Where are the angels in your life?

August 31, 2025 Hebrews 13: 1-8, 15-16 12th Sunday of Pentecost Year C Where are the Angels in our life? Prelude Greeting Call to Worship for Labor Day God said, “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord.” Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, And I will give you rest.” We come in the name of the Spirit, resting from our labors, Let us worship God this day! ~ posted on the Presbytery of the Cascades. Prayer for the Day In the face of all our realities: We are the people who heal each other, who grow strong together, who name the truth, who know what it means to live in community, moving toward a common dream for a new heaven and a new earth. In the power of the love of God our Creator, The company of Jesus Christ, And the leading of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Adapted from the people of Pitt Street Uniting Church (Sydney, Australia), Prayers Encircling the World: An International Anthology (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998), 212. Song I was there to Hear your Borning Cry. TFWS 2051 A Sermon for all Ages Children’s Sermon Outline: God Never Changes – by Tony Kummer Introduction: • Start by asking children what they do in their morning routine, like brushing their teeth, getting dressed, and eating breakfast. • Explain that these routines involve small changes. Body: • Discuss other things in life that change, like weather, seasons, plants growing, and people growing up. • Mention that change can be good, like a baby growing and learning new things. • Acknowledge that change can also be challenging, even good changes, like getting new teeth or moving to a new house. • Share other examples of challenging changes, like changing teachers, pastors, or friends moving away. • Emphasize that sometimes we wish things wouldn’t change and that change can be scary. Lesson: • Introduce the concept that even though many things in life change, there is one thing that stays the same: God. • Read Hebrews 5:5-10 to teach children that Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) • Explain that this means God never changes, never leaves us, and always loves and cares for us, just like we take care of our children. • Share that even when things are hard or confusing, God is always with us. • Remind children that Jesus loves them and will never leave them, and they can always rely on him. Conclusion: • End by saying a prayer thanking God for never changing and always being with us. • Encourage children to trust in God and rely on him, even when things are changing. Teacher Script: Hello, children! Today we’re going to talk about change. Can you think of things in your life that change? (Allow children to share their answers.) That’s right! Many things change, like the weather, the seasons, and even ourselves! Change can be good, like when a baby grows and learns new things. But sometimes change can be hard, even good changes, like moving to a new house or making new friends. Do you ever wish things wouldn’t change? (Allow children to share their answers.) Even though many things change in our lives, there’s one very important thing that never changes: God! The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is always the same, yesterday, today, and forever. That means God never leaves us, never changes, and always loves and cares for us, just like we take care of you. So, even when things are hard or confusing, remember that God is always with us. We can always count on him and rely on his love. Let’s say a prayer together and thank God for always being with us. (Lead the children in a prayer.) Remember, children, God never changes, and he will always love you! Labor Day Liturgy (Put on Insert) Litany of Labor: A. Let us pray to the Lord of all creation, from whom comes life and work and purpose. Almighty God, when you formed us lovingly out of the dust of the earth, you breathed into us the breath of life and gave us work and purpose for living. C. You placed Adam in the garden of Eden to till and keep it. A. Through our work, you made us co-creators with you, shaping the world in which we live. C. You gave dignity to our labor by sending your Son to labor with us. A. By our labor, you enrich the world. C. By our labor, we enjoy the fruits of creation. A. By our labor, we find direction and purpose. C. By our labor, our families are made secure. A. For providing varieties of work and for blessing us by our labor: C. We give you thanks, O Lord. A. For those who plow the field and those who make the plow; for farmers and farm workers, for steelworkers and machinists; for those who work with their hands and those who move the earth: C. We give you thanks, O Lord. A. For those who tend the sick and those who seek new cures; for doctors and nurses, for scientists and technicians; for those who keep notes and those who transcribe: C. We give you thanks, O Lord. A. For those who think and those who create; for inventors and explorers, for artists and musicians; for those who write books and those who entertain: C. We give you thanks, O Lord. A. For those who work in offices and those who work in warehouses; for secretaries and receptionists, for stockers and bookkeepers; for those who market products and for those who move them: C. We give you thanks, O Lord. A. For those who inspire our minds and those who motivate us; for teachers and preachers, for public servants and religious servants; those who help the poor and those who work with our children: C. We give you thanks, O Lord. A. For those whose labor is tidiness and cleanliness; for janitors and sanitary workers, for drycleaners and maids; for those who produce cleaning products and those who use them: C. We give you thanks, O Lord. A. For those who sail the waves and those who fly the skies; for captains and attendants, for astronauts and deep sea divers; for those who chart and those who navigate: C. We give you thanks, O Lord. A. You bless us all with skills and gifts for labor. C. You provide us opportunities to use them, for the benefit of others as well as ourselves. A. Guard and protect those who labor in the world. C. Bless the work of our hands, O Lord. A. Look kindly upon the unemployed and the disabled. C. Give health to the sick, hope to the bereaved. A. Keep us from laboring only for greed. C. Make us loving and responsible in all that we do. P. Creator Lord, you are the source of all wisdom and purpose, you are the blessing of those who labor. Be with us in our labor to guide and govern our world. Give all men and women work that enhances human dignity and bonds us to one another. Give us pride in our work, a fair return for our labor, and joy in knowing that our work finds its source in you; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. C. Amen. (Thomas L. Weitzel) Passing of the Peace Scripture Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 Sermon Where are the Angels in our Life? What is the one thing in life that we all can’t live without? The one thing that is catching on life wildfire. 50 years ago, even 40 years ago, no one would have even cared. But as time went on – it became a part of everyone’s life. Now we take it with us everywhere that we go. If we forget about it, you will soon turn around just to get it. If you want to ignore it – there is something that draws you back in. It is a part of every aspect of your life, you can’t do anything without it. I would like to say that I am talking about Jesus, but I am talking about our cell phones. I would like to say that the pulpit is the one place where I don’t need my phone. But today I needed to make sure that it was fully charged, so that it can record the service. My phone has become my constant companion. When I am driving I have to bring it with me so that I can get driving directions and to listen to music. Even when I come the church and want to use my computer – I have to go back home to get my phone in order to get the code to sign in. If I exercise, I need my phone to record my steps, if I check my bold pressure I need to record it on my phone. The harder I try to disengage from my phone, the more dependent I become on my phone. What used to be true for boats is now equally true for cell phones. The best day of your life? The day you bought your boat. The second best day of your life? The day you sold your boat. That kind of love/hate relationship is even fiercer when it comes to our most beloved, most bemoaned tech toy — the “smart phone.” Every time you “upgrade” from a version “3" to “4” to “5” . . . it seems that only minutes later there is a version “6.” Almost as soon as you can get out your credit card, you are the proud owner of a dodo or a dinosaur. Cell phone companies try to tie their customers to a strict “upgrade” schedule to keep them using their older model phones for two to three years. But lately the competition between all the big name “smart phone” providers has become so intense that the “upgrade” limits have been tumbling down or trashed altogether. All the major competitors seem to be welcoming the return of still warm “hot-off-the-presses” models in order to get new customers for their latest version of the twenty-first century’s “third eye” the eye that is a one-stop guide through an increasingly dense and entangled information jungle. The newest, biggest draw or more accurately, the most relationship-trashing, out-with the-old/in-the-only-moments-new draw among smart phone adversaries is how easy is the access and adaptability of the “home page.” Cell phone providers are focused on making it easier and more intuitive for you to completely customize your “Home Page.” The most advanced smart phones make it easy for you to simply touch the screen of your smart phone after finding a new “like,” and drag it to your personal home page. You might say one’s “home page” is the new “home land” — the habitation of all our personal loves and loyalties. Our “home page” is a small, safe, satisfying universe around which our lives orbit. Our home page is our “YOUniverse.” What’s on your “home page”? How do you decide what makes it onto the “home page” of your “youniverse?” What is it that you want personally to experience and engage every day? Shopping deals? Auction sites? Video clips? Breaking news? Stock updates? Gossip networks? Music trends? In this week’s epistle text, the final chapter of “The Letter to the Hebrews,” the author offers an alternative to all those self-interests. The “home page” today’s text downloads is totally devoted to Jesus. Jesus is our “home page.” What the Hebrews’ author is saying is that everything in your life, whatever it is, can be “touched” and then “dragged” back to our own personal Jesus “home page.” We can “touch” good stuff offering hospitality and welcoming those who are uprooted and unknown, touching the unclean, visiting prisoners, both in prisons made of steel bars and prisons made of emotional bars. All that is “good stuff” that can be touched and dragged to our home page. But even if we “drag” back some questionable quests to our “home page,” not to worry. Jesus will help us figure it out. The ethical, empathetic and, most essentially, loving software provided by Jesus’s spirit will clear out all the toxic viruses and soul-sucking spam that the world sends our way. After all, the human soul was not created for sin, but for the presence of God in all God’s purity, peace and power. That’s what belongs on our home page: “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy” (Phil.4:8), this belongs on our home page. Jesus is the constant in our lives. Scripture reminds us that cell phone technology is always changing. But Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Jesus is our constant. The spirit of Christ is the one thing that we cannot leave home without. So, not only is Jesus the center of our lives- he is the source of our being. Jesus is our reason for being. Hebrews 13: 15-16 says 15 So let’s continually offer up a sacrifice of praise through him, which is the fruit from our lips that confess his name. 16 Don’t forget to do good and to share what you have because God is pleased with these kinds of sacrifices. Praising Jesus is not just what we do when we come together on Sunday, it is how we live our lives. Hebrews gives us 3 ways to praise Jesus in everything. 1. Keep on loving – we should pass the love that we get from God onto to others. 2. Keep living by God’s law – Mutual love as the framework of the passage Keep what is mutual love? a. hospitality to strangers i. “The admonition ‘not to neglect hospitality to strangers’ sounds a bit grudging to modern ears, in which a more positive formulation would be welcome. Rhetorically however, the saying function to emphasize the importance of hospitality. In other words, not to neglect hospitality is to make certain that it is carried out.” (Beverly Gaventa, Texts for Preaching, Year C, p. 492) b. compassion to prisoners i. “Prisoners had tmo depend on those outside for food beyond basic prison rations, for clothing and other items; guards sometimes required bribes even to grant this much access. Prisons detained people until trial or execution, but prisoners could remain in custody for long periods of time until trial.” (NRSV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes p. 2180) c. faithful relationships d. extravagant stewardship e. sacrificial worship 3. Keep trusting in God’s word and direction. Verses 3-5 says it all: 3 Remember prisoners as if you were in prison with them, and people who are mistreated as if you were in their place. 4 Marriage must be honored in every respect, with no cheating on the relationship, because God will judge the sexually immoral person and the person who commits adultery. 5 Your way of life should be free from the love of money, and you should be content with what you have. After all, he has said, I will never leave you or abandon you.[a] Keeping Christ first boils down to mutual love and hospitality. Loving and sharing with one another, and showing hospitality to the stranger. A lot of times I think we make the mistake of thinking that as Christians we should do one or the other. Either we focus on loving the people we know, or we seek out those we don’t know. But In Jesus world, they are one in the same. As I think about God's best gift to us, I think of Jesus Christ. God so loved us that he gave us his only begotten Son. Every year during Advent, we sing carols that tell of his lowly birth. We picture that tiny babe of Bethlehem and remake how cute he is. We feel good, because babies always make us feel good. But we need to remember that with Advent comes a foreshadowing of Good Friday, a reminder that his purpose was all about sacrifice. I want you to think about your relationship with Jesus Christ. How has he blessed you? Has he been there in your trials and in those moments when you have needed a rock to hold onto? Think about the story of Calvary. He told you that his body was given for you, broken for your sin as an offering to God. He told you his blood was poured out as an offering to seal the new covenant of eternal life. Jesus gave us his best gift and then he promised that it was just the beginning. How are you going to respond to that? How will you offer your first gift of praise? Will you declare that you will come to worship him at church regularly for the next year? Will you declare that you will find a ministry that you can get involved with and take a lead so that your offering can bless others? Will you pick up your Bible and choose to read it regularly and even consider joining a Bible study so you can learn more about all of God's promises? Will you offer yourself to God and let him use you to bless your family, by promising to spend more time at home and with your children? Many of us have dedicated our homes to Christ and godly life. Will you find a way, a unique way that only you can find, to praise God in the coming months? Each of us was created in the image of God and yet we are each a unique individual with gifts given by God. Use your gifts to honor and praise God. Amen. CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Sermons for Sundays after Pentecost (Middle Third): God Is Rock Solid, by Clayton A. Lord We express the love that God shared with us to everyone. The CEB version of our scripture starts out by saying – Love each other like family. We have to keep expanding our definition of family. B. Dale Galloway told a great story years ago in his book, Dream a New Dream. It is about a shy little boy by the name of Chad. One day Chad came home and said, "You know what, Mom? Valentines' Day is coming and I want to make a valentine for everyone in my class." Mom's heart sank and she thought, "Oh, how I wish he would not do that." Because every afternoon she watched all the kids coming home from school, and they would be laughing and hanging onto each other, books under their arms, all except for Chad. He always walked behind the rest of the kids. But Mom was a good Mom, so she went along with Chad's idea. So glue, paper and crayons were purchased. For three weeks Chad painstakingly made thirty five valentines. When the day came to deliver the valentines, he was so excited! This was his day. He stacked those valentines under his arm and he ran out the door. His mother thought, "You know, this is going to be a tough day for Chad. I'm going to bake some cookies and give him some milk when he comes home from school and maybe that will ease the pain. He probably won't be getting very many valentines." That afternoon she had warm cookies and a glass of milk sitting on the table. She went over to the window to watch as the kids came home. Sure enough, here came the big gang of kids, laughing, valentines under their arms. They had really done well. And there was Chad, coming up behind. He was walking faster than usual and Mom thought, "Bless his heart, he is ready to burst into tears. His arms are empty." As Chad came into the house, and Mom said, "Mom has some warm cookies and milk for you." But Chad's face was all aglow. He just marched right by her and all he could say was, "I didn't forget a one, not a single one!" (1) That's the spirit of "philos," that's the spirit of mutual love. We may not be able to get everyone to love us in return, but that should never keep us from giving our love. Because love is the key to life and faith. The author reminds us that the measure of our new life in Christ is our ability to love. Radiate Love. "Let mutual love continue." Through love the stranger become family. Hospitality to strangers is a cherished tradition in Middle Eastern countries. There is an old legend that tells how Abraham pitched his great tent at a crossroad. The flaps of that tent were lifted on all four sides so that he might discern the approach of any stranger and hasten out to meet him. Once, when Abraham ran out to offer his hospitality to three strangers, he discovered that they were angels. They blessed him, of course. Maybe that is the story the writer of Hebrews had in mind. Hospitality. Kindness to strangers. It's something we are short on in this modern world. We teach our children to be fearful of strangers. And if a stranger pulls out in front of us in traffic, we become enraged. Hospitality. What a sweet concept it is--particularly when we are on the receiving end. “If you've ever been the stranger," writes Billy D. Strayhorn, “or the new kid on the block, then you know that it's frightening and unpleasant. And we don't like frightening and unpleasant. Who does? It ties our stomachs into knots and gives us nightmares. It unsettles our lives. “Jim Morrison and the Doors, a rock group from the sixties wrote a song with a haunting melody and lyrics titled "˜People Are Strange.' The song talks about being the stranger. Its words go: "˜People are strange when you're a stranger, faces look ugly when you're alone. Women seem wicked when you're unwanted. Streets are uneven when you are down. When you're strange, faces come out of the rain, when you're strange. No one remembers your name, when you're strange, when you're strange.' Then it repeats." (2) If you have ever been a stranger, a newcomer, then you know how great it feels to encounter any show of hospitality, no matter how small. Jesus said, “A cup of cold water given to a stranger in my name will not go unrewarded." (Matthew 10:42) Last week I was having lunch with a group of pastors. The owner of the restaurant comes up to us to make sure everything was okay. In the midst of talking, he shares his story. He explains that he has cancer and the doctors have told him that there is nothing more that they can do. We invite him to come back to our meeting so that we can pray for him. He comes back and shares more of his story and more of his preparations to die. In that moment, Juan moves from a stranger to family. I think of him everyday, and pray for his peace in the midst of an unthinkable situation. What does mutual look like in your life? How do you show mutual love to others? What does mutual love look like in the face of the general divisiveness of current culture? How do we promote and practice mutual love with those whom we greatly disagree? God is not the name of the supreme being. It is just the name that we use. God is not a person or thing that we touch, God is a way of being, a way of showing love. In other words, God is not the name of God. The word “God” which we thoughtlessly use for the name of God is really just a greeting. In the Talmud it states that “the name of God is peace” (shalom), and “shalom” is the most basic Hebrew greeting word. Our English “hello” is derived from the good-health greetings “Whole be thou,” or “Hail thou” (see Luke 1:28; Matthew 27:14) where “hail” means “healthy.” In the earliest forms of the English language, “God” was a hospitality greeting that meant “Hello there,” and “hello” is a shirt-tail cousin of greetings that incurred God’s peace, wholeness and the personal presence. The word “God” is not God’s name. The name of God is nameless. God has no name. “God” is not God’s Proper Name. God’s title is “I Am” or “YHWH” or “"that than which none greater can be conceived." The word “God” is actually an expression of Hospitality and Healing/Health/Wholeness. And “God” in English means “Hello There” or “Health to you.” If “God” is not “God’s” name, “God” is still the ultimate expression of the good, the true, the beautiful extended towards others. So every time you say “Hello” to someone, you are really dragging them to your home page and blessing them. “Hello” is nothing less than your hospitable extension to every person you meet of God’s healing and anointing presence, and your recognition that we all share the roles of host, stranger, and guest. “Hello” is an invitation to someone to share a home page. “Hello” is a welcome to God’s wholeness and well-being. And so is “Good-bye” . . . or “God be with you.” Let’s extend a “Hello” to each other this morning, but after inviting people to you home page with a “Hello,” say to each person you greet the gift you are really giving them: “wholeness and well-being.” The ultimate in hospitality is not giving and receiving gifts. The ultimate in hospitality is sharing one’s space, which is what we do as the body of Christ. The ultimate in a home page is being with another person, which is what brings wholeness and well-being. So this morning: “Hello — Wholeness and Well-being to you.” God is love in action. God is a being so that we can learn to be, God speaks to us so that we know what to say, God loves us so that we can love others. Love wins yesterday, today and tomorrow. Let us love one another like family and keep expanding on our definition to include the prisoner, the stranger, your spouse, your possessions and everything that God loves. Let love be a part of everything that we do! Let us pray for strength! Song Here I am Lord UMH 593 Prayer Yesterday, God of our days, when our hunger for hope had so weakened us we could barely speak, you fed us with the Bread of life, spread with the sweet honey of your grace. Today, Host to the poor, when we look for you in the powerful and the rich, among the superstar and celebrity, we will find you seated with the children, your knees squeezed painfully under the table, entertaining them with your stories. Tomorrow, Spirit of Service, when we will be scrambling for the seats of honor, you will be in the kitchen cooking dinner for the prisoners; making up the guest room for the immigrants; singing lullabies of love to the lost children of our world. Amen. Lectionary Liturgies, Thom Shuman Lord’s Prayer DO NOT PRINT - God in Community, Holy in One: yesterday, today, tomorrow, always, we will pray as Jesus has taught us, Stewardship Moment Some of us may remember the 1960s. Others may have heard stories about the huge shifts in the cultural identity of people across the US. What do you remember or know about “counter-cultural” life? Often, reading the Gospels brings us to awareness of how counter-cultural Jesus is. Our reading from Luke 14 clearly points this out as Jesus teaches followers to function humbly rather than presumptuously at a wedding banquet. Once again, Jesus uses a common image to communicate about how God’s Realm works – a wedding banquet giving us an image for the heavenly banquet when all creation gathers. How counter-cultural is this: Don’t take the best seat! You might get bumped “down.” Rather, take the less desirable seat, from which the host might invite you to move “up” to a better seat. As we come to our offering, the counter-cultural idea might translate to “don’t flash your finances, announcing how much you give.” Or, don’t make sure everyone around you honors you for your giving. Of course, generosity is a high value but not when accompanied by bragging or boasting. Rather, let your giving be a loving response to the abundance of your life, and an eager sharing with those who struggle. All are invited to share financially in support of the “counter-cultural” Christ we seek to follow. Prayer of Thanksgiving Generous God, we offer these tithes and gifts as one sign of our desire to follow Jesus, who fully shared his life with the least, the lost, the lonely. No blazing advertisement, no blasting rock band, no boasting braggado; but grateful givers sharing symbols of our lives in check, coin and on-line connections. Accept our gifts, and help inspire us to use them to build up your Realm here in this corner of the cosmos. AMEN. (Disciples of Christ, Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Having listened to God's words, we are sent to serve others. Today and tomorrow, we will follow where God leads. Having joined in songs of praise and hope, we will carry these gifts into the world. Today and tomorrow, we will serve beside Jesus. Having been filled with the Spirit of justice, we will go to be with all who struggle. Today and tomorrow, we will bring justice and peace to those around us. (Lectionary Litrugies, Thom Shuman) Community Time – Joys and Concerns Benediction Children of God, go from this place in the blessing of the Triune God, our Helper and our Friend, offering your sacrifice of praise and sharing what you have as you spread the love of God in mutuality and care to the ends of the earth and back again. Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, March 2025. Additional Illustrations In today's epistle text the writer of Hebrews concludes his remarks on the cosmic-wide shaking and quaking that will accompany God's final housecleaning with a point-by-point, action-by-action laundry list of good acts disciples of Jesus should do and be seen doing. Here's one of the great juxtapositions of the Bible: the juxtaposition between the shaking of heaven and earth by a vast omnipotent deity in chapter 12, and the small acts of solidarity, love, compassion, and steadfastness called for in chapter 13. At first flush they seem almost comically incongruous. What does it matter what each one of us may or may not do in our own lives, within our own families, in the midst of our own community of faith, when God is preparing to conduct a thorough, global, indeed cosmic shake-down? Tim Kimmel tells the story of love. In 1921, Lewis Lawes became the warden of Sing Sing Prison. No prison was tougher than Sing Sing during that time. But when Warden Lawes retired some twenty years later, that prison had become a humanitarian institution. Those who studied the system said credit for the change belonged to Lawes. But when he was asked about the transformation, here's what he said: "I owe it all to my wonderful wife, Catherine, who is buried outside the prison walls." She knew how to live a life pleasing to God. Catherine Lawes was a young woman with three small children when her husband became the warden. Everybody warned her from the beginning that she should never set foot inside the prison walls, but that didn't stop Catherine! When the first prison basketball game was held, she went ... walking into the gym with her three beautiful children, she sat in the stands with the inmates. Her attitude was: "My husband and I are going to take care of these men and I believe they will take care of me! I don't have to worry." She insisted on getting acquainted with them and their records. She discovered one convicted murderer was blind, so she paid him a visit. Holding his hand in hers she said, "Do you read Braille?" "What's Braille?" he asked. Then she taught him how to read. Years later, he would weep in love for her. Later, Catherine found a deaf-mute in prison. She went to school to learn how to use sign language. Many said that Catherine Lawes was the body of Jesus that came alive again in Sing Sing from 1921-1937. Then she was killed in a car accident. The next morning, Lewis Lawes didn't come to work, so the acting warden took his place. It seemed almost instantly that the prison knew something was wrong. The following day, her body was resting in a casket in her home, three-quarters of a mile from the prison. As the acting warden took his early morning walk, he was shocked to see a large crowd of the toughest, meanest-looking criminals gathered like a herd of animals at the main gate. He came closer and noted tears of grief and sadness. He knew how much they loved Catherine. He turned and faced the men, "All right men, you can go. Just be sure and check in tonight." Then he opened the gate and a parade of criminals walked, without a guard, three-quarters of a mile to stand in line and pay their final respects to Catherine Lawes. And every one of them checked back in that night. Every one. When you live a life of praise before God, it doesn't seem like a sacrifice — it seems like a blessing. Ask Billy or Mother Teresa or Catherine Lawes, and they will tell you it wasn't a sacrifice at all. In fact, they were blessed by their choice. Think about your own relationship with your children or grandchildren. You make sacrifices for them, and you do it out of love. It is as though you were offering your life to God. He follows these exhortations with teaching about sex and money, two important ways that we are called to be faithful. We all know how much hurt is caused by sexual infidelity. We see the pain splashed across our television screens, as celebrity marriages crumble from unfaithfulness. Let the church demonstrate to the world that we can practice self-discipline and build committed relationships. This is why doctrine matters. We need to understand Christ rightly. Hebrews teaches us of a Christ who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We rejoice in that stability. Jesus still reveals God to us, still takes away our sins. Hebrews also teaches us of a Christ who speaks to us in ways we can hear. Let us open ourselves to the ways Christ speaks to us now. What need do we have? What pain are we carrying? In what ways do we need to grow? That is where we will find Christ. Hebrews teaches of a Christ who is always the same, but who will meet us where we need to be met. Amen. There was a fascinating story in Time magazine sometime back about Melissa Deal Forth, 40, a film maker in Atlanta. It was about the day her husband Chris Deal died. It was exactly one year after he had been diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia. The last months had been gruesome: treatments that could not save him, nights when she could not sleep. But Melissa was sleeping soundly at his hospital bedside on the morning of Jan. 4 when Chris managed, somehow, without being seen or heard, to maneuver himself and his portable IV pole around her, out of the room and past the nurse's station with its 360-degrees view of the ward. All Melissa remembers is being shaken awake at 3:00 a.m. by a frantic nurse who was saying something about not being able to find Chris. Melissa hit the floor running. As she approached the elevator she happened to glance toward the chapel, where she glimpsed Chris sitting with a man she had never seen before. Frightened and furious, she burst through the door, firing off questions. “Where have you been? Are you okay?" Chris just smiled. “It's fine," he told her, “I'm all right." His companion remained quiet, his eyes on the floor as though not wanting to be noticed. He was tall, dressed rather like Chris usually did, in a flannel shirt, new Levis and lace-up work boots that appeared as if they, too, had just been taken off the shelf. “There was no real age to him," Melissa says. “No wrinkles. Just this perfectly smooth and pale, white, white skin and ice blue eyes. I mean I've never seen that color blue on any human before. They were more the blue like some of those Husky dogs have. I'll never forget the eyes." Chris seemed to want to be left alone, and so she reluctantly agreed to leave. When he came back to his room, she says, “He was lit up, just vibrant. Smiling. I could see his big dimples. I hadn't seen them in so long. He didn't have the air of a terminally ill and very weak man anymore." “Who was that guy?" she asked. “You're not going to believe me," Chris said. “Yes, I will," she answered. “He was an angel," Chris said. “My guardian angel." Melissa did believe him. “All I had to do was to look at him," she says now, “to know something extraordinary, something supernatural had happened." She searched the hospital to find the man. There was no one around, and the security guards hadn't seen anyone come or go. “After the visit, Chris told me his prayers had been answered," she says. “I worried for a while that he thought the angel had cured his cancer. I realize now it wasn't the cure, it was the blessing he brought with him. It was the peace of mind." Chris died two days later. In the 11 years since Chris's death, Melissa says not a day has gone by when she has not thought about the angel and what he did for her husband. “Chris' life could not be saved, but the fear and pain were taken from him," she says. “I know what I saw, and I know it changes lives. Never, never, never will anyone be able to convince me that angels don't exist." (1) Not everyone feels like that, of course. In the movie Red River, tough guy Walter Brennan looks out across the horizon and sees a stranger approaching. He has no idea what the man's intentions are, but he's not looking forward to the meeting. He explains his reasoning to John Wayne, “No stranger," he says, “ever good-newsed me." (3) Well, I've been “good-newsed" by many strangers. And so have you. One of the reasons that we ought always to be kind to strangers is that some of these strangers will bless us mightily. You see, angels come to us in many forms. It was a rainy night in New Orleans; At a bus station in the town, I watched a young girl weeping As her baggage was taken down. It seems she'd lost her ticket Changing buses in the night. She begged them not to leave her there With no sign of help in sight. The bus driver had a face of stone And his heart was surely the same. “Losing your ticket's like losing cash money," He said, and left her in the rain. Then an old Indian man stood up And blocked the driver's way And would not let him pass before He said what he had to say. “How can you leave that girl out there? Have you no God to fear? You know she had a ticket. You can't just leave her here. You can't put her out in a city Where she doesn't have a friend. You will meet your schedule, But she might meet her end." The driver showed no sign That he'd heard or even cared About the young girl's problem Or how her travels fared. So the old gentleman said, “For her fare I'll pay. I'll give her a little money To help her on her way." He went and bought the ticket And helped her to her place And helped her put her baggage In the overhead luggage space. “How can I repay," she said, “the kindness you've shown tonight? We're strangers who won't meet again A mere "˜ 'thank you "˜doesn't seem right." He said, “What goes around comes around. This I've learned with time - -What you give, you always get back; What you sow, you reap in kind. Always be helpful to others And give what you can spare; For by being kind to strangers, We help angels unaware. Maybe it won't be the kind of angel Melissa Deal Forth felt she met the night her husband died. Some experiences are beyond our understanding. But there are flesh-and-blood angels who can bring good things into our lives if we will give them the opportunity. Kindness to strangers is how we open ourselves and others to that opportunity. “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers . . ." If you could win an Olympic medal, which would you prefer the silver or the bronze? The answer appears obvious, doesn’t it? The silver is for second place; the bronze is for third. Or is it as simple as it sounds? Kent Crockett, in his book I Once Was Blind but Now I Squinttells about a surprising study of Olympic medal winners. You would assume that the silver medal winners would be happier than the bronze medalists since they received a higher honor, but that isn’t always the case. The bronze medalists, who came in third place, were actually found to be happier with their performance than the silver medalists, who finished in second place. The former Olympians explained why they felt this way. The third-place winners were thrilled just to have won a medal. The silver medalists, on the other hand, felt like losers because they didn’t come in first. “This just goes to show,” says Crockett, “that what happens to you isn’t nearly as important as how you perceive what happens to you.” (1) Here is the first part of the formula: keep on loving. Now you may ask, love whom? And the answer is, of course, everybody. Love people you go to church with, people you live with, people you work with. But also love people you don’t even know. More than that, love people you normally wouldn’t even associate with. Jack was an insurance salesman, but he cared about his clients in a very real way. He was a leader in his community, a man of integrity, but also a man of humility. He treated everyone the same, the clerk in the convenience store and the CEO of the large corporation. He treated everyone with respect and dignity. Jack found time in his busy schedule to be involved in ministries to the homeless. He never judged them, never looked down on them. He only wanted to help them turn their lives around. Jack also took time to mentor young people not only in his industry, but also those who were struggling to get started in other areas of life. He was a positive, cheerful man who never said a mean word about anyone. He was a leader in the large Episcopal Church in his community, and when he died a couple of years ago, in his late seventies, his funeral attracted one of the largest crowds in the history of that church, for he had touched many lives. Jack was a man who kept on loving regardless of the circumstances. Friends, such people are not fictitious. They are real people, and they embody the kind of life that the writer of Hebrews is commending. Keep on loving. Love everybody family members, friends, co-workers everybody. In the most famous portion of our lesson the writer says, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” The phrase “entertaining angels” refers to that memorable scene in Genesis when Abraham was sitting at the door of his tent. Legend has it that the flaps of Abraham’s tent were lifted on all four sides so that he might discern the approach of any stranger and hasten to meet him. On this particular day he saw three men apparently needing help. This was not unusual. There were no motels, no fancy restaurants, no places for weary travelers to turn for hospitality. So people in the Middle East often prided themselves on their hospitality. Abraham did not turn away those in need of help. So, at the appearance of these three strangers, he sprang to his feet, called to Sarah for help, and the two of them quickly ministered to these men. It was fortunate that they did. Abraham discovered that he was host to three messengers of God in disguise. When he was the gracious host, God was an even more gracious God. God blessed Abraham and Sarah with a child. The message of Hebrews is clear: love everybody, those you know and those you don’t. In fact, make a special attempt to be kind to strangers. The second is, keep on living by God’s law. Singer/songwriter Jack Johnson gives voice to a common lament when he asks, “Where’d all the good people go?/ I’ve been changing channels/ and I don’t see them on the TV shows./ Where’d all the good people go?” (5) Well. There are many good people in the world. They come of every race and creed. But we are drifting . . . Keep on trusting. Listen as the writer continues, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid . . .’” Successful living is a package and you cannot pick and choose among the core principles. You cannot live a successful life without these first two principles, “Keep on loving” and “Keep on living according to God’s law.” And the reason we are able to fulfill these two demanding challenges is that we trust God. In April 1988 a tragic event took place. A photographer who was a skydiver jumped from a plane along with a group of other skydivers in order to film the group as they fell. On the film shown on the evening network news, as this skydiving photographer opened his chute, the picture went berserk. Here’s why. He had absent-mindedly jumped out of the plane without his parachute. It wasn’t until he reached for the absent ripcord that he realized he was freefalling without any means of slowing his descent. (8) Faith in Jesus Christ is our parachute. It allows us to live triumphantly in a world that would beat us down. It allows us to love with great passion. It allows us to live according to our best values, whether or not our way of living finds favor with our peers. And when all is said and done, we discover this is living at its best. How do we know that’s true? Some of us are fortunate enough to see it lived out in those who were role models for us. Our parents, leaders in our community, Sunday School teachers, perhaps even employers people we know like Jack whom we mentioned earlier who lived successfully because they followed these principles. The writer closes this passage with these words, “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” That’s what we want to know, isn’t it? Our parachute is secure. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Keep on loving, keep on living by God’s commands, and remember in every circumstance, God says to you, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Such an approach to life is a winner every time. I remember a story about Charlie Chaplain. He once read that there was to be a Charlie Chaplain look-alike contest. He thought it would be fun to enter anonymously, which he did. He came in sixth! He was right in front of them, but they didn't know him. Angels can bring us the word of God through human beings who appear to be anything but angelic. Our task is to be open, and offer hospitality to those who come seeking. They may have a message for us. And we might change their lives. B. There's on old movie, 1940, starring Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogard and Ann Southern. Brother Orchid is about Little Johnny Sarto, a big time racketeer who grows tired of the gangland activities. He tries to quit and pursue his quest for real class and refinement. After a not so successful trip to Europe Johnny finds his old haunts and colleagues not so welcoming. Johnny finds himself a marked man and narrowly escapes being murdered after the Humphrey Bogard character Jack and his boys take him out into the woods to finish him off. Johnny escapes, wounded, and finds his way to a secluded Monastery where he is taken in by the kindly monks and brought back to health. Along the way Johnny learns a few things about life. And what he regarded as initially an ideal hideout until he could plot his revenge against Jack, turns into a life changing experience and the one time hood becomes the placid, life appreciating "Brother Orchid." Despite the chance of reclaiming his turf, Johnny returns to the monastery where he at last finds the real "class" in life, not in possessions or money but in the company of decent, honest men who have their own class simply by who and what they are, not what they can get. It's not a great movie but it's got great ending. And points to the whole concept of "Hospitality" and how Christian love and care can effect those who receive it. Radiate Love. "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers." You and I are called to Sow Love, or to Radiate Love wherever we go. We're called to a life of "Mutual Love that reaches out to both the Stranger and those outside our doors." Radiate the Love of Christ in all you do. • For love to be mutual- it must happen in community o Church is the community of mutual love o Mutual love is the foundation of “doing good and sharing what you have” o Mutual love is the foundation of being in relationship with God that we can confidently confess: The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?"

Angels Among Us (repreach 8/28/16)

Rev. Harriette Cross First United Methodist Church of Wilmington August 28, 2022 Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 12th Sunday of Pentecost Year C Angels Among Us Opening Song Welcome Call to Worship L: Jesus said, "Love one another, even as I have loved you." P: Love is more powerful than fear; it is mightier than hatred. L: Let the love which God has lavished upon us be poured out to those in need. P: Help us, O Lord, to witness to you by the ways in which we care for others. L: Remind us, Lord, that we are called to be your disciples. P: As we worship this morning, heal our hearts and spirits and prepare us for service. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Invocation God, we come this gathering of community where there are no barriers, and all our abilities are celebrated as gifts. We come to receive your hospitality of caring for each one of us and to learn from you how to offer such a celebration to stranger, friend, chosen family, those whose faces are unfamiliar to us, and the face who meets us in the mirror. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Maren Tirabassi) Song Shine Jesus Shine TFWS 2173 Children’s Sermon Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8 Most of you probably know what this is. It is a kaleidoscope. When you hold a kaleidoscope up to the light, you see beautiful colors and designs. When you twist the end of the kaleidoscope, the designs are constantly changing. I can remember when I was a child. I would spend hours looking at the beautiful colors and designs in a kaleidoscope. Sometimes I would see a design that was so beautiful that I would want to save it, but when I would move the kaleidoscope ever so slightly, the image would change. No matter how long or how hard I tried, I could never recapture that image again. That is the way it is with a kaleidoscope, it is never the same. It is always changing. We live in a world that is like that. Our world is constantly changing. People change, the seasons change, knowledge changes. Nothing ever seems to stay the same. In a world that is constantly changing, it would be nice if there was at least one thing that we could count on to stay the same when everything around us is changing. Well, there is something that never changes. The Bible tells us that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." When everything around us is changing and we don't know what to believe or what to think, we can always know that Jesus remains the same. His love for us remains the same. His truth remains the same. That is one thing we can count on. Thank you, Jesus, for your love that never changes. We are so thankful that we can count on you to remain the same when everything around us is changing! (Sermons4Kids) Prayer for Illumination Eternal God, your Word speaks truth into our lives. When we humble ourselves to listen, you mature us with knowledge and strengthened faith. Open us to your Word read and proclaimed today, so we might hear and embrace the message you intend for us. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Teri McDowell Ott) Scripture Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 Sermon Angels Among us August 28, 2016 Hebrews 13 This is the 4th week that we have been looking at Hebrews. Each of the last chapters of the book have a special message on what it means to be a Christian. Many scholars believe that the author takes a very sharp turn in the last chapter of the book, chapter 13. Some wonder if it was added later, but I think that it just wraps up the Christian life perfectly. When Christ is the head of your life, things are different. Your whole life just takes a different turn. You have different relationships, for different reasons and with different results. The theme of the Christian life is faith, hope and love. In chapter 11 we talked about faith, in chapter 12 we talked about hope and today in chapter 13 we put it all together with love. But not just any love – mutual love, the type of love that you can only get in community with other Christians. I got into an argument with a church member at church council, because I said that you cant be a Christian on a desert island. Reading the bible and thinking nice thoughts does not make you a Christian. The only way to truly be a Christian is to go to church and participate. What makes you a Christian is how you deal with people. How you interact with people. Not just any people, but people who have come together for a common cause. If the church is what it is supposed to be, it is not just a group of friends. The church should be a group of strangers, who have nothing in common, but who God called to journey to the same place together. Worshipping with People We Didn't Hand-Pick Writer and NPR commentator Heather King, a recovering alcoholic who has come to faith in Christ, reflected on her initial experience with the church: My first impulse was to think, My God, I don't want to get sober (or in the case of the church, worship) with THESE nutcases! (or boring people, or people with different politics, taste in music, food, books, or whatever). Nothing shatters our egos like worshipping with people we did not hand-pick …. The humiliation of discovering that we are thrown in with extremely unpromising people!—people who are broken, misguided, wishy-washy, out for themselves. People who are … us. But we don't come to church to be with people who are like us in the way we want them to be. We come because we have staked our souls on the fact that Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and the church is the best place, the only place, to be while we all struggle to figure out what that means. We come because we'd be hard pressed to say which is the bigger of the two scandals of God: that he loves us—or that he loves everyone else. Adapted from Heather King, "The Better Church," Shirt of Flameblog (10-23-11) If your patience is not being challenged, then it is not Christian community. The test of how well we are doing as a church is how well we are able to reach out to new people, and make them feel welcome. Not as we expect them to be but as God expects them to be. How well do we let them explore and use their relationship with God. And if we are all truly finding God in our lives, we are able to get along with one another. That is mutual love. The book of Hebrews gives several examples of places where mutual love is important. In prison, in encounters with strangers, with mentors, even while shopping and in marriage. Did you know that there is only one insurance company in America that will sell you marriage insurance, where you get a pay off if your marriage fails? You can have your fingers insured if you are a pianist, you can have your face insured if you are a model. But when you are applying for a marriage license, you cant buy insurance in case your marriage fails. You can sign a prenuptial agreement in order to protect your property. You can buy life insurance in case your spouse dies. But even money hungry insurance agencies realize that if you don’t have mutual love, then you don’t have a marriage. Your relationship with your spouse if between you and them, and God. All three of your all have to work at it. Mutual love means that God has to be a part of all of your relationships. And part of everything that you do. The scripture says Marriage must be honored in every respect, with no cheating on the relationship, because God will judge the sexually immoral person and the person who commits adultery. God will judge the person who does wrong, so that you don’t have to. We can love them even in the midst of doing what needs to be done for our wellbeing. That applies to our relationships with others as well. We need God in order to get along and connect with anybody. God should be a part of our relationships and our lives. In verse 5 and six, the scripture says Afterall he said that I will never abandon you that is why you can say the lord is my helper I will not be afraid. Because God makes a promise to us, we can rest assured, stay faithful and make the promises that we need to make. God said I will hold you in the palm of my hand, so we can say everything will be okay. God said I love you, so we can say I love you to others. God said I will provide for you, so we can freely give to others. As a Christian everything that we do should be about God. What God says to us, so we can do the same for others. That is mutual love – love where God cares for both of us equally. Hebrews chapter 13 starts out by saying treat each other life family. Open our doors to guest, because by doing so, we have entertained angels. That is a reference to the Abraham story, where Abraham invited three men into his house, not knowing that they were angels with a message from god. Tradition says that Abraham had a tent, and that he intentionally kept all four flaps of the tent open at all times in order to keep an eye out for strangers in need, in any direction. He was able to spot the 3 strangers in need from over a mile away. Now remember, the word angel means messenger from God. Angels come in all shaped and sizes. You never know who you are going to meet, who will bring a message from God. Just as I have learned to look for pennies on the ground everyday. I have learned to look for angels. Messengers who god sent into my life. There was a fascinating story in Time magazine sometime back about Melissa Deal Forth, 40, a film maker in Atlanta. It was about the day her husband Chris Deal died. It was exactly one year after he had been diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia. The last months had been gruesome: treatments that could not save him, nights when she could not sleep. But Melissa was sleeping soundly at his hospital bedside on the morning of Jan. 4 when Chris managed, somehow, without being seen or heard, to maneuver himself and his portable IV pole around her, out of the room and past the nurse's station with its 360-degrees view of the ward. All Melissa remembers is being shaken awake at 3:00 a.m. by a frantic nurse who was saying something about not being able to find Chris. Melissa hit the floor running. As she approached the elevator she happened to glance toward the chapel, where she glimpsed Chris sitting with a man she had never seen before. Frightened and furious, she burst through the door, firing off questions. Where have you been? Are you okay?" Chris just smiled. "It's fine," he told her, "I'm all right." His companion remained quiet, his eyes on the floor as though not wanting to be noticed. He was tall, dressed rather like Chris usually did, in a flannel shirt, new Levis and lace-up work boots that appeared as if they, too, had just been taken off the shelf. "There was no real age to him," Melissa says. "No wrinkles. Just this perfectly smooth and pale, white, white skin and ice blue eyes. I mean I've never seen that color blue on any human before. They were more the blue like some of those Husky dogs have. I'll never forget the eyes." Chris seemed to want to be left alone, and so she reluctantly agreed to leave. When he came back to his room, she says, "He was lit up, just vibrant. Smiling. I could see his big dimples. I hadn't seen them in so long. He didn't have the air of a terminally ill and very weak man anymore." "Who was that guy?" she asked. "You're not going to believe me," Chris said. "Yes, I will," she answered. "He was an angel," Chris said. "My guardian angel." Melissa did believe him. "All I had to do was to look at him," she says now, "to know something extraordinary, something supernatural had happened." She searched the hospital to find the man. There was no one around, and the security guards hadn't seen anyone come or go. "After the visit, Chris told me his prayers had been answered," she says. "I worried for a while that he thought the angel had cured his cancer. I realize now it wasn't the cure, it was the blessing he brought with him. It was the peace of mind." Chris died two days later. In the 11 years since Chris's death, Melissa says not a day has gone by when she has not thought about the angel and what he did for her husband. "Chris' life could not be saved, but the fear and pain were taken from him," she says. "I know what I saw, and I know it changes lives. Never, never, never will anyone be able to convince me that angels don't exist." (1) Not everyone feels like that, of course. In the movie Red River, tough guy Walter Brennan looks out across the horizon and sees a stranger approaching. He has no idea what the man's intentions are, but he's not looking forward to the meeting. He explains his reasoning to John Wayne, "No stranger," he says, "ever good-newsed me." (3) Well, I've been "good-newsed" by many strangers. And so have you. One of the reasons that we ought always to be kind to strangers is that some of these strangers will bless us mightily. You see, angels come to us in many forms. I have been good news by a stranger many times. The message is for us to be hospitable to others, but it is much deeper than than. We have to live each day with God in our lives, we have to include God in all of our relationships. With family, with church members, with spouse, with others, and sometimes even with ourselves. When we have God with us, then we also have mutual love present. In order to be happy we have to have faith, hope and love. The greatest of these is love. God is present when we show love. Amen, Song Pass it On UMH 572 Pastoral Prayer For some of us here today, Lord, we wish the summer would never end. We have enjoyed opportunities to travel, to relax, to break away from schedules and hectic calendars. For others, there is the thrill of entering the new season; looking forward to the challenges ahead. On this Labor Sunday we gather to receive your blessings once again, that we may recognize your presence in our lives and use the gifts that you have given to us in service to others. As we have offered names and situations to you in prayer for your compassionate healing love, we add our names as well. Heal our wounds, we pray. Enable us to be strong in our commitment to you by serving others in need. Keep us open always to your abiding love. For we ask this in Jesus’ Name. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Moment for Stewardship (from Hebrews 13:16) “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God” (tell your own short story of sharing, or use this one) In another congregation, a man came to my office and asked if we could talk. “Of course”, I responded, and showed him to a seat. Before sitting down, he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. Jumping right into the reason he had come, he declared, “I was given an unexpected bonus at work, and I want your help, to pay some bills.” “I’d be glad to help.” “I want this to be anonymous. Would you take this cash to the utility company, and pay for a month of utilities for Elizabeth and another month for Thomas?” Dumb-founded, I saw he was handing me several hundred dollars to pay bills for two members of our congregation! I agreed to be the courier, and assured him this gift would be anonymous. He smiled, got up, lit up the room with his grin, and declared, “I think this is something that would make Jesus smile!” As we share our tithes, gifts and offerings, consider how you are doing something good as you share what you have. Imagine how your sharing will be pleasing to God! (or “Imagine how this moment would make Jesus smile!”) Prayer of Thanksgiving Holy Giver of Life, thank you for Jesus! Thank you for the teaching we continue to receive through the words of scripture. And thank you for this opportunity to “do something good”. May our gifts, and our lives, be sacrifices which are pleasing to you. AMEN (Disciple’s of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Practice humility and hospitality. Invite the lowly to your table. Remember the imprisoned and the tortured. Honor your covenants. Be content with what you have. Love God, and walk in God's ways. May the way we live offer praise to God, our helper and our strength. And may God feed you with the finest wheat and the sweetest honey. Amen. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Rebecca Gaudino) Community Time Benediction Beloved of the Lord, go in peace, knowing that God's peace will be with you always. Go in service in God's world, helping those in need, sharing the gifts you have been given. Go in love, bring hope to all. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Additional Illustrations

Living our Best Life

September 1, 2019 Hebrews 13:1-8,15-16 12th Sunday after Pentecost Year C Living Our Best Life Object: If you can find one, a ladybug. If not, a piece of fruit happiness into another person's life. Good morning, boys and girls. I brought this piece of fruit with me not because I want you to think about fruit, but because I want you to think about ladybugs. "œLadybug, ladybug, fly away home!" we say in the little rhyme. But we better know that ladybugs don't heed that advice. Ladybugs were imported to this country because they destroy pests that can kill fruit trees. They also protect other crops, like alfalfa. They're tiny little insects. You can cram 70,000 ladybugs into a gallon container. But without them, we would be in trouble. Who would think that such a small and seemingly gentle creature could be so important to us? They are like tiny angels watching over the food we eat. Looking at ladybugs we would never think of them being so important to us. But they are. Sometimes we look at other people and we don't see anything important about them either, but they are. The Bible tells us that other people can be like angels to us. They can bring good things into our lives and we can bring good things into theirs. Hey, that means we can be angels too. Everyone is a potential angel when they do their best to bring happiness into another person’s life. Dynamic Preaching, Collected Sermons, by King Duncan Hebrews 13:1-8 The Message (MSG) Jesus Doesn’t Change 13 1-4 Stay on good terms with each other, held together by love. Be ready with a meal or a bed when it’s needed. Why, some have extended hospitality to angels without ever knowing it! Regard prisoners as if you were in prison with them. Look on victims of abuse as if what happened to them had happened to you. Honor marriage, and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband. God draws a firm line against casual and illicit sex. 5-6 Don’t be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,” we can boldly quote, God is there, ready to help; I’m fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me? 7-8 Appreciate your pastoral leaders who gave you the Word of God. Take a good look at the way they live, and let their faithfulness instruct you, as well as their truthfulness. There should be a consistency that runs through us all. For Jesus doesn’t change—yesterday, today, tomorrow, he’s always totally himself. The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson Hebrews 13:15-16 The Message (MSG) 13-15 So let’s go outside, where Jesus is, where the action is—not trying to be privileged insiders, but taking our share in the abuse of Jesus. This “insider world” is not our home. We have our eyes peeled for the City about to come. Let’s take our place outside with Jesus, no longer pouring out the sacrificial blood of animals but pouring out sacrificial praises from our lips to God in Jesus’ name. 16 Make sure you don’t take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship—a different kind of “sacrifice”—that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets. The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson Do you believe in angels? What do angels look like anyway. There was a fascinating story in Time magazine sometime back about Melissa Deal Forth, 40, a film maker in Atlanta. It was about the day her husband Chris Deal died. It was exactly one year after he had been diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia. The last months had been gruesome: treatments that could not save him, nights when she could not sleep. But Melissa was sleeping soundly at his hospital bedside on the morning of Jan. 4 when Chris managed, somehow, without being seen or heard, to maneuver himself and his portable IV pole around her, out of the room and past the nurse's station with its 360-degrees view of the ward. All Melissa remembers is being shaken awake at 3:00 a.m. by a frantic nurse who was saying something about not being able to find Chris. Melissa hit the floor running. As she approached the elevator she happened to glance toward the chapel, where she glimpsed Chris sitting with a man she had never seen before. Frightened and furious, she burst through the door, firing off questions. "œWhere have you been? Are you okay?" Chris just smiled. "œIt's fine," he told her, "œI'm all right." His companion remained quiet, his eyes on the floor as though not wanting to be noticed. He was tall, dressed rather like Chris usually did, in a flannel shirt, new Levis and lace-up work boots that appeared as if they, too, had just been taken off the shelf. "œThere was no real age to him," Melissa says. "œNo wrinkles. Just this perfectly smooth and pale, white, white skin and ice blue eyes. I mean I've never seen that color blue on any human before. They were more the blue like some of those Husky dogs have. I'll never forget the eyes." Chris seemed to want to be left alone, and so she reluctantly agreed to leave. When he came back to his room, she says, "œHe was lit up, just vibrant. Smiling. I could see his big dimples. I hadn't seen them in so long. He didn't have the air of a terminally ill and very weak man anymore." "œWho was that guy?" she asked. "œYou're not going to believe me," Chris said. "œYes, I will," she answered. "œHe was an angel," Chris said. "œMy guardian angel." Melissa did believe him. "œAll I had to do was to look at him," she says now, "œto know something extraordinary, something supernatural had happened." She searched the hospital to find the man. There was no one around, and the security guards hadn't seen anyone come or go. "œAfter the visit, Chris told me his prayers had been answered," she says. "œI worried for a while that he thought the angel had cured his cancer. I realize now it wasn't the cure, it was the blessing he brought with him. It was the peace of mind." Chris died two days later. In the 11 years since Chris's death, Melissa says not a day has gone by when she has not thought about the angel and what he did for her husband. "œChris' life could not be saved, but the fear and pain were taken from him," she says. "œI know what I saw, and I know it changes lives. Never, never, never will anyone be able to convince me that angels don't exist." (1) The word angel – means messenger. Someone sent by God to give us a message. I believe that angels come to us in all forms. My favorite kind of angels are living breathing angels that God sends to us in the form of friends. God always sends people into our lives to help us out. Ancient people were always on the look out for angels to come to them. They loved strangers knocking at their door, they believed they were from God. When our scripture says to be on the lookout for angels, he is referencing a story in the Hebrew bible where three strangers come to the tent of Abraham and sarah – Abraham is so excited to see them he offers them hospitality and asks for that special message from them before they leave. – they tell them that sarah is going to have her first child. Hebrews message to us to not only believe in angels, but to expect them. But to always be ready to entertain them. As a matter of fact – that is what church is all about. The Church Is Like a Hospital There was a minister who had a favorite slogan that he often repeated in his sermons. He said, "The church is not like a country club; it's more like a hospital." That's what Jesus was saying here when he gave us the direction, "... do not invite your friends ... or your rich neighbors ... invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind...." You and I are not in the church to impress one another or to win power struggles; we are here to minister to one another in our weaknesses. We are here to be hospitable. Richard W. Patt, All Stirred Up, CSS Publishing We are not sure of where the book of Hebrews came from, or even who Paul is talking to. But it is a very special book, with a very special message. It tells us who to be, or more important how to be as followers of Christ. Show love to one another, just like family. Philadelphia – brotherly (and sisterly) love – or we can call it mutual love. A space where there is a giving and a take-. Paul point out that we should extend that mutual love to one another, to the world, and even to those who are not out equal. Soup Like Bread and Wine I love Fred Craddock stories and I haven't told you one in a long time. So here goes. A few years back, Fred was invited to lead some kind of preaching mission in Winnipeg (Friday night ... Saturday morning ... Saturday evening ... twice on Sunday ... you know the drill). When he finished Friday night, he noticed that it was spitting snow. His host told him not to worry, given that it was only mid-October. "Good," said Fred, "because all I brought from Atlanta was this little, thin jacket." Fred went to bed. But when he got up the next morning, he couldn't open the door for all the white stuff that was piled against it. Snow driving. Wind howling. Temperature falling. Phone ringing. It was the host calling Fred's motel room. I hate to tell you this, but we're going to have to cancel this morning's session. Can't tell about the evening. But things look pretty bad. Nobody saw this coming. City's not ready. Plows, not ready. Crews, not ready. Nothing's ready. Worse yet, nothing's open. In fact, I'm stuck in my driveway, meaning that I can't come down to fetch you. So I don't know what you are going to do about breakfast. But I do have an idea. If you can make it out of your room, walk down to the corner ... turn right ... go one block ... turn right again ... and you should be standing within shouting distance of the bus station. There's a little cafe in there. And if any place is gonna be open, it's gonna be open. So Fred curses his luck, zips up his jacket, busts out his door, and goes in search of the little cafe. Two rights. Bus station. There it is. Wonder of wonders, it's open. But it's also crowded. It seems as if every stranded soul in the universe is crammed inside. There is no place to sit. But some guy slides down the bench and makes room for Fred to squeeze in. Waiter comes over ... big burly guy ... non-shaven ... wearing half the kitchen on his apron. "Whatcha want?" he snarls. "Can I see a menu?" Fred asks. "Don't need no menu," the waiter answers. "Didn't get no deliveries this morning. All we got is soup." "Well then," says Fred, "soup it is. I like a little breakfast soup from time to time." So the soup comes in a rather tallish mug. Looks awful. Shade of mousey gray.Fred half-wonders if that's what it could be ... cream of mouse. So he doesn't eat it. But he does use the mug as a stove ... cupping his fingers around it ... warming them on it. Which is when the door opens once more. Wind howls. Cold surges. "Shut the blankety-blank door," someone shouts. Lady enters. Thin coat. No hat. Ice crystals in her hair and eyebrows. Maybe 40. Painfully skinny. Men slide over to make room for her at another table. "Whatcha want?" shouts the guy with the greasy apron. "I'll just have a glass of water," she answers. "Look lady," he says. "We're crowded in here. We don't give no glasses of water. Either you order something or you leave." Well, it quickly becomes apparent that she isn't able to buy something. So she rebuttons her coat and commences to leave. Whereupon a funny thing happens. One by one, everybody at her table gets up to leave, too. Followed by others ... at other tables. Even Fred (who still hasn't touched his soup) gets up to leave. "All right ... all right," says the soup master. "She can stay." And he brings her a bowl of soup. With order restored, Fred turns to his table mate and says: "Who is she? She must be somebody important." To which the guy says: "Never saw her before in my life. But I kinda figure if she's not welcome, ain't nobody welcome." Which pretty much settled the matter, to the point where all you could hear (for the next few minutes) were soup spoons clinking against the sides of the mugs. Even Fred broke down and ate his soup. Which wasn't half bad, really. Some might even call it tasty. Later on, he still couldn't make out the taste ... but he felt as if he'd had it before. But what was it? He couldn't remember. For the life of him, he couldn't remember. Then it hit him. Strangest thing, really. That cream of mouse soup tasted, for all the world, like bread and wine. That was it ... for all the world like bread and wine. William A. Ritter, quoting Fred Craddock, Collected Sermons,www.Sermons.com Hospitality has been described as creating space for people. Allowing people to be themselves – to feel comfortable in their own skin, around you. Things happen, people start to get the messages that were intended for them. There is a story of a young school boy who went to a Christian school – who said that he wanted to grow up and to become a minister. – when asked why because in chapel listening to the minister, that was the place that he saw Jesus for the first time. He didn’t remember what he was talking about, or even what the ministers name was – but he god God’s message. So my question to all of us – what type of hospitality do we need to be showing to the world today. This week I am just overwhelmed with all of the things that are going on. All of the people and places that need prayer. All of the people in the world that need a space to call their own. When we show mutual love – we are angels, but we are entertaining angels as well. We need to give them the message of Hebrews. Chapter we puts it all together. We are all God’s children – we need one another. We need to reach out to one another. Cross lines – and be willing to help out. Some of the most memorable lines in the bible are in the book of Hebrews. Entertaining angels. God is the same today yesterday and forever. In an everchanging world- there are 5 things that do no change – God, God’s word, God’s will, God’s love and God’s plan for our lives. People need to know that. That last line of Hebrews – give God the sacirifice of praise. Hebrew religion was of sacrifice animals, then it moved to ritual. But Jesus came to tell us not what we do, but why we do it. Praise is not just what we do together in worship, it is what we do in our lives. How we carry it out in our lives. Come together in love – be minister to. But the message for the world in so much turmoil – never give up on love. Show it to others – more importantly be willing to give it to others in all that we do. Amen.

The Great Cloud of witnesses - those before us and those after us

Rev. Harriette Cross
Rust and Englewood UMC
August 15, 2010
The Cloud of Witnesses and those who come after us
Isaiah 5:1-7
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
12th Sunday after Pentecost
Year C


What it takes to run a 4000 mile marathon

For 111 days, Charlie Engle, Ray Zahab, and Kevin Lin ran across the Sahara Desert. They went through Senegal, Mauritania, Niger, Libya, and Egypt until they reached the red sea. During the race of endurance, they faced 100 degree weather, freezing nights, sandstorms, tendinitis, sickness, aches pains and many blisters. In spite of all of that the hardest part for them was to find water clean enough to drink – it wasn’t like there was a water station waiting for them at any point. This was all a part of a 4000 mile marathon across the Sahara. This was quite an accomplishment.
I try to be a runner, but am in no means a ready to do a marathon. But I do know that running takes a lot of practice, endurance, and perseverance. Running a race is a lot like being a Christian, a faithful Christian. Someone who was able to keep the faith, serving God until the end. Church members who weather conflict and remain joyful, loving and faithful.
The epistles use the metaphor a lot of running a race who knows if Paul was a runner himself, but we know that running was an important part of the culture of the time. The Greeks were always running somewhere. Hebrews uses the running metaphor to encourage us to be ready to run the race before us.

What faithfulness does
As I said earlier, the message of Hebrews is for us to be faithful – to live faithful. But what does that mean. Before I talk about what faith means – let me talk about what faithfulness does. Faithfulness is loving, kind, understanding, patience, willing to wait, willing to endure. Faithfulness is the 7th of nine fruits of the spirit. Galatians list the nine fruits as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Fruit because these are qualities which take time for us to acquire, none of us are born with them, they develop as a faithful response to life circumstances.
Faithfulness waits, faithfulness is disappointed and hurt, faithfulness makes a decision to be loyal anyway.


The Book of Isaiah as an example of what faith does

That is the message in the book of Isaiah. It starts out as a love song – let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard. Any who heard those words would have known that a vineyard is a metaphor for a bride – someone worthy of being loved, looked after, and fruitfully enjoyed. They would be expecting a happy song about a love fulfilled, instead that get a lament about a love unfulfilled, and owner who took the time to loving grow a field, who cared for it tended it, and waited for the day when the field would give good fruit. Instead the fruit was rotten and not even fit to eat. The owner is angry and vows to destroy the field for disappointing him. Jesus even talks of a fig tree which does not produce fruit and must be destroyed.
The owner is so hurt that things did not turn out the way he was expecting that he vows to not only stop taking care of it, but to not rain upon it. The story reveals that the vineyard is the people of God and that God is the keeper who was expecting justice and found only bloodshed amongst his people. How is that a story of love? When the lover was hurt by those he loved? Because this is also a story of God. Love is the nature of God. Sometimes you have to love people enough to be honest with them, to tell them that they are wrong and to call them on their sin. People have to be reminded that no matter how much I love you, I can’t save you from the consequences of your actions.
Sometimes we have to be told that no matter whom you are, and how stuck your are in your sin, I may be hurt, but I will never give up on you or your ability to do the right things when held accountable. That God love for us – to love us just the way we are, through the good times and bad times, always patiently waiting for the good times.

A couple and their example of faithfulness

A husband, who was going through early onset Alzheimer’s disease – wrote a letter to his wife of his fear of losing her, of the day coming when he would no longer recognize her, or speak to her – he didn’t want to lose her that way.
She responded back to him in tears that I will continue to love you and care for you, not because you know me or remember our life, but because I will remember you. I will remember the man who proposed to me, I will remember the man who fathers and helped raise my children, I will remember the things he loved to do, the movies we watched and cried over, the times he held me hand, the times we prayed together. I cherish the obligation, commitment, and opportunity to care for you, because I remember you. And she did all throughout his illness. When he did forget her, he did forget his life, he did forget his own name and he eventually died. How is that a love story? That is a love story because that is a story of what faith does. It endures through it all.

What Faith is

That is what faith does – now let’s talk about what faith is.
In the bible, in both the Hebrew bible and the New Testament – faith and faithfulness are used interchangeably. The Greek word is pistos. The word epistle – is a letter of faith sent to the people.
Faith is to give oneself over to wholly to be loyal, to trust, and to be dependable. Faith for Christian means to have an insatiable appetite for god, to be in constant pursuit of holiness. To stay in the situation for the long haul- to endure.

Those who have come before us
The writer of Hebrews reminds us that faith is not just about us – it is about those who come before us. Our role models, our teachers, our parents, our mentors, those who hung onto the faith throughout the ups and downs of history. Especially in African American culture, we know that many of those who fought so hard for us to get where we are had to make a lot of sacrifices. Many of them never saw the world they were hanging onto – and we are the fulfillment of what some never saw for themselves. And yet through it all, they hung onto faith for something in the future.
We can learn a lot from those who run before us. Someone once said that as we get older, running the race of faith means being determined to run no matter what, sometimes we have to be urged to lift our drooping arms, finding strength to move our aching knees and being determined to find a straight and flat course to run so that we don’t have to struggle to get up the hills in life. Running the course of faith is not a short dash to glory, but endurance and perseverance to the make it to the end.
We are never alone in our race – because we have those who have gone before us, always cheering us on being an example for us. Hebrews says the our greatest example of faithful endurance is Jesus Christ, who went to the cross on our behalf, confident that one day we would understand and follow his in his journey and his example.

Setting a faithful example for those behind us

Our most important task in the race called life is to remember the example we set and the path we pave for those behind us.
I volunteered for the Chicago marathon last year, the only way to get a jacket and a hat was to volunteer on Sunday. My job was to stand at the front of the starting line before the race. My friend criticized me and said that I should have been running, I explained that if I had run, I would have been at the back somewhere struggling all day knowing good and well that I was in over my head and would not finish.
But instead I was at the start line in front of 30,000 people. With that many people in order to prevent a stampede, you have to order the runners, and put the very fastest in the front. Our job was to form a human chain so that no one started too soon, and as soon as you heard the buzzer, to get out of the way and watch the wave of humanity cross the start line on the way to finishing a race.
What an amazing feeling it was to channel the energy of the fastest people on earth – a lot of people choose to run in the Chicago marathon because it is a straight flat race, where you don’t have to strain yourself to run.
But to watch that energy and power go forward for that moment believing that anything is possible and that they can conquer anything in life was amazing.
My point is that there 30,000 saints or more in the race who have gone before us and shown us the way. But there are 30,000 saints after us looking to us for an example of faith.
God is always faithful to humanity, God is always going to understand, god is always going to call people, and God is always going to be present in the lives of the people.
When we look around the room we may ask, but where are these people- how is God as work in their lives, How is Christ bringing salvation to their lives – it is a matter of faith for us to realize that they are out there, they are coming, they are discovering faith, and they are joining the race.
We don’t have to step aside; the we have to step forward to lead to run the race of faith that has been set before us. Let us pray….. Amen.

A Lesson in Humility September 1, 2007

A Lesson in Humility The scripture from jeremiah starts out with some pretty strong words to have to hear – What wrong have I done that you and your ancestors went away from me and went after worthless things. How do you answer a omnipotent God who is everything who asks you want have I done wrong that you left? That question could be construed as a guilt trip – afterall, we would never leave God. We put God first in our lives everyday. We heed the words of God in our lives, we take seriously what God says to us and we apply it diligently to our lives. This scripture must be addressing a situation of the past – not us. Actually Jeremiah is giving a final warning to the ancient people of Isreal. They have gotten to know the people around them, they have incorporated their ways of life. But they have also started to practice their religion – to even believe in their God. Knowing full well that the God that they worship is the one and only real God. Any other religion is only junk in the face of God. There us no other God but the one God of Heaven. In order to bring peace to his land, the king of isreal has allowed this incorporation of other worship practices. We learn later in the scripture that the people are indeed taken away to Babylon, and the country of isreal ceases to exist,because they were not wholeheartedly faithful to God. It is easy for us to think that this is about them – and not a wake up call for all faithful people- including us here. God is speaking to us when he has what he has done wrong that we have strayed from God. This is an invitation for us to look at our own lives – where have we gotten so comfortable with our lives, that we have forgotten to look at what we are doing. Is worshipping God in our lives really the most important thing to us? Or have we let other things creep in an take our attention? Are we more concerned about that project at work, or even that project at home. Do we care more about what the neighbors say about us than about what God says about us? Do we just assume that we know what it means to be a Christian – that we don’t have to examine our lives? At some point or another- actually each and every day we need to examine and question our lives – and to answer God’s question of why we have strayed away. One lesson that I think that we all know about – but don’t always apply to our lives is Jesus call to be humble in Luke 14. Jesus has been invited to a breakfast at the house of a prominent Pharisee. This was a sign that Jesus has really made it – only important people invite other important people to their functions. In those days to invite someone less than you to a party, meant that you would lose your social status. Whomever you invited to your party was obligated to invite you to one of their functions. That was how you moved up in the world. Jesus was happy to oblige that social necessity. But it wasn’t quite appropriate for him to instruct the host and his friends on how to throw a party. Everyone seemed to think that they were the most important person at the party. So they were jockeying for the most important positions. Jesus tells that that is a little rude, they might be embarrassed at how unimportant they really are. But he also tells them not to invite those of equal status, but to invite those who are too poor to return the favor. These words of advice stick out in my mind – this was the first bible lesson that my cousin taught us as a child – that when you go to a party – to make sure to take the lesser seat, and if you are worthy they you will be invited to a more honorable seat. But for Jesus, this was not a lesson in etiquette of how to behave at a party. This is a lesson on how to live our lives today and in eternity. Jesus us teaching us to be humble – to not think of ourselves as more important than anyone else. Humility is the absence of pride, conceit and vengeance. But us is also the presence of a willingness to be helpful and a selfless concern of the things that matter most to God. Humility is our open door to a relationship with God. It allows us to honesty answer God when we are asked why we have abandoned God. It allows us to acknowledge what we have done and to ask for forgiveness. It allows us to listen when God tells us how to go forward and to serve more fully. One man had to learn his lesson of humility, like most of us the hard way. He finally was hired at an important company in town. He was just a mail clerk who worked in the basement, but it didn’t matter – at least he was in the door – which is more than he could say for others. One day a cock roach crawled in front of him on the floor. Just as he raised his foot to kill it, he realized that it was talking to him. If you spare my life, then I will grant anything that you want. The man thought a minute, and decided at least it was worth a try – well if you just get me a job on the first floor- I will feel so much better about myself. The next day that he comes to work he is informed that he has been promoted to a desk job on the first floor. He is so excited – when the cockroach crawls by his desk the next week we thanks him. But the cockroach asks if there is anything else that he could do for him – and the man asks for a promotion to a job on the second floor. I don’t know that I could be that comfortable talking to a cockroach crawling across the floor- but anyway… The man is amazed at his wonderful luck. As the weeks pass, he has moved all the way up to a corner office in the sixth floor. There are only seven floors in the company – and the entire seventh floor is reserved for the president of the company. He knows he will never get to the second floor but he can dream can’t he. Sure enough that night the cockroach pays him a visit and he makes the request. On the news the next day he hears the report- the president has had a heart attack and died. When he comes to work the next day his told that he has been chosen as the president. The seventh floor office is his. When he sits at his desk gloating at his success, he realizes that that there us an opening in the ceiling which leads to the roof. Just to make sure that he has indeed reached the highest spot in the company – he climbs through the hole. He notices that there is a man in the corner of the roof. He walks over to the man to see what he is doing there – the man in tattered clothing says that he knows that he is the most important person in the company- but there is still someone who is higher then he and he is praying to that person. Our successful man is utterly outdone by what he has seen and heard – someone more important than he is his company. In his conversation with the cockroach – he says that he wants to get to know this God who is more important than he. He want to be near God and to value the things that God values. The next morning he returns to work – to his place in the basement. He comes to understand the importance of humility in his life and in his walk with God. Humility is the doorway where we get to know God. Humility is our opportunity to be in tune with those things that are important to God. Each and every day, there are certain spiritual pills that we need to take in order to live a healthy Christian life – they are prayer, forgiveness, thankfulness, humility, hospitality, and charity. Instead of jockey positions with the people on the social A list – we need to hobknob with the people on the k list- Those whom God had a special care and concern for. Afterall God reminds us that in the eyes of heaven we are all equal and deserving of God’s love. I would like to try an experiment in order to do this I need to have three volunteers to come up to the front. It is important that everyone have an open mind and take this game with a grain of salt….. Arrange yourself from left to right from youngest to oldest. The trick is you can only trade places with the person next to you, and there can be no talking or hand gestures. You just have to assume that you know – no arrange yourselves according to height order. Now arrange yourself in order of intelligence. Now to make this easier- I would just ask you given the lesson that we just learned – what would Jesus do? It is not our place to judge whether the order you chose is right or wrong - because in God’s eyes we are all equal and equally important. Let us remember that the lesson is not about age, or height or intelligence, but in humility. Our personal ability to put others before us. Thank you to our volunteers for demonstrating that for us. Humility – is our invitation to a very important party. God’s party- where anybody who is anybody is invited. And God has given the church the responsibility to carry out the party plans. To be intentional to include those whom the world has forgotten and forsaken. Because those who are the people who embody the spirit of God – who we must not forget and forsake. Come to be a part of the party at God’s table. Amen.

Where is Your Faith? - August 19, 2007

Imagine, you are on a camping trip. It is nighttime, and the perfume of pine forest is all around you, You have left your cabin for a peaceful walk. Your leaders for the trip take you up the steep hill behind the cabin. You are led to the middle of a forest clearing, and you are instructed to lay down on your back and to watch the night time sky. You are told that if you wait and watch, you will see an unbelievable surprise. You wait for what seems like an impossibly long time. You keep quite still as you watch the glory of stars undimmed by the presence of city lights. You watch and wait, and it seems that nothing happens. You begin to think that you have been trapped – that this is some kind of joke. But you faith in your leaders, keeps you waiting and watching. Then suddenly the sky is filled by a wondrous blazing meotor show. You silent waiting is replaced by awe filled voices, as you and those you are with rejoice in the wonder that you have just saw. You had honestly questioned this whole experience, but in the end you received a reward for waiting in faith, a reward beyond anything that you could have made up in your mind.
Perhaps we can do this exercise when we go on our church camping trip. Getting away and just watching the night sky always brings the reward of awe. There is always something going on in the stars.
And yet this is a representation of our life as faithful people. God is our ever present leader on a journey. God tells us that there is a wonderful surprise in life coming up, it will be something that is greater than anything that we can imagine. We wait and we look forward to this wonderful surprise, but nothing happens. We get doubtful, we start to think that perhaps God does not know what anything. There is no surprise in life, there is nothing to look forward to. There is only the day grind of things that need our attention, things that we need to get through. Life just is, most of the time there is no reward.
That was the attitude of the people of the new church- they were told that Jesus was coming soon – that there would be a reward for a hard life. Moments passed, as a matter of fact, by this time years have passed and nothing has happened. There are no signs of Jesus. This fragile church that Paul addresses in Hebrews is made up of both Jews and gentiles. They have been able to overcome their differences to become a united church. But they have also found that they are being teased by others in their community. People are telling them that they are wasting their time. There is no need to wait for a Jesus who is not going to show up. It just doesn’t make sense to believe in something that you cant see. Paul reminds them that just because you cant see it, that doesn’t mean that it is not there. Afterall, the stars in the sky put on a wonderful show each and every night, but how many of us really take the time to pay attention to actually watch it. God speaks to us and gives us a vision all of the time. Most of the time we are so caught up in our doubt and cynisim that we forget to listen to a positive message from heaven.
Paul uses the of Sarah and Abraham as an example of faithful living. He is 98 and she is 90. together they are almost a quarter of a millenuim. Today they would be living together in a nursing home. They have no children to take care of them, so they are reliant on the staff for all of their care. And all of a sudden they get a vision to leave the safe care of the nursing home, and to go out into the desert into a new land. They are encouraged to take care of themselves and to listen to that voice of God calling them forward. The nurses at the home are especially concerned about this strange disappearance of Sarah, because her blood test show something strange. They have never had to do a pregnancy test on any of their patients, but for some reason they did and found that she is pregnant. In the midst of the worst of circumstances, when they thought that all hope was gone, God made a promise the Abraham and Sarah, and god fulfilled on that promise. God promised that they would have a family so large that its number would be like the stars in the sky. Over 5000 years longer, we can marvel at the fact that god did fulfill on that promise. But what must it have been like to follow a promise that makes no sense, and has nothing to do with reality. God has made each of us that same promise, but how many of us have a faith to wait for that promise to be fulfilled? How many of us are even still enough to hear God make that promise to us?
When the church in Hebrews was discouraged, Paul went back into history. And showed that many who had come before had followed God’s voice in their lives. They committed to living a life of faith, some times they never saw that faith fulfilled, but the generation who came after did. It reminds us to think of our ancestors and the dreams and visions that they had for the world. Having an education was very important for my grandmother, but it was something that she was denied. She always encouraged me to do the best that I could in school and to take advantage of every opportunity that I was given. When I got to college we were told the story of racism on campus in the sixties. We were reminded that we were free to get an education because of the many who sacrificed their education to sit in and demand equal education for all people regardless of their skin color. It is that reminder of the past that inspires to create a future for generations to come. To create a world that doesn’t exist today. It exist only in our faith and God’s vision. Who are the people in your past, who created your world, who fulfilled God’s promises so that you can live. Paul reminds us that we all have faithful ancestors and in times of doubt, we need to remember their stories.
A father and his five year old daughter were sitting around together talking. As he was reading his paper, the conversation went to dolls. The father promised his daughter that he would build her a doll house. The next day, he noticed that the daughter started to gather all of her dolls, and to collect all of her little tea pots, and all of the other things that you would out in a doll house. He asked wife what she was doing. The wife responded that she had been promised a doll house, and that she was making preparations to move in. the husband immediately put down his paper, and ran to the garage to build that house. It was important to fulfill the plans of his daughter. He wanted his daughter to believe in him. God is a lot like that father, God wants to fulfill our visions. God will do anything to fulfill the promises that have been made to us. It has been said that it is not a great faith that we need, but we need faith in a great God and the great promises that God will fulfill.
Jesus puts a new spin on being willing to watch and to wait. He tells us that being a child of God is the most wonderful gift that we could ever receive, but that it also comes with a responsibility. Our watching and waiting is to be filled with disciplship. Waiting is making a choice to be obedient to God. God is steadfast in God’s promise to us, so we must be steadfast in our faith. Jesus tells two stories one of those we are able to wait in steadfast faith and one who is not.
First he tells of servant who wait for their master – and when he comes he puts on his apron and serves and feeds the servants. Jesus is the one who will serve us, who feeds us all that we need to get through life.
Then he tells of a man who falls asleep while guarding his house – and thieves break in and steal his possessions. For those who don’t expect it – Jesus Presence is like a thief in the night, that steals our life away from us. When we are expecting one thing – Jesus makes another happen. It all depends on how we formulate our priorities - is our life about what we want – or what God has called us to do?
We have no way of knowing when Jesus will return, but we can be sure that he will. What will he find us doing when he comes? When we are waiting as a faithful disciple, there is not need to be anxious over uncertainty. What we hope for in the future, affects how we choose to live our life today. When we die, we cant take our finances with us, but we can take our character. So are we building up our possessions or our faith? When we talk of our self worth are we talking about how much we have or how much God values us. In God’s eyes, we are worth more than you ever know. Shouldn’t we respond by faithful living?
Isaiah sums it waiting in Christian discipleship very well when he says – Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, remove the evil of your doings, cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan and plead for the widow.