Into the Wilderness in Search of God - repreach of 3/9/14

March 1, 2020 Matthew 4:1-11 First Sunday of Lent Into the Wilderness to Meet God Year B repreach of 3/9/14 Children’s Sermon Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the Devil. Objects: Some crayons and/or scissors. Lesson: Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to talk about a word that I am sure all of you have heard many times but you may not be sure what it means. The word is "tempted" or "temptation." How many of you have heard that word used before? (Let them answer.) How many of you know what it means? (Let them answer.) Those are very close answers. Let me see if I can help explain it a little better. I brought with me some crayons and some scissors. How many of you have crayons at home? Almost all of you. What do you do with crayons? (Let them answer.) That's right, you color pictures. Sometimes we use them in coloring books and sometimes we use them just on a piece of paper. That is the right place to use them. No problem and no temptation. But have you ever used them anywhere else, or thought about using them somewhere else? Have you ever colored a wall in your house, or thought about coloring the wall, or maybe a table or your bed? If you thought about it, and you wanted to do it, then you were tempted. You could almost hear a little voice that said, "Go ahead and color the table, or go ahead and color the wall. It's all right, no one will ever know." That is temptation. Of course, if you color it, then the temptation is over. You have done something wrong. But if you just think about it and you want to do it, and you think it might be all right, then you are being tempted. Jesus was tempted. Did you know that Jesus was tempted? He was. The Bible tells us how the Devil tried to get him to follow him rather than the Father in heaven. Jesus knew it was wrong but he listened to the Devil tell him how he would make him wonderful, and how he would give him land and all the food he could eat. Jesus listened to the Devil and he was tempted. How many of you knew that Jesus listened to the Devil, or as the Bible calls him Satan? (Let them answer.) That's a true story. Jesus was high in a mountain and the Devil came and tried to get Jesus to follow him just like that little voice tries to get you to color the table. But Jesus did not give up. He was tempted, but he told the Devil to get away for he was not going to do anything that was a sin against God. After three times of the Devil offering Jesus everything he had, the Devil left Jesus and went away. We must often do the same thing. There are things that we know are wrong, but they sound wonderful. That is temptation and we must be strong and put it away. Temptation is strong, but God is even stronger. If you listen to both voices, you will do it God's way. THE ONE-HANDED CLOCK, Wesley T. Runk, C.S.S. Publishing Company, 1989, 1-55673-141-8 Stewardship Moment This is the first Sunday of lent. Lent focuses on almsgiving, prayer, service and fasting. Not always about giving up, but putting in. At the Ash Wednesday service, given a sheet to write out Lenten practices. First is to give to a great cause – the mission of the church Scripture Matthew 4:1-11 Common English Bible (CEB) Temptation of Jesus 4 Then the Spirit led Jesus up into the wilderness so that the devil might tempt him. 2 After Jesus had fasted for forty days and forty nights, he was starving. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “Since you are God’s Son, command these stones to become bread.” 4 Jesus replied, “It’s written, People won’t live only by bread, but by every word spoken by God.”[a] 5 After that the devil brought him into the holy city and stood him at the highest point of the temple. He said to him, 6 “Since you are God’s Son, throw yourself down; for it is written, I will command my angels concerning you, and they will take you up in their hands so that you won’t hit your foot on a stone.”[b] 7 Jesus replied, “Again it’s written, Don’t test the Lord your God.”[c] 8 Then the devil brought him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 He said, “I’ll give you all these if you bow down and worship me.” 10 Jesus responded, “Go away, Satan, because it’s written,You will worship the Lord your God and serve only him.”[d] 11 The devil left him, and angels came and took care of him. Footnotes: a. Matthew 4:4 Deut 8:3 b. Matthew 4:6 Ps 91:11-12 c. Matthew 4:7 Deut 6:16 d. Matthew 4:10 Deut 6:13 Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible Sermon How do we interpret temptation? Now we tend to interpret temptation as an invitation to sin. But the bible says that it is more than that. Let us go back to the story of Abraham. The bible says that God tempted Abraham to kill his son. Would God really encourage Abraham to kill his son? Or would God test the character of Abraham by putting him in a situation where he had to make a choice. I think that God puts us all in situations, where we discover who we really are and what we are really made of. I don’t think that any of us start out really good. But when we are put in situations where we make the right choices, we find that we can really trust ourselves, we understand what we will do and what we will not do. When given the choice to kill or not kill his son. Abraham chose not to kill his son, but to trust God. And he went on the become the father of our faith, because of his journey with God. As a matter of fact, this is probably the example that Jesus was thinking of when he went into the wilderness to journey with God. Matthew 4 is meant to be an example for us in dealing with temptation. Temptation is a life test, it is not our choice to be a good person or a bad person. Scripture says that the holy spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, where he fasted for 40 days. And after the fast he was famished, he was hungry. He needed something to eat, but how did he fulfill that hunger? We tend to think that the best way to avoid temptation is to avoid being hungry. But Jesus was hungry. The bible does not say whether he was hungry for food or for something else. He may have been hungry for a deeper relationship with God. My point is that is is okay to be hungry. As a matter of fact in Genesis 2, when God created adam scripture says that God blew breath into him and made him a nephesh chayah. A nephesh is a clay man made human by having breath. And chayah means desiring. Adam became a desiring being – a man with needs. In other words he became fully alive. Hunger is not just about a physical hunger, but is it spiritual and emotional. Jesus was hungry, and it is human nature to be hungry for all sorts of things. The lesson is in how you fill that hunger. You have a choice to fill it with something good or something bad. Usually when you fill it with the rights things you are satisfied, when you fill it with the wrong things you continue to be hungry. Now the story tells of 3 temptations or test that Jesus faced. This year I am not going to focus on them individually. I think that the biggest temptation that faces us all is the need to be in control. To be the boss of our lives. To fulfill our will and not God’s will. There is an ancient story about the time God was confronted by a man who argued, “It’s easy for you God. You tell us we must do this and we can’t do that. What do you know of the struggles of people like me? You are God. It is easy for you.” But God argues, insisting that being God was no picnic either. “You only have to look after your own little self,” said God. “But I have to look after the entire world and that is not easy. In fact, just to show you, Ill change places with you for 24 hours. You’ll see then. So God gave the man one day to see what a hard job is was to rule the world. Twenty four house later, God returned and said, “You see? It wasn’t as easy as you thought”. Then God prepared to be God once more. But the man wouldn’t give God back his power. He found that he liked playing God. Since that time, man has played God. That is why the world is as it is today, so the legend goes. Jesus is an example, because in each test that he faced, he had an opportunity to not just do the right thing, but to be the person God called him to be. He was the son of God. He had integrity to live out his calling. Not only did he know who he was – but we also got to witness his character for ourselves. His temptation was a test. A chance for him to fulfill his true hunger. Jesus does not have to serve 2 masters. He trusted God, so God can trust him. He remained faithful to who we was called to be in the midst of a test. God didn’t ambush him, God examined his character. The key to Jesus being faithful, is that he knew his scripture. Every response that he gave the devil is a verse in the bible. Psalm 32:10-11 says that the bridge between temptation and obedience is hope and trust. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about. Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: Jesus was able to overcome the temptations of the devil just by being the person, God had called him to be in the first place. Sermon Closer Harry Emerson Fosdick was one of the greatest American preachers of this century. He described his preaching as counseling on a large scale. Few people knew that as a young seminary student he reached the breaking point after working one summer in a New York Bowery mission. He went home and was overcome by deep depression. One day he stood in the bathroom with a straight razor to his throat. He thought about taking his own life. And then -- and then he heard his father in the other room calling his name, "Harry! Harry!" It called him back. He never forgot it. It was like the voice of God calling him. So I want to remind you today that in those times when you are in the wilderness, trying to find your way through, and when temptation comes and offers you the wrong answer, the wrong choice -- the wrong use of power, the way to popularity, the wrong kind of partnership -- then you remember that God has called your name: "This is my beloved son, my beloved daughter, in whom I am well pleased." And, you remember that because God has called your name He will see you through. Thomas A. Pilgrim, The Man From Galilee, CSS Publishing Company. God's Testing As the Union Pacific Railroad was being constructed, an elaborate trestle bridge was built across a large canyon in the West. Wanting to test the bridge, the builder loaded a train with enough extra cars and equipment to double its normal payload. The train was then driven to the middle of the bridge, where it stayed an entire day. One worker asked, "Are you trying to break this bridge?" "No," the builder replied, "I'm trying to prove that the bridge won't break." In the same way, the temptations Jesus faced weren't designed to see if He would sin, but to prove that He couldn't. Today in the Word The word tempt in English means an enticement to do the wrong thing. But the word in this story peirazein means a test, to prove worthiness for something positive. This lent, may we be tested by God so that our faith can grow. Amen Let us pray……. Additional Illustrations How Are We Tempted Today? William Willimon, in his book What's Right with the Church (San Francisco: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1985), tells about leading a Sunday School class that was studying the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. After careful study and explanation of each of the three temptations, Dr. Willimon asked, "How are we tempted today?" A young salesman was the first to speak. "Temptation is when your boss calls you in, as mine did yesterday, and says, `I'm going to give you a real opportunity. I'm going to give you a bigger sales territory. We believe that you are going places, young man.' "But I don't want a bigger sales territory," the young salesman told his boss. "I'm already away from home four nights a week. It wouldn't be fair to my wife and daughter." "Look," his boss replied, "we're asking you to do this for your wife and daughter. Don't you want to be a good father? It takes money to support a family these days. Sure, your little girl doesn't take much money now, but think of the future. Think of her future. I'm only asking you to do this for them," the boss said. The young man told the class, "Now, that's temptation." Jesus overcame his first temptation by putting his complete trust in God. That's a good example for us. We're so concerned about "having it all." The wise person trusts that God will provide all that he or she needs. William Willimon, adapted by King Duncan, www.sermons.com We’re Kind of Stupid That Way In the very first Calvin and Hobbes comic strip, Calvin's dad is working on the car, when Calvin walks up in a safari hat and says, "So long, Pop! I'm off to check my tiger trap! I rigged a tuna fish sandwich yesterday, so I'm sure to have a tiger by now!" His dad replies, "They like tuna fish, huh?" As Calvin walks off, he says, "Tigers will do anything for a tuna fish sandwich!" The final frame shows Hobbes, hanging by his foot from a tree, munching on a tuna fish sandwich. He says to no one in particular, "We're kind of stupid that way." Every day we are tempted to be less than we can be. Without giving it much thought, we choose what's easiest. We seldom consider how much more is possible. We take tuna fish when we could do better. We're kind of stupid that way. Brett Younger, Disabling Temptations The Really Big Sale He had finally got his chance to make the Really Big Sale. He was going into the final interview on the biggest contract he had ever written. As he was ushered into the office of the executive buyer, an assistant brought her coffee and left. The atmosphere was cordial, and he knew he was giving his best presentation ever. Then the assistant tapped on the door, re-entered the office and spoke briefly with the executive. She stood and said, "I apologize, but I have to tend to a matter. I'll just be a minute or two." And she followed her assistant out of the room. The sales representative looked around the beautifully appointed office. He saw her family pictures on her desk. Then he noticed a contract on her desk. She had evidently been studying a bid from a competitor. Leaning forward, he could see the column of figures, but it was obscured by a diet soda can. He was tempted to move the can and see the bottom line of his competitor's bid. What harm possibly could there be in reading her private information? After all, she had left it out in plain sight, almost. After wrestling with himself a while, he finally decided to take a peek. As he lifted the soda can, he discovered that the can wasn't filled with soda at all. Instead it was a bottomless can filled with 1,000 BBs which gushed out, and ran all over the desk and cascaded onto the carpet. His attempt to short cut the competition was exposed. Not every temptation is so obvious. Not every failure is so embarrassing. But every temptation is a challenge. Not even Jesus was spared the choosing. Mickey Anders, Six Flags over Jesus “Not Responsible for…” Have you ever gone to a restaurant, hung up your coat, and noticed a sign warning that the management is not responsible if it gets lost or stolen? Ever read the small print on your airplane ticket? The airline takes no responsibility for any delays or missed connections, and if your baggage is lost, they only have to pay an amount agreed upon at a convention they held in Warsaw in 1955. Park your car in some high-priced garage or lot, and a sign will tell you that management is not responsible for any items lost or stolen from your vehicle. Do those "Not responsible for..." disclaimers bother you? They do me. It seems no one takes responsibility for anything anymore. I read about a man who was suing a hospital. A doctor had performed staple surgery on his stomach to help him lose weight. A couple of days after his operation, he raided the hospital refrigerator and stuffed himself with everything he could find. This tore open the staples and forced another surgery. He was suing the hospital for having a refrigerator near his room. He claimed the temptation was too great. Thus, his complications were not his own fault but the hospital's fault! A little girl was sent to her room for misbehaving. Sometime later her mother happened to pass by her door and heard her praying. "God, I am stuck up here because of YOU, you know. Last night I prayed for you to help me be a good girl. Well, you didn't, so it's your fault!" David E. Leininger, Collected Sermons, ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc. Temptation: Just Don’t Look A pastor once told his congregation, "I learned a great lesson from a dog." He said, "His master used to put a bit of meat or a biscuit or some kind of food on the ground, and he'd say to the dog, 'Don't eat that,' and the dog would run over and eat it, so he'd hit the dog. And he put another piece of meat on the ground. He'd say, 'Don't eat that.' The dog would go over and eat it, and he hit him again. Well, after awhile, the dog got the message: eat meat, get hit. So the dog decided he wouldn't eat the meat." But the man telling the story related how that the dog never looked at the meat. The dog evidently felt that if he looked at the meat, the temptation to disobey would be too great, and so he looked steadfastly into his master's face and never took his eyes off him, and thus the temptation never caused a problem. John Macarthur, How to Overcome Temptation No Easy Buttons Staple's, the huge office supply chain store, has a new commercial out that illustrates the power of the devil's various temptations. In their ad whenever an individual confronts a difficult situation, all they have to do is reach over and push a red, over-sized, glowing button that reads, "easy." Got to pick up three kids, make dinner, finish that report at work, and be supportive to your spouse? No problem, just push the big easy button. Need to do a risky surgery never performed before? Hey, just push the big easy button. Faced with the need to balance economic growth and stability with environmental safety and the welfare of worldwide ecosystems? No problem, just push the big easy button. Big problem: there are no easy buttons. There's no easy button to free us from the trials and tests of diabolos. Jesus taught us to pray, not "save us from temptation," but "lead us not into temptation." Leonard Sweet, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com We Help Each Other When Edmund Hillary, who passed away just a few weeks ago, was at the summit of Mount Everest in 1953, he had a partner in his success. He had climbed the mountain all the way to the top, the first man ever to do that. The thing that impressed me about the whole story was not that Edmund Hillary climbed the mountain, but that he had a companion who climbed the mountain with him. Nobody ever hears his name. His name was Tenzing Norgay. Tenzing, however, climbed the mountain with him and on the way back down the mountain, Hillary fell and was almost lost. He would have been lost without Tenzing Norgay. Tenzing Norgay literally pulled him back up the cable and saved his life and Edmund Hillary lived to tell a great story because of this help from an unknown man. When someone asked Norgay why he didn't make more of it, why he didn't brag about it, he said, "We mountain climbers help each other." What a great model this would be for our church. We Christians have no need to be on television or make millions of dollars putting out a show. It is time we reversed the process and touched people and say very simply, "We Christians help each other. That's who we are." Calvin Miller, Moving From Entertainment to Servanthood Life Will Not Be Easy Back in the 80's there was a movie titled Saving Graces. In the film, Tom Conti played the leading role of the Pope. As leader of the Roman Catholic Church, he finds that he has little time for the real issues of the world, the issues which he was able to deal with as a parish priest. Even worse was the distance between him and his "flock." One day in the movie the Pope finds himself, by accident, locked out of the Vatican. He is wearing street clothes and to his surprise he discovers that nobody recognizes him without his ecclesiastical garb. The pope decides to use this newfound freedom to go to a village without a priest and to spend some time getting in touch with the people. In a plot similar to a western, the pope rides into town and saves the town from the bad guys. The pope returns to the Vatican in time for his annual Good Friday address in St. Peter's square. For the first time in years he is able to speak with power and conviction. The power with which he speaks does not come from his office, nor does it come from his garments. The power of the pope as played by Tom Conti came from strength he found as he withstood temptations and fought evil in that village. To his surprise, he found life in the Vatican to be easy for he was protected from the real difficulties in people's lives. Friends, we need not be misled into thinking that because we have been called by Christ into his church, life will be easy. It will not be easy. Even Jesus was tempted when he tried to follow God's will... Jeff Garrison After the Mountaintop Have you ever noticed that almost every mountaintop experience in life is followed by a valley experience? You graduate from school with the great expectation of making your mark in the world, but you find out that the world doesn't exactly welcome you with open arms. You get married with the full expectation that your new spouse will relieve your loneliness and solve your problems, but you find out you are still you. Life's high moments are often followed by low times -- depression and bewilderment. If we knew our Bible a little better, these experiences would not surprise us because this happened to Jesus, too. He had gone to John the Baptist who immersed him in the Jordan River and baptized him into a way of life which was to change the world. The heavens opened and Jesus saw the form of a dove descend upon him and heard the voice of God say, You are my son; I am well pleased in you. What a grand and high moment! But looked what happened next: Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert where for 40 days he was tempted by the devil. Don M. Aycock, God's Most Unmistakable, CSS Publishing Company Power: The Easy Substitute What makes the temptation of power so seemingly irresistible? Maybe it is that power offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love. It seems easier to be God than to love God, easier to control people than to love people, easier to own life than to love life. Jesus asks, Do you love me? We ask, Can we sit at your right hand and your left hand in your Kingdom? (Mt. 20:21). ... We have been tempted to replace love with power. Henri Nouwen in Mornings with Henri J.M. Nouwen, quoted in Christianity Today, February 8, 1999, 72.

Preview to the Passion

John 12:1-9 Fifth Sunday of Lent Year C April 7, 2019 Preview to the Passion Children’s time Exegetical Aim: Honoring Jesus. Props: A bottle of fine perfume and a piece of 8.5 x 11 paper. Lesson: How many of you have ever been to a party? (response) What kind of a party was it? (response) What did you do at the party? (response) Parties are a lot of fun, aren't they? (response) Have you ever been to a party where someone was being honored? (response) Maybe it was their party because they were 100 years old. Or maybe they had just had a baby. Or maybe they had done something really great. Have you ever been to a party because someone had done something really great? (response) You may not get a response, but give them just a moment to think about it. What did they do that was great? (response) Jesus went to a party that was in his honor; he did something fantastic. Do you know what he did that was so great? He raised somebody from the dead! I mean, this guy -- his name was Lazarus -- this guy had been dead for four days and he had already been buried. And Jesus went to the place where he was buried and said, "Lazarus come out of that grave!" And guess what happened? (response) That's right. He came back to life. That's great, isn't it? (response) Now who do you think was throwing this party for Lazarus? (response) It was Lazarus' sister, Martha. She was so happy that Jesus had raised her brother from the dead that she threw a party for Jesus. Application: What do I have in my hand? (response) That is right. It is perfume. When Jesus was at this party, a lady named Mary came up to Jesus and she had a bottle of perfume in her hand. She knelt down in front of Jesus and put perfume on his feet. Splash a healthy amount of perfume onto the piece of paper so it wafts by the children. Then she began to dry his feet with her long hair. What a beautiful thing to do. Now, as you speak, pause a bit and move the paper around the inner circle of the children to produce a strong scent (verse 3b: And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume). You see, this was Jesus' party and Mary knew that Jesus had done a great thing, but as wonderful as that was -- raising Lazarus from the dead -- Jesus was going to do something even greater. What do you think he was going to do? (response) Jesus was going to die and he would be dead and buried for three days and then God would raise him from the dead. And, the great things is, he will never, never die again. And he promises that you and I will be with him. In fact, we are all going to this big party. We call this great party heaven. You will be there and I will be there and your mom and dad will be there. How great that will be! Let's Pray: Lord, we honor you this morning and look forward to a great party one day when we shall all be together. Amen. CSS Publishing Company, Children's Sermons A to Z, by Brett Blair John 12:1-9 Common English Bible (CEB) Mary anoints Jesus’ feet 12 Six days before Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, home of Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Lazarus and his sisters hosted a dinner for him. Martha served and Lazarus was among those who joined him at the table. 3 Then Mary took an extraordinary amount, almost three-quarters of a pound,[a] of very expensive perfume made of pure nard. She anointed Jesus’ feet with it, then wiped his feet dry with her hair. The house was filled with the aroma of the perfume. 4 Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), complained, 5 “This perfume was worth a year’s wages![b] Why wasn’t it sold and the money given to the poor?” (6 He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He carried the money bag and would take what was in it.) 7 Then Jesus said, “Leave her alone. This perfume was to be used in preparation for my burial, and this is how she has used it. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you won’t always have me.” 9 Many Jews learned that he was there. They came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. Footnotes: a. John 12:3 Or a litra, a Roman pound, approximately twelve ounces b. John 12:5 Or three hundred denaria Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible I am just curious. What is the most that you would ever spend on a bottle of perfume that you loved? Some would say $5 – some would say $40, some might even ay $100 to 200 dollars. I don’t think that there is anyone who would say – 12,000 for one bottle. And I would think that if we ever did buy something that extravagant. We would be very frugal with it. A dab here and a dab there for only the most important occasion. And that would most definitely not be the perfume that lend to a friend. That is what makes this today’s story so special. Mary takes a perfume that is worth a years wages, and she pours the bottle on a friends feet and wipes it with her hair. I actually have not preached on this story very often, maybe once. But I think it is an important story for the last Sunday of lent. It is a preparation for the events to come. There is no dialogue as to why Mary felt the need to do this. Did she know in her spirit what was in store? She anoints his feet – preparing him to be a king and a martyr in death. Next week Jesus will choose to do the same for his disciples as he washes their feet. I would imagine that a 12,000 dollar perfume must have had some type of fragrance. A frangance that would have permeated the whole house, and made it smell good. Smells have a lasting effect on us Aroma: Bringing Back an Emotion Taste is 95 percent smell. What happens when you get a cold? Can't taste anything? In talking with others about their smells, what I have discovered is that there are regional differences to our favorite smells that often depend either on our food habits or on our outdoor customs. East Coast people prefer floral scents and Northerners the smell of the seasons. Southerners seem to prefer hearty snorts of pine. Midwesterners like the whiff of hay and farm animals. Westerners like the aroma of barbecuing meat. Whatever our pet smell, huge histories of time are relived within the microseconds of a sniff. Nothing can bring back a time, a place, or an emotion better than an aroma. Leonard Sweet, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Like lavender, eucalyptist, to bring a mood of calmness and peace in the house. What does love, kindesss, peace really smell like? If we looked back in or memory bank could come up with a collection of smells that remind us of a special time, or a special person – as sat watched this going on – definite smell to costly ointment. Remember that moment forever. John gives an important detail, that is not told in the other versions of this story. Jesus in in the house of friends. He was close to the whole family, and hear about them in several stories. I think we visited this village in Isreal. He has bought Lazarus back to life. Been to dinner at this house , several stories of best friends Mary, Martha and Lazurus. Martha cooks and prepares the meal, Mary anoints his feet. No accident that John makes this a story about frineds and enemies. Judas is also in the room. Plays his role in preparation. Betrayal. But now working to gain trust, no one questions his motives. Could have fed to poor with the money – wasting it . Always have the poor – not original in Deauteronomy 15. But doing a favor to me. Third: The most radical thing we can do is to try to find the face of Christ in others, and not only those we find it easy to be with but those who make us nervous, frighten us, alarm us, or even terrify us. “Those who cannot see the face of Christ in the poor,” Dorothy used to say, “are atheists indeed.” Dorothy was an orthodox Catholic. This means she believed that Christ has left himself with us both in the Eucharist and in those in need. “What you did to the least person, you did to me.” Her searching of faces for Christ’s presence extended to those who were her “enemies.” They were, she always tried to remember, victims of the very structures they were in charge of. She sometimes recalled the advice she had been given by a fellow prisoner named Mary Ann, a prostitute, when she was in jail in Chicago in the early 1920s: “You must hold up your head high and give them no clue that you’re afraid of them or ready to beg them for anything, any favors whatsoever. But you must see them for what they are—never forget that they’re in jail too.” Fourth, I learned that beauty is not just for the affluent. Tom Cornell tells the story of a donor coming into the Catholic Worker and giving Dorothy a diamond ring. Dorothy thanked her for it and put it in her pocket. Later a rather demented lady came in, one of the more irritating regulars at the house. Dorothy took the diamond ring out of her pocket and gave it to the woman. Someone on the staff said to Dorothy, “Wouldn’t it have been better if we took the ring to the diamond exchange, sold it, and paid that woman’s rent for a year?” Dorothy replied that the woman had her dignity and could do what she liked with the ring. She could sell it for rent money or take a trip to the Bahamas. Or she could enjoy wearing a diamond ring on her hand like the woman who gave it away. “Do you suppose,” Dorothy asked, “that God created diamonds only for the rich?” Profound story, profound challenge for us this Lenten season. Helping the poor. Jesus was poor, no place to sleep at night. – truly appreciated the extravagant gift given to him. How are we helping the poor. Making a sacrifice, or complaining. Bill Gates is congregationalist, wife is catholic. Wife goes to church every Sunday - Bill not so much. Not not a believer, not the best use of his time to go to church. More effective way of living our faith. Story lesson, not efficient, but loving. Following Jesus means being extravagant with our time, our energy, our money. Giving our best to God. Not counting the sacrifice, but remembering the love. What does love, kindness, peace smell like? What would we do to have that smell in our lives on a daily basis. Prepare for the coming days – remember the sacrifice of Mary – to show her love and care. Mary’s gift of extravagant perfume given to Jesus, Jesus died on the cross to give each of us that gift of love and salvation. Are we ready to receive the wonderful gift in our lives? Let us pray……Amen. Additional illustrations……… Intentional Acts of True Devotion IATDs - that's what this passage is all about. People were becoming more and more devoted to Jesus and they were expressing it openly in ever increasing ways. They even started doing IATDs - Intentional Acts of True Devotion. Jesus called Lazarus out of the grave and he came out struggling in the bondage of his grave clothing. But he came out, he had new life! Jesus had power even over death! The result was IATDs! People started following Jesus. Not only did they start following him, they become devoted to him, and their devotion was radical! Those who saw this resurrection put their faith in Jesus. The sense of the Greek in verse 45 is that people without reservation, without growing into it, at this one miracle put all their faith in him. And it showed in IATDs. At one time the Jews had been devoted to the Pharisees and the law. Now in wholesale crowds they were turning to Jesus, becoming devoted to him, radically devoted to him with the kind of devotion that is dangerous: "He'll upset the applecart! We can't have that around here! We'll lose our place and our power!" That was the thinking of the Pharisees, so they plotted to take Jesus life. We often think it was Jesus who got himself in trouble with the Pharisees, but the Pharisees wouldn't have cared a bit if he didn't have these followers with their IATDs. Their IATDs got him in trouble, too. Intentional Acts of True Devotion - they're powerful, they're dangerous, and they mark the lives of those who put their faith in Jesus. Bill Versteeg, Intentional Acts of True Devotion The Power of Fragrance Isn’t it amazing that John could remember this fragrance so many years after Christ’s ascension? That, when his mind drifted back to that last week of Christ’s life, it was the fragrance of Mary’s offering that framed his memory. What once was an oasis for Jesus, that helped comfort him so he could go forward, was now an oasis in John’s memory that helped him deal with the rigors of his trials. Still today, two thousand years later, Mary’s gift brings fragrance to our lives and while Mary was condemned by the apostle’s that day for her extravagance, she provided a gift that has been remembered for thousands of years. Her fragrance still fills our lives with the presence of Christ. Jerry Goebel, The House Was Filled With the Fragrance of the Perfume

The God of Second Chances

Rev. Harriette Cross First United Methodist Church of Wilmington March 24, 2019 Luke 13:1-9 Year C The Third Sunday of Lent The God of Second Chances Children’s time "And if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down." Object: Some fertilizer. Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have ever tried to grow a plant or a tree? (Let them answer.) Did it live? (Let them answer.) How did you take care of your plant? (Let them answer.) There is a story Jesus tells in the Bible about a man who had a fig tree planted on his farm. He asked another man who worked for him to take care of the tree. After a while, he came back to pick some of the fruit that had grown on the tree, but he was surprised to find that the tree had no figs. The owner was disappointed, and he told his worker to cut it down. But the worker asked him to give the tree one more chance. So the owner told him to give the tree some fertilizer, and that if it did not grow in one year, then he should cut it down. Fertilizer helps plants to grow strong so that they will produce fruit, flowers, or whatever they are supposed to produce. If you want a strong plant, one that grows and grows, you must fertilize it. Fertilizer is very important for plants and trees. Jesus told this story so that we would learn something very important about ourselves, too. Sin makes us weak. We all sin. Every one of us is a sinner. Sin makes us very weak and keeps us from living the way that God wants us to live. When we are weak, we cannot even do the good things that we want to do. There is only one way to make things better so that we can get over our weakness. We must tell God how sorry we are for our sin. This is called repentance, and it is as good for us as fertilizer is for a plant. Tell God that you are sorry, and ask him to forgive you, and you will get rid of your sin. When you do not have the sin, then you can grow strong and be the way that God wanted you to be. The next time you see someone feeding a plant some fertilizer to help it grow strong, I hope you will remember how telling God you are sorry for your sin will also help you to grow strong. Will you do that? Good. God bless you very much. C.S.S. Publishing Company, CALL in the CLOWNS, by Wesley T. Runk Luke 13:1-9 Common English Bible (CEB) Demand for genuine change 13 Some who were present on that occasion told Jesus about the Galileans whom Pilate had killed while they were offering sacrifices. 2 He replied, “Do you think the suffering of these Galileans proves that they were more sinful than all the other Galileans? 3 No, I tell you, but unless you change your hearts and lives, you will die just as they did. 4 What about those eighteen people who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them? Do you think that they were more guilty of wrongdoing than everyone else who lives in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you, but unless you change your hearts and lives, you will die just as they did.” 6 Jesus told this parable: “A man owned a fig tree planted in his vineyard. He came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7 He said to his gardener, ‘Look, I’ve come looking for fruit on this fig tree for the past three years, and I’ve never found any. Cut it down! Why should it continue depleting the soil’s nutrients?’ 8 The gardener responded, ‘Lord, give it one more year, and I will dig around it and give it fertilizer.9 Maybe it will produce fruit next year; if not, then you can cut it down.’” Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible It is pretty easy to hear the stories of Jesus and to think of these as stories for another time. None of the them apply directly to the situations of today. But every once in a while, Jesus hits the nail on the head for us, and he addresses a situation that we have just heard about in the headlines. I chose this verse in Luke for just that reason. In this verse Jesus is meddling, and talking about our time. In chapter 12 Jesus is talking to the crowd about what it takes to be a Christian. And they have decided that this whole Christian thing is a lot more trouble than it is worth. And takes a lot more time and energy than they are willing to give. Now Jesus is talking about repentance, and give your life to Jesus. And the wages of sin is death. For centuries, they have all heard this same message. If you are sick, unlucky, or die, then that is a punishment for unfaithfulness. If you are suffering, then obviously it is something that you have done. It is your own fault. Everyone seems to have the same two events in mind to prove a point. First is a group of Galileans who went to temple to protest Pilates, rules. Pilate came and crushed the rebellion and killed all of those involved. But they had no business revolting, so may be they got what they deserved. And then there were those salvodoreans who got killed when the roof collapsed. But they chose to cross the picket lines and were killed in the process. Interestingly enough – neither of these cases is recorded anywhere in history. There is no proof that either happened, or if it did, it was not worth even recording. But today – mass killings have become way too common on the news. There was just the instance of 50 muslims killed also while in worship. Did they deserve it for being muslim? How to protect ourselves in worship is not a big concern. But nothing seems to stop people being killed while going to worship, while going to the movies, while going to work. even for just waking up and going to school – they have been killed. We have been conditioned just like the people in Jesus time, to wonder who is to blame for all of this violence. If something bad happens, obviously you did something to deserve it. Jesus makes a point that this is not true. No one deserves to die just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It reminds me of an even more recent headline of a young girl who committeed suicide – because her classmates died in the parkland shooting and she survived. In a world where we have been conditioned for generations to equate sin with suffering. We live in a world – like she did of blame, guilt shame, accusations. We are meaning making machines – we have to make everything mean something. We have to find the root cause of bad sitiuations. But sometimes it does not matter – and there are things happening in our world that we just cannot make sense of. In my younger days I used to attend a self development program – landmark education. One of the first lines that we were taught to remember was life is empty and meaningless and it doesn’t mean anything that it doesn’t mean anything. The point was not to buy into the world of blame and guilt. That generational curse can be broken because we don’t have to buy into them. Jesus spent a lot of his ministry trying to prove that point. Blaming a situation on someone or something does not make the situation any better. But Jesus does not take the meaning out of the situation, he puts the meaning into it. Jesus uses this whole situation as a teachable moment. Jesus does not say that those killed in mass killings were innocent – he says that we are just as guilty as they are. Tragedy is just around the corner for all of us. But do we let sin and suffering define who we are? Jesus says no. He uses the example of the fig tree to make a point. What you have to realize is that it took a lot of time and energy to plant a fig tree. It required the best soil and demanded a lot of water and care to grow. And once it started to grow, it would be three years before you say any fruit. You weren’t supposed to pick any fruit from the tree for seven years. That was a lot of work. A vineyard keeper had been growing and taking care of this tree for 9 years, and still nothing. At what point do you give up. Nurture or Wither We used to have a swamp maple tree in our front yard. It shaded our porch and added to the landscaping in front of our house. We took it for granted and we never pruned it or fertilized it. About three years ago it began to lose its leaves and some branches withered and died. I pruned it back to give it some life. One fall we hammered fertilizer spikes into the ground in a circle around it. The following spring it sprouted new branches and you could see new foliage. For the first time in two seasons it appeared that it might make it. But, we had an unusually dry summer and the tree continued to lose branches. Finally it was invaded by carpenter ants and the tree was doomed. We should have given the tree attention sooner but instead we procrastinated. Our efforts to save it were only temporary. Eventually the time came when we had to cut it down. In a matter of minutes the tree came tumbling down. All that was left was the stump, about 10 inches in diameter. The front yard looked bare and our front porch no longer had shade. My wife wanted to replace the tree with something new. So we went to a nursery and purchased a Bradford Pear. We selected the best tree we could find. It took several days to remove the stump. I chopped and I sawed and I dug. Finally I succeeded in removing it. We then fertilized the ground and planted our new tree. We followed the directions that were given to us by the nursery worker to detail. He had told us that the Swamp Maple was really a poor choice for our soil and area. As long as we took good care of our new Bradford Pear Tree, we could expect good results. Our lives are much the same. Without nurture they wither and rot. We can’t always control the forces against us, like weather and even people who do mean things to us. We can, however make every effort to change our ways. Keith Wagner, Does Mercy Have Limits? When we hear the story of the fig tree, we usually say that the vine grower is God and that each of us is the tree. The tree which took way to much time and energy to take care of. But what if the vinegrower was each of us. The one’s who judged that the fig tree was not worth the effort. God says give them another chance, and we say no it is not worth the effort. God says let it grow, and we demand that it is time to take it out. God says don’t judge a book by its cover, and we insist that if it it what it is. God says I gave you a chance, give others a chance, and we still insist that people get what they deserve. We stay in the world of blame, guilt and suffering. In the Methodist church, the LGBTI community says that the African church is holding is down and they need to be help accountable, and the African church says that the sin of the Americans has allowed sin in the LGBT community and they need to be held accountable. But what does God say – I don’t know I am not God. A colleague from Australia points out that as we comment on recent headlines, we all can say that the Islamic community did not deserve what happened to them. But what about the one person who pulled the trigger – is he not also a child of God. Is he not also the fig tree – that God invested a lot of time and energy to developing. Do we blame him. Perhaps Jesus would say that the one who is free of guilt can cast the first stone. Jesus does say that we are just as much a sinner as those who were killed. And that we need to first turn from our sins and repent. Turn back to the God who has nurtured us so tenderly all of these years. We don’t have to live in a world of blame, sin and guilt. Jesus and 11 blokes are sitting around on lounges and comfortable chairs. Peter the Apostle is lying on the floor with his head on a cushion, and they're all waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Lunch is sitting on the table, but they wait. It's the year 2587. The Apostle John is writing the 15th version of his gospel on his iPad! And there's a tentative little knock at the door. A bloke nervously sticks his head around the corner, and Jesus springs to his feet and rushes over and says, "Judas! What kept you? Thank goodness you've arrived. We can get on with lunch! "And, of course, lunch is the Eucharist. God will wait for all time, even for the worst sinner. Jesus felt so strongly that he wanted us to be free, that he even went to the cross to pay for our sins. So that we could have the freedom to repent and have a relationship with God. God wants what is best for us, wants us to be our best self. God doesn’t do things to hurt people – Always there trying to help and make us feel better. If I die tomorrow – can I stand before God? What is it that I need to do differently? What is it that I may need to prune in my life, in order to be more connected to God? All of this is a part of our task – as we watch Jesus go to the cross to pay for our sins. We can listen to Jesus message to us to repent while we can – before it is too late. Let us pray…… Additional illustrations….. The Evening News Imagine for a moment that Jesus is watching television with his twelve disciples. They're on furlough from teaching and healing, taking it easy in the living room of Peter's mother-in-law, doing a little mindless channel surfing. Maybe they catch a little of an NCAA Tournament game, March Madness. These are guys, you know, just relaxing from a demanding schedule. But eventually the evening news comes on. They put down the popcorn and listen intently to the day's tragedies. One disciple says, "Hey, Jesus, that horrible bombing over on the West Bank where that guy drove a bus into a crowd of people. Do you think that because these Palestinians suffered in this way they were worse sinners than the rest?" It was a popular question in Jesus' day. Still is. If something bad happened, it must have been for a reason. Jesus scratches his beard for a moment. "No, they didn't die because of anything they did. It was a purely random thing. But let me tell you something. Unless you guys clean up your acts, you'll die just as tragically." There is a low murmur in the room. The disciples look at each other like Jesus has missed his morning medication. As two begin to leave to find a bathroom, the newscaster reports another catastrophe, this one halfway across the world. Jesus pipes up this time. "Hey, guys," he says, "those people over in El Salvador. What about them? The earthquake that hit there killed hundreds of people. Does that mean that these Salvadorans were worse sinners than their neighbors in Guatemala?" Jesus waits for his question to sink in. "No, the tragedy had nothing to do with their morals. Those people just got in the way." The disciples breathe a sigh of relief, gladdened to know that God doesn't work that way. But then Jesus looks at them all. "Let me tell you something, though. Unless you people start going in the right direction, you will share a similar fate as those Salvadorans and it will seem like a building falling on your head to crush the life out of you." I believe somebody got up and changed the channel after that. Frank G. Honeycutt, Sermons on the Gospel Reading, Cycle C, CSS Publishing Company _______________________________________ Things that we spend our time and energy on, are they bearing good fruit? Repent – focus on the things that are life giving. Our Chaotic Life This notice appeared in the window of a coat store in Nottingham, England: "We have been established for over 100 years and have been pleasing and displeasing customers ever since. We have made money and lost money, suffered the effects of coal nationalization, coat rationing, government control and bad payers. We have been cussed and discussed, messed about, lied to, held up, robbed and swindled. The only reason we stay in business is to see what happens next." Unknown Becoming What We Are Somerset Maugham said it best in his autobiography, Summing Up, "I knew that I had no lyrical quality, a small vocabulary, little gift of metaphor. The original and striking simile never occurred to me. Poetic flights...were beyond my powers. On the other hand, I had an acute power of observation, and it seemed to me that I could see a great many things that other people missed. I could put down in clear terms what I saw...I knew that I should never write as well as I could wish, but I thought, with pains, that I could arrive at writing as well as my natural defects allowed." Somerset Maugham discovered the secret of genius. The point is that life does not ask us to become what we are not. The fig tree was only required to produce figs. No more. You and I are asked only to accomplish what our natural gifts allow, but we are asked to accomplish just that. King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Using Up the Ground Soil was at a premium in Israel. It was not unusual for a vineyard owner to give a little bit of his soil up for a fruit tree but the tree took up the best soil, the deepest soil, and required the most water. A fig tree doesn’t grow fruit until three years after planting. The owner in this story, had given the tree “due season” to bear fruit and yet the tree bore no fruit. It took up valuable space and resources. The owner questioned why the tree was allowed to “even use up ground.” God had given the Israelites the choicest ground. Their land possessed everything necessary to make themselves a great nation, indeed, a light to all nations. They were strategically positioned to send the fruit of God north and south, east and west; but instead, in-fighting continued to make them a worthless fruit tree. Everyone one of us and all of our churches will have to answer (from God’s perspective) this same question; “Why does it even use up the ground?” Jerry Goebel, Why Does HE Even Use up the Ground? Suffering and Repentance Trevor Beeson stood at the high altar of Westminster Abbey to celebrate the marriage of his daughter, Catharine, to Anthony, aged twenty-three. Nine months later he stood before the same altar for Anthony's funeral, who was killed when his car ran into a wall in East London. Four months later, Trevor returned to the altar beside the coffin of his friend and hero Earl Mountbatten, who died when his fishing boat was blown to pieces by Irish terrorist. Reflecting on the experience, he said he could not blame God for these senseless tragedies. He wrote: I should find it impossible to believe in, and worship, a God who arranged for the great servants of the community to be blown up on their holidays and who deliberately turned a young man's car into a brick wall…This is not the God of love whose ways are revealed in the Bible and supremely in the life of Jesus Christ. Beeson found two insights that helped him to cope with his tragedy and to look beyond it: "The first is that, although God is not responsible for causing tragedy, he is not a detached observer of our suffering. On the contrary, he is immersed in it with us, sharing to the full our particular grief and pain. This is the fundamental significance of the cross." Second, although we naturally ask, "Why did it happen?" Beeson discovered that the more important question is "What are we going to make of it?"; "Every tragedy contains within it the seeds of resurrection." This is, after all, the whole point of our pilgrimage through Lent, to Good Friday, and Easter morning. Are those who experience innocent suffering worse than anyone else? Of course not. It can happen to any of us. But is there a connection between innocent suffering and human action? Of course there is, and unless we change our way of living, we may all experience the same suffering. What does Jesus offer us when we experience this kind of suffering? The power of God to hold us firm, to give us strength, and to see us through. John K. Bergland editor, Abingdon Preachers Annual 1992, Nashville: Abingdon, 1991, p. 108. Not Nearly as Big a Man It seems that the University of Tennessee coach bought a bolt of cloth thinking he would have a suit made out of it. He took the material to his tailor in Knoxville where the tailor measured him, examined the bolt of cloth, did some computations on a piece of paper, and said, "I'm sorry, coach, there just isn't enough material in this bolt to make a suit for you." The coach was disappointed, but he threw the bolt of cloth in the trunk of his car, wondering what he was going to do with it. A couple of weeks later he was in Tuscaloosa, Alabama -- the home of the Crimson Tide -- arch enemies of the Vols. He was on his way to the coast for a vacation. Driving down the main street in Tuscaloosa, he noticed a tailor shop, which reminded him that he had that bolt of cloth in the trunk. He stopped, thinking he would give it a try. He told the tailor he had bought this bolt of cloth and wondered if he could do anything with it. The tailor measured him, measured the bolt of cloth, did some computations. Finally he said, "Coach, I can make you a suit out of this bolt. What's more, I can make you an extra pair of pants. And if you really want it, I can give you a vest out of this, too." The coach was dumbfounded. "I don't understand," he said. "My tailor in Knoxville told me he couldn't even make one suit out of this bolt of cloth." The tailor said, "Coach, here in Tuscaloosa, you are not nearly as big a man as you are in Knoxville." I tell the story to make the point that things are not always what they seem. Our Scripture lesson -- the parable of the fig tree -- is clearly a parable of judgment. But at the very heart of it is a marvelous word of grace. Maxie Dunnam, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Not Nearly as Big a Man It seems that the University of Tennessee coach bought a bolt of cloth thinking he would have a suit made out of it. He took the material to his tailor in Knoxville where the tailor measured him, examined the bolt of cloth, did some computations on a piece of paper, and said, "I'm sorry, coach, there just isn't enough material in this bolt to make a suit for you." The coach was disappointed, but he threw the bolt of cloth in the trunk of his car, wondering what he was going to do with it. A couple of weeks later he was in Tuscaloosa, Alabama -- the home of the Crimson Tide -- arch enemies of the Vols. He was on his way to the coast for a vacation. Driving down the main street in Tuscaloosa, he noticed a tailor shop, which reminded him that he had that bolt of cloth in the trunk. He stopped, thinking he would give it a try. He told the tailor he had bought this bolt of cloth and wondered if he could do anything with it. The tailor measured him, measured the bolt of cloth, did some computations. Finally he said, "Coach, I can make you a suit out of this bolt. What's more, I can make you an extra pair of pants. And if you really want it, I can give you a vest out of this, too." The coach was dumbfounded. "I don't understand," he said. "My tailor in Knoxville told me he couldn't even make one suit out of this bolt of cloth." The tailor said, "Coach, here in Tuscaloosa, you are not nearly as big a man as you are in Knoxville." I tell the story to make the point that things are not always what they seem. Our Scripture lesson -- the parable of the fig tree -- is clearly a parable of judgment. But at the very heart of it is a marvelous word of grace. Maxie Dunnam, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Look to God Bryan Zuckor was the quintessential 14-year-old boy-next-door — adventurous, athletic and popular at the Southern California Presbyterian Church where he worshipped and vigorously participated in youth activities. Zuckor’s wholesome life ended when he was shot and killed by a fellow student at Santana High School in Santee, CA. I suspect his grieving parents have asked themselves, ‘What did we do to deserve this?’ We moderns understand, of course, that this is not a rational question. We know that the question itself comes from a far more primitive time, a time when people thought God was a vengeful, eye-for-eye kind of God. We moderns know better. And yet, the question lingers. By all accounts, 15-year old Andy Williams was none of the things that Bryan Zuckor was. Andy was not athletic or popular or a member of a church youth group, or even a school club. But he had access to a gun, and now the whole nation knows just how frustrated and angry Andy was. He was apparently the shooter who killed Bryan Zuckor and fellow student Randy Gordon. Surely Andy’s parents, his friends, and teachers are asking, "What could we have done differently to have adverted this tragedy?" With that question we show how different we are from our ancestors. We moderns do like to believe that we have the power, we have the strength and wisdom to alter the course of human events, if only we make right and timely choices. Today, in Luke’s gospel, Jesus speaks to us all. To those who would see themselves as the ones to blame. . . . To those who assume their suffering is some form of divine punishment . . . . To mortals who see themselves as immortal, as able to exercise control over people and events . . . . Jesus speaks to us all, saying, "Humans need to look to God, not to themselves and their life experiences for the security for living." For the confidence to live life to the fullest, humans need to look to God. Sid Burgess, When Bad Things Happen _________________________________________ The Evening News Imagine for a moment that Jesus is watching television with his twelve disciples. They're on furlough from teaching and healing, taking it easy in the living room of Peter's mother-in-law, doing a little mindless channel surfing. Maybe they catch a little of an NCAA Tournament game, March Madness. These are guys, you know, just relaxing from a demanding schedule. But eventually the evening news comes on. They put down the popcorn and listen intently to the day's tragedies. One disciple says, "Hey, Jesus, that horrible bombing over on the West Bank where that guy drove a bus into a crowd of people. Do you think that because these Palestinians suffered in this way they were worse sinners than the rest?" It was a popular question in Jesus' day. Still is. If something bad happened, it must have been for a reason. Jesus scratches his beard for a moment. "No, they didn't die because of anything they did. It was a purely random thing. But let me tell you something. Unless you guys clean up your acts, you'll die just as tragically." There is a low murmur in the room. The disciples look at each other like Jesus has missed his morning medication. As two begin to leave to find a bathroom, the newscaster reports another catastrophe, this one halfway across the world. Jesus pipes up this time. "Hey, guys," he says, "those people over in El Salvador. What about them? The earthquake that hit there killed hundreds of people. Does that mean that these Salvadorans were worse sinners than their neighbors in Guatemala?" Jesus waits for his question to sink in. "No, the tragedy had nothing to do with their morals. Those people just got in the way." The disciples breathe a sigh of relief, gladdened to know that God doesn't work that way. But then Jesus looks at them all. "Let me tell you something, though. Unless you people start going in the right direction, you will share a similar fate as those Salvadorans and it will seem like a building falling on your head to crush the life out of you." I believe somebody got up and changed the channel after that. Frank G. Honeycutt, Sermons on the Gospel Reading, Cycle C, CSS Publishing Company _______________________________________ The

In the Wilderness

March 10, 2019 Year C Luke 4:1-13 In the Wilderness First Sunday of Lent Children’s Time 1 - a credit card, a crown, a star Children’s Time 2 Object: Some packages of chewing gum. Lesson: Good morning, boys and girls! How are you today? Did you know that this is the first Sunday in Lent? (Let them answer.) Did you know that this is the time when we begin to think a lot about the way that Jesus shared himself with us by dying for our sins? (Let them answer.) That's the truth. Lent is the time for you and me to spend some time thinking of Jesus and giving thanks to him for all of the good things that he did for us. One of the things that he did was to teach us to be strong against the devil and all of his evil ways. The devil is always trying to get us to forget God and to think only about ourselves. That seems to be easy. All of us like ourselves, and we spend a lot of time trying to make ourselves look good. It is easy to think of ourselves first. I want to show you how hard it is to keep from being this way. We call it denying. When you deny yourself something you are supposed to think of others and of God. That is one of the things you should do during Lent. But the devil is tempting you all of the time to think only of yourself and to forget God and others. Let me show you what I mean. I have some chewing gum here which I want everyone to have, but there aren't enough pieces for everyone. I know that there are 25 children here, but I only have 10 pieces of gum. What should I do? Should I just keep it all so that no one will be disappointed? If I gave it to 10 people would that mean that 15 of you would be disappointed? What should I do? What is your suggestion? (Let them answer. Keep working until you have total agreement that it should be divided in some way so that everyone has some even if there is some left over. The temptation here is that some would like to have it all for themselves, while others would like to give it only to the big kids and forget the little ones, etc.) Do you see what temptation does to us? It can make us forget about anything but ourselves. The devil tried to get Jesus to forget about his heavenly Father and to become his disciple. He promised Jesus everything in the world including all of the riches and power, but Jesus would not be tempted. He turned the devil down and thought first of God. You are tempted every day to think only of yourself. That is the devil working on you. Deny the devil by denying yourself, and your life will be made full by God. Amen. CSS Publishing Company, Making A Parade for Jesus, by Wesley T. Runk Luke 4:1-13 Common English Bible (CEB) Jesus’ temptation 4 Jesus returned from the Jordan River full of the Holy Spirit, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. 2 There he was tempted for forty days by the devil. He ate nothing during those days and afterward Jesus was starving. 3 The devil said to him, “Since you are God’s Son, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” 4 Jesus replied, “It’s written, People won’t live only by bread.”[a] 5 Next the devil led him to a high place and showed him in a single instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 The devil said, “I will give you this whole domain and the glory of all these kingdoms. It’s been entrusted to me and I can give it to anyone I want. 7 Therefore, if you will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 Jesus answered, “It’s written, You will worship the Lord your God and serve only him.”[b] 9 The devil brought him into Jerusalem and stood him at the highest point of the temple. He said to him, “Since you are God’s Son, throw yourself down from here; 10 for it’s written: He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you 11 and they will take you up in their hands so that you won’t hit your foot on a stone.[c]” 12 Jesus answered, “It’s been said, Don’t test the Lord your God.”[d]13 After finishing every temptation, the devil departed from him until the next opportunity. Footnotes: a. Luke 4:4 Deut 8:3 b. Luke 4:8 Deut 6:13 c. Luke 4:11 Ps 91:11-12 d. Luke 4:12 Deut 6:16 Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible Lent: Spring Training For Christians When I was a boy, I was told, "Baptists don't do Lent." No one knew why. I suspect that it was an anti-Catholic thing which I pray we are over. It was the old argument, "whatever they do, we don't!" - a curiously convoluted, twisted and unhealthy way to decide on religious practices. Whatever the reason for "not doing Lent," I think it is a great loss for any Christian not to prepare for Good Friday and Easter. Every spring the baseball players prepare for the season with spring training; every spring ordinary people prepare for summer by doing "spring cleaning." So why shouldn't Christians prepare for the most important events in Jesus' ministry - what he did for us on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, what he did for us on Golgotha's cross and at the empty tomb? If it helps you, think of Lent as a kind of Christian spring training and spring cleaning. John Ewing Roberts, Remembering and Forgetting On the first Sunday of lent – we are reminded of the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness. Jesus was baptized, the sky opens and said this is my beloved son. Luke 4 opens by saying Jesus full of the holy spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the spirit in the wilderness, where for 40 days he was tempted by the devil. Now I want us to look at that verse for ourselves, because it says that holy spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. And you will notice in Luke wherever, Jesus is – the holy spirit has led him there. Luke likes to focus on the spiritual life of Jesus. In every lesson from Luke we see that Jesus prays, he talks regularly with God. Why is Jesus talking to the devil? And yet interestingly enough in this verse he is not talking to God. who is he talking to? He is talking with the devil. If Jesus is the son of God, and he prays, and he follows the spirit- then why would he be talking with the devil? He talks to the devil – because he knows that the devil talks to us – daily. God sends his son to earth to live our life, to have our concerns, to even die our death. Because between God and the devil is the life we live every day. Every day we face sin, evil, the devil and death. Jesus engaged each of those threats to our faith, so that we would have the strength to overcome them each and every time that they come along. Jesus first day of work The local sheriff was looking for a deputy, and one of the applicants - who was not known to be the brightest academically, was called in for an interview. "Okay," began the sheriff, "What is 1 and 1?" "Eleven," came the reply. The sheriff thought to himself, "That's not what I meant, but he's right." Then the sheriff asked, "What two days of the week start with the letter 'T'?" "Today & tomorrow." Replied the applicant. The sheriff was again surprised over the answer, one that he had never thought of himself. "Now, listen carefully, who killed Abraham Lincoln?", asked the sheriff. The job seeker seemed a little surprised, then thought really hard for a minute and finally admitted, "I don't know." The sheriff replied, "Well, why don't you go home and work on that one for a while?" The applicant left and wandered over to his pals who were waiting to hear the results of the interview. He greeted them with a cheery smile, "The job is mine! The interview went great! First day on the job and I'm already working on a murder case!" In our Gospel reading this morning in Luke 4 it is Jesus' first day on the job. Immediately he is confronted with three major temptations. And he is confronted with this basic question: Would he take the crown without the cross? These are the most basic temptations in life and they form the foundation for all other temptations… The problems of temptations We always start our lent conversation with the subject of temptations. Because temptations are the biggest threat to our trust, faith and loyalty to God. First, recognize that we are most vulnerable when, like Jesus, we are stretched to our limits. Exhausted, hungry, weak, beaten down by deadlines, stressed out by the demands that pull us in every direction -- if we cannot keep our lives in order, if we do not put Christ on the throne in the center of our lives, if we neglect the rest that God has given us in the sabbath, we are asking for trouble. Even the King of kings and Lord of lords had to face temptation when he was famished and exhausted Temptations of being a self proclaimed leader The three temptations that Jesus encountered in Luke 4 was first to turn stone into bread, to force all of the world to worship him and live a dangerous life and let God save him from his own mistakes. I thought that it was interesting that one commentator noted that Luke was attacking the leaders of the day. The emperor of Rome would have been tempted to have others bow to him and to serve him and to go as far as worship him – and Jesus tell the devil in each instance that one who is loyal, trusting and faithful to God does not need to give in to those temptations. Temptations are things that stand in the way of serving God I would say that is what temptations are – things in our lives that stand in the way of us giving God the ultimate praise and glory in our lives. They are just obstacles for us to overcome. They remind us that we are all vulnerable, and if we are not aware of what makes us vulnerable – them we give in to sin. And yet the son of God, the one who prays to god, who talks to God about everything in his life – talks to the devil – so that we can rise above our temptations and move on the life under the cross. Devil does not go away Another interesting that about this scripture - - verse 13 says that when the devil had finished every test he departed from him until an opportune time. In other words the devil does not flee and go away. He just sits down to be quiet. If you continue to read about Jesus journey to save us – evil is lurking around somewhere in the scene. – just waiting for another chance to stand up and create a problem. And evil and temptation never leaves our life either. One of the greatest temptations of life is thinking that we have overcome our sins. They can always reappear in our lives, sometimes even as good intentions. Jesus talks to the devil not so that he can defeat the devil, but so that he can show us the way to overcome the effects of the devil. You can tell how big a person is by what it takes to discourage him. Temptation are those things which stand in the way of our faithfulness to God. our faithfulness to God is the only way for us to overcome temptation. Jesus was the son of God. but Jesus was also a model for us on how to follow God. We all struggle with temptations, but we all struggle with the question of how to do the right thing. I like this story, because it is a story about our doubts. We all have to deal with the question of who we are in life. What is our life about, and more important what is our ministry about – is it about serving ourselves, or others, is it about not paying attention to who is watching, or letting our life be an example, is it about fame and fortune or about humility, is it about being self sufficient, or obeying God’s will. Lent is our chance to think about those questions and to come up with an answer. I love this text, because Jesus intentionally went out into the wilderness to get answers. A friend of mine writes this poem about temptation OUR WILDERNESS Somewhere, sometime each one of us takes an unchosen path through the wilderness. Not the rocky, broken land, nor the frigid night winds, nor the terrible beasts, nor the parching thirst will frighten us most. But it is the loneliness, the utter fear that we are forgotten and that nothing makes sense-- this is the barrenness where we finally cry out, pray for love to find us. And then He comes. Life is like a wilderness, but we can choose to walk toward a powerful Easter morning. Let us pray…..

A Promise for a New Day

Februarry 25, 2018 Modern Promises of God Romans 4:13-25 Second Sunday of Lent Children’s time Getting Stronger Every Day Romans 4:1-25 Exegetical Aim: We grow strong in our faith as we give glory to God. Props: A feather, a rock, a dictionary, a chair, and a heavy table. Have the objects placed on the table, except for the chair. Lesson: Which one of you is the strongest? (response) Let’s see who is the strongest. I’ve got some things for us to lift. I’m going to start us off with this. Who thinks that they can lift this feather? (response) Choose the smallest child. So you think you can lift this feather? Let’s see you do it. Be careful! Don’t hurt yourself. As the child picks up the feather: That’s great! Okay, you can lift a feather! But I don’t believe any of you can lift this rock. (response) Repeat the challenge with the appropriately sized children for the dictionary and the chair. After the chair, proceed to the table. We do have some strong people here. You even lifted the chair. Not everyone can do that. But there’s one more thing. Who thinks that they can lift this table? (response) Choose the strongest child and instruct him or her to lift one leg of the table off the ground. Wow! That’s a heavy table. To lift that table leg takes a lot of strength. How did you get to be so strong? (response) Eating right, exercising, working hard, and playing are all ways to make our muscles real strong. Application: We now know that you have strong bodies. Let me ask: Are you strong in faith? (response) The Bible says that there was a man named Abraham who always believed God no matter what happened. That means he had a lot of faith. And do you know how he became strong in faith? (response)In the book of Romans it says that Abraham became strong in faith, as he believed God. In other words, the more he trusted what God told him the stronger he became in faith. Eat right and exercise so your bodies will be strong, but remember to trust in God so that your faith might grow strong. Let’s Pray: Dear Father, we praise you today and ask you to make our faith stronger. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., Children's Sermons, by Brett Blair Romans 4:13-25 Common English Bible (CEB) Abraham’s promise is received through faith 13 The promise to Abraham and to his descendants, that he would inherit the world, didn’t come through the Law but through the righteousness that comes from faith. 14 If they inherit because of the Law, then faith has no effect and the promise has been canceled. 15 The Law brings about wrath. But when there isn’t any law, there isn’t any violation of the law. 16 That’s why the inheritance comes through faith, so that it will be on the basis of God’s grace. In that way, the promise is secure for all of Abraham’s descendants, not just for those who are related by Law but also for those who are related by the faith of Abraham, who is the father of all of us. 17 As it is written: I have appointed you to be the father of many nations.[a] So Abraham is our father in the eyes of God in whom he had faith, the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that don’t exist into existence. 18 When it was beyond hope, he had faith in the hope that he would become the father of many nations, in keeping with the promise God spoke to him: That’s how many descendants you will have.[b] 19 Without losing faith, Abraham, who was nearly 100 years old, took into account his own body, which was as good as dead, and Sarah’s womb, which was dead. 20 He didn’t hesitate with a lack of faith in God’s promise, but he grew strong in faith and gave glory to God.21 He was fully convinced that God was able to do what he promised.22 Therefore, it was credited to him as righteousness. 23 But the scripture that says it was credited to him[c] wasn’t written only for Abraham’s sake. 24 It was written also for our sake, because it is going to be credited to us too. It will be credited to those of us who have faith in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was handed over because of our mistakes, and he was raised to meet the requirements of righteousness for us. Footnotes: a. Romans 4:17 Gen 17:5 b. Romans 4:18 Gen 15:5 c. Romans 4:23 Gen 15:6 Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible Lent is the time for us to look at our lives and our relationship with God. So I wanted to pass out a special gift to remember our relationship with God. All of our scriptures are important this week. Mark says for us to take up our cross and follow Jesus. So I wanted to make sure everyone had a cross to keep in your pocket, wallet, or somewhere where it will remind you daily of the gift of Jesus. As we enter into lent, I want to tell you about the importance of a very special word – a word that we have all heard, but today I want us to think about what it really means. That word is Hallelujah – praise God. During the season of lent, many churches honor the tradition of hiding the hallelujah’s until Easter. True Lenten music, which we don’t really hear lot because it is so slow and depressing. And you will never hear a hallelujah. Until Easter – Easter music is very upbeat, loud and fast and uplifting- and the way to tell a true Easter song is that it will have lots of hallelujah in it. When I was in Oak Park, I would argue with my music director who was raised catholic. She would insist that we had to hide the hallelujah for lent, and I would tell her that we couldn’t take away the hallelujah during a recession, because some people needed their hallelujahs. You see there is a difference between a jewish hallelujah and a Christian Hallelujah. Hallelujah - hallelu means praise and jah means God. I don’t know if you all are familiar with the popular song by Leonard Cohen – hallelujah. There is a line in there where he is talking about Samuel – and he says she tied you to the kitchen chair, she cut your hair and you said the hallelujah. In the jewish understanding – hallelujah is what you say when you are at the end of your rope, you have lost everything, and you have nothing else to say or do – but say hallelujah. Or praise God anyhow. The Lord giveth, the lord taketh away – blessed be the name of the Lord. A muslim would say allahu akbar meaning God is greater. Allahu means praise God Akbar means greater. You see Hallelujah is a victory cry in the midst of battle. For the Jews and the Muslims, You cry hallelujah before giving up, to show that you may have lost – but God always wins. - Our victory is always in God, because of God and the name of God is to be lifted up in the midst of all circumstances. That is why as Christians we save our hallelujahs for Easter. Our victory is in the resurrection of Christ. Christ overcame all of our troubles by overcoming death. Hallelujah – praise God. If you look in the hymnal there is a song from India called Jaya Ho - it is a victory song. Claiming victory in God. Even they used the name of Jah – God. During lent we praise God in spite of our problems, when Easter comes we will claim victory over our circumstances I want to point out one thing in our scripture today – it is about Abraham and Sarah. God made a promise to them that they would have descendants as numerous as the sun. considering the fact that sarah was 90 years old when God made that promise – she was faithful, but not very confident it would happen. When the victory in God happens and they become parents both she and Abraham changed their names to show their new roles in life. What we may not realize is that God also changed God’s name as God’s role changed amongst the people. Early Israelites would have known God as Elohim. Mothers named their children after attributes of God such as Israel, Michael, Gabriel. But as the Israelites became unified as a people, and became aware of other people and other gods, and wanted others to know that their God was stronger and kept them together. God changed God’s name to Jehovah – or Jah. That is why Mary named her baby Jah shua – meaning Jah saves instead of Elisha meaning El saves. Jesus is the latin derivative of Joshua. Elijah ‘s mom thought she would cover both bases and give her baby both names of God. So when we say Hallelu Jah – we give praises to Jah. So when Easter comes – we will all be running up and down the isles shouting hallelujah! Or maybe not, we are still Methodist. But I wanted you to know what we mean when we say hallelujah. We praise God – we claim victory in the resurrection of Christ. But in the meantime, on this second Sunday of lent let us remember the promises of God. God will make a way out of no way, God will open doors that are closed, God can bring life out of death. There was a lady who lived in a nursing home, and at 80 years old she kept telling her nurse that she was expecting a baby. Of course the nurse dismissed her and paid her no mind, there was no way a woman that old could have a baby. One day her granddaughter came to visit with her newborn daughter. The woman asked to be taken in her wheelchair throughout the halls with the baby. She wanted to tell everyone that she had had her baby – that god has kept god’s promise. God made the impossible possible. God did it for her, God did it for Abraham and Sarah, God did it for Christ, surely God will do it for us. And when that day comes – we can shout hallelujah – praise God. Amen. Hiding the Hallelujah Many of the white churches have a tradition, that for lent, you are supposed to hide the alleluia for lent. Alleluia is just the Greek version of hallelujah, since they don’t pronounce an H at the beginning of a word, and there is no y, so Jah is spelled with an I. Alleluia is a victory cry- when we cry alleluia or hallelujah – we are saying that Jesus Christ is our victory over sin and death. The thought is, that in lent, there is no victory, and there is no triumphant Christ. So we are supposed to hide the alleluias until Easter, and then fervently bring them back again on Easter morning. Lenten music is naturally slow and sad, and liturgical music – music that is intentionally written for the season – has no alleluia’s in it, and churches go through this elaborate rituals on the first Sunday of lent in order to put the alleluia in a box and bury them so that they won’t be said in church. Interestingly, I have never been in a church that formally hid their alleluias. In my last church, my church musician and I used to fight constantly every lent, being that she was raised in the Catholic Church she would insist that I had to hide the alleluia’s. And I would tell her that during a recession, we can’t take hallelujah from people. What is the use of asking people who are already suffering, to suffer more by suppressing their alleluias? The Difference between a lent hallelujah and a easter hallelujah Besides, there is a big difference between a lent hallelujah and a Easter hallelujah. There is a big difference between a Jewish hallelujah and an Easter alleluia. (I ended up firing my musician, but that was because she was the church accountant- not because of our differences, we fought about everything). Hallelujah – I just think that is a wonderful song, all by itself. What a beautiful word. But why did the Israelites say that word – hallelu jah – praise God? The Jehovah names of God Lately, we have been talking about the names of God. Your English bible will intentionally make it easy for you, and anywhere God’s name is mentioned – they will refer to God as God. But in the original Hebrew bible, God had many names, coming from many traditions. The name I have focused on is Jehovah. Jehovah is a Christian pronunciation of the sacred 4 letters of God’s name. A Jewish person would never say Jehovah, because they believe that it is not man’s place to call God by name. But I am using Jehovah because there is a tradition of using the names of Jehovah. I counted about 50 different Jehovah names for God in the Old Testament. Examples of some: in Gen. 22 – Jehovah Jireh – God my provider – psalm 3:3 Jehovah kabodhi – The Lord is my glory, in 1 Chronicles 29 – Jehovah Nissi – the lord is my banner; in psalm 19 – Jehovah Tsori – the lord is my strength. Isaiah 5:3 Jehovah Rophe – God is a healer, Isaiah 9:6 – Jehovah shalom – the lord is my peace. God is all of those things to us. But here is the thing, the reality is that in a world of sin there are no provisions, people are hungry. There is no glory- people are struggle, there is no strength, no healing, and no peace. So you can’t use those names. All that you have is jah – just plain God. No attributes, no names. Just God in his most basic plain form. And yet still worthy to be praised. When life has stripped you of everything, when you have lost your peace, your strength, your shield, your armor – the one thing that no one can take away from you, not even the devil – is your praise God, your hallelujah. Hallelujah is your battle cry in times of despair. A Muslim would say – allahu Akbar – God is greater! They say it for many reasons, but we hear it when they are protesting – or killing someone on behalf of God. It is as if they have given up all hope of peace in a sinful world – and they praise God as they give up the ghost. Except our god says that thou salt not kill, and that there is never a reason to kill yourself if indeed God is greater. Hallelujah is your cry – which I may be defeated, that in a sinful world I may pass away – but God will never fail. And as a child of God – my life, my victory, my well being is centered around God – and not me. If you look at the Methodist hymnal – there is a song Jaya Ho – from India. Even the Hindus use praise God as a victory cry. Even the rocks will cry out You see, my thing is, even if the Catholics, and the Lutherans, the Methodist and the Presbyterians refuse to say hallelujah, it really doesn’t matter – because my Pentecostal cousins are always going to say praise the Lord. They may not say it to me, but every time they great one another they say praise the lord – so that is every day – even in lent. And it really doesn’t matter, because if the Pentecostal forget one day to day praise the lord – the bible says that God doesn’t need man to say hallelujah, because if we forget, that even the rocks will cry out – and say hallelujah. God is the creator of all things – and worthy to be praised. Even in a sinful world. But for Christians – our great victory cry comes on Easter morning – When Christ rose from the dead – he conquered all of our enemies – the devil, sin, death, sickness, disease, hunger, hatred. On Easter morning, we won’t have to cry hallelujah in a time of despair – but in a time of joy and celebration. When Jesus wins, if my life, my hope, my faith is centered in God – I win. We win. Invitation to christ I want to pass out these nails for us to keep with us during lent. The nail is a reminder that we still live in a world of sin. But it is also a reminder that the Jesus went to the cross for us once and for all – so that sin, our sin and others does not have to bury us alive. God is always with us, and whatever stands in the way can be nailed to the cross. The rest of scripture reminds us that in baptism we die with Christ, in baptism we rise with Christ. In our commitment to Christ- we share in Christ victory. This is your chance to claim the victory.

Woman at the Well

March 19, 2017 The Woman at the Well John 4:5-42 Lent 3 During this season of protest, there have been many ways to get the message to our leaders that our people matter. Just a few weeks ago, there was the day without women, where women did not have to show up to work, in order to show how important we are to the world. Can you imagine what would have happened to the world if all of the women really did take a day off? The world would have truly been in a flux. We all know that it is women who run and rule the world. It is women who not only take care of themselves, but they take care of everybody else. They say that if you want to educate a family, then it is important to educate the mother, for she will always pass it on to those who she is in charge of. Jesus must have realized that centuries ago, because his primary ministry was to women. In many acts, he intentionally addressed the condition of the women in the situation. Our scripture for today is a prime example of that. This scripture has been speaking to me for some months now, and I don’t know that I have preached a lot of sermons on it. – the woman at the well. In the community organizing class, it is not surprising that since the professor is a women, that she would be drawn to this story in her teaching. And lately, in my car I have been listening to a cd of Mahalia Jackson’s gospel songs, and she too has been speaking to me about the woman at the well. This is a long scripture, which is why we only had one lesson for today. As lent goes on, the scriptures will get longer and longer. Because it is so long, and it is also a pretty deep text, there are a lot of lessons that we can get out of this one text. But I am only going to focus on a few of them for this morning. We all know this very popular story in the bible. Jesus is doing his ministry in the north – Galilee, but he decides that in order to be effective that he must go to Jerusalem. And on that journey he encounters all sorts of people, and teaches all sorts of lessons. On his three day journey, he has decided to take the short route through the Samaritan land, knowing full well that any respectful jew would have doubled the journey, just to avoid having to deal with the Samaritans. Any jew knows that the primary part of your religion is purity. Keeping yourself pure and following the rules. You don’t talk to strangers, you don’t mix with other cultures. You keep yourself a jew at all cost. The Samaritans are distant relatives who mixed with other people. They desecrated the jewish identity, and themselves, and you just don’t deal with them. Of course in this story, not only does Jesus deal with them, but he also talks to one who he knows he has no business talking to – a woman. A woman who is a Samaritan, but who apparently is not living a holy life. Why else would she be at the well getting water at noon day, by herself separate from all of the other women. Jesus has been travelling all day, and now he was all by himself. Maybe he was thirsty – that is why he asked her for a drink of water- it was ask or die. So he asked – a conversations ensues, Jesus tell her about herself, and she runs back an tells all of her friends and neighbors. That one encounter made a difference not only in her life, but in the lives of the entire community. As our professor teaches us about community organizing she teaches us about this story because the woman at the well had followers – people who were going to listen to her and anything that she said. In order to get to them, Jesus had to first get to her. If you give me a drink of water, I will give you living water, where you will never thirst again. I have enough not just for you, but for your family. Go and get your husband. I was rereading the text, to figure out how Jesus would have known about her life. Jesus tells her that not only does she have one husband, but she has five husbands, and the one she is with now is not her husband. That is alittle personal, how did he know all of that? Some commentators says that when Jesus tells her that she has five husbands, that he is not talking about her specifically – but about the Samaritan people. When the jews were invaded by foreigners, they were always told to love their oppressor, but to never take on their culture- always remain a jew. The Samaritans did the exact opposite – they married them, they adopted their gods and their culture, they didn’t give up being jews, they just compromised their identity. So some say that when Jesus tells her she has five husbands, that is symbolic for the five cultures that the Samaritans intermarried with. And the one who she has now that is not her own – are the Romans – whom they had not yet intermarried with, but they are still a little too comfortable with. So was Jesus talking about her people, or was Jesus really getting up into her personal business? We don’t know for sure. But what we do know is that any encounter we have with Christ is always an encounter with our deep innermost self. We cant hide ourselves and our actions from God. If we did it, if we think it , if we know it – God is going to bring it up and talk about it. When we come into the presence of God, we have no control over what God is going to notice in our lives. After her encounter, the woman runs and tells her friends, I met a man who told me everything that I had done. He knew all about me, without me telling him a thing. Anytime we have an encounter with Christ – we are going to be forced to take a deep look at ourselves. The conversation is going to start in shame for our sinfulness. When Peter met Jesus he told Jesus to get away from him, because he was a sinner. When the cock crowed three times, no one had to tell Paul that he had betrayed Jesus, he realized for himself. When Jesus started talking with the woman at the well – she too knew her sins far better than Jesus, and she started thinking about her life, what got her in trouble, and what she needed to do to get out of trouble. We are all sinners, and we all have our shame, this Lenten season, there is something about ourselves that we need to work on. Christ knows what that is, and Christ shines a light on it, so that we can do better. It is no accident that the woman has this encounter at the well. It is no accident that this is a conversation about the difference between regular water and living water. Jesus is in the hot sun, thirsty for regular water, but he offers her living water in return – water that will make her never thirst again. Perhaps it was her thirst for love and acceptance that would have drove her to be with man after man. Usually it is our own inner thirst that drives us to a life of sin. There is nothing wrong with being thirsty – that is how we are made, it is usually what we do to quench that thirst that gets us into trouble. What Quenches Spiritual Thirst In his book Sahara Unveiled, William Langewiesche tells the story of an Algerian named Lag Lag and a companion whose truck broke down while crossing the desert: They nearly died of thirst during the three weeks they waited before being rescued. As their bodies dehydrated, they became willing to drink anything in hopes of quenching their terrible thirst. The sun forced them into the shade under the truck, where they dug a shallow trench. Day after day they lay there. They had food, but did not eat, fearing it would magnify their thirst. Dehydration, not starvation, kills wanderers in the desert, and thirst is the most terrible of all human sufferings. Physiologists…use Greek-based words to describe stages of human thirst. For example, the Sahara is dipsogenic, meaning "thirst provoking." In Lag Lag's case, they might say he progressed from eudipsia, "ordinary thirst," through bouts of hyperdipsia, meaning "temporary intense thirst," to polydipsia, "sustained excessive thirst." Polydipsia means the kind of thirst that drives one to drink anything. There are specialized terms for such behavior, including uriposia, the drinking of urine, and hemoposia, the drinking of blood. For word enthusiasts, this is heady stuff. Nevertheless, the lexicon has not kept up with technology. I have tried, and cannot coin a suitable word for the drinking of rusty radiator water. Radiator water is what Lag Lag and his assistant started into when good drinking water was gone. In order to survive, they were willing to drink, in effect, poison. Many people do something similar in the spiritual realm. They depend on things like money, sex, and power to quench spiritual thirst. Unfortunately, such "thirst quenchers" are in reality spiritual poison, a dangerous substitute for the "living water" Jesus promised. William Langewiesche, Sahara Unveiled (Vintage, 1997); submitted by Jeff Ingram We all know the feeling of longing, but how can we tell the difference between being thirsty, being hungry and having an unhealthy craving for something? They feel the same, they are controlled by the same part of the brain. We get the same message. They say that a lot of time that you feel hungry, that you are really thirsty. Water quenches all thirst. So if you are getting that nudge in your spirit, first you should always drink a glass of water, if you are satisfied your were thirsty, but if your stomach is still growling that means that it needs some food. If you are truly hungry, anything that you eat will satisfy you, and you will be okay. But if it is a craving, then you will still hunger for a certain type of food. That is the point where we get in trouble. Because craving is not about our body, it is about our spirit. And no matter how hard we try to satisfy that craving, it keeps coming back and it starts to control our lives, our thoughts and our actions. The only thing that is going to satisfy us is the living water that Jesus promised. Water that if we take it, we will never thirst again. I don’t know about you, but this Lenten season, I could use some of that living water. As I speak to God, God is revealing all sorts of things about my soul. About those weaknesses and wounds that keep me stuck and about the strength that I need to move forward. About how to satisfy my hunger and thirst with the simple things in life first, and to look at those cravings, and to think what is it really that I am asking for. What is it really that I need to do. And how can I trust Jesus in this process. The disciples had left Jesus in the hot sun by this well by himself because they were worried about him. They didn’t think he could make it anyfurther in this journey. When they come back they bring him some food and he doesn’t want it, he tells him that he doesn’t need it – he has food that they don’t know about. That food is knowledge and understanding of his own soul. He recognizes the voice of his own soul, and its call out to God for fulfillment. He knew the difference between the body being thirsty and hungry, and the soul craving something more from God. His spiritual thirst in this story was to make a difference in this woman’s life. His hunger was to connect to her in a way that would not only change her, but those around her. That food that the disciples didn’t know about was the satisfaction of doing God’s will, even in a vulnerable situation. Jesus was sent into this world with a mission to show God’s love to the world. He knows all of the struggles of this world, of being a person, of learning to control our hunger and thirst instead of allowing them to control us. The Lenten story is about how Jesus felt the temptations that we feel everyday, but how to rise above them. Every encounter with Christ is an encounter with the things that get to us. Every encounter with Christ makes a stronger person, better able to deal with life. Every encounter with Christ is an opportunity to change the world- by first learning to change ourselves. I love this story because it is a story of a woman who made a difference in the world. She wanted everybody to know the good news of transformation. We don’t have to stand here any longer we can be better than we ever dreamed we could be – just by having an encounter with Christ! We are so afraid of evangelism, we are so afraid to share our faith with others- but this story is a perfect example of just how easy it is to bring others to Jesus. It has been said that evangelism is just the story of one beggar, telling another beggar where to go and get bread. Or in this case it is one sinner, telling another sinner where to get a tall refreshing glass of water – in a living encounter with Christ! Let us pray…. A Day without Women Invite someone to do the right thing What is evangelism? Stand up for what you believe in Leads to extraordinary transformation radical newness and radical inclusiveness Not just a one on one, but a ministry to an entire people A New Creation Once there was a man on a train going across the desert in Arizona. He was the only person in the car who had not pulled down the window shades to keep out the glare of the hot sun on the parched earth. In contrast to the other passengers, he kept looking out his window, and seemed actually to enjoy the dismal scene. After a while the curious man seated across the aisle, asked, "Sir, what do you see in that wasteland that makes you smile?" "Oh," he replied," I'm in the irrigation business, and I was thinking if we could only get water to this land that the desert would become a garden." That's what Jesus is teaching His disciples. He wants us to see the world's people as He sees them. Every one of them is precious in His sight. By divine grace, they can become a new creation, made beautiful in holiness. Robert E. Coleman, Evangelism: Behold the Harvest! An Unexpected Evangelist This wonderful man was not well educated and his manner was somewhat rough and crude. He became a Christian and took the Lord's requirement seriously. He kept pestering his pastor to put him to work. Finally, the minister handed him a list of ten names with this explanation: "These are all members of the church, but they seldom attend. Some of them are prominent people in the community. Contact them about being more faithful. Here is some church stationary to write letters. Get them back in church." The man accepted the challenge with rugged determination and enthusiasm. About three weeks later a letter from a prominent physician whose name had been on the list arrived at the church office. Inside was a large check and a brief note: "Dear Pastor, Enclosed is my check for $1,000 to help make up for my missing church so much, but be assured that I will be present this Lord's Day and each Lord's Day following. I will not by choice miss services again. Sincerely... P.S. Would you please tell your secretary that there is only one `T' in dirty and no `C' in Skunk." Ah, those unexpected evangelists. To this day, that nameless Samaritan woman, the first unexpected evangelist, is revered in many cultures. In southern Mexico, La Samaritana is remembered on the fourth Friday in Lent, when specially-flavored water is given to commemorate her gift of water to Jesus. The Orthodox know her as St. Photini, or Svetlana in Russian. Her name means "equal to the apostles," and she is honored as apostle and martyr on the Feast of the Samaritan Woman. Can you do what she did? Invite friends and neighbors? Of course, you can. David E. Leininger, Collected Sermons, ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc. Some Things Must Be Shared A Mercedes-Benz TV commercial shows one of their cars colliding with a concrete wall during a safety test. Someone then asks a Mercedes engineer why their company does not enforce their patent on their car's energy-absorbing car body. The Mercedes' design has been copied by almost every other car maker in the world in spite of the fact that they have an exclusive patent. The engineer replies in a clipped German accent, "Because in life, some things are just too important not to share." Wow! What a great statement. Some things are just too important not to share. As Christians we believe that the good news of Jesus Christ is one of those things that is too important not to share. No, that is an understatement. We believe that Jesus Christ MUST be shared with our friends, our neighbors, the world. The work of sharing the news of Jesus Christ we call evangelism. The Christian faith has been advanced through the ages by people who were willing to take upon themselves the responsibility of being evangelists - those who spread the good news of Christ. King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com A Drink of Water to a Thirsty Soul For those conducting Communion this Sunday this illustration offers some strong tie-ins for a conclusion: Have you heard the legend of the Fisher King? When the Fisher King was a boy, he was sent out to spend the night alone in the forest, as a test of his courage to be king. During the night, he had a vision of the Holy Grail—the cup used by our Lord at the last supper. He saw it surrounded by great flames of fire, and he immediately became excited by the prospect of the wealth and glory that would be his by possessing such a great prize. Greedily, he reached into the flames to grab it, but the flames were too hot, and he was severely wounded. As the years went by, the Fisher King became more despondent and alone, and his wound grew deeper. One day, feeling sad and depressed and in pain, he went for a walk in the forest and came upon a court jester. "Are you all right?" the jester asked. "Is there anything I can do for you? Anything at all?" "Well, I am very thirsty," the Fisher King replied. The jester took an old dilapidated cup from his bag, filled it with water from a nearby stream, and gave it to the Fisher King. As he drank, he suddenly felt his wound healing for the first time. And incredibly, the old cup he was drinking from had turned into the Holy Grail. "What wonderful magic do you possess?" the Fisher King asked the jester. The jester just shrugged and said, "I know no magic. I only gave a drink of water to a thirsty soul." James W. Moore, Some Things Are Too Good Not to Be True, Dimensions, p.105-106 ______________________ We All Have Skepticism We all have skepticism in us. Think about these phrases: “Open wide now, this isn’t going to hurt a bit.” “It is easy to assemble. Just follow the directions.” “Please, daddy, I’ll walk him. I’ll feed him. I’ll do everything.” “Hi. I’m from the IRS and I’m here to help you.” “Mother is only staying for two weeks. You’ll hardly know she is in the house.” People may come to Jesus with some of that same skepticism. That’s OK, as long as we are willing to listen. Because gradually people realize that when Jesus opens His mouth, the only thing that comes out is the truth. George Clark, A Step of Faith Why Always the Bible? The author Hans-Ruedi Weber relates a story which is often told in East Africa. A simple woman always walked around with her bulky Bible. She never was parted from it. So the villagers began to tease her: "Why always the Bible?" they asked. "There are so many other books you could read." Yet the woman kept on living with her Bible, neither disturbed nor angered by all the teasing. But finally one day, she knelt down in the midst of those who laughed at her. She held up the Bible, high above her head, and said with a great smile: "Yes, of course there are many books which I could read. Yet there is only one book which reads me." I thought of this story as I read of the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. How improbable a meeting it must have seemed to Jesus’ disciples. Jews were contemptuous of Samaritans. Rabbis avoided speaking to women in public. But with his customary disdain for the national and sexual chauvinism of his day, Jesus spoke to this woman, and he graced her. Robert Bachelder, Between Dying And Birth, CSS Publishing. Pointing to Christ The highly esteemed theologian Karl Barth had a painting of the crucifixion on the wall of his study that was painted by the artist Matthias Grunewald. In the painting there is an image of John the Baptist. The artist portrayed John the Baptist pointing his finger to the cross of Jesus in the center of the painting. It’s said that when Barth would talk with a visitor about his work, he would direct them to John the Baptist in the painting, and he would say, “I want to be that finger.” Barth wanted to point people to Christ. King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Authentic Evangelism "Authentic evangelism," writes George G. Hunter, "flows from a mindset that acknowledges the ultimate value of people - forgotten people, lost people, wandering people, up-and-outers, down-and outers - all people. The highest value is to love them, serve them, and reach them." "Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city." The woman would be back. The woman who shied away from people because she wanted to avoid their scorn was energized to tell others, the very people who had hurt her, that she had found the Messiah. George G. Hunter, quoted by King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com SERMON ILLUSTRATION CHILDREN’S SERMON…… "Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, "Give me a drink," you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.' " Theme: Prayer; spirit. Visual Aid: A small potted cactus. (An unusual pot will elicit more interest from the children.) As the children gather on the steps they see I am holding a small cactus planted in a pot shaped like a cat. "What did I bring with me this morning?" I ask them. "A plant in a cat!" some of them respond. "Yes, a cactus in a cat," I tell them. "What does this cactus need to live in this pot?" "Sunshine!" says one little boy. "Yes, it needs sunshine. What else does it need?" "Water," replies a little girl. "Yes, it needs water. And there is something else it needs." I start to tilt the pot to the side as I speak. "What are its roots in? What is holding it in the pot?" "Dirt!" most of them say triumphantly. "That's right, dirt. The cactus gets food from the dirt. "Well, what I have to say to you this morning may be one of the most important things I ever tell you. But, it's a little hard to understand. That's why I brought this plant along, to help me explain it to you. Like the cactus, all of you need sunshine, water, and food to live, though you don't eat dirt -- at least not usually!" "You need all of these things for your physical health and to give you the energy to use your mind. But your spirit needs something too. Perhaps this will be easier to understand if you think of your spirit as a plant inside you -- probably not a prickly one like this cactus; you wouldn't want to be all prickly inside!" Several children shake their heads in agreement, grinning. "Now this spirit, this plant inside you needs a special kind of 'water' to live -- it's something Jesus called 'living water.' It isn't like the water from the rain, or the water several blocks from here that flows in the Missouri River. It isn't like the water you get out of a faucet. You can't see it, or touch it, or taste it, but you can feel it, at times of great joy or sadness, and at very quiet times. It is the feeling that brings tears, which you could think of as 'rain,' and laughter, which you could think of as the rainbow that follows the rain. It is spirit 'stuff' and it comes to us from God, through God's son, Jesus. And the only way to get it is to ask. That means it is important to take time to pray, quiet time, to talk with God and listen to God so that we can receive this 'water' for our spirits. "Tonight when you go to bed, before you go to sleep, you might whisper a prayer, asking God for this invisible 'living water' of the spirit. You might think of your spirit as a little plant inside you that is thirsty, and ask God to give it a drink." CSS Publishing Company, Inc, Cows In Church, by B. Kathleen Fannin