Maundy Thursday 2022

Rev. Harriette Cross First United Church of Wilmington April 14, 2022 Maundy Thursday Service Explanation of Maundy Thursday Good evening, welcome to our Maundy Thursday service. This marks the beginning of Jesus journey to the cross, and our journey to Easter morning. Actually, our journey started last week with palm Sunday. But we are not really sure of how Jesus would have spent his time early in the week. He was in town for the Passover. So on Thursday, he gathers with his disciples to enjoy the meal together. He is the host of the meal. So he leads his disciples in a Passover meal and prayer. But he knows that he will not be around for long. So he gives them words of advice to keep going strong. I am reminded of the words of Martin Luther King the day that he was assassinated. He encouraged those hoping for a better day to keep going forward when he tells them that he has been to the mountain top. He says that he may not get there with them, but the promisedland is just ahead. Did Jesus know that this was his last supper. – we can only speculate. Perhaps that is what caused him to want to pray afterward. As he is in the garden, he is arrested, immediately put on trial and crucified. That is a lot for us to take in. we will deal with the second half of the story tomorrow. Tonight, we look at the meal, the call to servanthood, and the prayer to God. There are many Maundy Thursday traditions – footwashing, reliving the last supper, serving communion, confessing our sins, stripping the altar, blow out the candles. In my 26 years of ministry, I think each year is different. I have done all of those things. My favorite thing is to gather for a meal. This year, because of covid restrictions – I thought it best to gather virtually. As we gather tonight, I will invite you to gather with something to drink and take a bite of for communion and a bowl of warm water and a towel – as we will do handwashing instead of foot washing. You may also want to have a tablet in order to write down some key thoughts to ponder as we journey with Jesus within the next few days. As we go through this service, I want you to imagine that you are one if his disciples. You have followed Jesus to Jerusalem against your better judgment. You have been uneasy all week, but somehow things seem to fall into place for Jesus. People have mysteriously provided everything that you need all week. And now the 12 of you are gathered together in a room – preparing for the Passover meal. There are tensions amongst the group, everybody seems to be going their own way. But you hope that this time together will change all of that. You turn your attention to the action in the room and what Jesus has to say…… Call to Worship The Israelites cried out to God in their oppression. Their voices still echo around the globe: in India, Sudan, Mexico, and in American cities. God hears the cries of the suffering, and delivers those who wait on God. All who suffer, who die, who are alienated are precious to God; Let us love the Lord who restores liberty, And gives us hope for peace. Today we remember the One who gave himself for us, Jesus the Christ. Let us worship God! Invocation Jesus, Lamb of God, we bless you today, remembering what you have done for us. You poured out your life to show us the love of God. Today we celebrate your gift of life as we somberly recall your death and exult in your resurrection. Amen. Hear these words of Exodus 12:1-14 as we recall the pasover First Passover 12 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month will be the first month; it will be the first month of the year for you.[a] 3 Tell the whole Israelite community: On the tenth day of this month they must take a lamb for each household, a lamb per house. 4 If a household is too small for a lamb, it should share one with a neighbor nearby. You should divide the lamb in proportion to the number of people who will be eating it. 5 Your lamb should be a flawless year-old male. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 You should keep close watch over it until the fourteenth day of this month. At twilight on that day, the whole assembled Israelite community should slaughter their lambs. 7 They should take some of the blood and smear it on the two doorposts and on the beam over the door of the houses in which they are eating. 8 That same night they should eat the meat roasted over the fire. They should eat it along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9 Don’t eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over fire with its head, legs, and internal organs. 10 Don’t let any of it remain until morning, and burn any of it left over in the morning. 11 This is how you should eat it. You should be dressed, with your sandals on your feet and your walking stick in your hand. You should eat the meal in a hurry. It is the Passover of the LORD. 12 I’ll pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I’ll strike down every oldest child in the land of Egypt, both humans and animals. I’ll impose judgments on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. 13 The blood will be your sign on the houses where you live. Whenever I see the blood, I’ll pass over[b] you. No plague will destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. 14 “This day will be a day of remembering for you. You will observe it as a festival to the LORD. You will observe it in every generation as a regulation for all time Imagine yourself and your family in this text, among the Israelites who were enslaved and desperate. What thoughts might go through your mind as you follow these instructions and prepare this meal? How would you explain to children why you are eating “hurriedly”? Are you excited? Fearful? What images of oppression and liberation come to mind? Where do you experience the need for freedom in your life? in your community? in our world? What is the cost of freedom? Foot washing 13 Before the Festival of Passover, Jesus knew that his time had come to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them fully. 2 Jesus and his disciples were sharing the evening meal. The devil had already provoked Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew the Father had given everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was returning to God. 4 So he got up from the table and took off his robes. Picking up a linen towel, he tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he was wearing. 6 When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus replied, “You don’t understand what I’m doing now, but you will understand later.” 8 “No!” Peter said. “You will never wash my feet!” Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t have a place with me.” 9 Simon Peter said, “Lord, not only my feet but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus responded, “Those who have bathed need only to have their feet washed, because they are completely clean. You disciples are clean, but not every one of you.” 11 He knew who would betray him. That’s why he said, “Not every one of you is clean.” 12 After he washed the disciples’ feet, he put on his robes and returned to his place at the table. He said to them, “Do you know what I’ve done for you? 13 You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you speak correctly, because I am. 14 If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you too must wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example: Just as I have done, you also must do. 16 I assure you, servants aren’t greater than their master, nor are those who are sent greater than the one who sent them. 17 Since you know these things, you will be happy if you do them. Read full chapter John 13:31-35 Common English Bible Love commandment 31 When Judas was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Human One[a] has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify the Human One[b] in himself and will glorify him immediately. 33 Little children, I’m with you for a little while longer. You will look for me—but, just as I told the Jewish leaders, I also tell you now—‘Where I’m going, you can’t come.’ 34 “I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other. 35 This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other.” Imagine yourself in this upper room with Jesus and his friends. With whom do you identify? How do you feel? Peter resists Jesus’ service of footwashing. Would you? Are you surprised that Jesus included Judas in the footwashing? What would it take to offer a service of love to someone who hurt or betrayed you? What manner of love does Jesus model and command of us? 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Common English Bible 23 I received a tradition from the Lord, which I also handed on to you: on the night on which he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread. 24 After giving thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this to remember me.” 25 He did the same thing with the cup, after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Every time you drink it, do this to remember me.” 26 Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you broadcast the death of the Lord until he comes. Somehow Jesus must have known what was next. As he sat and ate, he knew what was going to happen, who was going to betray him. How everyone was caught in their own concerns. They were not with him, they were not even together themselves. Judas would betray him. Peter would deny him. And yet somehow he knows us all, our fears, our concerns, or needs. And he prayed for us all that night at the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus at Gethsemene Night has fallen and I am surrounded by darkness; I am fearful of this dark where evil thoughts lurk, pain is intensified, and I cannot see the way ahead. I feel my light is burning low. Will the darkness overcome it? Terrified I lay here in the dark and call out to my father. And my father is with me; he is in the dark with me. His loving arms surround me and I feel his tears upon my neck. He loves me to the uttermost but he cannot take the darkness away. With him, I must get through this night and the darkness of the next days before the morning comes when the sun rises, in splendour with light for all the world. ©Christine Odell (Sheasby) Prayer of Confession Giver of Life, from time immemorial you call us to yourself. In ways too numerous to mention, we fail to respond. Forgive us, we pray. Our limited understanding of culture gets in the way of fellowship with those different from ourselves. Our limited vision of community gets in the way of your call to accept the cost and joy of discipleship, to seek justice and peace for all. Replace our arrogance, Merciful One, with the humility and caring service Jesus modeled, for truly we are not greater than our Teacher and Savior. Amen. Words of Assurance God gives us grace and more grace. Be assured of this truth, that in Christ you are forgiven! Listening for God in the Stories of our Tradition Prayer Prayers of the people My prayer for you is that on this Maundy Thursday is that you have a chance to truly think about what it means to be a disciple of Christ. When we follow Christ, it not only makes a difference in our lives, but in our relationships. It gives us the power to change the world – just in our willingness to be human, to suffer, to serve, to care, to love. We have come to the end of our service today. There won’t be a benediction, or a call to go out into the world and change things now. For now, the church is gone, because we have to see what happens tomorrow. Last Sunday we stripped the altar of anything representing Christ. we come back tomorrow at 7 – we will have a live service, or you can join us on facebook. But it is a dark service of realizing the cost of our sin. Sunday will be a whole new day – you can join us at 9:30 to see what happens. For now, don’t go in peace, but go in sorrow and concern for our world today. What would life be like if we lost Jesus. I leave you with the words of the first verse of the song – Go dark Gethsemane…….peace out Instruction for what’s next (Parts of teh service taken from Maundy Thursday service from UCC Justice and local Church Ministries, Faith INFO Ministry Team 2021)

Jesus Charge to Peter and to Us

May 5, 2019 John 21:1-9 Jesus Charge to Peter and to us 3rd Sunday of Easter Year C Children’s Sermon….. When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. Object: Some charcoal and a loaf of bread. Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you ever thought about Jesus cooking breakfast? (Let them answer.) Did you think that Jesus could cook? (Let them answer.) You probably knew that he was a carpenter, but there are not many places in the Bible that tell you about Jesus as a cook. I don't know how often he cooked, but the Bible tells of one time that he did, and it was one of the most exciting events in the Bible. First of all, you have to know that Jesus had been dead and had come back to life. This story happened during one of the times that Jesus visited with his disciples after he was risen from the dead. As you can imagine, the disciples were lonely without him, and some of them had decided that they would go fishing rather than just sit around and think about the good times they used to have with Jesus. They fished all night and did not catch anything, but I guess they really did not care about catching fish. Then, as it became morning, they saw a man on the beach waving to them and asking them how they had done with their fishing. Some of them thought right away that it might be Jesus, but they were not sure. He told them to put their nets down on the other side of the boat to catch some fish. They told the man on the beach that they had fished all night, but that they would cast their nets once more the way he told them to. As you might guess, they caught more fish than the nets could hold. Peter knew by now that the man was Jesus. He jumped into the water and swam ashore. The others followed him in the boat, and when they got there, they saw that Jesus had already started a fire with some charcoal and had some bread ready for them to eat. (Show them the charcoal and the loaf of bread.) It may not have looked like my charcoal or my loaf of bread, but it cooked and tasted pretty much the same. I suppose you can imagine how glad they were to see Jesus. They were thrilled to share breakfast and tell stories about all of the good times they had spent together. Most of all they were glad because they knew once more that Jesus was alive and well, and that he remembered them as people whom he loved and cared for every day, whether he was eating or walking with them. Jesus is that way with us today. He doesn't have to cook for us to show us that he cares for us. We know it anyway, but for the disciples, who had spent so much time with him on earth, it was one of the best things that ever happened to them. Maybe the next time that you have a cookout and you put the charcoal on the fire, you will remember the day that Jesus cooked breakfast for his disciples, and shared some bread and fish with them. I hope you remember it, because it was one of the best moments in the disciples' lives. C.S.S. Publishing Co., CALL IN THE CLOWNS!, by Wesley T. Runk John 21:1-19 Common English Bible (CEB) Jesus appears again to the disciples 21 Later, Jesus himself appeared again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. This is how it happened: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus[a]), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two other disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter told them, “I’m going fishing.” They said, “We’ll go with you.” They set out in a boat, but throughout the night they caught nothing. 4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples didn’t realize it was Jesus. 5 Jesus called to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said, “Cast your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” So they did, and there were so many fish that they couldn’t haul in the net. 7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard it was the Lord, he wrapped his coat around himself (for he was naked) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they weren’t far from shore, only about one hundred yards. 9 When they landed, they saw a fire there, with fish on it, and some bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you’ve just caught.” 11 Simon Peter got up and pulled the net to shore. It was full of large fish, one hundred fifty-three of them. Yet the net hadn’t torn, even with so many fish. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.”None of the disciples could bring themselves to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread, and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. Jesus and Peter 15 When they finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” Simon replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 Jesus asked a second time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Simon replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep.” 17 He asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was sad that Jesus asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” He replied, “Lord, you know everything; you know I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 I assure you that when you were younger you tied your own belt and walked around wherever you wanted. When you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and another will tie your belt and lead you where you don’t want to go.” 19 He said this to show the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. After saying this, Jesus said to Peter, “Follow me.” Footnotes: a. John 21:2 Or the twin Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible Bad Advice at graduation There is an important event coming up in the lives of many of our young people. At the end of the school year, many people will graduate from kindergarten, fifth grade, eighth grade, high school, college, and even grad school. There will be many ceremonies, and parties. There will be many cards and well wishes. Even in my own family, I have a niece who will be graduating from the eigth grade. At least this year we only have one, three years ago all three girls graduated from something or another. It is at these moments, that we try to give those who are graduating some words of wisdom. One popular word of wisdom that we like to pass down to those younger than us – “These are the best years of your life, enjoy them while you can”. These are the best times of your life, enjoy it while you can. Now that sounds like pretty good advice. But when you think about it what are your really saying? Life only gets worse from here, so you might as well wake up and enjoy it now. Because you have nothing to look forward to. That is not very encouraging to someone who is trying to start a new life. The good news for us is that the resurrection is our assurance that life always gets better. The best is always yet to come. Because Christ coming back to life and walking amongst us – opens infinite doors of possibility. And gives us not just a second chance at life, but a third and a fourth is we need it. The Sunday’s of Easter are my favorite sermons to preach. Because they are always about hope. Each of these Sunday’s we get to hear a story about how Jesus appeared to his disciples at the darkest time in their lives to give them hope. Jesus appears to them while they are still grieving his death. Today, is the last of those appearances to his disciples. First he appears to Mary, then to the disciples, then to the disciples with Thomas. And now to the disciples and Peter. When we experience a crisis in life, what is it that we usually do? We go back to whatever we were doing before the crisis happened. We try to get back to our routine, and go on with our lives. In this case, many of the disciples were fishermen. So they go back to catching fish. They aren’t having much luck, but they still need to keep busy. Until a complete stranger suggest that they put the net on the other side. And then they catch more than they know what to do with. The bible says that it is 153 fish to be exact. Some say that 153 is the number for completion - the net is the church, and the fish are all of the types of people in the world, all were caught in the net. Some say that was the number of the people in John’s congregation. For me, I will always remember that number because it was the combination to the church key box. There was a sign next to the box which asked how many fish did the disciples catch. And the scripture reference to John 21:11. So if a thief wanted to take the keys, at least they had to read the bible first. But perhaps it does not matter what the number represents – the point is that there were an abundant number of fish. The resurrection provides and abundance of hope, peace and love. One number that is significant in this story is the number of times that Jesus asks Peter do you love me. He asks him three times. Each time Peter says yes. But Peter denied Jesus three times before the crucifixion. Peter gets his second chance to redeem himself. Jesus forgives Peter, but he also challenges Peter and commissions him to feed my sheep. Peter becomes the first bishop of the church. In another chapter Jesus lays hands on Peter to commission him. Peter will later lay hands on others to commission them as bishops to carry on his work. Today, in the catholic church, the episcopal church and the Lutheran church, their bishops are a part of that sucession. John Wesley commissioned bishops of his new church – the Methodist church before returning to England. But unfortunately, John Wesley was not a bishop in the episcopal church. So Methodist bishops are not a part of the Peter sucession. That is one of the major sticking points of the Episcopal church, the Lutheran church and the Methodist church taking a common communion. The good news is that as the Methodist church is preparing to split apart, many of those dialogues around communion with other denominations are coming together. I haven’t gotten a chance to read the document yet, but I know that the episcopal and the Methodist have come to a common understanding that is ready to be presented to the general conference to be accepted. As we take communion today – we can consider the true spirit of a common meal. In those resurrection appearances – Jesus comes to the disciples while they are eating. They have no idea of who Jesus is, until after they have eaten together. And it all becomes clear. – the one thing that brings us together as Christians is really love. Jesus asks Peter do you love me – but Jesus asks each of us that same question today? Do you love Jesus – then feed my sheep. Oral Roberts, Robert Schuller, and Billy Graham all died at the same time and went to heaven. There wasn’t room for them for a few days, so they temporarily had to go to hell and wait until their place was ready. The devil soon called and asked Saint Peter to get them out of there because Roberts has healed everyone, Graham had saved everyone, and Schuller had raised enough money to air condition the place. Fun humor, but is it not our task as God’s disciples to do just that? To heal, to save, and to make conditions better for the less fortunate? The good news of Easter is the God loves all of us – just as we are. No matter what we have done, Jesus forgives us , challenges us and commissions us to give love. This love is what we are called to do and who we are called to be. Let us Pray…..

On the Road to Salvation

May 4, 2014 Luke 24:13-35 Third after Easter On the Way to Salvation Year A Emmaus. Scripture says that Emmaus was either 60 stadia or 160 stadia away from Jerusalem. That could be 7 miles of 18 miles away. No one knows where these two people were really going. Today there are dozens of sites which claim to be Emmaus. I think that there is a very important point in that. Because I think, that the real Emmaus could be anywhere in the world. It is not a tourist attraction it is a place in our spirits. It is the place in our lives where Easter becomes real. This story takes place on Easter night. The disciples are traveling home after a very harrowing day. These disciples are walking him 7 miles away, they are recounting the events of the week and are overwhelmed, dejected and sad. Blinded by sadness They just want to go home and climb into bed and feel sorry for themselves. They didn’t notice anything or anybody. Jesus could have been walking right along with them, and they would not have noticed. As a matter of fact, Jesus was walking along with them. They just did not recognize him as the Christ. There are people in the world today, who do not know that Easter has come and gone. They are still living the same life. Sadness, depression, pessimism, disbelief, an unwillingness to see change, all shade our thinking and our seeing. When we are caught up in our feelings, we are not open to Christ’s presence in our lives. We just want to crawl into a dark hole and stay there. In this case, possums are actually smarter then people. Possums and graves Possums like to crawl into holes too. But before they crawl- they look at the foot prints of those who may have crawled in that same hole. If there are only one set of foot prints going into that hole, they don’t go into that hole. If there are only one set of prints in the hole, then that means that whomever crawled into that hole – for some reason is still there. Either they crawled in and did not make it out alive, or they are still in there alive and well and just waiting for someone else to crawl in. You don’t want to crawl into somewhere that you cant crawl out of. If there are two sets of tracks into and out of the hole – them it is safe to go in. there comes a time in our lives when you have to crawl out of the hole and see the light. And live in the light. Jesus is our second set of tracks. Jesus is the source that can give us the power to crawl out of our hole. The resurrection gives us the power to crawl out and live in the light. The resurrection changes everything The world changes all of the time. But sometimes we can get so caught up in our circumstance that we don’t witness the shift. When Jesus was raised from the dead the world shifted, our future shifted. Our salvation shifted. Our circumstance in the world changed in an instant. The resurrection changes everything. It transforms us. It moves us from despair to new possibilities of life. It takes us in our blindness and opens our eyes. It transforms ordinary bread into a holy meal. It takes two sad and lost brothers on the road to Emmaus who had lost the only the world they knew and gives it back to them. Jesus comes to them and says see I am not dead. I am alive. Now tell the world. Brett Blair,www.Sermons.com Luke wants us to know There are many stories of appearances of Jesus told throughout the gospels. But this story is only told in Luke. Luke needs to tell this particular story for two reasons. First, he wants us to realize that this was not a vision, but a real encounter. Something happened on Easter, and after it happened the world was different. This is the story of how the disciples responded to that difference. How do you respond to the news of he resurrection. Secondly, he wants us to realize that what happened on that day is not intended to be a secret. It was something for everyone to witness for themselves. We are still on a 7 mile journey from tragedy to salvation. We can still get so caught up on our sorrows, that we cant even recognize Jesus. Jesus is alive and well and appearing to us in our daily lives. The resurrection is not a belief, it is an encounter. When you encounter Christ, then belief in miracles becomes a moot point. What really matters is if your spirit is prepared for that encounter. The more you believe in miracles, the more you realize when they happen. Last week on facebook, there was a viral story about who family members dressed up as homeless people on the street. And other members walked down the street and did not even see them, they just kept walking. But here is an even better story – of a woman taking a run through the park. She faintly heard a noise, stopped to investigate and realized that it was a newborn baby. She quickly saw that the baby had been abandoned. She had been wanting to have kids forever, so she took the baby home. That night in bed she was talking to her husband about what do to welcome the new baby. Bored with the conversation, he turned over in the bed to go to sleep. She scolded him and told him that is not how you respond to a miracle. He needed to turn back around. How do you respond to a miracle? The two travelers walking with a stranger, invited him to dinner. Abide With Us In the King James Version of the Bible, the invitation of the two travelers reads, "Abide with me; for it is toward evening and the day is far spent,"words which were the inspiration for that beloved hymn, "Abide with me/Fast falls the eventide." The hymn was written by Henry Francis Lyte, for 25 years the vicar of the parish at Devonshire, England. He was 54 years old, broken in health and saddened by dissensions in his congregation. On Sunday, September 4, 1847 he preached his farewell sermon and went home to rest. After tea in the afternoon, he retired to his study. In an hour or two, he rejoined his family, holding in his hand the manuscript of his immortal hymn. It was in that abiding, in that fellowship with jesus that they finally came to see him for who he is. Three Table Fellowships "The Scriptures speak of three kinds of table fellowship that Jesus keeps with his own: daily fellowship at table, the table fellowship of the Lord's Supper, and the final table fellowship in the kingdom of God. But in all three, the one thing that counts is that 'their eyes were opened, and they knew him.' "The fellowship of the table teaches Christians that here they still eat the perishable bread of the earthly pilgrimage. But if they share this bread with one another, they shall also one day receive the imperishable bread together in the Father's house." Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1954), 66. They saw Jesus in the remembering Jesus comes to us in strange ways and in even stranger people. My seven year old nephew tends to have a wisdom way beyond his age. He always says things that make me wonder, where someone so young could get such insight for life. I gave him a card for his birthday, and he said that he would treasure it forever. As he reflected on his mother’s death, he said that he is learning that sometimes that all that we have is our memories. So we have to keep our memories, because they are special. As Jesus spoke with the two travelers, he started to recount some of his lessons, and it was when they remembered what Jesus had taught them, they were able to see who was really with them. Jesus comes to us in the reading of the scriptures and in the breaking of bread. Coming together in communion Our whole understanding of what communion is, comes from the book of Luke. Luke believed that miracles happened when disciples gather together in fellowship and unity. We cant help but to see Christ when we are willing to faithfully come together. When we are spiritually grounded in scripture and united in fellowship we see Christ for ourselves, and we are able to show Christ to others. What difference does the resurrection make to you? How can you see Christ in the world today? How do you look for a miracle? Anticipation: What Is Going to Happen Today? In Winnie the Pooh, Pooh and Piglet take an evening walk. For a long time they walk in silence. Silence like only best friends can share. Finally Piglet breaks the silence and asks, "When you wake up in the morning, Pooh, what's the first thing you say to yourself?" "What's for breakfast?" answers Pooh and then asks. "And what do you say, Piglet?" Piglet says, "I say, I wonder what exciting thing is going to happen today?" You and I can't really plan to meet the Risen Christ because we never really know when or where He's going to show up. But you can be sure of this, He will show up. If you believe, He will show up. And the attitude you need to meet him is the attitude of Piglet, "I wonder what exciting thing is going to happen today?" Amen. Children’s Sermon Billy D. Strayhorn, Easter Heart Burn Jesus Makes the Bible Come Alive by Wesley T. Runk Passage: Luke 24:13-35 • Lectionary: Easter 3 Item 2 of 9 | Back to Results They said to each other, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?" Objects: An unsharpened pencil, an unused candle and a radio that is not playing. Lesson: Good morning, boys and girls. How would you like to take a walk down a road with Jesus? (Let them answer.) Wouldn't that be great? Just imagine how wonderful it would be to talk with Jesus and spend one day outdoors in the sunshine with him. I can't think of how to have a better time. People did that with Jesus. As a matter of fact, there is a story in the Bible about a couple of men who were walking down a road between towns when they were joined by Jesus. They didn't recognize him then, but they enjoyed him so much that they invited him to spend the evening at their house. Jesus taught them many things about the Scriptures, and they were amazed. They said afterwards that he had opened the Scriptures for them. It was as if they had never seen the Bible before, when really they had studied it often. But Jesus was such a wonderful teacher that he made people feel as these men felt. We should all discover the Bible and the things that it teaches us. I brought along some things that I hope will help you to want to read the Bible and learn all that you can from it. And when you read the Bible you should read it as though you were seeing it through the eyes of Jesus. First of all, I brought a pencil along with me. What's wrong with this pencil? (Let them answer.) That's right, it doesn't have a point. There is no lead. You can't write with a pencil like this. Next, I have a candle. What's wrong with my candle? (Let them answer.) That's right, it isn't burning and it can't give light unless it is burning. I also have a radio with me but there is something wrong with the radio. What's wrong with it? (Let them answer.) Right again, it isn't being played. A pencil without a point, a candle without a flame, and a radio without sound, is like reading the Scriptures without Jesus. Jesus is the one who makes the Scriptures happen. When you read the Scriptures or Bible and you see it or hear it as Jesus would tell it then the Bible comes alive and it is the most wonderful book that was ever written. The next time you sit down to read the Bible, I want you to imagine that Jesus is talking to you and telling you the story. When you hear the voice you will know how the men felt who took the walk with Jesus down a dusty road after his resurrection. THE ONE-HANDED CLOCK, Wesley T. Runk, C.S.S. Publishing Company, 1989, 1-55673 Despite what most think, Lyte's "eventide" has nothing to do with the end of the natural day but rather the end of life. "Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day/Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away." The words are about the faith that face life and death fearlessly and triumphantly in the light of the cross and the empty tomb....East of Easter. Thus Lyte could conclude, "Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee/In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me." Vicar Lyte died three months later. David E. Leininger, East of Easter "On Sunday morning in contemporary America, modern disciples come straggling through the church door weighed down by cynicism, stress, and strife. We are too busy, too suspicious to recognize the risen Christ." Susan Andrews Jesus' Post Resurrection Appearances To Mary Magdalene Jn 20:14-18; Mk 16:9 To the women returning from the tomb Mt 28:8-10 To Peter later in the day Lk 24:34; 1 Cor 15:5 To the disciples going to Emmaus in the evening Lk 24:13-31 To the apostles (except Thomas) Lk 24:36-45; Jn 20-19-24 To the apostles a week later (Thomas present) Jn 20:24-29 In Galilee to the seven by the Lake of Tiberias Jn 21:1-23 In Galilee on a mountain to the apostles and 500 believers 1 Cor 15:6 At Jerusalem and Bethany again to James 1 Cor 15:7 At Olivet and the ascension Acts 1:3-12 To Paul near Damascus Acts 9:3-6; 1 Cor 15:8 To Stephen outside Jerusalem Acts 7:55 To Paul in the temple Acts 22:17-21; 23:11 To John on Patmos Rev 1:10-19 The New Unger's Bible Handbook, Merrill F. Unger, Revised by Gary N. Larson, Moody Press, Chicago, 1984, Page 397-398 When the Circus Comes I am reminded of the story of the little boy whose grandmother regularly took him to her weekly prayer meeting. He was bored silly, but being a good lad he endured it. One day he was invited to attend the circus. He had never been to a circus before. He came away from this experience anxious to share with his dear grandmother what he was feeling. "Grandma," he said, "I went to the circus today, and let me tell you, once you have been to the circus you'll never want to go to another prayer meeting." And so it will be when God opens our minds to understand and experience God's marvelous, incredible risen presence. Something happens that sets us free, which renews and refreshes our sense of God's love, grace, and forgiveness that simply cannot be contained. Greg McDonell, Out of the Ashes POSSUMS AND THE GRAVE I have heard that possums are smart animals. You wouldn’t think so because you hardly ever see one except when it’s dead on the road. There’s a joke that goes, “why did the chicken cross the road? To prove to the possum that it could be done!” But possums, it turns out, are smart. They won’t enter a hole if there’s just one set of tracks going into it. They know there’s something in there. But if there are two sets of tracks. The possum will enter and not be afraid. The message of Easter is that we can enter the grave - we don’t have to fear death because there are tracks leading out of the tomb. Paul preached the proclamation of Easter: "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" This is the message that we need to hear this Easter. Jesus is risen! We are not asked to believe the doctrine of the Resurrection. We are asked to meet this person raised from the dead. Larson, B., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1983). Vol. 26: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 26 : Luke. The Preacher’s Commentary series (349). Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Inc. Do You Know the Way to Emmaus? Do you know the way to Emmaus? It should be relatively easy to find because the text locates the town "seven miles from Jerusalem." But no one has ever been able to identify an "Emmaus" seven miles from Jerusalem. Perhaps there is confusion because two different numbers appear in ancient manuscripts at the point at which Luke gives us the location. Some texts say "60 stadia," and others say "160," which works out roughly to be either 7 miles or 18 miles. Although there are indeed many references to Emmaus in ancient sources, none of them give us any specific directions. Because of this, the unlikely village of Amwas (20 miles from Jerusalem) is currently a popularly recognized site for pilgrimage, even though other towns have stronger claims to be the historical town. Ironically, the seemingly superficial mystery regarding the actual location of Emmaus fits in nicely with the deepest meaning of this passage. Do you know the way to Emmaus? Emmaus may be here, or there, or anywhere. The site of the original episode is irrelevant. Christ will travel wherever his followers are going. Christ will appear wherever they break bread. Even here. Even now. David E. Leininger, Do You Know the Way to Emmaus? -141-8

Connected to the Vine

I John 4:7-21 John 15:1-8 Year B Fifth Sunday of Easter “Connected to the Vine” The importance of love in John I have not been preaching in awhile, haven’t had to do my sermon prep in awhile. Looked for an old sermon to preach, but couldn’t find one to talk about the scriptures for today. I John is important to our faith – lots of sayings about love and about being the church – the community of Christ. “Love one another because love is from God. God is love and those who abide in love abide in God. Those who do not love a brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love god whom they have not seen. We love because he first loved us. Abide in Christ The most important saying for today is that if you abide in love, you abide in God and God abides in you. The key word for you to take with you from today is abided. In Greek, the word for abide is meno in English it means to dwell, to tarry, to stay , not to perish, to endure, to survive, to remain. Abide in God means to be in union with God. To have a relationship with god. To pray, to worship, but most importantly – to live in community with the people of God. The vineyard If you look in the Hebrew Scriptures, you will see that the vineyard is an old old metaphor for the people of God. If you look at a grapes, grapes always grow in bunches, not alone. The people are the vineyard and God is the farmer. The people grow and God gives the increase. God tends and if we obey we are the fruit. Jesus turns that whole metaphor around, and says the he is the true vine, and the Father is the vine grower. Christ is the true nature of God. If we have seen Christ, you have seen God. A man was asked if he had ever seen God – no never seen God, but I have seen a few Jesus’ in my life. We have none ever seen or talked to God. But if we have experienced love in some way – we have experienced the reason Jesus died on the cross for us. In the book of John, Jesus gives seven I am statements – I am the true vine is the last. That means that everything that we need in life is present in Christ. In the Hebrew scripture – the vineyard is a symbol for living in union. In the New Testament the vineyard is a symbol for living in communion. Union is living together; communion is about living together, abiding in the love of God. Union is about us as the people, communion is about what God did for us in the presence of Jesus Christ. I stayed up all night to write a new sermon – because this is the most important scripture for our faith. Abide in me as I abide in you. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. If you read the whole verse again carefully it is saying that without Jesus the church is wordless, prayerless, hopeless, powerless, and most important fruitless. Jesus is our word, our prayer, our hope, our power and our fruit. Without Jesus we are a union, with Jesus the church is a communion. General Conference Report For the last few days I have been struggling with coming back to church after General Conference. I was not for sure of what I was going to tell you. It is sort of like before GC we were all headed down 94 going south. And during it was like we were kept on 94 on the bishop ford, and I think the church decided to take 57 – and all that we could hope was that somewhere further down the road I was hoping we would meet back up again, and all would be well. General Conference was a perfect example of what it means to be the church. Is it a union of people, or a communion of faith? What does it mean to abide in Christ? What does it mean to love one another as God loves you? The issues are always the same, and the drama is always present. On my way home I sat next to a UMW president from Indiana. It was her first time attending general conference – she asked is it always this crazy? GC is always crazy, but this one was a little over the top. They voted to get rid of guaranteed appointments, they eliminated the structure of the church, in the process the eliminated the organizational structures that protected the rights of women and minorities, and they voted that homosexuality is still a sin, so gays cannot get married in the church and they cannot serve as clergy. The intervention at the end There were many of us present who were prepared to leave and come home feeling very disempowered and left out of the whole process. You may have seen on the news that those fighting for gay rights go to great lengths to get attention. And many of them left hurt and wounded. People of color were wounded for another reason. They had voted to develop this committee on inclusiveness. Many were trying to explain that inclusiveness is a very broad term. And women’s rights, minority rights and gay rights are different things, and cannot be defined by one committee. A friend of mine defined the conference as the day the white man took back his church, and left everyone else outside. After that decision, I checked out and stopped paying attention to any of their decisions. I just didn’t care anymore. I was only present because I loved God, wasn’t quite sure about the Methodist church. As a matter of fact, at 5 o’clock Friday I went to dinner, prepared to come back for the closing worship – and go home frustrated and confused. Only to come back and learn that the judicial council had ruled the new structure unconstitutional. Everything that the conference had debated and voted on for the last two weeks was null and void, and could not be put into effect. At that late hour, the only thing the church could do was put the old structure back in place, the individual commissions were saved. The united Methodist church is divided like the us government. The bishops are the executive branch like the president, the general conference is the legislative section life like the senate, and the judicial council is the Supreme Court. The judicial council has the task of checking church law to make sure that any new decisions honor our present constitution. So the decision was that the new plan did not honor present church law. We are still awaiting a decision of whether the vote on guaranteed appointments is in keeping with the constitution. Many people felt that 11th hour decision from the judicial council was like the Holy Spirit intervening on behalf of those who didn’t have a voice. It was sort of reminding us that even in our best moments –the church is still just a union- a group of imperfect humans working together. And it takes a fresh voice of God – the Holy Spirit to make us a communion – God’s vineyard – being tended by God. Cutting and pruning If you look at John 15 – you will see that God’s way of tending the vine is by cutting and pruning. You cut what is dead and you prune or cleanse what is alive in order for it to grow out more fully. In fairness that was all the church was trying to do in developing a new structure. If the united Methodist church continues in its present structure, it will go bankrupt. On the surface, they want to get rid of guaranteed appointments in order to get rid ineffective pastors. They want to get rid of what some define s dead weight. And before you think that is a good thing- the vital congregation process is designed to do the same for churches. That is why I am trying to spend so much time making sure that you understand it. They want to get rid of churches that they deem as not bearing fruit. The problem comes along when you wonder who it is that determines what it means to bear fruit. In the united Methodist church the southern white churches are the ones with control of all of the money, and the African churches are the ones who claim to be growing in leaps and bounds. And if the proposed structure would have passed – everyone else would be defined as dead weight. Individual pruning The lesson for us is that pruning is not just about the church as a whole, it is about us as people. We live in a world where we are being cut back in all different places. Being pruned, cut back to almost nothing is not a good feeling. It is not just about finances, but about our spiritual life also. Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback was the youngest to ever win the super bowl – he was on top of the world doing what he wanted. Once he was asked why he didn’t wear a helmet when driving his motorcycle. He replied that he did not have to. And that if there was ever a law against it, he would change his mind. What changed his mind was not the law – it was an accident. He had motorcycle accident where he endured several facial injuries and a fractures skull. He extended an apology to his fans, saying that he understood why he needed a helmet, and if he ever recovered – he would have one all of the time. That was his pruning experience. A time of struggle, that would help him make better decisions, live a better life, be a better person. Are we being cut or pruned? Pruning is painful. But how do you know whether you are being cut as dead weight, or cleansed for a better life? It all depends on whether you abide in Christ. Whether you realize that apart from Christ you can’t do or be anything. Are you in union with the church or in communion with God. Are you still able to love to give love and receive love in spite of what you are going through? Are you determined to live, to endure, to survive, to stand firm, to wait on God? Or have you just given up? Abide in Christ John 15 is that chapter, which say in my father’s house, there are many mansions – the Greek really means in my father’s house there are many places to abide. – To dwell – to live in God. In my Father's house there are many places to live in Christ. Are you being cut or pruned? Where is God in your life? Where are you? What is going on in your life that needs an intervention from God himself to change – because there is nothing else for you to do – but to abide. To stand in the place, in that need- and depend on God. Apart from Christ – apart from inside of Christ – we can do nothing. In communion with Christ – we can do all that is within God’s will. May The Holy Spirit be with you. Let us pray….. Amen.

Who presides over your life?

October 4, 2009
Who Presides Over Your Life?
Eighteenth Sunday of Pentecost
World Communion Sunday
Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12
Mark 10:2-16
Year B

As you go through life, it doesn’t take long to discover in life that there are questions – lots of questions for which there is no answer. You can ask the question – but there is never an answer. At least not one which is gonna shed any real light on the the situation. One of those questions – do I look fat in these pants. There is no answer for that. First of all, if ever asked, you know that it is never in your best interest to answer that question. But secondly, if someone was brave enough to answer that question- either yes or no. There is no answer that will satisfy the questioner – they will continue to ask and ask, never quite satisfied enough to just stop asking the question.
But seriously there are serious questions about life that we ask God. We ask ourselves, we ask life – we constantly ask – and there is never a good answer. Questions like why do bad things happen to good people? Why do good things happen to bad people? When will we finally see justice for all, where we are all treated fairly? If God is totally in control – then why are we allowed to suffer? If God is good, then why does it seem that the devil is allowed to prosper? When the world is so awful and cruel, what is the point of remaining faithful to God?
If you live long enough and you go through life long enough, then you have asked these kinds of questions. And with each crisis, we have to be reminded of God’s answer to us.
The closest you can come to straight answer is a story – about something that happen to someone else – that you can relate to.
Job is not a real person, and the events in the story did not really happen. There is no rich foreigner, who had been greatly blessed and lost everything. There are none of us who are so righteous and upright that we don’t have to take some type of responsibility for what it happening to us. And I would venture to say that there is a point in all of our lives when things can get so bad, that we can get mad and blame God for what we are going through. This story is not intended to be historical truth – it is intended to tell the truth of the human story. The story is intended to teach a lesson – God does not intend to answer all of our questions. Faith is not the answers to life – it is a story of how to remain faithful and trusting and loving in the midst of the questions of life.
I would like to believe that God, the angels, the heavenly beings, and satan don’t have daily staff meetings – where Satan is up there criticizing everything that I am doing. Questioning my life and asking God if he can have permission to test my faith and make me suffer just because. But of course what other explanation is there for horrible things happening to us, when we know that we are being faithful and good. Not even the book of Job can give us a satisfying answer to that question.
Wisdom has been a theme for this year. And Job is a wonderful book of wisdom – it a book of dialogue, between the events of Job’s life, his wife, his friends, himself and finally God. We will be reading this story for the next 4 weeks. This is a wise story because it tells the story very clearly, but in reality gives no answers. The author of Job probably didn’t have any answers to give. But it wanted to give you some tools to think about your own unanswerable questions.
The book of Hebrews also tackles those unanswerable questions – but from a different perspective. It reminds us that God did not give us a direct answer to our suffering, but God did give us a person – who makes our suffering and his meaningful.
Hebrews relates to Job also, because it talks about heavenly beings. It talks about how decisions on earth were started on earth – that that Jesus Christ was there in the midst of creation to make sure that we would have a voice in heaven to talk about what it in our best interest. So that we don’t have to worry about Satan being present to ask God to tempt us.
we celebrate Jesus and what he did for us, for all of us
- in every corner of the world.

We celebrate what Jesus did
-and what by the power of Holy Spirit he still does,
we celebrate the Jesus who considered family unity to be important,
we celebrate the Jesus that welcomed little children into his arms,
we celebrate the Jesus that took time to bless everyone,
- no matter who they were and no matter what others thought of them.

Jesus - our saviour and our Lord,
Jesus - the promised one of God,
Jesus, the son of God - and yet a man:
a man like us....
a man who struggled to be faithful to God,
a man who was called to love his neighbours as himself,
a man who was tempted like we are tempted,
a man who suffered as we suffer.

The letter to the Hebrews, which our first reading came from today, speaks
of Jesus in exalted terms - calling him "the radiance of God's glory" and
"the exact representation of God's being", "superior to the angels";

And this is true - our whole faith speaks of it,

But the letter to the Hebrews also reminds us of something else that our
whole faith speaks of - it reminds us that here, on this earth, Jesus was
made like us - that he was made like us a little lower than the angels,
that Jesus was one with us, born of a woman,
born as our brother
to walk as we walk through this life.

Jesus was one with us,
able to sympathize with us,
able to identify with us,
able to rejoice with us,
able to suffer with us,
and, because of what he suffered and suffered in faithfulness,
he is able to intercede for us before God his Father, God our Father.

Jesus, one with us, Jesus our Saviour. Jesus our Brother. He understands us, he understands our questions.

My favorite aspect of Christ that we are reminded to celebrate in Hebrews about Christ is for a time he for a little while was made a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor. We too as humans are made a little lower than the angels. We too are crowned with glory and honor.
We may never have to answer to why bad things happen to good people. But we can always have the love of God in our lives. No matter what happens, we can look to the heavens for our strength and support – because now, Jesus Christ is up there – rooting for us as his sisters and brothers. He know what we have been through - and through faith – we know what he is going through up in heaven.
Alister McGrath writes a story about her aunt who never married. When she passed away, her relatives were going through her possessions and found a picture of a young man. The young man had been the aunt’s true love. He died tragically, and she never loved another man. And yet she held onto that picture.
Through the years of loneliness and grief, she held onto the that picture. She needed to be reminded that she had a love in life. When people doubted that she ever loved anyone she could hold onto that picture. That picture was a reminder of her life as it could have been. But for some reason the reality of death set in.
Jesus is the image of God. When we want to know what God looks like we have a story to look at. When we want something to depend on, we have the words of Christ to hold onto. When we want to talk with God – when can pray in the name of Jesus and know that we are heard.
And Jesus knew that there would be days when we would have our doubts. There would be days when we would feel disconnected from God, there would be days when we wonder about the story of Jesus. If the story of Job is a fairly tale – then how do we know that Jesus too if not just a fairly tale. The signs before us today -- communion the bread and the wine, they remind us of how he came to be our Saviour, they remind us of what his love and his faithfulness cost him. On the night of his betrayal Jesus took bread and broke it,and gave it to his disciples, saying, This is my body, given for you;and he took the cup and gave it to his disciples, saying, This is my blood, which is poured out for you. The next day, out of love for the world, Jesus died.
Jesus is our brother, jesus is one of us, jesus understand us, jesus knows our questions. While on the cross even he asks God why has he forsaken him.
Communion is our picture – our memory- or crutch to hold onto- our strength to hold onto – in the midst of the answerable questions.
Today we celebrate communion with Christians all over the world. In all types of churches
God has made us his family,
a family that stretches around the world,
a family that is called to love as we have been love,
to forgive as we have been forgiven,
to give as we have been given too.

As we share today in our family meal;
GIVE THANKS to God that we are not alone,
THAT WE HAVE BOTH each other and the Spirit of Christ amongst us,
the Spirit of him who was, who is, and who shall ever be one with us, and
one over us, and one under us, one who truly loves us.

Blessed be God - day by day. Amen

*Portions of this sermon borrowed from a sermon from Rev. Richard J. Fairchild “One with us”