The Importance of Passing on the Mantle

June 30, 2019 The Importance of passing on the mantle 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14 3rd Sunday after Pentecost Year C Mentors By Lois Parker Edstrom This is the story of two great men. Moses was the man who led his people out of Egypt where they had been held as slaves. The Bible teaches us that Moses was a strong, powerful man. Joshua was a younger man, and the Bible tells us the he was “full of the spirit of wisdom” (34:9). I like to think that Joshua may have become wise by watching Moses work and listening to his advice. After Moses brought the people out of Egypt they came to a beautiful land where the people could work and find a better life. Moses had completed his work. Now he turned over the job of leading them into the new land, to Joshua. Think of people you admire who can help you “gain wisdom” as Moses did with Joshua. I like to write poetry and I especially admire the poetry of one woman whose poems are lovely and wise. I have a book of her poetry on my table and read her poems often. I study the words she uses and how she puts certain words together. I want to learn all I can from her. (Personalize this part of the lesson by relating a story about a mentor who has been helpful to you.) What is it you want to do? What is it you like to do? There are wonderful men and women all around you who can teach you many things. It may be your mother, father, an older brother or sister, a friend or teacher… Look to someone you admire and learn all you can from that person. Try to become “filled with the spirit of wisdom” just as Joshua did. Scripture quotations from the World English Bible Copyright 2012, Richard Niell Donovan 2 Kings 2:1-2 Common English Bible (CEB) Elijah goes to heaven 2 Now the LORD was going to take Elijah up to heaven in a windstorm, and Elijah and Elisha were leaving Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, because the LORD has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the LORD lives and as you live, I won’t leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 2 Kings 2:6-14 Common English Bible (CEB) 6 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, because the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.” But Elisha said, “As the LORD lives and as you live, I won’t leave you.” So both of them went on together. 7 Fifty members from the group of prophets also went along, but they stood at a distance. Both Elijah and Elisha stood beside the Jordan River. 8 Elijah then took his coat, rolled it up, and hit the water. Then the water was divided in two! Both of them crossed over on dry ground. 9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “What do you want me to do for you before I’m taken away from you?” Elisha said, “Let me have twice your spirit.” 10 Elijah said, “You’ve made a difficult request. If you can see me when I’m taken from you, then it will be yours. If you don’t see me, it won’t happen.” 11 They were walking along, talking, when suddenly a fiery chariot and fiery horses appeared and separated the two of them. Then Elijah went to heaven in a windstorm. 12 Elisha was watching, and he cried out, “Oh, my father, my father! Israel’s chariots and its riders!” When he could no longer see him, Elisha took hold of his clothes and ripped them in two. Elisha succeeds Elijah 13 Then Elisha picked up the coat that had fallen from Elijah. He went back and stood beside the banks of the Jordan River. 14 He took the coat that had fallen from Elijah and hit the water. He said, “Where is the LORD, Elijah’s God?” And when he hit the water, it divided in two! Then Elisha crossed over. Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible Question for you. Who are the people in your life who are responsible for who you are today? Who was it that mentored you? Who looked after you, who was willing to show you the ropes, especially as you started out in your life. I remember when I was about 3 or 4, my grandmother would have this well mannered well dressed lady come and pick me up every Sunday and take me to church. I remember one morning my grandmother told my mother that this lady was teaching me how to be a lady. For the life of me, I have no idea of who that lady was. Everyone who would know is gone now. And truth be told, I am not sure my mom was all that crazy about me taking etiquette lessons. I learned a lot from all of the female relatives in my life, and I have always thought of all of them as very special giants in the world. When I think about who I am as a pastor – I am greatful for the day that I met Jack – a campus minister at Northwestern who welcomed me and introduced me to the United Methodist Church. And Dr. Edmund Perry who was also a United Methodist Pastor and chairperson of the religion department at Northwestern. After much a few years, when I was ordained as a deacon in the United Methodist Church - I told the cabinet that I wanted to be pastor of a large church. So after serving for two years as a local pastor – they paired me with Fred. My District Superintendent told me that the only way to learn how to run a large church, was to run a large church. So they made me an associate with Fred with the stipulation that I would have equal preaching time. Fred was a really good sport about letting me preach every other Sunday. Fred has passed, but I treasure his support of me as a pastor. I am grateful to Gates and to Steve – my other Senior pastors. They didn’t let me preach every other Sunday, but they were supportive and I learned a lot from them both. Steve is Jaime Geiger’s best friend. Today as the world is changing, so is ministry and so is the role of the pastor. All of my ministry mentors have either passed away or retired. While I still have 2o years left. This scripture about the relationship between Elijah and Elisha was always resonated with me. Even today, whenever I have my yearly evaluation with my District Superintendent, when they ask what my ministry goal is – it is the same as it was 23 years ago – to be Senior pastor of a large, white, suburban church. They respond that is a little arrogant of me – that is okay – that is all I know. I have always been clear with all of my mentors – that I want to know everything about what you do, so that I can be prepared for that day. Of course today – the world that I pastor in is different from the one they pastored in – there are fewer and fewer large white suburban churches to pastor. So I can relate to Elisha’s request of Elijah – that I want twice as much of God’s spiritual gifts than you have. Not I want what you have – I need even more of God’s presence in a changing more challenging world. Elijah and Elisha were two very different people with two very different ministries. Elijah was a loner who preferred the desert, Elisha was a community person who preferred to stay in the city. Elijah was a big personality, Elisha was an even bigger personality. One day a group of teenagers made fun of Elisha for being bald, Elisha sent a ball of fire to destroy them. Elijah was one of two men who didn’t die, they were taken up to heaven. Elisha lived a normal life and died a normal death. I am pretty sure Elisha would have trained a protégé to take his place – but we don’t know his name. Elisha’s passion was for the community of prophets to carry on his work. We don’t know much about Elisha but the community remembered his name. the community continues to tell his story – and to honor his mentor Elijah as the most important mentor who ever lived. After looking at this story this year –it is a very rich story of the importance of reaching out to the younger generation. God came to earth in a chariot of fire to show Gods presence. Elijah passed the mantel on to a new generation. But the most important part of the story today – there were 50 fellow prophets who saw everything. – they were witnesses to God’s presence, they have kept this story alive even today. Instead of assigning his work to one person he assigned it to a community of witnesses. When you do the work of God, you never know who is watching, and how they are imitating you. A little boy said to his mother, “Can I go outside and help Daddy put snow chains on the car? I know all the words.” Always remember that those who come behind you are copying you. Centuries later, there was another young man who heard about Elijah, and aspired to be just like him in every way. Who aspired to do everything he could to save God’s people. Just like elijah’s protégé his name was God saves – but his name is god for a new day saves in a new way. Just like Elisha, his focus was not on one person taking his place, but forming a community of people to do his work. Very few people are expert in anything all by themselves. They need a supporting community. Do you know a good musician who was not trained, nurtured and sustained by the music community? Show me an athlete who achieves excellence all alone, apart from the athletic community. Very few wise men become so without the accumulated wisdom of the centuries as expressed in colleges and universities and libraries. Medical people are more like ensembles and symphonies than soloists. What business tycoon does it all on his own without dedicated experts in finance, engineering, personnel, and marketing? Excellence requires participation in, and support of, a community of like-minded people. Likewise in the church -- a forerunner of the new kingdom. Very few achieve Christian maturity all by themselves. Seldom is the Bible studied diligently without the aid of scholars and teachers. Rarely are people led to generosity by their own impulses. Maurice A. Fetty, The Divine Advocacy, CSS Publishing Company The word apostle means a witness, one who witnessed for themselves the presence of God. Like his namesake, Jesus put his efforts into his witnesses. It is their story that we tell today. It is the power that they say in Christ, that still fuels our ministry in an every changing world. It is said that our lives are shaped by those who love us and who we witness. So my question still stands – who is it that shaped your life? who mentored you, who formed you? But more importantly, who is it that is watching you? Who is it that you are shaping their life through love and care. Who is it that will carry on your spiritual gifts when you no longer possess them. We have to realize that there is someone out there who is watching each one of us? How is what we show them a witness to God? Are we passing the buck or are we passing the mantle? Guiding Angels Thanksgiving weekend 1994, Trey Dodson was in a car crash in Darlington, SC. – that left the most popular boy ins St. John’s High forever seventeen. Everyone was devastated by his death. Trey was the star pitcher on hi school’s baseball team. He was buried wearing his uniform. He teemmates vowed that they would dedicate the next season to Trey. When the next season came, they all wore his number on an armband. They won game after game. When it came time for the payoffs, they were finally defeated. But that only inspired them to play harder. They went on to win the state championship the week before graduation. Trey’s father was a crew chief for a race car driver, that driver won the championship. Both teams reported they had an angel in the outfield. Some teams had more muscle then they did, but they had the motivation – the motivation to do the best they could. We too have that motivation, in Jesus Christ – who encourages us to go out and save the world. Let us pray….. The inheritance story Hyrkanus was a happy man. Every morning, he awoke with joy in his heart and he said his prayers every day. He has everything, a wonderful house, lots of land, plenty of food. The greatest gift that God could give a man he had. He had lots of sons. And he was thankful that all of his sons were on the farm with him working with him. Well after they had all grown and had families of their own, they all worked on the farm with them. He was happy because they were farmers just like their dad. Hyrkanus would keep watch over is sons. One day he noticed that his youngest son Eliazer was not working. When he talked with his son, Eliezer confessed that he did not enjoy working on the land. Hyrkanus asked his son what he would do if he could do anything else, the son confessed that he wanted to study the bible and get to know more about God. He wanted to devote his whole life to studying God. The father dismissed the young man’s dream and reminded him that is place was with his family and with the land. But Eliezer could not dismiss his dream. He could not eat, drink, and he certainly couldn’t be productive tilling the land. One day Elijah came to him in a dream and asked what he desired. He told Elijah his dream. He told Eliezer that if he really wanted that more than anything that he should go to Jerusalem without delay. Eliezer left the very next day without even saying goodbye to is family. He studied under the best teacher. When the father found out that the son deserted his family, he vowed to take away his inheritance and to disown him. But in order to do that – he had to go to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem he was invited to the house of the greatest rabbi. He sat next to his son, who was a student, but he did not even recognize him. The son was invited to teach from the torah. All were amazed at is teaching, even the father. It was not until the rabbi point out that he recognized his son. He needed to confess that he came to Jerusalem to disinherit him, but instead he would disinherit his other sons for encouraging him. Eliezer said no, that the work that each did was of value. If had had desired to be a great farmer and he prayed, god would have granted him that. If he had desired riches, he could have prayed and god would have granted him that, instead he prayed to serve god with all of his heart – god granted him that – and he was indeed blessed. And we too are indeed blessed that god listens to the prayers of the faithful. This is a true story – not a fable of someone who desired to be a great follower of a great leader. When we follow – Jesus leads us- blesses us and hears the prayers of our hearts. Discipleship Occurs Only In Community

Whatsoever Things are Purple are True

October 5, 1999 Whatsoever things are purple are true Phillippians 4:1-9 October 10, 1999 21st Sunday after Pentecost year A Fall is finally here. The leaves are starting to turn, the air is crisp, its not really cold, just cool enough to have to dress warmly. I am not a sports fan, but the always get excited about this time of year because this is the time to go to football games. I don't know how to play football. As a matter of fact I have no idea of how anyone else plays football. Don't worry, because no matter how much you explain the game to me, it still won't make any sense. But when I was in college, I would love to go to the games. I just wanted to be with the people, to be able to cheer when my team would win. To see the crowd have something to cheer about and to be happy. The last time that I checked, it seemed that it was business as usual for my college team, the Northwestern wildcats. I think we are 3 and 0. they have played 3 games and won none. Isn't that what 3 and 0 means? I know that we played Indiana University yesterday and lost the game 34 to 14. I remember that routine very well. We would go to the games, we would cheer for our team anyway .We cheer because our team is wearing our colors, purple and white. You didn't expect them to win, you just expected them to play. That's all right, that's okay, your gonna work for us some day. You can hear that from the stands at any game. We would throw marshmallows at each other, and shake our keys whenever the quarterback was about the make a punt. And sometimes they would have these really cute male cheerleaders, that was so much fun. The last time I went to the games as an alumni, I couldn't believe that all that they would do was just sit and watch the game. I can't comprehend why anyone would pay twenty dollars just to sit and watch a bunch of guys run around on the grass trying to catch a ball. Especially when you know the outcome of the game before you get there. You know they were going to lose. It was much better to be a student, besides they let us in for free. Another thing that I remember about football games was that we would sing the Northwestern fight song. Hail to purple, hail to white, hail to thee Northwestern. I don't remember to much more of the song. Actually I think that the song is kind of sad and solemn. Whenever I hear it, it always puts me in a state of deep contemplation about some serious matters. Sort of a prayerful state, in which I deal with the meaning of life and my place in it. It makes me think about the things in life that are most important to me. The values that have been instilled in me to be used in making a living and to be passed on to others in whatever things I find myself doing in life. Whenever I think of my college days, and the football games I think of that important lesson to be learned. To make sure that whatever we do in life, make sure that it makes a difference to society and to make sure that it has meaning. Whatsoever things are purple, think on these things. The vision statement of Northwestern says: Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, of there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things. Quequmque sunt vera, that is whatsoever things are true in Latin. You will find that statement on anything with Northwestern University's name on it. It is even on the school seal, which has a Bible open, with these words written in Greek. That is the vision that the university runs by. You might recognize it as the eighth verse of Phillippians. I was drawn to that passage for today's sermon. And as I thought about it, I have often wondered why Paul would need to tell the Phillippian church such a thing. Those are wonderful virtues, but what do they have to do with the spiritual life. What do they have to do with being a Christian? As a matter of fact, all of those virtues are things that are lifted up in Greek philosophy. It would seem to me that to Paul that those would be worldly values that he would be trying to get the church up to walk away from. It reminds me of the dilemma that the church will have with the new character counts program. If you have not heard of it yet, you will. There are several organizations in Aurora which will be launching this program in all sectors of the community. In businesses, schools, the park district, the government, and any body else who is willing to be a part of the program. If you have not heard of it yet, it is a program which is designed to ask all adults to model the behavior that we expect in our children. The ultimate attempt is to take the time to teach children how to live by a sense of values so that they will not be influenced to get involved of drug related, violent, or delinquent behavior. There are six pillars, or values of the program. Trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. It has been decided that these values go beyond all religions and cultures, and are things that all people want to teach their kids. In other words, it is safe for the state to teach these things to everybody. I found it interesting that in the presentation to the clergy group of Aurora, one pastor did not understand why he was the only pastor nationally who had gone through the program. After all, these are all things that we as Christians would want our young people to learn. That is very true, but we don't want to teach our children to go beyond their faith in order to use them. In a world where there is so much vying for our young people's attention, it is tantamount that the church ultimately teach each other what it means to be a Christian. That was Paul's struggle in Phillipi. Yet, Though it is true that the Phillippian church was struggling to set itself apart from the Greek society that it was a part of. and though it is true that Paul was trying to help the Phillipian church understand what it meant to be Christian in a world with so many other different types of values, I think that it is important to look at two other points that Paul was trying to make, before he gives his message. In Phillippians 4:1-9 Paul is addresses the disagreement that has come up in the church. Euodia and Syntyche are members of the church, yet they are at odds with one another. And their disagreement is affecting everyone in the church. Stand firm and to maintain the mind of Christ. To have the mind of Christ means to do things the way that Christ would do them and would have us to do then as his followers. As members of the church, we are the body of Christ. As a physical body, we must do the things that Christ wants done for the world. and any body must also have a mind. A mind thinks and feels and gives direction and purpose to the body. A mind can't be divided and going in different directions, it can't argue with itself and resent itself, if it does, then it will never get anything done. This is why in the midst of the disagreements in the church, Paul reminds the Phillippians to have the mind of Christ. But Paul gives the church some more advice of what it means to have the mind of Christ that I think are important. he tells us to let our gentleness be known to everyone, to rejoice in the lord always and let your request be known to God always in prayer and supplication. the gift that we receive from doing this, A peace from God which surpasses all understanding. In a world where there are constantly things to do, a world where assertiveness seems to be the key to getting everything that you want in life, and where there are always some people who try us, that seems like a very difficult thing to do. For instance in traffic, we have all had the experience of being cut off, or tailgated. And I think that many of us do not do anything anymore, because of the fear of what might happen to us. Well I heard of a story of a man who was trying to exit off on to a freeway, and a car cut him off. So of course in revenge, he raced with the car, and yelled and shook his fist. and finally they both got of at the same stop and the man had a chance to yell and express his anger. And the other man simply apologized, said that the man was right and gracefully got out of an argument. When it was all over, the passenger recognized the man, and told his friend that he had just argued with the lightweight boxing champion of the world. If the fight had actually come to blows, he would have been hurt pretty seriously. Yet the boxing champion was practicing what Paul tells us - let your gentleness be known in everything that you do. Imagine what the world would be like if we all could avert violence and revenge with grace. To have the mind of Christ, means also to have a mind for constant prayer. I mind in which instead of giving a harsh word, we say a word to Christ first. A mind where we look to the peace of God instead of the craziness of the world. What is it that sets us apart from the rest of the world. What is that makes us look at the ordinary events and beliefs of this world in a new way. It is the peace of God. If we depend upon God to answer our prayers in every situation, then we are living a life that is lived the assurance that we are always loved, that we are always listened to and that there is a way out of all situations. I would think that would give us the reason to rejoice in everything. If we live a life of prayer in everything that we do, then everything becomes a part of God's world. so when Paul told the Phillippians to think on the things that are true, that are honest, just and pure. He was asking them to think on the things of Christ. The body of Christ, also has the mind of Christ. and in the mind of Christ, all things are for true, honest and pure. Paul's concern was not the virtues of the Greek philosophy of the say, but on the we in which we as Christians are to think on these things. It is our thoughts that make things different. Because are thoughts are on the gentleness and peace of God. Our thought are from the mind of Christ. the mind of Christ is a united mind, a forgiving mind, a mind filled with truth, honor, purity and peace. And yes, in today's world, we do want our children to value trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. But most importantly, we want them to understand why they are important. We want them to understand that if they think upon these things within the united mind of Christ, then they will still stand apart. they and we, must bring our faith, our gentleness, our joy, our peace to the table. If Christ is in the center of they way they think about those things, then those things are worthy. Whatsoever things are true, as Christians, think on these things. It is your faith that makes them real. Amen.

Flowers in the Wilderness (Why Don't Flowers Grow in Hell)

Emmanuel United Methodist Church 3rd Sunday of Advent December 15, 1996 Sermon Title: Flowers in the Wilderness None of us have probably ever had the pleasure of having to go to school, work or even church in the middle of a warÐÏ à¡± á ; þÿ þÿÿÿ ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ þ'N   ° T› Ð ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ T- Â/ / / / / / /     à=Ð/ Ð 8 d / ÿÿÿÿ Ð ,/ – R- Harriette Cross Emmanuel United Methodist Church 3rd Sunday of Advent December 15, 1996 Sermon Title: Flowers in the Wilderness None of us have probably ever had the pleasure of having to go to school, work or even church in the middle of a war zone. We have been lucky enough not to have experienced the devastation of war for ourselves in our homeland. We have not had the pleasure of trying to live between two parties fighting and and thought to ourselves, no matter what the noble principle that is at stake in this war, it can't possibly be worth the senselessness that continues this fight. We have not had to witness for ourselves things in our community that it took hundreds of years to build, destroyed and taken away by just minutes of fighting. We have not had to read the faces and hear the voices of our neighbors as the meaning of their lives was taken away right in front of their noses. And they are sit left to wonder what is the meaning of this life that I have come so far in one way, and I now have to continue in another. We have not had to walk by and see buildings that were once vibrant with life, empty and boarded up No matter who is involved, no matter what the point, war is a lose/lose situation for all involved. It really doesn't change either parties opinion about anything. And for those people who have experienced loss, it really doesn't matter who is right and who is wrong. But war is one way to get the blood of an organization and certain people in that organization pumping. They can band together for a common cause. Maybe its human nature that we can suddenly find the energy and resources to go forward in times of war, that in times of peace, we would swear on a stack of Holy Bibles that we just don't have Never mind the fact that it takes more resources to fight then it does to make peace. any collateral that we put up in a fight will always ultimately be lost, what we do in times of peace is ours to keep. Never mind that fact that once any war goes on for an extended period of time, the point that we were fighting for will disappear long before our need to fight. I think that the most devastating thing about wartime, is that in order to live in it, you have to loose your conscious. You have to have gotten to the point where no matter how loving and caring person that you were at one time. In order to stay in a war zone you have to get to the point where you just don't care anymore, you have to lose all feeling for what you say, for who you walk over, for who you hurt, for what you destroy in the process, for the innocent people that you have taken down with you in the fight. And once the devastation starts, no matter how hard someone tries to stop it, it will continue. Until there is nothing left. The state of devastation is the state of feeling that there is no hope, no future, no understanding. Wilderness is a state of there being nothing But that is the place where our scripture starts out today, in the wilderness a voice cries out that hope is always on the way. In the midst of our devastation, that is always the starting place of our hope. John 1:6-8, 19-28 says......... John the Baptist came to the countryside of Bethany to give hope to a hopeless generation. He came to bear witness to the light of God in a very dark period of time. verse 5 says that the light has shown in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. The light of God was around the people everyday and played out in the lives of those who were faithful to God. But the people were so used to darkness, that the good works of the faithful had no meaning to them. They saw it everyday, but htey didnot see it as a reason to rejoice or a reason to change their lives. We are all human beings, and we all grow to be a part of the atmosphere that we live in. And the world that they lived in in john's time has not changed much even today. It is a world that is full of war, sin, deceit, manipulation, theft and any ohter activity that requires a certain amount of darkness and secrecy in order to be successful. John set out to baptize people, to cleanse them so that they would see that darkness was not a healthy way to live. The water took away their sins, as the people sought to God's forgiveness for whatever they had done. Once they came up from the water clean of the past, they could go forward in a new life. A life reconciled to the one true God. John could give them reconciliation, but he was quick to tell the people that redemption and salvation was to be given by the one who was still to come. John was not the light, he was a witness to the light. And through his witnesss, he brought more witnesses to the light. We are all creatures of habit. And once we get set in a pattern, it can become very hard to do something new. We all lose our conscious, and we become confortable with the way things are. It doesn't matter whether the pattern is destructive to ourselves and to other people, we do it automatically. Therefore, we need someone from out of the wilderness to come into our situation with a fresh outlook and the courage to spell out to us how we have become our own worst enemy, we need someone like John to show us the way to salvation, spiriutal health and hope. As more and more people realized that the did not need the darkness of sin in order to live a complete life, the whole situation changed. People who at one time lived in hopelessness and despair, who felt that it was okay to do and say anything started to see that they could trust life enough to let the Holy Spirit work for them. And where the Holy Spirit is free to work, the coming of Christ is not far behind. There is a story about a wealthy man who wanted to build a church for his village. Once it was finished, everyone was impressed at how beautiful it was. But they noticed that it had one important flaw, it had no lights. So someone asked him where the lights were. and he pointed to the little brackets each seat. He told them that when they came to worhsip that they needed to bring their lamp with them. Each time you are here, he told them, then your seat will be lighted, each time you fail to come and worhsip, them some part of God's house will be dark God has called each and everyone of us to light some part of his kingdom. Christ has called us to be a witness to him and to his power. All the we know to say is how we know that the Holy Spirit works in our lives and our situation. Like John the Baptist, we are witnesses to the light, but whether we shine is totally up to us. There is not a day that goes by, or an event that happens that we are not called to be a witness about something. Reporters call on people to get their witness of the facts, so that they can write a news story. People are called into court to testify about what they saw or heard about a certain incident. It can be very easy to get programmed to be a witness to all of ugliness, hatred and sin around us. Because we see it everyday. It can be very easy to become a witness to the devastation, despair and hopelessness. John came into the world to announce in the midst of all of that, that every soon, the one who would take away all of that would come. Evil is alive and well in the world today and it is not going anywhere anytime soon. The good news is, that we have been called to be witnesses of the light. Even in the midst of hoplessness, we must learn to be witnesses to the goodness, love and grace of the one that we are expecting. It is in our expectation that makes those things come into full bloom into the world. Advent season is the season of expectation. Christ has come, Christ is come and Christ will come again. Two weeks from now, we celebrate the fact that Christ came into the world in the human form to walk with us and to know what we are going through. But sometimes the pain of life can get so deep that we forget that in the midst of our suffering that Christ is not lookng above us, but is beside us going through it too. Every pain we feel, he feels it too. Every minute that we feel hopeless, the Holy Spirit is working in the process to bring us to a new understanding, and its the new understanding that will bring us a new life. Finally, I will tell you a story about a little boy who really did live in a war zone In the Civil War, he used to sit and watch the soldiers come a the field behind his house to fight. During the battles he would see all the people who would gather see who would win. And once it was over, he would go and look at the ground they were fighting over. He would see how empty and detroyed it was. Once the smoke of the cannons cleared, he could see how the earth had been torn up so bad that nothing would ever grow there again. So he planted some grass seeds, hoping that they would grow and erase the memory of the fighting that had taken place there. but nothing happened. He asked his mother, why is it that grass won't grow on the battlefield. Is is because the seeds are weaker than those planted elsewhere? Is it because I dont' water and take care of them enough? Or, Is is because once they are planted, that the soldiers are so caught up in their need to fight that they trample over them and don't give thema chance to really grow? And every time they become rooted and uprooted, it becomes that much harder for a new seed to be planted? And his mother in her wisdom, said nothing, and left the boy to use his situation to ponder an important understanding of life and death. So the boy woke up one morning and decided to plant a row of flowers around the whole battlefield. It took some time for the flowers to come into full bloom. But as the flowers grew stronger and stronger, and they reached out to the light of the sun with their leaves and petals. The boys plan worked. when the soldiers saw the witness of the flowers in the wilderness, a sign of new life in the area. The people no longer thought of the field as a place of emptiness and devastation, but as a symbol of hope of what was possible in the future. John comes to us in scripture today, to tell us that there is hope for the future. When people asked who we was, he said that he was a voice crying out in the wilderness to make straight the way in the Lord. To make the path in our hearts open and straight to expect all of the goodness, mercy and love that his coming will bring us. And no matter what we go through, he promised that he would come to us and bring us a better life. Because Christ is the only one who can give us salvation. But we have to give up the past, we have to acknowledge that we have all sinned and contributed to the devastation,we have to trust that the Holy Spirit is at work, even when we see no sign, we have to expect salvation to come in the midst of devastation. We have to be flowers in the wilderness, witnessing to the light of Christ, growing with our petals pointed up highlighting what Christ has done for us in insurmountable odds, being used to bring life to the border of the wildnerness of the world and sin and death. Baptized not only in forgivenss, but redemption. Always a witness that the Lord is coming to save us all. , work or even church in the middle of a war R- T- yu

We Have Seen This Before

Second Sunday of Advent December 10, 2000 Malachi 3:1-4 We have seen this before Introduction The Story of Tina and her little sister....... It seemed that nothing seemed to work to help her sister to learn. SheÐÏ à¡± á ; þÿ þÿÿÿ ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ þ'N£ £ ° T› Ð ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ § È à=Ð/ Ð 8 d ÿÿÿÿ Ð 2 – ¥ Rev. Harriette Cross Second Sunday of Advent December 10, 2000 Malachi 3:1-4 We have seen this before Introduction The Story of Tina and her little sister....... It seemed that nothing seemed to work to help her sister to learn. She knew the warnings by heart. She heard everything that was said to her, but for some reason she was not willing to listen in her heart. The message in Malachi was written for the hebrew people, who were much like Tina's little sister. It seemed that they knew the message of God convenant by heart, they heard the message everywhere in there lives, but for some reason, they were not able to listen to what they were being told. Explanation of Malachi Malachi is the hebrew word for messenger. It is not known exactly, who this malachi was at the time. The case against God The one thing that I love about the hebrew faith, is that they are allowed to ask God some serious questions. They can look at life, and look at the promises of the scripture, and if things are not going the way they think it should, they are allowed to go directly to the source, to God, to ask why? Why is it that bad things happen to faithful people. As a matter of fact, in the book of malachi, the people have decided to go further than just asking questions. They have taken God to court, and are arguing their case before the preist, who serves as the judge. Exactly where is this God of justice now? The people are starving, families are poor, the land is not producing crops, there is choas in the government, some people are getting along very well, while others are not getting their fair share, there is fighitng and wars evrywhere, some people are not able to keep their land. God made a promise to them that these things would not happen. Goid promised that she would be the God of the hebrews and take care of them. Where is this God of justice now? The people want to sue God, because she has not lived up to her promises. Where is this God of justice now? Isnt that an apporpriate question for us to ask today? Isnt it ironic, that today we as a people are spending our time in the court system too? As citizens, we all faithfully performed our duty to vote and to speak our opinions and yet over a month later we still don't have a president. As the court battle drags on and on, you wonder who is it that is in charge. Who will be able to give the final answer on our behalf. Where is this God of justice now? And we look at the descendants of the hebrew people today, in Isreal today. And we see that there is unrest. constant bickering which turns violent. People are being killed, lives are disrupted, the leader has just resigned. Where is this God of justice now? All throughout the world, there are places where people are starving, places where a few benefit from the drudgery of every body else, there are places where people are in crisis, where the land is not porducing enough food, Where is this God of justice now? In our church we still struggle with the way in which we treat one another, we struggle with what it means to be equal in the sight of God. Where is this God of justice now? In our community, sin is rampant. There is violence because of selfishness, and drug use. Where is this God of justice now. I think that we can all agree with the hebrew people in their charges. There is definitely something wrong with our world. Things are not the way they are supposed to be. Something has got to change. Someone has to be held accountable for the conditions of the world. And they need to give some definite answers to these charges. The preparation for the case The priest, who serves as the judge feels that even though the people have a case. They may want to stop and think a bit about what they are doing, before they have this face to face meeting with God. Afterall, this is God that they are questioning. a very powerful and forceful God. And face to face meetings with God are not always a simple, pleasant expereience. Afterall, God burned the face of Moses, and tore the hip of Jacob. the priest reminds the Hebrews and indeed us to, that God comes into our lives of people in many ways. God answers our questions of faith very clearly, but we are not always told what we want to hear. God does answer the charges of the people. Where is the God of justice now? God does admit that things need to change. She acknowledged the conditions of the world during the time of Malachi, and you know, she is acknoweldged the troubles of our world today. Yes things do need to change, and someone does need to be held accountable. Somebody needs to be told that they are wrong. But are we prepared for God's response. Because as God comes into our lives, and as God takes a stand on the witness stand, God tells us that the changes that need to take place our inside of us. God reminded the hebrews that the promise was two fold. She would be there God, but they would also be her people. The problems in the world came about because the people were not faithful. worship had lost meaning, people were just going throught the motions. People had a long list of expecations of what God was supposed to do, but had forgotten thier obligations to God. God seemed to be absent from the situations of the world, because the people had forgotten to look for God in the situation. The question was not where is the God of justice, the question was where are the people of justice? You see, even today, we are alot like Tinas little sister. We are told the story of God's love for us over and over again. We know the story of Christmas by heart, we hear it over and over again every year. We hear it, but do we really listen to it? Do we really understand that this is the story that will change the conditions of the world? When God came into the world as teh baby Jesus, everything changed. The government was turned on its head, those who felt treated unfairly felt that there voices were finally heard, hope was given for a people who had given up. And every year, that the story is told again. Things changed. Becuase those who not only listen, but are willing to hear are transformed. We are changed, because God is willing to answers our questions of faith. Because the story tells us that God is willing to meet and to speak with those who are willing to meet and speak with her. It is yet to be determined, whether our court case will end. Will we really have a president for Christmas. Or will pilgrims feel safe in traveling to bethelhem to celebrate the birth of Christ. Yet the gifts from God, are deeper than that. The faith that we have, will help us to get throught all of these events and more. God comes into our lives, and answers our questions. And as we meet with God, we are never the same. WE are transformed. We see our faith a little more clearly. We are given the power to make a difference in those things that at one time we could only ask about. The world changes, because we change, our faith changes. We are in a time of preparation for a meeting with God face to face in our lives? A meeting with God is always a life chainging event. How will things be different for you this year? ey think it should, they are allowed to go directly to the source, to God, to ask why? W o u ƒ … ¶ Ñ 8 N c ƒ ¥ § {uouicicici{ / B Q k m o q s u ƒ … µ · ¹ Š Œ ´ ¶ Ï Ñ 8 N P P µ · ¹  ‘ Ö Ø Õ × 2 4 Ë Í Õ × Ü Þ Ž  a c   ƒ · ¹ Ë Í · ¹ » W ¢ é ë ¥ § § < P  § = > ? Times New Roman \ ò 6 b«Ã — ^ Ÿ ,³ ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ C o m p O b j ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ E ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ

Thanksgiving

Wesley United Methodist Church Thanksgiving 11/25/99 II Corinthians 9:6-15 God gives so that we can give to others Have you seen that commercial for sausage, where the little deaf boy describes Saturday morning at his house? In sign language he explains that his brothers are awaken on Saturday as they hear their mother cooking sausage. Yet he doesn't wake up until the smell of breakfast hits his nose. I remember waking up like that as a child. I would hear the bacon frying in the pan, and smell the biscuits in the oven. I could hear her in the dining room, preparing the table and pouring the orange juice. That is the most amazing way to wake up. It is like ined in a happy story about the abundant wonder of the crops and animals of her farm. It is a story of an abundant faith in the midst of adversity. After 40 years on the farm, this is the year that they may have to finally make a decision to sell the farm and start a new way of life. Aldon must rent the land that his father once owned, because his father sold it to a Realtor before Aldon even had a chance to work the land. They have had to auction off the land in order to pay the debts of farming it, they have lost many of the new calves and kittens in a barn fire, Aldon, now 68 has failing health and is not able to work anymore. It has been Erna's farmer wife's faith that now sustains them. She is still able to work, but every year she is still able to keep her faith in the abundance of God no matter what the circumstances. The springtime seeds that she gets from God are an indescribable gift, because they always produce a thanksgiving faith. In the midst of this year, God has given us all some of those springtime seeds. There have been many things that have happen to us this year. We have made many investments into the future. Some of those investments have been financial, some have been professional, some have been for our personal benefit, some have been for the benefit of our family. Some have already paid off tremendously, some we may not see for years, some have been a complete failure that we will be paying for for the rest of our lives. Yet whatever the material loss of gain, they have all affected our relationship with God. Thus we have been given an abundance of faith if we learn to be thankful. For the children in the congregation, let me tell you a story. John went trick or treating this Halloween to get some candy. But when he got home he was a little disappointed. It wasn't enough, it would not last him until thanksgiving. So he hid it, and sure enough it was soon gone. George too went trick or treating. Yet unlike John, he was excited about what he got. He was so happy, that he was willing to share it with all of his sisters and brothers. He even shared his good fortune with his friends. As he was willing to share and sometimes even trade his candy with others. He got just as much as he gave away. Thanksgiving was here before he even realized it, and he still had plenty of candy. In The passage in Corinthians, Paul is trying to tell us that the seeds of hope that we have been give this year are for us to share with others. If we are not grateful for what we have, and we think that we have to store it away, then whatever it is, it will not go very far. But if we are grateful for what we have, and we are thankful and willing to share, then what we have will not only supply all of our needs, but it will help others too. The whole of God's creation, depends upon our ability to be thankful. Because it is in our thankfulness that we are able to give to others. It is all in our perspective. A youth group was going on a mission trip out of state when the bus broke d þ'N ° T› Ð ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Ä$ B' €& Š& š& š& š& š& à=Ð/ Ð 8 d š& ÿÿÿÿ Ð ¬& – Â$ Rev. Harriette Cross Wesley United Methodist Church Thanksgiving 11/25/99 II Corinthians 9:6-15 God gives so that we can give to others Have you seen that commercial for sausage, where the little deaf boy describes Saturday morning at his house? In sign language he explains that his brothers are awaken on Saturday as they hear their mother cooking sausage. Yet he doesn't wake up until the smell of breakfast hits his nose. I remember waking up like that as a child. I would hear the bacon frying in the pan, and smell the biscuits in the oven. I could hear her in the dining room, preparing the table and pouring the orange juice. That is the most amazing way to wake up. It is like waking up in a cloud of love. I would know that my grandmother cared enough for me to start breakfast for me before I would even be woke to eat the wonderful feast that she had prepared. What a wonderful way to wake up. I think that coming to church on thanksgiving is a lot like that. Before we wake up, before we are even aware of what to be thankful for, before we even take part in the service. God has been with us and prepared this day and every day for us. Today is a day where the smells of food will be in the air all day. The smell of the turkey, the ham, the sweet potatoes, the dressing, the cinnamon of a dessert. The sounds of something stirring in a bowl, of extras being chopped up, of tables being set, of special drinks being poured. All of that will reach deep inside of us, and create memories of family togetherness, of special love, of the awesomeness of special times in our lives. Those feelings and thoughts will be with us, long after the food is gone. In the midst of the food is an indescribable gift, that gift is the experience of God. Coming to church is much the same way. Being with God and being able to give thanks, feeds our soul. And helps us to realize that we are loved and cared about. God gave us his indescribable gift. We are here because we realize that being able to give thanks is an indescribably gift. Our gratitude determines the things that happen to us in the world and the way that we are able to deal with them. Paul reminds the Corinthian church of the power of gratitude. They had been blessed to gather together as a church, they came to learn how powerful their faith could be if they just worked together. And they learned to recognize the spiritual gifts that are around them. Yet Paul has to remind them that they have been given these things, not just for the pleasure in their own lives. God had given to them, so that they would be able to give to others. I am reminded of a story that I read recently about a farming couple. Aldon and Erna Thieszen. They have been farming since the 50's. Aldon took over the farm that his father used to own. His wife, Erna says, each springtime, not only does the farmer have renewed hop, but the farmers wife experiences this also. As the seed bed is prepared, the seeds planted, the new calves and kittens are born, nurtured, and grow. The seeds that are planted represent more than just the crops that will come. The hope of a farmers wife, represents life for all of the world. Her hope for a new crop will not only produce food and clothing for her family, it produces food for the whole world. We are all dependent upon the crops that she is excited about in the springtime. the abundance of what God gives to them, God gives to all of us. The farmers wife's hope also plants the seeds of her relationship with God for the year. Edna goes on the say "WE both feel our faith in God has sustained us. God loves in all situations. God listens when I talk, to or with him. God pops ideas into your mind. God is our refuge and strength." You see, Edna's story of hope is not contaown. A man stopped and invited them to stay at his church for the night. He found a store that was open and brought them donuts and soft drinks. The next morning he called a mechanic and had the bud fixed. And as the youth group was pulling out of the parking lot, the leader commented to the man that he was go grateful for all that God had done for him. The man who had helped them, couldn't help but to think to himself, no it was me. I am the person who did everything for you, not God. Yet he realized that he couldn't say that out loud. Because it probably was God who called him drive down that road and see those people in need. I wanted to tell that story, because I wanted to ask you where you think God was at work in the lives of the people in the story. And if you were in that story, where would you be? Would you be the person who was able to help, or the teenagers in need? I think that it is all in our perspective. God was at work in numerous ways in that story in everyone's life. And we have all been on both sides of the story, this year we have been able to help, and we have been on need of the generosity of others. And in either case, it has been God who has deserved the gratitude for the action done. That is why I think that it is important for us to remember the hope of a farmers wife for this thanksgiving. This year as many of us enjoy an abundance of food. Remember that is has been her hope in the springtime seeds that has literally provided the potatoes, the yams, the green beans, the apples, the peaches or whatever other fruit or vegetable that we eat. It has been her hope in the calves, the piglets and baby turkeys that provided the main course of our sacred meal. It has been her abundance of faith that has provided the smells, the sounds, the thoughts and the feelings that will keep this day forever in our memories. God planted the seeds of hope in her life, so that they would be planted in our lives, and those same seeds have been planted in our lives so that we can plant them into the lives of others. The seeds of hope are God's indescribably gift. The ability to be thankful is God's indescribably gift? How can you pass it on? By saying thank you. nksgiving is a lot like that. Before we wake up, before we

Christ the King Sunday

11-23-97 Last Friday, I drove all the way to Evanston just so that I could see the lake. And now that I know that it is still there, I'm okay now, my life is centered. Perhaps to return to the place that I call home was a fitting thing to do to prepare me for giving this sermon. I have preached this sermon several times before, because it tells of a very important part of my life and my ministry. I guess it has been more than a few years ago now. I had one quarter left vefore I would graduate from college. and looking into the darkness of the future, I had no idea of where I would go. And more importantly for me at the time, I just didn't have the energy to find out. e daily reports on my activities, and after being told that I would be killed for asking the agency to check on her. Joan was not very happy when I told her that if God ever delivered me from that situation that If I ever saw her again, it would be much too soon. And forever is not hear yet because I could care less where Joan is. But I really don't think that Joan, or any of the other people that I stayed with are around anymore anyplace. Because even though they were a part of the system, I don't think that they ever found what they were looking for. Today is Christ the King Sunday. The day when we acknowledge that Christ the king of our lives and the kig of our church. Revelations tells us that Christ loves us enough to sacrifice himself so that our lives do not hav to be a sacirfice. And that we have been set free from the bondage of our own sin, so that it doesnt have to ruin our lives. That is why he is our King. If we in church need to hear that message, then can you imagine how many peop þ'N ° T› Ð ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ j2 Â4 4 4 4 4 4 4 à=Ð/ Ð 8 d 4 ÿÿÿÿ Ð ,4 – h2 Wesley church 11-23-97 Last Friday, I drove all the way to Evanston just so that I could see the lake. And now that I know that it is still there, I'm okay now, my life is centered. Perhaps to return to the place that I call home was a fitting thing to do to prepare me for giving this sermon. I have preached this sermon several times before, because it tells of a very important part of my life and my ministry. I guess it has been more than a few years ago now. I had one quarter left vefore I would graduate from college. and looking into the darkness of the future, I had no idea of where I would go. And more importantly for me at the time, I just didn't have the energy to find out. I was tired of working, tired of writing papers. I was just tired of going through all of the red tape of life. So on the day that I had to move out of my rented room for the summer, I put all of my things in storage and went to a homeless shelter in Evanston. Men outnumbered women in the shelter about 5 to 1, so it was not a problem for me to get in. We were allowed to stay there for about three months. During that time, I roomed with a woman from Milwaukee named Joan. Joan was about 34, she had been a journalist to support her two children. Once I met her she was addicted to crack and alcohol, and had been diagnosed as mental ill. I never really asked Joan how she ended up in a shelter in Evanston, but as I got to know her, I had a pretty good idea. Evantually, she and I were given a transitional apartment where we could stay free and save up money to get into an apartment. The experience had a profound effect on me because it taught me a lot about how we relate to each other as people. I feel that it is important for me to give this sermon, because we as people depend so much on our imporeesions and understandings in order to form our opinoins about people and about situations. Today homelessness has become almost an obsession in our society. Social service agancies and the media has created this image of who homeless people are and how society should deal with them and what we should do. We treat situations as if they were problems to be solved. Perhaps if we had enough homes, or enough jobs, or enough peple to help then everyone would have a place to go. Or perhaps if we could just raise the self esteem of some people and teach them a "better way" of life then things would be okay. I remember listening to the speech of a man in agony as he spoke about a lady that he had saw on a park bench. He was literally in tears tellling our group of how he should have taken her to a shelter, and how her whole life was ruined because he had failed to stop and show her a better way of life and that there were all of these people who cared for her and would have helped her. And he would live in eternal guilt because he did nothing. I was frustrated because I couldnt help but to wonder why he was placing so much judgement on this unknown women, when all that he had to do was to sit next to her on the park bench and say, I notice that you are crying, is there anything that I can do. He was willing to do what he considered his good christian deed for the day, but he wasnt willing to actually relate to the woman. A lot of people are that way. To be charitable looks good on our christian resume. So people give and give to causes in hopes that they are making a difference. Jesus has told us in the gospels that there will always be poor people. There is nothing really that we can do to change a situation that has been mandated by God. But anyway. To continue on with my story. One of the first jobs that Joan got was to write an article about her expereince for the Chicago Tribune. One night before she turned in her story, we talked about it. So I will use her words, they have stuck with me all of this time. She said, you know, if they were to shut the shelter down tomorrow and told us all to go home. Not one of us would be at a lost of where to go. And we all have our sad story about why are not there. Joan went on to say that the search for a homeless shelter is really not a search for a physical bed, or food or clothing etc. People on the tramp trail, as it is called, are really on a spiritual journey, in search for a spiritual bed, spiritual food, and spiritual covering. Yes it is true that we are commanded by Christ to feed teh hungry, clothe the naked and to provide shelter for those in need. I was not born a methodist. But I decided to become a methodist and to devote my life to the united methodist church because that was the church that provided all of those things for me when I needed them. But the mystery of God was not in the physical things. For the first time in my ife, I understood the meaning of grace from being homeless. I didn't have to be any particualr way, I didn't have to worry about whether I deserved to survive, or whether I had earned my keep or answered any questions. I was taken care of just becuase I asked to be taken care of. One day, a methodist minister brought his capus ministry group to the shelter to worship with is. Afterwords, he came up to me and told me that I appeared to be such a happy, content person with sucxh a glow. After he said that to me, I didn't need to be there anymore. I could finally take the next step forward. I wonder if people who work with the homeless realize that people go to homeless shelters in search of the same things that people who haven't lost their patience with the institutions of this society would go to church. While in the shelter, people tend to form a very tight bond with one another( for a little while) and when we would get together, we would alwasy start by saing everybody here had got their say story to tell about how they ended up on the streets. and it never was a story about houses burning down, or robbers breaking in and taking everything. It was alwasy a story about the breakdown of a signigicant relationship in there lives. Every single person that I met was on a journey in search of something that they lacked either spiritually or emotionally as a result of that loss. Being homeless was called the tram trail, because you jump from program to program. As soon as one agency cuts you off, then you go to another and tell your sad tale all over agin until the too get tired of listening. and when your survivial depends on how well you can get over on people, you get good at it. Some of us can get spiritual fullfillment form going to work every day, or going to church or spending time with family or friends. Jsut dealing with normal human relatiomnships. But when somehting in those relatoinships goes wrong and it starts to effect not only your mind, but your soul, that's when peple see salvation on the tramp trail, on the outside of society. But they start to live a life of seeking help for the sake of seeking help. Not neccarily because they can't help themselves. Have you ever know anyone who is used to depending on others to get what they want in life? They get to t he point where they spend more energy making ohters do for them what they could do for themselves. Which is why, in all due respect, I don't have a lot of sympathy for homeless people. My expereince is not common. I am one of the few people who got into the system and chose to get out of it. Most of the pople who I stayed with in the shelter are still on the trail. And I don't have a whole of of support for the agencies that serve them wither. Because I don't understand who they spend so much time addressing the physical symptoms of a deeper issue. Why are we addressing a persons endless cycle of homelessness, when it is a result of an addiction or other destructive lifestyle. If that person chose to walk away from the lifestyle, then not wole they be able to take care of themselves, they would probably be able to be reconciled back into the home that they were alienated from in the first place. There was a Garrett seminary student in charge of overseeing us. I went to him one day and asked what it meant to be called to God. His response was that I had fallen through the cracks of society and that my concern should be to get my life together. Actually my passion became to make that student eat his words. By going to the same school that he went to and getting the same degree he did and being a minister just like him. Actually my passion was to go back and to ask all of those nice church people who showed me the meaning of grace that in the midst of all of your giving to please give Jesus Christ. If people need a place to sleep, they can go home. If they need food to eat they can save the thirty dollars that they spend on recreation and go buy groceries, if they need pampers for their baby, then shouldn't buy the baby $100 air jordan gym shoes. People criticize president clinton for his welfare reform, but life is really just that simple. If the problem is mandated by God and will always be here, then why not address the attitude that prepetuates it. but it is not muy intention to be political. But my question to you is where else can you go in this society who has been given a license to address the spiritual issues of life but the church? Christ told us to give to those in need, but he also told us to be the body of Christ. He told us to give salvation to the whole world. I dont understand why salvation is something that reserved solely for evangelical churches. Evangelical churches don't give grace. When mainline denomitaions are dying because they don't give salvatoin. There are a lot of people out there who not only need both, but are searching for both and have not found it. While in seminary, one minister asked the question, why is that the only way for people to get help in this society is to fall off of the cliff? Then we can identify the need and rush to help so that we can pat ourselves on the back and say how good we are. But why can't we help people before they even need to walk to the edge? Before that become addicts, before they become disfunftional, before they try to feel the God void in their lives with things they don't need. Why can't we tell them that they do have a place to call home in the church? A place where they can be accepted for who they are and what they rae going through, so that they don't have to do outside of their lives looking? The task of most social service agencies is to maintain people at their present state. Nothing ever changes in them, so they continue to need to services. The job of the church is to tranform with the power of Christ. It scares me that as a society that we build more and more shelters, to allow people to walk away from difficult issues, but the job of the church is to allow reconcilation. People can go to psychologist for years and years and never get any better, but once you know Jesus Christ as a personal saviour problems seem to take care of themselves. Eventually both joan and I moved out of our apartment. I went back to finish my last quarter at Northwestern and Joan went back to Milwaukee. Joan and I did not part on good terms. As a matter of fact, after waking up one morning to find the gas on the stove turned on, with no fire and Joan gone,: after getting an order of protection from my boyfriend only to find out that Joan had been accepting collect calls from him in jail to givle in the world need to hear that message to. Have you seen Joan? If you did, what did you tell her? lter about 5 to 1, so

Thanksgiving Day

November 23, 2000 Thanksgiving Day Wesley United Methodist Church Year B Matthew 6:25-34 The story of the rich woman The headlines read..... where you treasure us, there will also be your heart. Evidently, her treasure was in her bank vault. That was one of the things that she enjoyed the most. Then there is the minister, a man of God, who loved books. He never really used them in his sermons, he just liked to read them........ His family and his life fell apart, yet through it all, he ammased over 17,000 books. Where your treasure is, there will also be your heart. Today, Thankgiving is an opportunity for us to look at our lives, and to examine where our treasure is. Luckily, this is an official bank holiday, the banks are closed. But the doors of the church are open. Open for us to come and examine our priorities in life. What is it that is important to you? Of course, we will all say, family, friends, making a living. health, But I hope that we can all also say God, the lordship of Christ, prayer, communion, the word of God. And God's will for our lives. Life is more than making a living, life is our relationship with, and to God. I guess you could say that we are amphibians. we lives our lives in teh midst of earthly things. but also in the midst of spiritual things. WE all have bank accounts, and books, and collections. and along with all of those things come earthly concerns, and even worries. But do you let those concerns consume your life and your relatinships, or do you bring them to God in faith and prayer? Where is God in your life? Where is the kingdom of God in the midst of priorities? Does god come second to family, or third to jobs, or last to the events of the day? Now let me ask you this, where are you in the midst of God's priorities? Are you second to the flowers which are clothed in beauty, yet wither? Are you third to the grass, which in this part of the world only survvies for a season? Are you last to the birds, who have a beautiful song to sing? We, as humans were created in the image of God. We are placed just below the heavenly beings. Think about your life this year. Your blessings, and even your sorrows. Was there ever a time when God left you? Was there ever a time where you asked God for something and were not heard? Was there ever time where you came into the presence of God and was not touched in some way? In the midst of God's priorites, you and your concerns come first and formost always. When you come to God in Faith, God comes to you in Faith. Our possessions in life, do not make our life. But our attitude does mkae them Story of the drill team! Story of the beggar! atttitude check! ficial bank z ó õ {u{

Finally a Shepherd who cares for the sheep

Wesley United Methodist Church November 21, 1999 Finally a Shepherd who cares for the sheep Ezekiel 34: 11-16,20-24 Christ the King Sunday I have to admit, that at this point I am at my wits end. I don't know what to do. This being a parent of a jr. high student is just not working for me. It is getting to the point that the harder I work to help Prentice through this, the worse things get. Sixth grade started out okay, Prentice has never been one to keep up with his things, so I wasn't surprised when he lost things, or when his teachers told me that he didn't keep track of things. But this is getting to be an everyday occurance. First, it was his social stuhen I know that eventually you will get tired and do it for me he once told me. I try to help him to understand that I will not be around for him always. And I can't be with him every minute of the day to make sure that he does everything that he is supposed to do. How many times do we do have the same expectation of God? We look to God to get us out of everything. But God is also different from a parent in many ways. Because he sent Christ to be with us in everything. To find everything that we have lost ( I sure wish that he would find Prentices combination lock). and more importantly to find us when we have lost our way. Even when it is our fault. God has made a promise to us that our shepherd will be with us in all things, forever. Without Christ we lose things, even ourselves. With Christ we are renewed, restored and transformed. The lord is our shepherd, we shall not want. rprised when he lost things, or when his teachers told me that he didn't keep track of things. But this is ge ¨ ) ’) {u{ 6 I u Ž ¦ ¨ ­ w 5 ³ } L Ý × * Ë % ú u › ã 6 6 Õ p [ Õ n “! »" æ# ´$ n% â% Q& ' Ÿ( ú( ) ’) ’) T 6 ’) U V Times New Roman X ò V ¸¯Ã — ^ § ,³ ÐÏ à¡± á ; þÿ þÿÿÿ ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ C o m p O b j ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ E ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ g will be okay now. I can't do this much longer, one of us iÐÏ à¡± á ; þÿ þÿÿÿ ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ þ'Nø' ø' ° T› Ð ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ ’) B, €+ Š+ š+ š+ š+ š+ à=Ð/ Ð 8 d š+ ÿÿÿÿ Ð ¬+ – ) Rev. Harriette Cross Wesley United Methodist Church November 21, 1999 Finally a Shepherd who cares for the sheep Ezekiel 34: 11-16,20-24 Christ the King Sunday I have to admit, that at this point I am at my wits end. I don't know what to do. This being a parent of a jr. high student is just not working for me. It is getting to the point that the harder I work to help Prentice through this, the worse things get. Sixth grade started out okay, Prentice has never been one to keep up with his things, so I wasn't surprised when he lost things, or when his teachers told me that he didn't keep track of things. But this is getting to be an everyday occurance. First, it was his social studies book. When I told him that I am sure that he can find the book, since everyone must have a book, yours must just be sitting someplace. He tells me that he just can't find it. Next, I come to school for conferences and discover that he has no lock on his locker, and he just doesn't know where it is. Everyday when he comes home, I ask what he does in school, where are the papers that were handed back to him, and if he has any homework. Prentice hurriedly answers no to each question and runs up stairs. He later tells me that he tells me that he did his homework, because he just didn't feel like having to do it. His science teacher recommends that perhaps I should teach my child some organizational skills. But how do you do that? Last week I was nearly in tears as I explained to the guidance counselor that I am pretty fanatic about being organized, and I manage every waking minute of Prentice's day, besides the time that he is at school. I am at the school every other day, because Prentice forgot something at home, he can't find a permission slip, or to bring something in that I don't want to take a chance of asking Prentice to bring to school. What else am I supposed to do? She looks at me calmly and explains that she too is very organized, and has a daughter who could care less. So she understands what I am going through. She goes to get Prentice out of class ands she asks him what would help him. Prentice explains that at first things were a little difficult for him but he has got the hang of it. Do you think that you could do better of we got some folders for you, and you just automatically put everything in the folder and brought it home. Prentice excitedly answers yes. the guidance counselor looks at me and tells me everything will be okay. It is normal for jr high students to lose things, but we try to train them now, so that they will be prepared for high school. Later that night we go to Prentice's locker. But wait a minute, Prentice, I just brought you a new lock on Tuesday, today is Thursday, where is the lock? Oh I lost it, he says. Just yesterday, I buy a brand new binder, have Prentice organize all of his papers, and put them in folders. Finally, frustrated at the papers, he balls them up and tries to jam them into the pockets of the folders. I tell you, as I tell Prentice about my theory that folders were specially constructed to hold paper, the paper should really fit in the folder. I am starting to lose hope in the guidance counselors assurance that everything will be okay now. I can't do this much longer, one of us is not going to make it to high school. And the problem is not my feelings of failure as a parent, or my concern for Prentices future. The problem is that it is always going to bother me that Prentice is disorangized and loses things, and Prentice is never going to care. And I just dont understand his attitude to life. The combination lock that I used in jr. high school is still in my desk drawer. I have not had a locker to put it on in 16 years. I remember the day in high school clearly that I finally threw away every paper that I had ever done since the fifth grade. I finally was able to let go of them, only after I spent two years rereading, correcting, organizing them in folders and filing them on my bookshelf. I jut can't comprehend why he does not care about losing things. I think that God did this to me on purpose. God sent me Prentice, because she knows that I can't deal with disorganization. God is probably at wits end with all of us too. She gives us love, support, advice and everything that we need, yet we don't always do the things that we know to be Christian. We are told to share with others, yet at times we just don't feel like it, we are to love our neighbor, yet we just didn't feel like introducing ourselves, we see someone in need, yet it is easier to turn and look the other way. And the list goes on. God tries so hard to give us opportunities learn the lessons that life teaches us, and not only do we not listen. It doesn't even matter to us that we don't care. And I would imagine that this is how God must have felt about the Israelites. This is the frustration that Ezekiel is expressing in chapter 34. the Israelites had been told that they are to look out for one another, that they are to care for those who are less fortunate than they are. God has tried everything to get the message across. He has sent prophets, leaders, teachers to get the message across. Yet his children do not listen, and they have to suffer the consequences. They are taken away from the land that was given to them and exiled in a strange land. Nothing works. So God tells all of us that the only way to make sure that things are done right is for God to do them. " I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. I will seek the lost and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak.", God says. how many times have we as parents finally broke down and done the things that we ask our children to do, because we know that we will do it the way we want it done? I heard it once said, that the differences between religion and Christianity, is that, in religion, one searches for God, yet in Christianity God searches for us. God cares that much about us. God promises to be a shepherd. Sheep are a little different from children. At least children can decide that they don't want to listen. Sheep only knows what the shepherd tells them. We all know the 23rd Psalm, the lord is my shepherd I shall not want. The Israelites would have understood Ezekiel's reference to sheep well, for they were a farm people. They would have know the way sheep behave well. It is easy for sheep to get lost, because all that they are concerned about is eating grass. They get lost, sometimes they get too caught up in following their mouth to more grass. Sometimes they get greedy and are concerned about feeding themselves, that they forget that their are younger, smaller sheep who do not get a chance to eat. This was the situation of the Israelites at the time. Israel had been captures by the Babylonians. Those who were able had been taken into captivity. They felt that they were lost. And without a shepherd to protect them, many were treated unfairly and were neglected. Even though this exile was a result of their own misbehaving, God cared enough about them to be a shepherd himself and to rescue them. God cares about all o f us enough to rescue us, when we are lost. when we are so concerned about being happy, that we no longer pay attention to the consequences of our actions, it is God who will lead us in the right direction. When we are so lost in the midst of our lives, that we no longer know where to turn, God will find us and show us love. In the end, God gives us one more promise, scripture says that I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David and he shall feed them. Before we enter into the advent season, God promises us that a messiah is coming into our lives. And that messiah will find and care for us so that we will not have to care for ourselves. Christianity is not about finding God, is is about Christ, finding us. Sitting in a church was a box marked lost and found. Inside was a doll, that a little girl had left in the pew. When the mother found the doll, she said that it looked as if it had its arms open and she was saying I am lost, please come and find me. Please look for me and take me home. I am sure that we have all felt like that doll, even in the church, we can feel abandoned in the pew. We have felt that God had forgotten us. The good news for today is that we have been found. That we have been given a shepherd who cares enough to search in all places in order to find us. For ezekiel, this passage is a promise, that in the midst of an exile God will bring them home again. For us, it is a promise that as long as we understand that Christ is our shepherd, that no matter what the situation, no matter what the frustration, that in the end, Christ will give us peace. God sent his only son to be our shepherd, not only to make sure that those who have been lost will now be treated fairly. To make sure that those who are lost, will be found. He will be with us always. One of Prentice's teachers asked what she could do to help him to bring home a permission slip. He told her that if she would call me, that I would make sure that he brought it home. He has learned well, that he doesn't have to worry about taking responsibility, as long as I will do it for him. Why should I clean my room, w

Words to Live By

Wesley United Methodist Church November 15, 1998 Luke 21:5-19 "Words to Live By" Recently, I watched a tv commercial which talked about the coming of the year 2000. It said that people would be panicking, many would be storing up food, preparing themselves for living in the wilderness, there would be chaos and confusion, why? because they were afraid of the end of hte world, well no, becuase of YK2. I thought that it was interesting, especially becuase I have a friend who has told me that she does plan on preparing herself for the worse. But more interestingly because I think that the lord works in mysterious ways. I grew up in a tradition which takes the coming of the lord very seriously. As a religion major, I remember writing a paper on religious groups who actually believe that the world is about to end and wondering since it was the nineties, why other people were not taking the end so seriously. And he laughed at me and told me because it would never happen. Of course it was the eternal optomism in me, that has always held the belief, how does he know that? Whatever happens, the year 2000 will be very interesting. It will be very intersting to see how many groups react to their faith in a time that they feel that it is about to self destruct. I say all of that to say that we don't like to talk about the second coming. We dont' talk about the end of life as we know it. Yet you really cannot escape it in the bible, because it is so prevalent. Jesus constantly says that the time is at hand. the time is now for the chirstian community to make a difference. Because tommorow is not promised to us. The confusion comes as to what that exaclty means. In the luke passage for today, there are actually five points behind what Jesus is telling us. and behind the confusion as why it is so important for us to know that the time is at hand. First, there is the day of the Lord. Which is actually a very old concept in the old testament. the jews believed that there were two ages in history. the present age, in whihc they were not in control of thwir destiny, evil was in charge and there was no way that the evils of the world would be cured by man made solution, so God would have to come and destroy the structures at hand. And there was what was called the day of the lord. As the birthing of a new age, there would be much desturction. Everyone in Jesus time would have been familiar with the term. Then there are the prophesies that the jewish government of the time would fall because it was corupted. Jerusalem was destroyed by the roman empire 40 years afteer Jesus' life. Yet this passage fortells of that destruction. There is the second coming of Christ, which Christ was also able to fortell. Jesus was sure that he was to come again and thw early church eagerly waited for that time. It will help to understand the mindset of our scriptures if we are to know that much of the old testament language of the day of the lord was atteached to the new testament understanding of hte second coming. Finally , we have to remember that the early church for which the gospels were written, were a persucuted people. Jesus lived at a time when there was many people who felt that they were persucuted by the government, especially chirsitans. These are all five different yet similar concepts that get confused. As christians we live in constant tension as to how to react to the confusion. Jesus tells us t live in constant preparedness, yet 2000 years later nothing has happened. In this scripture, there is also a tension between the fact that Jesus actually speaks of the destruction of jerlasuem, yet he tell his disciples to stand firm. The Jewish temple, was considered to be one of the ancient wonders of the world. From afar, it was described as a moutain filled with snow because it was totally white. Many important people had donated the furnishing for it. For the jews it represented its strength. It was the thing that held them together in the midst of struggles. It was the place that they could go when they felt persucuted in order to be a fortress, And as long as it was in place, they all knew that the presence of God was in their midst. No wonder, whenever someone wanted to keep the jewish people in line, they knew that all that they had to do was to destroy it. the temple was destoyed a number of times because of the sins of the people. People had lost sight of the point of God being in their midst. When jesus fortells of the temple being destoyed for the last time, he is reminding us that no matter how secure things may appear to be, ages come and ages go, Eventually even those things which are our fortress and hold us together will be taken away from us. yet we are to stand fast. Jesus also speaks of conflict on a human level. He says that they will be false messiahs who will deceive many, There will be many wars such as the ones in bosnia, africa, the middle east, and possibly even in irag. Not only will the conflict be between nations, but also between families and churches. And finally while there is upheaval in the human family, there will also be comic upheavals such as el nino, and many hurricanes and natural events of destruction. All of the things that Jesus said would happen in his time are happenining in our time. It can make you wonder what it all means. Will the world actually be destoyed by Yk2. Everyone is expecting Gods punishment to come in the form of to be big and massive. Could God just be coming to us in the form of a computer glitch that the world has no control over? I guess that remains to be seen? Its interesting that the people were so interested on the day of the lord, they haad come up with so many images of how he would come and what he would do as he came, that when he actually came, things were so different then they expected that they didn't recognize him. As a matter of fact, for them the day of the lord was blaphemy. Christ was an abomiation. I wonder what will happen to us? What is it that we are holding onto, that will be taken away from us and we will be put in a position to find our strength within, not without. When God comes to us in our lives, will we too care more about our expectations of how things are supposed to be that we will not be able to see God in a new way? I think that this is important for us, not because the signs of this time are any different from any other time. There are always wars and rumors of wars. there are always weather disasters, there are always conflicts that threaten to breack the family in two. There are always false prophets, and anything that at one time stands firm will one day come to pass. there is always corruption in government that threatens to unravel the nation. what makes our time so special. The point is that we really don't know. You don't know what it means, yet we are told to always be prepared. the good news of this scipture is to stand firm. when everything else is falling apart, it is our faith that will hold us together. When our expectations are frustated, we have been given the strength to define life in a new way. When the things in life that we hold as an unmovable fortress, we will learn that we can apapt. After such a depressing scripture, I will leave you with my favorite stand firm story. My fifth grade class was a very intersteing class. It was sort of like being in a military camp with a general. the class bully, Dina Johnson ran the class with an iron hand. She would pick people at random to intimidate. she would make then do humiliating things like lick her shoe, and make them say dumb things. I am telling you, we were truly persucuted. Her way of making friends was to pick people that she knew that she could beat up, threaten then a couple of times and they would be so scared of her that they would do anything that she told them to, including enforce her rules onto the rest of the class. And the teacher was never any help, becuase she was never in the room. Whenever a new person came into the class, it was an understoode ritual that dina would have to beat them up in order to size them up and determine where they belonged in the social strata of the class. Even though she only picked on people who actually responded to her threats, we were all bound by here rule. One day a new girl came to class, and of course she had to go through the ritual. This time is was truly depressing, because unlike all of the rest of the people, angela would actually fight back, and always lose. I remember the day that angela declared her freedom like it was yesterday. It was the day after christmas vacation and the teacher had given us a social studies assignment and walked out of the room. angela stood up, and announced to the class that she was not going to be beat up anymore. That her family had moved from place to place every since she was in kindergarten because every where they went, people wanted to beat them up. and her mother announced to her that they were not moving anymore. Angela was going to learn to stand firm, she was going to learn to fight and she was going to defend herself and she was going to win. Angela stood at the front of the class, and no one said a word, but we all knew that our freedom depended on angela winning hers. the day of the lord had truly come for our class. The world was finally free from all of the evil forces, We could have a democratic class, and not a dicttorship. For that one flleting momemt, the heavens and the earth had truly come together in a cosmic way. And then dina got up, and announced that she had heard enough. and it was time to settle this all. The fight began, right there in class and everyone wanted angela to win. As the teacher came into the room to breack up the fight, and take them out into the hall, we could hear dina's fist against angela's face. as she started to cry and blood ran onto the floor. Oh well ew knew it was too good to be true. Life would return back to normal. the tyranny continued. But the point of the story is that angela was able to stand firm. She had been given the faith to overcome her circunstance. It didnt do her any good, I don't think the butler family even made it through the next year without moving. But in the midst of her standing firm, in the midst of her hope she had been tranformed and she transformed the whole class. the gift that Christ had given us is to understnd that standing firm is not about outside forces. It is aobut what is inside of us. We don't know what will happen in the future, or how it will affect us. and sometimes, the things that we depend on will be detroyed. Yet jesus tells us that he will never forsake us. that is all that we really need to know. Is this the end of life as we know it, or is it the beginning of the new age. will the year 2000 bring chaos, will YK2 destoy us. We don't know. But what we do know is that God will help us to stand firm through it all. 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Do We ever Reach the Top?

Wesley United Methodist Church 23rd day after Pentecost "Do we ever Reach the top" Matthew 23:1-12 October 31, 1999 Halloween was not one of my favorite holidays as a child. I remember that in the firts grade I was told that halloween was the day that all of the monsters and dead people would come alive and come out of the ground. I can reember having visions of Frankenstien, and the werewolf and all types of monsters coming out to scare me on my way home from school. (we knew nothing of freddy kruger at that time). I have always been incredibly sceamish when it comes to monsters. I remember watching a scary movie, and not being able to sleep for a month bec amonst ourselves in our own lives. It happens when we accuse others of being the devil in the midst of our church. Christ was trying to tell us that it is so very easy for any religoin or religious pratice t turn into act of pride and self rightouness. And it is easy to focus on ourselves in the midst of Christian practice. But you know what, that is like cleaing a cup on teh outside, and forgetting about the germs on the inside. Only total faith in christ makes us clean from the inside out. To use a phrase from a governer of Masssachuseet, The devil is here amongst us, and I suspect that she might be here for much longer than the rest of halloween. She will be here as long as we continue to judge one another and accuse another. And to rely upon ourselves and what we do to judge thea ctions of others. Yet Christ is here too. an he will be here much longer and he is much stronger. Call no one your teacher, for Christ is your teacher. And Christ all that Christ asks is that we be true to ourselves. To sometimes be wrong, to be free to admit that we are al sinnners in need of grace. To true always means to be free. Free to live in the love of Christ. ind no thrill in bring scared. Since I have been an adult, I have vowed no “ ³, µ, {u{ 6 P l }  ‘ “ . < ¹ ¬ - 7 – ô à : á ; ˜ v v ¬ v G¬ Ù „! E# ¼# Á$ z& ' v( ú) =+ ©, ¬, ¯, ³, µ, µ, Z v µ, [ \ Times New Roman V ò 6 È­Ã — ^ Ÿ ,³ ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ þ'Nh+ h+ ° T› Ð ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ µ, B/ €. Š. š. š. š. š. à=Ð/ Ð 8 d š. ÿÿÿÿ Ð ¬. – ³, Rev. Harriette Cross Wesley United Methodist Church 23rd day after Pentecost "Do we ever Reach the top" Matthew 23:1-12 October 31, 1999 Halloween was not one of my favorite holidays as a child. I remember that in the firts grade I was told that halloween was the day that all of the monsters and dead people would come alive and come out of the ground. I can reember having visions of Frankenstien, and the werewolf and all types of monsters coming out to scare me on my way home from school. (we knew nothing of freddy kruger at that time). I have always been incredibly sceamish when it comes to monsters. I remember watching a scary movie, and not being able to sleep for a month becuase I would think that the monster was in my bed looking at me. I must have been in jr high school or even high school when I saw star wars, my biggest fear in life was that Darth Vader was going to come through the door and get me. I just find no thrill in bring scared. Since I have been an adult, I have vowed not to watch scary movies. I dont take any chances anymore. I guess in our world of rational explanations, we all know that there is no such thing as goblins, and witches and ghost. Last night however, I did watch a very scary movie indeed. I thought that it was an appropriate thing to be shown for a Halloween season. Because it was a story of devils, witches and ghost alive in the community. It was a true story, a story which took place right here in America. It was a story of the salem witch hunts. And I must say that I was afraid after watching it, not because of the eveil spirits in the movie, but because of the fact that it was true. and I could see that the story was true even here for us today. The devil is alive and amongst us, as the pastor of salem told his people. The gospel lesson for today speaks also of that devil, alive and well in his community. Commentaries on this text in Matthew 23, says that this is one of the strongest comdemnations that Jesus gives in all of his teaching. His anger shows very clearly in his words. As the people have gathered to hear his word, Jesus comdemns the religous leaders of the day, the pharisees. Now you have to understand that this was a very bold move. The pharisees were the most respected, most religious, most honored people in his community. Pharisees has inherited a very rich heritage as the keepers of the law. Moses handed the law of God down to Joshua, who handed it to the prophets, who handed it down to the pharisees, or the keepers of the law. These men become the center of jewish society, it was as if they held the keys of the kingdom, given directly to them from God himself. And even though Jesus respects them. He attacks them for being hypocrites. They are not who they appear to be. They make rules for others, yet do not follow those rules for themselves. They make religion a burden and not a joy. Jesus places the evil of these people in thier need to be recognized and appreciated for what they are not doing. the jews themselves have noted that there were six types of oh pharisees. One type was called the God fearing pharisee, that was one who truly loved god and studied God's law out of love and respect. There were others who were the shoulder pharisee, that was one who did good deeds so that he could put a lin on his shoulder so that others could see what type of person hw was, there was the wait a little while pharisee, one who knew what was right, but could always find a rational reason of why he did not have to do htat yet, there was the humpbaked pharisee, the one who considered himself to be so good that he could not afford to look from the ground, less someone would accuse him of doing sometn=hing wrong,, and there was the ever-resckining pharisee, one who did good deeds so that he could argue with god, whenever he was accused of somethingm, he had the proof that he was really a good person. you don't know anyone who does any of those things now do you? I don't know about you, but I guess I could say that I have done all of those things at one time or another. The modern word that we might use for these type of people , would be hypocrite. A hypocrite is someone who is playacting. They are not who they appear to be. The story of the salem witch hunts is a story of hypocrisy that literally destroyed a community. I have heard the story of the salem witch hunts from many different perspectives throughout the years. And every time I hear it I learn something new about the characters of that town. Basically, this took place Massachusetts, in the sevententh or early eighteenth century in a Christian community. The story become important in history, because a group of girls banded together and claimed that they had saw the devil in their community. It got to the point that whenever something seemed to be going on in the community that raised the suspision of people, these girls would accuse someone of woeking with the devil to make it happen. A judge was soon called in to send these people to trial, many were hanged based in the accusations of these girls. For those who have not heard of the story, it is important in history, because the real devil was not a spirit controlling the actions of others. It was this communities need to blame and hold accountable others for their own thoughts and feelings. As many people have looked back on those who were accused, it becomes obvious that there were very serious things going on in the lives of these girls. Things which today, we would probably suggest that the girls get guildance, love and support from someone to help them deal with the difficult issues of death, sickness and being taken advantage of. IT seems interesting that the people that they accused, were all people who in some way were different from the rest of the community. Either they were of another race, from another country, someone who had just moved into the community. And in many cases, those who were killed were those who these girls just didn't like because of something that had been done. The thing that was so scary for me, was that this was all done in the name of christianity. The main accuser in the stpry called herself the hand of God. But it became obvious that she was taking revenge on anyone that she felt hurt her feelings. It is easy too look at a movie and to see the wrong of others. Yet that is going on still today. For we all like to judge. We can all look at our neighbor and see fault. We all play christianity as a game in some way. We look at each other and think that our faith is true while, those who are not like us are really hypocrites and making a pact with the devil. In Matthew, that is why Christ makes such a strong comdenmation. And his comedemantion is not against the pharisees, it is against those who were listening to him. Jesus stood there to accuse his own folloewers. He is accusing those in Salem who felt that they had the hand of God to assess the faith of others. Christ is standing here accusing you and me also. He accusses us because he knows that to judge the action of another is human nature. we have all saw teh devil in the actions of another person. That person who might be a Christian just like us. Christ's word for us, to always remember that we are forever students. Jesus tells the crowd to call no one rabbi. In jwiehs society, a rabbbi is considered to be the teacher, a father of society. Rabbis tended to command a lot of respect becaue they would tell others, that even though your parents are imporatnt becuase they gave you life, a teacher is important becuase he/she gives you eternal life. For Christians, There is never a time in our lives when we know everything there is to know about being a Christian. Jesus tells us there there will never be a time when we will be knowlegable enough to be called teacher. The only place to get eternal life is through Christ. There will never be a time when one of us will be called father, we are all sisters and brothers with a heavenly father. The most imporatant lesson on Christ words for us today is that there is no finger of God among us. There is no one with the total answer, no one who is totally right. Our power as a church, the body of Christ, is in our ability to be a community. To respect one another, the hold one another accountable, to take responsibility for who we are withour needed to find our devils in other people. We get our being out of being a part of the community. We are not set apart from the community, we are not set above the community. We are one with the community. It is the community that makes us one with Christ. Christ tells is that he is our one teacher. And if we are to learn the ways of Christ then we will be truly free. We are free, because we no longer have to carry the burden of being right. We can be true to one another and to ourselves and admit our faults and our blames. We don't have to use the church as a place to play act, but as a place to come in a time of need. As a watched the salem witch trials, there was a scene where one of the men was asked to tell a lie and say that he had indeed made a pact with the devil. He was to sign a statement that would be tacked to the church walls for all so see. He signed the pact, yet he took it back. They tried him to convince him to do the right thing. They knew that it was a lie, yet they wanted him to live, so that he could take care of his family. He told him that the statement had his name on it, and that he had to be true t his name. So he tore it up. He and many other innocent people were killed by a good Christian community for standing by his faith. He was killed by saying the Lord's prayer. You know sitting here in church it is wasy to judge the wrong in this story. Yet we ignore the fact that it is happening today, C o m p O b j