin. The message that we have to give to our young people today that the bible is trying to tell us is that wisdom is its own reward. When you choose wisdom, you choose wealth, health, honor, long life and family. Solomon asked for wisdom and God gave him all those things to go with it. Proverbs is a mother asking her son to choose wisdom – so that he could have the riches of life. When you do the right thing – God will reward you. SLEEPING WHEN THE WIND BLOWS A young man applied for a job as a farmhand. When the farmer asked for his qualifications, he said, "I can sleep when the wind blows." This puzzled the farmer. But he liked the young man, and hired him. A few days later, the farmer and his wife were awakened in the night by a violent storm. They quickly began to check things out to see if all was secure. They found that the shutters of the farmhouse had been securely fastened. A good supply of logs had been set next to the fireplace. The young man slept soundly. The farmer and his wife then inspected their property. They found that the farm tools had been placed in the storage shed, safe from the elements. The tractor had been moved into the garage. The barn was properly locked. Even the animals were calm. All was well. The farmer then understood the meaning of the young man's words, "I can sleep when the wind blows." Because the farmhand did his work loyally and faithfully when the skies were clear, he was prepared for the storm. Seek to serve God in all things – that is true wisdom. Amen. TRUST IN GOD "Trust in yourself and you are doomed to disappointment Trust in money and you may have it taken from you; But trust in God, and you are never to be confounded in time or eternity." --D.L. Moody (From a sermon by Jeff Strite, Trusting in Ravens, 8/8/2011)

Not everyone can be a teacher

September 13, 2015 James 3:1-12 Not Everyone Should be a Teacher Year B It seems that one day a kindergarten teacher was helping one of her students put on his cowboy boots? He asked for help and she could see why. Even with her pulling and him pushing, the little boots still didn’t want to go on. Finally, when the second boot was on, she had worked up a sweat. She almost cried when the little boy said, "Teacher, they’re on the wrong feet." She looked down and sure enough, they were. It wasn’t any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. But she managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on - this time on the right feet. And it was only then that he announced, "These aren’t my boots." She bit her tongue rather than scream, "Why didn’t you say so?" like she wanted to. And, once again she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off his little feet. No sooner had they got the boots off then he said, "They’re my brother’s boots. My Mom made me wear ’em today." Stifling a scream, she mustered up the grace and courage she had left to wrestle the ill-fitting boots on his feet again. Helping him into his coat, she asked, "Now, where are your mittens?" To which he replied, "I stuffed ’em in the toes of my boots." The article ends by saying - Her trial starts next month. My point for today is that not everyone can be a teacher. Trying to teach others is a big responsibility. That is why in the early church – teachers were held in high esteem. A congregation felt truly blessed to have a teacher. A Christian teacher was put on the level of a rabbi in Judaism. Rabbi means my great one. And by tradition if there is a fire, and you have a choice between saving your teacher or your parents, the teacher comes first. Your parents gave you life, but it is your teacher that opened the doors to your destiny. Being a teacher is a great priviledge, because it is a great responsibility. The book of matthew says that there is a special place in hell for teachers who mislead there students. As I was looking for the exact scripture last night, I saw that Jesus had a lot to say about the role of a teacher. He reminds us that we lead and teach others by what we do. And that if we are responsible for the understanding of others, then it is important to we walk the walk. If we tell others that they should be doing something that we should be doing it too. When I read the book of Matthew in college as a young person, I was literally scared straight. Because there are several times when Jesus goes off – and tells everybody off. There are several chapters in the book when Jesus is mad at the Pharisees for taking the honor of being a teacher, but for not being honest in their teachers. I would think that James had those words in mind, when he tells us that not everyone can be a teacher. And he reminds us that teachers will be held to a higher standard. For James, the major tool of teaching is our tongue. People learn by what you have to say. Which is why James explains the power of the tongue. The power of our words. Did you know that you tongue is the second strongest muscle in your body. The strongest muscle is the one that opens and closes your mouth. James and Jesus both tell us that what comes out of our mouth, is actually more important then what we put in it. ABOUT THE TONGUE There's an old story that the Jewish rabbis tell. As the story goes, one day a rabbi asked his servant to go and buy some good food for him in the market. When the servant returned home, he presented the rabbi with a tongue. The next day, the rabbi told the servant to go the market and buy some bad food. Again, the servant returned with a tongue. The rabbi then asked the servant why he returned with a tongue on both occasions. The servant answered and said, "Good comes from it and bad comes from it. When the tongue is good there is nothing better, and when it is bad there is nothing worse." (From a sermon by T. Scott Womble, Careless Speech Sins, 7/27/2010) What we teach others can be beneficial, and it can be hurtful. It all depends on how we use our words. 6380 Power Of Words A careless word may kindle strife. A cruel word may wreck a life, A bitter word may hate instill; A brutal word may smite and kill, A gracious word may smooth the way; A joyous word may light the day. A timely word may lessen stress; A loving word may heal and bless. —Author Unknown Our words come from an outflow of our heart. And we have to remember that your children and students can see the content of our heart, based on the words that we use. Life is a matter of building. Each of us has the opportunity to build something -- a secure family, a good reputation, a career, a relationship to God. But some of those things can disappear almost overnight due to financial losses, natural disasters and other unforeseen difficulties. What are we to do? Daniel Webster offered excellent advice, saying, "If we work on marble it will perish. If we work on brass, time will efface it. If we rear temples, they will crumble to dust. But if we work on men's immortal minds, if we imbue them with high principles, with just fear of God and love of their fellow-men, we engrave on those tablets something which time cannot efface, and which will brighten and brighten to all eternity. For all of you who are beginning a new year – this is for you…. Progress Magazine, December 23, 1992. An item in "The Report Card" told of a study done in Colorado in which 3000 high school seniors were asked about their best teachers. From their responses this composite was drawn. The ideal teacher (1) is genuinely concerned and interested in students as individuals; (2) requires students to work; (3) is impartial in dealing with students; and (4) is obviously enthusiastic about teaching. Today In The Word, Oct, 1989, p. 25. William A. Ward has said, "The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. Morning Glory, July 3, 1993. I have not been reading all of our lectionary text for the summer. But the old testament lesson for the summer has been the book of proverbs, the theme of the lectionary is wisdom. The question is asked where does wisdom come from? True wisdom comes from God. In order for us to be good teachers, we have to be good students. And the master teacher is God. Jesus is the spirit of God, sent on earth to teach us the way. Sowing the Seed Source unknown An angel paused in his onward flightWith a seed of love and truth and right,And said, "Oh, where can this seed be sownThat it yield more fruit when fully grown?" "To whom can this precious seed be givenThat it bear more fruit for earth and heaven?"The Saviour heard and said as He smiled"Place it at once in the heart of a child." The angel whispered the blessed truthTo a weary teacher of precious youth;Her face grew bright with heavenly lightAs she led their thought in the way of right. When we plant to seeds of God’s plan in the heads and hearts of others, we have an awesome responsibility. And as our children begin to grow, what will receive an awesome reward. From a speech by William Graves, editor of National Geographic magazine, Speaker's Idea File Years ago, after a celebrated international career on the stage, the world-famous violinist Jascha Heifetz became a professor of music at UCLA. When someone asked him why he had left the glamour of performing to become a teacher, Heifetz answered, "Violin-playing is a perishable art. It must be passed on; otherwise it is lost." Then he went on to say, "I remember my old violin professor in Russia. He said that (if I worked hard enough) someday I would be good enough to teach." Not everyone can be a teacher. Only those who know the consequences of teaching, are willing to take the job anyway. Today we want to honor and pray for our teachers…… Children’s Sermon: Exegetical Aim: To show how God draws near when we draw near(4:8). Props: A pitcher of water, a large bowl, and a comb. Lesson: Would you like to see a neat trick? (yes!) Who believes that I can make pouring water move without even touching it? (response) This is something that's really neat. And it's so neat that you can even do it at home in your sink. Bring out your pitcher of water and the large bowl. What I'm going to do is pour a steady stream of water into the bowl, Begin to pour a small, steady stream and while the water is pouring I'll make the stream move to one side or the other. Stop pouring. There's only one more thing that I need. Do you know what it is? It's a really good friend of the water named static electricity. And whenever water knows that static electricity is near, it wants to get near it. So the nearer the static gets, the nearer the water gets. Would you like to see it now? The way I get static electricity is with this. Hold up the comb. Now I'll just comb my hair real good, and that will make static in the comb. Carefully begin to pour a small, steady stream into the bowl. Bring the comb close to the water, and the water’s stream will bend towards the comb. You will want to practice this a few times at home before doing it for the children. Wow! Look at that! I told you that water and static were friends. When one gets near, the other one gets near. Application: Did you know that the Bible says the same thing about God? It says "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you." That means that God wants us to love him just as much as he loves us. And whenever we are near him, he wants to be just as near to us. So always remember to say your prayers and to love God. Because the nearer you are to him, the nearer he comes to you. Let's pray: Dear God, it is a wonderful thing that when we draw near to you, you draw near to us. Help us to always want to be near you. In Jesus' name. Amen.