Just because you can, doesn't mean that you should

June 25, 2023 Year A 4th Sunday after Pentecost Romans 6:1-11 Just because you can doesn’t mean that you should Prelude Welcome Call to Worship L: Welcome! This is a time to celebrate and worship God who loves us! P: We are grateful and thankful for all God’s blessings in our lives. L: We gather to remember that Christ gave his life for us. P: We humbly praise God for such a gift! L: Come, friends! Come and worship the God of love and hope. P: Praise be to God at all times and in all places! AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Opening Prayer Holy God who created all that exists, we praise you. We open our hearts and our spirits this day to your eternal love and forgiving mercy. Be with us as we participate in this worship service. Remind us again that Jesus Christ gave his life that we might fully understand the depth and breadth of your love. In all things and at all times we praise you. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Song And Can it be that I Should Gain UMH 363 Children’s Sermon “Hello children of God. What do I have here? It’s kind of hard to tell. These are tortilla chips, well they’re sort of turning into the crumbs of tortilla chips now, but you get the idea. The delicious chips that you could dip in salsa or sour cream or make nachos or have with tacos or something like that. But where did tortilla chips come from? What were they before they became chips? Well, if you said tortillas, you’re absolutely right. Sorry, no product placement here, but prior to becoming a chip, this was just a tortilla. Now, can the chip turn back into a tortilla? No, of course not, because this is soft, this is the before stage, and this is the after. There’s nothing this delicious satisfying chip could do to go back to being a soft little tortilla. Well, that might have been obvious, but here’s one that is a little more exciting. What is this? A pickle, a very delicious pickle. But where do pickles come from? What was that before it became a pickle? Believe it or not, that was once a cucumber, probably a smaller kind of cucumber than this, but yes, mind-blowing though it may seem, the great delicious pickle was once a lowly cucumber. So see, if your mom tells you to eat more vegetables, just throw some pickles on your burger. Not really, vegetables are important, you should have fresh vegetables, very delicious. But what did the cucumber have to go through to become a pickle? Well, it kind of soaked in this juicy stuff for a while with some different spices and seasonings and everything, and over time it became a pickle, kind of like a baptism in a way, but we’ll get to more on that in just a little bit. (Kristin Schmidt) Words of Grace and Peace In Christ, we are welcomed fully and enabled to exchange our fear with faith, our forgetfulness with the reassurance grounded in remembrance, our turning away with the possibility of turning toward our call and life more abundant that we might transform the world and all creation by the power of God’s unconditional and all-encompassing love. With open hands and hearts, let us receive the peace of Christ’s grace and peace. Amen (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Ann Jefferson) Scripture Romans 6:1-11 Sermon Just because you can doesn’t mean that you should I don’t know I do it to myself every time. I choose to preach from the epistle lesson. It sounds like a really good message, and then when I Start to research for the message, I realize that I am in trouble – There is nothing nice to say about that passage. It doesn’t get much worse than Romans 6 – the subject is sin, death and slavery – where is the grace in that message? – the good news is that grace abounds! Paul also talks about grace, new life and freedom in Christ. Paul’s great message to us today is that God loves us no matter what we do or who we are. That grace us not only what we depend on to live, but it also saves our souls. One of our teenagers got the point (sort of), reminding his mother that God could love him whether he cleaned his room or not. Unfortunately, I cannot report what his mother said in response. But one of our mothers got the point, when she told me she was glad her salvation was not going to depend on whether her refrigerator contained green things that were turning brown, or brown things that were turning green. And one of our fathers got the point ... powerfully so ... .when he said at the door: "Maybe instead of constantly yelling at everybody to tidy up, I ought to tell myself to lighten up." In Romans, chapter 5 talks all about grace through salvation, in chapter 6 Paul teaches us how to use it. Our scripture today starts with a question – should we continue to sin so that grace can abound? In other words does it really matter if we clean our rooms – won’t God still love us? And the answer is absolutely. But just because we can sin and receive grace, that doesn’t mean that we should. It all boils down to baptism – that strange ritual that most of us have experienced in some way. Of all the things Christians do, baptism might be the weirdest –– at least from an outsider perspective. For those born into the Christian tradition, baptism is a wonderful, beautiful moment, a joyful celebration. For those outside the Christian faith, it can seem completely strange, even macabre. Baptism is a “ritual drowning,” a symbolic death that ushers the baptized into a spiritually reborn, renewed life. However we dress this ritual up — whether with lacy baptismal gowns for infants or with lemonade and cookies for older children and adults — it is still a truly strange ceremony. One eight year old, upon being told that baptism meant she was being “buried with Jesus” responded, quite reasonably, “Well! That’s not very nice.” (As told by theologian Claire Watkins in her book Living Baptism [2004] 58) That eight-year old child was absolutely right. That does NOT sound very nice. It sounds nuts. It sounds “weird.” Maybe that’s part of our problem Christians aren’t “weird” enough. We die with Christ so that we can live with a new life with christ. In America, we pride ourselves on our freedom, our freedom to chose our life and make our own decisions. There are a lot of things that we can choose, but we cannot chose death. At some point we are all going to die. Baptism is that moment when we are challenged to face death. We all meet death because death and sin go hand in hand. No matter how devoted to Christianity that we are, we are all sinners. We all need God’s grace – we come here every Sunday in order to search for grace in our lives. Now when Paul speaks of sin, he is not talking about our character flaws, or even the long list of things that we have done wrong. For Paul, sin is a pervasive power, or force that seems to pervade the world and our lives. No matter how holy we are, we all have those human moments. Moments when we live in the moment, and we react without thinking or feeling our faith. We cant escape those moments. I was reading recently about Raynald III, a fourteenth Century duke in what is now Belgium. Raynald was grossly overweight. Captured in a revolt by his younger brother, he was imprisoned in a room that was built around him. The room had no bars on the windows not even a locked door though the door was slightly smaller than normal. Still, because of his size, he could not squeeze through to freedom. He was too large. Still there was hope. All he had to do to be a free man was to go on a diet. His brother even offered to restore his title and wealth as soon as he was able to leave the room. His brother knew Raynald's weakness, though. Each day he had sent to Raynald's room a variety of delicious foods. Instead of growing thinner, Raynald grew fatter. He was a prisoner not of locks or bars or iron gates. He was a prisoner of his own appetite. (1) We all have those habits, those thoughts that can keep us locked into patterns. Some people are slaves to shopping. They cannot pass up a sale, even if they have a house full of things they don't need. Some people are slaves to cholesterol. They have never met a donut or a piece of bacon they didn't like. Some people are slaves to their jobs. They do not like their jobs, but the company is paying them too much for them to quit, so they go to work in golden handcuffs. Some corporations are slaves to greed. Everybody answers to the bottom line. If the bottom line is not high enough, somebody has to go. In the last few years, we have had all kinds of revelations about that, but it's not news to anyone. I have a friend who is a slave to Budweiser. If he doesn't have a drink in his system, his body drives him crazy. He's admitted that he is embarrassed about it, and he ought to be. Two weeks ago, he wrecked another truck. His friends hope it's a wake-up call. The good news is that we get locked into patterns, but humans are the only species that can break those habits and start new habits. We have the ability to reflect on our actions and do something new – all thanks to God’s love for us. We can find new life in Christ in the midst of death. Paul called himself a slave to Christ. In other words, if you have to be attached to something, it may as well be Christ. bout twenty years ago, singer Bob Dylan went through a brief spiritual phase. A lifelong Jew, he got serious about God, even thinking about becoming a Christian. He wrote some new songs, hired a back-up group of gospel singers, and went on tour. One of the songs said, "You gotta serve somebody. You gotta serve somebody. It may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you gotta serve somebody." One night on tour he sang that song and the crowd began to boo. The more he sang, the more they booed. He stopped playing and left the stage. Afterward, one concert-goer said, "I didn't come to hear that kind of bologna. I'm free. I don't serve anybody but myself." Believe me, friends, there is no greater slavery than serving only yourself. Paul says he is a slave of Jesus. He struggles with his own urges, just like anybody else. But he knows in his gut that no good can come from listening only to his own desires. He is bound to a greater purpose than following his nose or listening to his stomach. He belongs to Jesus Christ. That is his identity. That gives him a purpose. Paul’s message to us – is that we all get stuck in our habits. But God didn’t intend for us to live that way into eternity. He wanted us to look for something better. We receive God’s grace so that we can live a righteous life. But we can’t take our righteousness for granted. It is a struggle everyday. Once there was a young man who was seeking true love. He went to the spiritual master and asked, "Wise teacher, I am searching for genuine love. How will I know when I have found it?" The master smiled and said, "I will not tell you the answer, but I will tell you that there are three ingredients to genuine love. Are you willing to search the world to find them?" "Yes," said the young man. And so the young man traveled the world over. He went to the great schools of learning. He talked to the wise masters and mistresses. He fell in love. He was loved. He failed in love. After many years the young man returned to the old master. The old master recognized him immediately and asked what he had found. The young man said, "Alas, I have only found two of the three ingredients of genuine love." "Tell me what you have learned," said the master. "First of all, genuine love is life-giving. When you love and are loved, life itself is richer and more full. And love shared creates new life in children." "That is right," said the master. "Secondly, genuine love is a forever love. It stands the test of time. Genuine love is deepened by the passing of the years." "That is right," said the master. But then the countenance of the young man fell and he said, "That is all I have learned." The master said, "Are you willing to go out again and seek and learn and experience more?" "Oh, no," said the young man. "I am too tired." The old man smiled and said, "You have indeed found all of the ingredients of genuine love. For not only is true love life-giving and forever. Genuine love is very hard work." (3) Dear old Martin Luther, whenever he was depressed and undergoing strong attack from the devil, or sensed his courage and spiritual strength failing, he would lay his hands on his head and say aloud to himself, I am baptized. And so do we, and our identity through baptism becomes a means of grace. I close with this. In the earliest baptismal liturgies, after the person had been baptized, he or she appeared before the bishop. The bishop embraced the new Christian then did something of great significance – the bishop dipped his finger into oil and made the sign of the cross on the Christian’s forehead. This was known as the signation, the signature. The sign of the cross upon a person’s forehead was like a brand to show ownership. As sheep are marked to show ownership, so Christians are marked by baptism to show who owns them and to what flock they belong. By baptism, Christians are branded to show who chose them and who now owns them. Remember your baptism. Maxie Dunnam, MaxieDunnam.com, by Maxie Dunnam During baptisms, we bring the font up front, but usually, it sits amongst us – available for us in those tought times in life to touch the water and remember your baptism. Remember your purpose, remember God’s intention for you. Baptism in intended to be a bridge – between our human life and our spiritual life. For some people Christianity is an adjective – it describes a part of their life. It is what they do or what they strive for but never quite achieve. When we remember our baptism – we are reminded that Christianity is a noun – it is who we are deep to the core. Our actions may not show it – but fundamentally we are a child of God. God loves us and claims us no matter what. Because of that grace – we may sin, but we don’t live there. God called each of out of our personal identity – together to be the body of christ for the world. God needed to raise up a righteous army in charge of healing the world. Healing the world so that all people can live in grace and not sin. But what happens when the righteous are just as sinful as the rest of the world – what happens then. The good news is God has a plan for that. God sent christ to not only be our example, but to be our salvation. Christ leads us into death to new life.We are transformed so that we can transform others. A family once had two little puppies. One of the puppies was a boy and the other was a girl...and for some strange reason wherever the sister went, the brother was on her tail following right behind her. Every morning, as they were let out to play, they would go scampering out the door, down the steps, across the lawn and through a hole in the fence, and always, the brother was following right behind his sister. One day, the family decided to fix that hole in the fence, and the next morning, they let the dogs out to play. As usual, the puppies went out the door, down the steps, across the lawn. As the lead dog approached the fence, she saw that the hole in the fence had been fixed and she quickly turned to the right to avoid hitting the fence. Her brother, however, was not so fortunate; he crashed right into the fence. Later, the family discovered why: he was blind the puppy had been blind since birth. He had simply learned that to get around he had to listen, listen to the sounds of his sister's footsteps, listen to where his sister was going and follow her. (4) There is a blind world outside this door. If we do not think so, all we have to do is to read the headlines in our morning paper. More than anything else people need to see the grace, love and peace of Jesus Christ lived out in human form and that will only happen when we who have been buried with Christ in Christian baptism are resurrected with him to new life. Do not settle for making Christ your whipping boy. Make him the Lord of your life. The world depends upon it. The rest of the world may not go to church every Sunday, they may not be as close to God, they may not know that Christ is their salvation – but they are watching our actions. They are watching to see how grace works in our lives. Why can’t we sin so that grace abounds – because the rest of the world needs to know that they can come out of the world of sin and live in new life in Christ. "Christ rose from the dead and will never die again," writes Paul. "Death no longer has any power over him. He died once for all to end sin's power, but now he lives forever in unbroken fellowship with God. So look upon your old sin nature as dead and unresponsive to sin, and instead be alive to God, alert to him, through Jesus Christ our Lord." (vs. 9-11, The Living Bible) Amen Song It is well with my Soul UMH 377 Prayer God of summer, This world is yours and we live according to your abundance. Wherever we wander during these June days – road trips to the beach, family camping trips, visiting friends and relatives – watch over our travels. May we reach our destinations safely and make our journeys with wonder at the blessings bestowed upon us by your amazing grace. As we kneel in the dirt of our gardens, pulling the unwanted weeds, pruning the untamed overgrowth, may our harvest be plentiful and the smell of soil, air and sun spark joy. You give us enough to share, Holy God. Remind us of those who don’t have enough and our ability to make a difference in their lives. The heat and humidity can be oppressive, God. Perfect weather for those with access to a swimming pool. So, we pray for those without access or excess. We pray for people without cool places of respite and refuge. We pray for those whose lives are threatened by the heat. We pray for the poor and impoverished of this country, as well as around the world. May we find ways to shelter and nurture all your children, Holy God. Hear our thanks and praise for the blessings of this summer. Hear, also, our prayers for those who are struggling. Especially, we pray for Those who – for whatever reason – cannot enjoy the blessings of summer In your mercy, Beloved God, hear the prayers of your people Amen (Presbyterian Outlook, Terri Ott) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Paul’s letter to the Romans lays out a description of what Christ means for each of us who have been buried with Christ in baptism. Alleluia! We now walk in newness of life, just as Christ was raised up to new life in his resurrection. What a gift! We are alive to God in Christ Jesus. In full-hearted gratitude, then, we offer back to God our time, our talent and our treasure. Joyfully, we bring our financial gifts as one way we of expressing our gratitude. Prayer of Thanksgiving Mighty God, giver of life and all its goodness, thank you for the gifts you pour out for each of us, day by day. Morning by morning, new mercies we see! Please accept this offering as one symbol of our gratitude and our love. Give us insight in how we might best use these gifts to share Good News with those who are fearful and frightened. AMEN (Disciples of Christ, Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Grant, O Lord, that what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts, and that what we believe in our hearts we may practice in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (JOHN HUNTER, SCOTLAND, 19TH CENT., ALT.) Joys and concerns Benediction God, bless us. Jesus, walk with us. Holy Spirit, guide us. As we leave this house of worship may the grace, hope, peace and love of God our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer be with us all, now and always. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Terri Ott) Additional Illustrations If it has not happened to you yet, you can be sure that sooner or later life is going to acquaint you with death. We can decide whether or not we want to go to Australia; we have the option of eating horsemeat or not eating horsemeat; but we do not have the option of meeting death or not meeting death. We will meet it, perhaps have already met it, of this we can be sure. But meeting it does not mean that we automatically have made our peace with it. Meeting it does not mean that we have accepted it, befriended it, integrated its reality into our lives. Young people are listening to a song these days that carries the line, "I'm going to live forever." It's repeated many times in the song and maybe some hear that so often they begin to believe they will never have to die. The Christian faith helps us stand up to death. It looks death in the eye and says, "Death, you have been overrated; your power has been overestimated; your influence has been miscalculated. Some influence you have, but much that people have led us to believe you can do you cannot. You can't squelch my ultimate identity; you can't destroy what is essentially me; you can't kidnap me from God. From you I will not run. Do to me what is yours to do, because you will not be my undoing. Death, where is your victory? Grave, where is your sting?" C.S.S Publishing Co., IN SURE AND CERTAIN HOPE, by Robert Noblett For one thing, the cross of Christ -- the sign of God’s new covenant with us in Jesus Christ -- is invisible. It cannot be seen with the naked eye; it was traced on our foreheads with a “bare” finger, or possibly with water or oil. It could not be seen at all, or not for very long, at best. The “mark” of the cross in baptism is not meant to be visible in the manner that the branding of cattle or other animals is intended so that they might be identified when the visible brand is seen. One of the National Geographic specials on television related the story of a study made of polar bears to learn how they are coping with the infringement of modern culture upon their environment. The hunter/scientists making the study used a helicopter to locate and anesthetize a large polar bear; they shot a “loaded” dart into the animal, waited until the bear was helpless on the snow and ice, and conducted their examination. They measured the bear, checked its teeth, took blood samples, and fitted it with a tracking collar, taking great care to allow for the seasonal weight gain that occurs in these animals during the summer. The last thing they did was spray paint on the animal a large number 25 which was highly visible from the air, as they watched the animal regain its feet and run away. In contrast, the mark of the cross, God’s covenant with us, is invisible and can never be seen with the naked eye. A visitor asked me, on one occasion -- and I suspect that his question often goes unasked by visitors -- “Why does a theological seminary need a baptismal font? It is never used, is it?” My answer was that it really is used for baptisms, on occasion, when children of students and other persons may be baptized. But the fonts need to be there not only so that the liturgical appointments of the chapels will be complete, but to remind worshipers that they have been “marked with the cross of Christ forever,” that they belong to God, and that what happens between the walls of our churches, as well as in the world, is his business. That’s why the font is used by some people every day; many persons (students, staff, faculty, and others) dip their fingers into the water and retrace the sign of the cross on their foreheads, because they remember their baptism into Jesus’ death and his resurrection. The mark of the cross is indelible; it cannot be washed away or removed by time because the very spirit of the risen Lord makes it indelible. The creation has not yet come to an end. The Bible says that God created man on the sixth day and rested, but each of those days was a million years long. That day of rest must have been a short one. Man is not an end but a beginning. We are at the beginning of the second week. We are the children of the Eighth Day.1 "Even so we also should walk in newness of life." "Man is not an end but a beginning." "We are at the beginning of the second week of Creation." Creation is not just something I receive. Creation is something that I do and continue to do in a working fellowship with God. The line of succession could be Abraham, Jesus, and now us. That puts life in a different perspective. What, that is meaningful beyond my personal support and my family upkeep, am I doing creatively in the life of the world? In my neighborhood, at work, in my carpool, through my vocation, in my community - anywhere? Am I helping to heal the hurt of the world? Am I working with God in any project that I recognize to be God’s work? Am I really living yet? lf I stood before God tonight, and he asked me, "Why should I let you into heaven?" what would I answer? I might stammer, "Your grace, your love, your forgiveness!" "But how did you share my love? What did you do for others because of my love for you?" Paul had the overall picture. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice." An invested life, invested under the guidance of God, in healing the hurt of the world! I recall an interesting story about an old snake. He lived in a pasture under a rock. Every morning he left his rock, crawled through a hole just his size in the fence, and hunted for food in the field beyond. One day he caught nothing and was coming home half-starved. Just before he reached his little hole in the fence, a baby rabbit jumped up. Without thinking, the snake snapped out, grabbed the rabbit, and swallowed him. The rabbit worked back in the snake’s body like an orange in a Christmas stocking. He started now, to go on through the hole, but he got only as far as the little rabbit, and there he was stuck. Just then another baby rabbit jumped in front of him on the other side of the fence. Without thinking the snake snapped that one up also (two oranges in the Christmas stocking). There was the snake, bulging with two rabbits - one on either side of the fence. He couldn’t move forward or backward. At this moment the old farmer heard the commotion and came with his pitchfork. As he lifted the fork to kill the snake, the old snake, being a philosopher, looked up and moaned, "Here lie I, the victim of circumstances beyond my control." Perhaps this was true for that moment, but he didn’t have to swallow the first rabbit; he didn’t have to swallow the second rabbit. After that, plainly, the circumstances were definitely beyond his control. How often do we make the same mistake - doing thoughtlessly the thing that condemns us? There is a fascinating story about Emma Calve, French soprano, that turns out much better. She was famous in Brussels, Paris, London and the Metropolitan in New York. While she was in Venice waiting for a letter, there came some crushing news. In despair, she started to leap from the balcony to her death. At that moment, she was stopped by the song of a gondolier. She had a deep urge to sing once more before she died. She hired the boat, and while floating down the canals of Venice, she sang all the songs she knew, her last performance - all the music in her welling up through her intense struggle and sorrow. When she had sung it all, she became aware of the multitude of boats jammed all around her boat, and she was amazed. She hid under a cover as the gondolier rowed her back to her hotel. The next morning there were flowers and a special note: "From Paul and Jeanne, who love each other greatly, to whom you have given an unforgettable night! May the blessing of God be upon you, who are the bearer of the Fire Divine." She lived! She had found her place: "The bearer of Fire Divine." What’s your place in the divine scheme of things? David Cairnes, in The Faith That Rebels, declares: "If Christ were here in the body ... and we all gathered round him, and each of us told him in turn the story of our failures and tragedies and sins, he would say to each of us: ‘What has been wrong with you, and what is wrong with you still, is that as yet you have not enough faith in God.’ "2 It is too true. If we don’t really believe in God, life doesn’t make sense, and we are confused and lost. We do not make an investment of our lives in that which we do not trust. My son Robert G. Tuttle, Jr., tells of a young doctor coming to him for counseling. The doctor opened with this strange declaration: "I’ve got everything I ever wanted. I have a big practice, plenty of money, a beautiful home, a wife I love, and three children. I have the house at the beach, the boat and all that. Why do I want to blow my brains out?" My son looked at him and was inwardly praying for understanding. He answered: "You’ve achieved every goal you ever set for yourself. You’ve lived your life; there’s nothing else to live for. Go ahead and take your life. But there is one thing I want to tell you before you do. "You’ve been living only for yourself and you are bored. If you dared turn your life, your family, your practice of medicine, your money over to God, you would be lifted into a living challenge you could never catch up with. God would put you to work meaningfully, and you can never exhaust God. Life will go on and on in creative mystery and excitement; new life will come to you, your family, your practice, and your world. Do you dare try it?" The doctor really tried it; he gave it all to God, consciously and subconsciously. New life flowed; every new day was fresh and full of expectations. God was rescuing him. His practice had a rich new meaning and effectiveness. God can do this for any of us, if we dare let him. Thomas Wolfe seemed always to be waiting for someone to fling open the door for him, to let the light in. God doesn’t do it all for us. There are always two keys to the strongbox. In love, God flings us out into the world of struggle and darkness, not to pity ourselves. He meets us there. He brings a light. He helps us find ourselves and helps us to help others find themselves. As we help others find themselves, we, too, are found and God is there. This is the "unfound door." This is the "lost lane-end into heaven." Under the realized touch of God, we become workers together with God in building that ultimate world. We are the children of the "eighth day of creation." We are the "bearers of the Fire Divine." Paul calls us to this vision: "Even so, we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4b). What a parable of the dilemma faced by many people every day. There are forces within the human personality that can attain an almost demonic grip on our behavior. We must admire the person who wins a permanent victory over nicotine or alcohol or cocaine or even chocolates. It is not easy. Of course, there are other serious weaknesses of the flesh. Psychologists are now talking about sexual addiction, people who are forced to deal with an enormous drive to abuse the blessed gift of sexuality. Inability or failure to keep this drive under control has broken hearts, families, and lives ever since humanity made its appearance on earth. Two months later, Sir Roger woke up and sensed a compelling inward voice that said, "Go to York." He was not a man given to such voices, but the next day he saddled his horse and set off to York. When he arrived he discovered a large crowd gathered outside the courthouse. On hearing that it was the last day of a murder trial, he entered the courthouse and sat in the public gallery, from where he heard the guilty verdict pronounced. When the accused man was asked if he had anything to say, he replied: "I am innocent. I was more than one hundred miles from the crime on the day it took place. I was in Colchester. Another man and myself heard a clock strike thirteen. If only I could find him, he could vouch for my innocence." Immediately Sir Roger stood up and declared: "Now I know why I was to come to York." He explained who he was and showed the judge his diary which he always carried with him. The accused was declared innocent on the basis of Sir Roger's testimony. As he and Sir Roger walked out of the court, the freed man turned to his benefactor and said, "You are the only man in all the world who could have saved me." (2) Here is God's word for today. You and I are in torment and turmoil because of our estrangement from God, and there is only one man who can help us. That one man is Jesus of Nazareth. He is the only one who can make us truly free. Genuine love is very hard work; so is genuine religion. But we need that. A religion that costs us nothing has no power to lift our lives from the hum-drum to the extraordinary. One of the great stories of literature is that of Jean Valijean in Victor Hugo's novel, Les Miserables. After his parents died, Jean went to live with his sister. After her husband died the responsibility of being the breadwinner fell to Jean, who was 17 at the time. Many times the family went hungry. Jean once broke through a window and stole a loaf of bread when he was out of work and the children were starving. He was arrested, tried, and put in prison. After attempting to escape several times, his sentence was increased. Ultimately, he served a total of 19 years in prison--for stealing a loaf of bread. When he was finally released, he found life outside the prison every bit as cruel as the world he had just left. Everyone rejected him and no one trusted him. He went to visit the bishop at a local church. The bishop invited him in, seated him at the table, which was set with the finest silver and treated him with dignity. He gave him a bed for the night, but Valijean woke in the middle of the night, unable to sleep. He was confused by bishop's kindness. He was tempted to kill his benefactor but then he decided not to. Instead he stole the bishop's silver and left the house. He was caught the next morning by a policeman who brought him back to the bishop's home. When the door was opened the bishop said, "I'm glad you came back. I had intended to give you the candlesticks as well as the silver." Valijean was released. But he left the bishop's house even more confused than before. As he sat thinking about what had happened, a child came by and dropped a coin near him. He reached out and covered the coin, and the child ran away crying. Later, when he realized what he had done, he tried to find the child to return the money, but he couldn't. But from that time on, a gradual transformation began to take place in his life, and Jean Valijean became a respected citizen. He was eventually elected mayor of his village. Then one day he read about an old man who had been captured in a nearby town and was being accused of being the Jean Valijean who had stolen a coin from a child. After a great struggle in Valijean's soul, he surrendered himself to save the innocent man. (2) The story of Jean Valijean is the story of a man who was the object of mercy--the mercy of a kindly bishop--and could not forget it. My friends, you and I are objects of mercy too. It's sometimes hard for us to realize this, because I fear that the cross has become a cliche for many of us. It has become so familiar that we are no longer touched by its central theme--that the One who created us loves us so much that no price is too great to pay for our salvation. Look to your baptism, look to Christ's death in your behalf. But also look to his resurrection--his victory over sin and the grave. In his book, The Gospel For The Person Who Has Everything, William Willimon tells of a young friend, age 4, who was asked on the occasion of his 5th birthday what kind of party he wanted to have. I want everybody to be a king and queen, Clayton said. So, he and his mother went to work, fashioning a score of silver crowns – cardboard and aluminum foil, purple robes – crepe paper, and royal scepters – sticks painted gold. On the day of the party, as the guests arrived, they were each given a royal crown, a robe, and a scepter, and were thus dressed as a king or a queen. It was a royal site - all kings and queens. Everyone had a wonderful time. They ate ice cream and cake, they had a procession up to the top of the block and back again, and then when it was all over, everyone knew it had been a royal, wonderful day. That evening as Clayton’s mom tucked him into bed, she asked him what he wished for when he blew the candles out on the birthday cake. I wished, he said, that everyone, everyone in the whole wide world could be a king and a queen. Not just on my birthday, but everyday. My friend Willimon closed this story by saying, well Clayton, baptism shows that something very much like that happened one day at a place called Calvary. We who were nobodies became somebodies. Those who were no people became God’s people. The wretched of the earth became royalty. Two or three years ago, I saw the death door at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome. Some of you may remember that the great Pope John XXIII, bless his memory, commissioned the eminent artist, Geacoma Manza, to sculpt a new door for that great basilica, and the artist depicted on that door a series of death scenes. There was death by falling, death in war, the martyred death of Peter upside down on the cross, and others. Death by drowning is there, death by water. And I reasoned as I looked at that door, that this was behind the sculptor’s theme – we enter the church by death. Baptism – our acted entrance into the church is by water. So death by water is a challenging and authentic understanding of baptism. The early church even built its baptismal fonts in the shape of tombs to make that meaning graphic. So we cannot underscore the meaning of baptism too much if we’re going to save ourselves from approaching casually that event in a person’s life which is so crucial. Being buried with Christ in baptism – having the sign and the seal of our salvation placed upon us with water and the laying on of hands. What does that mean? -- to walk in newness of life? To answer that, let's look at another question: How Christian are we Christians? How Christian are you? A few years ago, the Christian scholar, Wilfred Cantwell Smith, wrote a book, Questions of Religious Truth. He concludes that book with a chapter bearing the title, "Christian -- Noun or Adjective." Dr. Smith says that if he is asked if he is a Christian, he readily answers, "Yes!" But, if someone asks him if he is Christian, using the adjective, "the situation changes radically." Do you see the difference in the questions? Are you a Christian? Or, are you Christian? In one question, Christian is a noun -- in the other one, an adjective. Do you see the point? Do we use Christian as a noun or as an adjective? If someone asked you if you were a Christian, you would say "Yes," -- but if they didn't put that little article in there (a Christian) -- if they didn't ask if you are a Christian, but rather said "Are you Christian?", using the word as an adjective, you might find that a searching question -- a disquieting one. "One that undermines your complacency." Dr. Smith said, "Indeed, to ponder it is to set all atremble. The noun is comforting, the adjective is demanding." I know what Dr. Smith is talking about, and so do you. I am a Christian, but I know that I do not always act authentically and consistently Christian. So the noun-adjective distinction with that word makes me very uncomfortable. I hope it does you. J. A. Davidson, who inspired this line of thought, says, "We are misled when we think of being a Christian and being Christian as matters of achievement." St. Augustine, one of the most influential thinkers in Christian history, said that "God deals with us, not as we are, but as we are becoming." Martin Luther reflected this insight when many years later he wrote, "The Christian is not in a state of being, but in one of becoming." Christian-ness, then is not a condition but a process." (J. A. Davidson, Perspectives and Prejudices, "Christian: Noun or Adjective", Pulpit-Digest, July August 1983, page 18). So, it is a legitimate question: How Christian am I? How Christian are you? Malcolm Muggeridge is a great English writer who became a Christian later in life than most. He tells the story that he became Christian because of the life, the presence, and the ministry of Mother Teresa. He wrote a book about Mother Teresa entitled Something Beautiful for God. In that book he tells about the time when he first met her and visited with her in Calcutta in the late 1930's. This is what he said, "I walked through the streets of the poverty of that city, poverty beyond belief. I kept walking, experiencing that until I became physically ill. I ran away, I went back to my comfortable hotel room and took a stiff shot of whiskey to expiate the wretchedness of my experience." Later he said he met Mother Teresa, and discovered that she walked the same streets, she went into the same place he was. He said, "The difference -- I ran away, but Mother Teresa crossed the line. She stayed, and healing took place." It always does, doesn't it? -- When we give compassion a chance. Go back to my question, "How Christian are we?" We can give a pretty good answer to that, and an honest answer, if we will look at the degree to which in each of our lives we add flavor to our kindness. And we give compassion a chance. This is what Paul is talking about when he calls us to walk in newness of life. Maxie Dunnam, , by Maxie Dunnam But James Braddock was an honest and courageous man. He took his son and the sausage back to the butcher, his son confessed his crime and they left. And outside the shop, James turns to his son and says, “No matter what, no matter how bad it gets we don’t steal Ever.” (9) It is important for us to hold on to the idea that there are some absolutes in life. It is wrong to steal. It is wrong to kill. It is wrong to commit adultery. There are circumstances that cause us to understand why a person might engage in wrong behavior, but sin is sin and it has consequences. And for us to be at peace in our hearts, our sins must be forgiven. John Vannorsdall tells the story of a young soldier during World War I. Somewhere along the Western Front, with shells bursting, and handsome bodies mangled beyond hope, with grownups wailing like babies, a young man, who is no more than a boy himself, says to a comrade, “We weren’t meant for this.” Commenting on this statement Dr. Richard Lischer writes, “We weren’t meant for this. Post that sentence on all the battlefields and prisons of the world; post it above the urban garbage dumps where humans made in God’s image scavenge for food, post it above homes filled with abuse. Nail it to this whole mass of damnation, which is our world: ‘we weren’t meant for this.’” (10) I hope that each of us will take that as our motto whenever we are tempted to betray our values, “We weren’t meant for this.” We were created in the image of God. We were created for something great and beautiful. It would be sad if we settled for squalid lives when we were created for splendor. would be true, for there are those who trust me; I would be pure, for there are those who care; I would be strong, for there is much to suffer; I would be brave, for there is much to dare. (11) Those words may sound archaic in our present world but it is important to see that young Walter, confronted with a strange culture’s many temptations, knew he “wasn’t created for this.” And neither are we. So, without any intent to create guilt or any desire to condemn, as you leave this room this day, I simply offer up these words of St. Paul for your reflection: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace . . .” And whenever you are tempted to sin, remember these important words, “You weren’t meant for this.” Timothy Radcliffe, a British Dominican priest, has written a beautiful book on the transforming power of baptism. His book Take the Plunge (Bloomsbury: London, 2012) redefines the moment of baptism for Christians, putting it in 21st century terms. The moment of baptism, of a ritualized death, is the end of our purely privatized life. As individual beings we have individual lives. In that individual existence we are born, we live, and we die. Baptism, our willing commitment to participate in something that reaches beyond that biological cycle, extends our individual lives, our personal stories, into something beyond our knowing and knowledge. It morphs our personal story into God’s universal story. The end of our privatized life is the beginning of our Christian life — a life lived as a member of Christ’s body, here on earth and after our earthly existence. In the act of baptism we acknowledge that our individual, earthly existence must inevitably come to an end. But it embraces the beginning of an existence lived wholly in God’s love and in God’s presence. Our “death” in baptism is our first baby step into our life as a disciple, as a person who has a resume that goes beyond the grave. Our baptism is our real natal day, our birth day into eternity. O Lord remember not only the men and women of good will, but all those of ill will. But do not remember all the suffering they have inflicted on us. Remember the fruits we have bought thanks to this suffering: our comradeship, our loyalty our humility, our courage, our generosity, the greatness of heart that has grown out of all this. And when they come to judgment, let all the fruits we have borne be their forgiveness. (As quoted Duncan B. Forrester, Apocalypse Now? Reflections on Faith in a Time of Terror (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2005), 115). ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., Leonard Sweet Sermon, by Leonard Sweet Professional speaker Phillip Wexler notes that the human being is the only creature on earth that is not the prisoner of its programming, but is the master of it. Birds are programmed to fly south in the winter. They don’t suddenly decide that because of the bad economy they had better stay home this year. Beavers build dams. Fish swim in schools. Only humans decide to build a dam or to go back to school. We have the power to decide. That doesn’t mean, of course, that we always make good decisions. Some of you will remember an episode of Seinfeld in which George Costanza is frustrated because every decision he makes turns out to be wrong. Jerry says, “Here’s your chance to do the opposite. If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right.” George realizes that Jerry is on to something. If he would act and react completely opposite of his normal actions and reactions, he might have better results. George makes a decision to alter his behavior. “Yes! I will do the opposite!” he declares. It turns out that Jerry was right. Whenever George does the opposite of his normal reactions, the situation always turns out in his favor. (3) You really have to have a perverse view of the world to make such an approach to life work for you, but that is why the comedy on Seinfeld worked. “Congratulations, today’s your day. You’re off to great places. You’re off and away. You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” Those rhythmic words of advice come from the delightful little book by Dr. Seuss titled Oh, the Places You’ll Go! (1) “You’re on your own,” he continues. “And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go.” It’s up to us, says Dr. Seuss. The world is ours and we are free to choose what kind of life we will have. He even provides a warning: “You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care. About some you will say, ‘I don’t choose to go there.’” With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street.” I wish that were true, don’t you? I wish we only went places our brains told us to go that we always made rational choices. A. Philip Parham tells about a minister who asked a person he was counseling if he had any trouble making decisions. The man answered, “Well, yes and no.” Parham notes that the word intelligence comes from two words inter, meaning “between,” and legere, meaning “to choose.” An intelligent person is one who has learned to choose between good and evil, truth and falsehood, love and hate, gentleness and cruelty, humility and arrogance, and life and death. (2) In other words, “You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care. About some you will say, ‘I don’t choose to go there.’” As one preacher in the Southern U.S says, “God always votes yes, the devil votes no, and your vote decides the election.” When Pompeii was being excavated, they found a woman’s body. Her body had been preserved by the ashes from Mount Vesuvius as it swept over the city. This woman’s feet were turned toward the city gate, toward safety but her face was turned backward. She was looking back toward something that was just beyond her outstretched hands. The archeologists wondered what she was looking for. As they dug, they found a bag of pearls. Maybe she dropped this bag of pearls as she ran for her life. Maybe someone else dropped them, and this lady saw the chance for instant wealth. But, one way or another, with her life on the line, she thought it was worthwhile to stop and pick up some pearls. She turned to pick them up and the volcanic ash swept over her. (4) What a terrible choice. It was a very human thing to do to reach out for the bag of pearls, but it cost her her life. But all of those responses raise an interesting question. Does it mean that we can go on living in dirt and filth forever? Is there nothing to be said for tidy rooms, shiny souls and mold-free refrigerators? Thirty-three years after ordination, I still know precious little about going on to perfection. But I know that it begins by climbing the basement stairs. ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., Collected Sermons, by William A. Ritter He signs this letter to the Romans with the words, "Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ." The word in Greek is doulos. That can be translated "slave." It can be translated as "servant." Then he said, "You know, Paul calls himself a slave. And if you're going to belong to anybody, you ought to belong to Jesus. He is a tough master, but he is more than fair. And if you belong to Jesus, nobody else can have a piece of you." He's right. Paul believes that he has a master. In fact, if you listen to this whole passage from Romans 6, it sounds like Paul believes that everybody has a master. Somebody owns us. Paul is right. Even in a land of freedom and liberty, somebody has shackled us in chains, whether we know it or not. The question is: Who is yanking your chain? He says this because he knows if the only thing he does is what he wants to do, if the only opinion he listens to is his opinion or his friends' opinions, if the only purpose for his life is to cover his tail or save his skin, then he is in a whole lot of trouble. The power of sin is so pervasive that it can take and twist our best impulses into something foul. There are so many kinds of sin that work on us and bind us. It's hard to be free for all of it. The day may come when she'll say, "Mom, do I have to go to church?" We can laugh about that; most of us have said that, some time or another. There are a lot of things in church that seem like forms of imprisonment. Like one parishioner once said to me, "Reverend, how long am I supposed to serve on this committee? It's been 42 years." There are a lot of things in church that seem like slavery. We come here, and pray for forgiveness, and somebody tells us we're forgiven. Then across the aisle we see somebody we'd rather not ever spend any time with. And we pray, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors," and we think, "Oh, I don't want to forgive him. I'm not going to forgive him." But we've said those prayers, and we are bound to those words. There are some things we learn through the church that feel like burdens. We get to know somebody, and discover that they are hurting, and we don't know what to do. We don't know how to help. It would be a lot easier to slip away and ignore them. But we can't do that because we are bound together through Christ, even when we'd rather go our own way. There are some occasions when the church decides it has to do something. A widow with seven kids comes to our neighborhood. She speaks with an accent. We don't know where we're going to put them. We are wondering how much money this is going to cost, and what else this is going to put off the plate. But we know it's the right thing to do, and we are bound to the work of justice and new beginnings. There are a lot of times when it would be easier to do our own thing. To play it safe. To back away. To retreat in comfort. Then we come to church and remember that we are bound to Jesus Christ. Not only that, he has bound himself to us. We are never free from him. The good news, of course, is that in this kind of bondage, there is great freedom.

Miracles Abound

John 2:1-11 Miracles Abound 2nd Sunday After Epiphany January 16, 2022 Year C Opening Song Welcome Reminder of COVID protocols Call to Worship (inspired by Psalm 36:5-10, John 2:1-11) We come this day, Precious God, as people in need of your steadfast love: with you is the fountain of life; in your Light we see light. We gather this day, Water-changing God, as people looking for signs: with you is the fountain of life; in your Light we see light. We worship this day, Gifting God, as people who confess Jesus as our Lord: with you is the fountain of life; in your Light we see light. ~ written by Thom Shuman, and posted on Lectionary Liturgies. Stewardship Moment When we come to this moment in our worship, we often try rationally to encourage generous giving by each person. Looking to the story of Jesus and his Mom at a wedding feast, however, we see how this mother pushed Jesus into an act of generosity (even if it was to get his Mom off his back!). A contemporary poet puts it this way: What Makes You Think You Don’t Need It? This Jewish mother knew the score; She knew her son could do much more Than just sit back, all uninvolved; And so, this ponderer resolved That she’d weigh in, and speak her mind, E’en though, this son of hers, unkindly Snapped! Sometimes you need a push To get yourself up off your tush; And if that’s true of even God, Perhaps for you, it’s not so odd. Scott L. Barton https://lectionarypoems.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-second-sunday-in-ordinary-time-c.html Consider this your push to act out the generosity which God models for us each day: give to strengthen and encourage those who will receive a blessing from your gift! Prayer of Thanksgiving Giving God, Thank you for challenging us today to get off our tushes (or soften this language, i.e.: “challenging us to do all we can do to share our treasure.”) Please accept these gifts. Inspire each of us toward true generosity, and use what is provided to accomplish far more than what any one of us could, or would, do alone. We offer this prayer because of Jesus, who turned water into wine, and inspires us to turn our bottled-up natures into ever-flowing springs. AMEN Passing of the Peace Scripture John 2:1-11 Common English Bible Wedding at Cana 2 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and 2 Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. 3 When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They don’t have any wine.” 4 Jesus replied, “Woman, what does that have to do with me? My time hasn’t come yet.” 5 His mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Nearby were six stone water jars used for the Jewish cleansing ritual, each able to hold about twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water,” and they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, “Now draw some from them and take it to the headwaiter,” and they did. 9 The headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine. He didn’t know where it came from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. The headwaiter called the groom 10 and said, “Everyone serves the good wine first. They bring out the second-rate wine only when the guests are drinking freely. You kept the good wine until now.” 11 This was the first miraculous sign that Jesus did in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. Sermon – Miracles Abound There are 25 recorded miracles of Jesus in the bible. The book of Matthew tells us of 20 miracles of Jesus, the book of Mark records 18, Luke tells of 20 miracles. The book of John is much more conservative. And yet the miracles in John are not even mentioned in the other three gospels. John only tells 7 miracle stories. This is the first on them. It is not very flashy or even significant. No one is saved or healed, or even has a change in life. As a matter of fact, John does not even like the word miracle. For him, these are signs – events the direct us to the wonder of God. They are very subtle ways that we can tell that God has entered into history and is on our side. Usually, when we think of the word miracle – we think of something that happens that defies the laws of reality in order to make things go our way. Repealing the Laws Author Jay Kesler says that shortly after he got his driver's license he wrecked his dad's car. The crash tore away the front fender, two doors, and the rear fender. After Jay found out everyone was okay, he stood in the ditch and prayed, "Dear God, I pray this didn't happen." He opened his eyes and saw that the car was still wrecked, so he closed his eyes, squinted real hard, and prayed again, "Dear God, it didn't happen." Then he opened his eyes, but, he says, it happened anyway. Have you ever been there? Have you ever asked God to move Heaven and Earth over something trivial, something impossible, something absurd? "Oh, Lord, please don't let it rain for my daughter's wedding," (ignoring the fact that there are others who are depending on rain for their wellbeing.) "Lord, please let the answer to question 8 be four hundred years," (Do we really expect God to change history so that we can pass an exam?). "Oh, God, please let mine be the lowest bid." (Yes, Lord, take your heavenly eraser and blot out everyone's bid and make them higher than mine.) Have you ever asked God to repeal the laws of gravity, undo the past, change weather patterns or something equally as absurd just for your convenience? I suspect we all have at sometime or another. So, we can appreciate our lesson from the Gospel. King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com We have all hoped for those kinds of miracles, and everyone once in a while we get lucky and those kinds of things happen in our life. But in reality, have those things really taught us anything of value about our faith or about the true nature of God. Delmonico told on radio: A man seated in a wheelchair at the Vatican suddenly got up and walked away. Everyone was amazed and shouted and praised God for the miracle. But the man hadn’t been ill. He was just resting for a little while in a vacant chair. God is accustomed to doing miracles every day and they appear quite commonplace. On the other hand, some things which seem miraclulous just aren’t explainable yet. God most often works within God’s own natural law. John uses this story to introduce us to the signs of God’s presence to help us to see the true miracles are very subtle. As I have looked back, I don’t choose to preach on this story very often. But this year I thought it fit into the epiphany theme of looking for signs of God’s presence in our lives. In this story we get to see the human side of Jesus. Jesus comes to a party to have fun and to forget about his work of saving the world. He even tells his mom, to leave him alone because a his time had not come. We also get to see firsthand his relationship with his mom. How did she know that he had the means to save the party by bringing more wine? Wine at a party was a sign of abundance, or celebration, of joy in life. Somehow she knew that the messiah would have all of these qualities. One thing that I learned just this year about this story - Jesus used the stone jars to store water for purification rites. These 25 gallon jugs would have been filled with water so that the guest could wash their hands and feet before entering into the party. By the time Jesus came to help, the jugs would have been empty, but the story says that Jesus filled them again. And the water tasted just like wine. Jesus is not just turning water into wine, he is calling for a whole new age. He is taking the water for obligation, and sin and guilt and turning it into something new and fun. He is turning a burden into a celebration. He turned a dead ritual into a live party. The point of John’s story – is this new wine made all of the difference in the world. The true miracle is that big changes start with small changes of the heart. This is the first sign of a new day. For John, Christ is the first sign of new life. Jesus loves to party, and when we invite him in it makes all of the difference in the world. When we look for Jesus we are never disappointed. Give Your Delimma to The Lord Dr. Charles Stanley, a prominent minister of a large church in Atlanta, tells the story of a time when their church needed two million dollars to relocate to a larger facility. The only problem was they didn’t have the money. One day, the board members told Dr. Stanley to get a loan from the bank because the deal sounded good. However, Dr. Stanley told the group that they needed divine direction, so they all packed their gear and took off for a state park for the weekend for a time of prayer. All weekend they prayed earnestly that God would give them direction and help them resolve the problem that they were facing. When they finally left the park, they still didn’t have any clear direction about how to purchase the building. But they were committed to waiting on God. A few days later, Dr. Stanley had a message to call a man He had never met. He lived in another state. The man said that he wanted to help Dr. Stanley’s ministry. Immediately, Dr. Stanley called him back, and the stranger said, “I have had you and your ministry on my mind the past several days. I notice that you never ask for money on the broadcast, and I was wondering if you have any needs.” Dr. Stanley explained the situation about the building and how they needed two million dollars to purchase it. The stranger said, “I think I can handle that.” And he gave that church two million dollars. That church had a problem; they gave their problem to Jesus; and their problem was solved. Keith Smith, Anything Is Possible With Jesus My point for the story is not to focus on the 2 millions dollar donation, but to focus on the fact that the gift came out of everyone going to God in prayer. Years ago when Johnny Carson was the host of The Tonight Show he interviewed an eight year old boy. The young man was asked to appear because he had rescued two friends in a coalmine outside his hometown in West Virginia. As Johnny questioned the boy, it became apparent to him and the audience that the young man was a Christian. So Johnny asked him if he attended Sunday school. When the boy said he did Johnny inquired, "What are you learning in Sunday school?" "Last week," came his reply, "our lesson was about when Jesus went to a wedding and turned water into wine." The audience roared, but Johnny tried to keep a straight face. Then he said, "And what did you learn from that story?" The boy squirmed in his chair. It was apparent he hadn't thought about this. But then he lifted up his face and said, "If you're going to have a wedding, make sure you invite Jesus!" The little boy was on to something. Weddings are time of Joy. Have you invited Jesus to your party? Or are we like the town who Whole town bought water There was a town, who had a tradition that whenever there was a wedding, you were supposed to bring a jug of wine from home, and put in the collective pot – so that there would be enough wine for everyone. Well times have gotten tough for this one particular family – and they decided that instead of bringing wine to the wedding, that they would bring a jug of water. Their little jug of water would not make a difference in the collective pot of wine – so they thought. It turns out every family felt the same way – everyone bought water instead of wine. Jesus is the wine of our celebration! Jesus us the life of our party! Jesus is the source of our faith! Let us celebrate our faith in Jesus Christ – be in service to the world, but be in all that you do, be in faithful service to God! Let us pray….. Prayer Lord of Light and Joy, the daylight hours are becoming longer for us. Evening comes a little later, and the dawn is earlier, but the darkness in our hearts persists. We continue to look at the miraculous ways you work in our lives as mere stories or happenstance. How foolish we are! From the beginning of all that is, you have poured your love and light into this world and into our lives. You have offered us countless blessings and opportunities for service, some of which we have followed, and others that we have ignored. You have forgiven and healed our spirits. We continue to bring before you the names and situations of people that are in direst need. We ask for your healing mercies and yet we wonder if you really are with us. Turn our moaning and crying into songs of praise and hope. Give us spirits of trust and rejoicing, that we may truly be your people all of our days. Prepare us for joyful service in your world; for we ask this in Jesus' Name. AMEN. Lord’s Prayer Song They’ll Know we are Christians by our love TFWS 2243 Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Look around you, dear people. God's joy is poured out for you so that you might be a blessing to others. God will continually walk and work with you, relieving your burdens and giving you strength. Go into God's world, rejoicing! AMEN. Community Time Benediction And now, from the One who is indeed the giver of all good gifts: go and share what God has given you; go and proclaim that God's love is here; go in the power of God's Spirit to make all things new. Children’s Sermon Hello, children of God! Have you ever seen a miracle? Do you know what a miracle is? It’s something that just shouldn’t be physically possible. It might even seem sort of like a magic trick. I want to show you a little trick now. I’m going to take this ordinary water (hold up water in a clear glass or bottle) and transform it into something new! Does that sound strange? Just watch. I mean, I like drinking water and all, and it’s great for hydration, but sometimes it can be a little boring. Sometimes I want something more exciting and flavorful. Well, what if I took this plain boring water, and I poured it into another glass? (As you speak, pour the water into another clear cup with drink powder hidden at the bottom. Watch as the liquid and powder blend to make a new juice.) Wow! It’s something completely new now! This will be a much more interesting beverage to enjoy. Well, that was not exactly a magic trick or a miracle, was it? In fact, that was just the trick of a little drink powder in the bottom of a glass. But there are a lot of times in the Bible when we read of Jesus doing amazing miracles. He did things to help people that may have been impossible. Yet nothing is impossible with God’s help! Do you know the first miracle that Jesus ever did? He transformed water, too! Only He didn’t use drink mix. You see, Jesus was at a wedding, and in those days weddings lasted a few days and included a lot of eating and drinking in celebration. Well, something unfortunate happened: the wedding ran out of wine! That would be like going to a birthday party and not having any cake. It would make the host look bad, and make the guests a little upset. Now, running out of wine might not seem like the most important thing to be concerned about, but Jesus’s mother Mary knew that He would care, and that He could do something about the situation. She came to Jesus and told Him what was going on. At first, He tried to tell her it wasn’t yet His time to be demonstrating God’s power. But Mary believed in Him. She knew He could do anything, and she told the servants to obey His instructions and do whatever He told them to do. Jesus told the servants to fill some large jars up with water, and serve it to the master of the house. They did what He asked, filling the jars with water. Only instead of plain water, when they served the master, he drank wine! Not only that, but the best kind of wine, and he commended the groom for saving the better wine for later in the celebration. With the belief of Mary and obedience of the servants, Jesus kept the guests well supplied! This miracle, the first one we read about in the Bible, reminds us of a couple of special things. First, it tells us that God truly cares about our lives, even the little details. He wants us to enjoy life, and even something like running out of drinks matters to Him. We also see how important it is to trust that Jesus can do anything. Do you know what else is awesome about this story? This was not the last miracle Jesus did! He did a lot of amazing things during His life on Earth, but did you know He continues to do miracles now? When you think about it, there are many marvelous little miracles that happen every single day. Even just waking up in the morning or taking a breath are miracles in a sense. Jesus is still present with us. He loves us and cares about us. He can make amazing things happen in our lives. Whether it’s something as simple as finding your favorite flavor at the ice cream store, or healing after being hurt or sick, God is working in every aspect of our lives. And He’s already done the greatest miracle, conquering death to pay for our sins! So we can give thanks each and every day for all of the moments, big and small, in which we recognize the presence of Christ. Let’s pray and thank God for marvelous miracles every day… Additional Illustrations Sermon Opener – Saving the Best Till Last The Jews attached great importance to the high moments of life. Thus a wedding was not just a brief ceremony, but an experience shared by the entire community. The typical wedding feast could last up to seven days. That sounds strange to our modern way of thinking, but this offered a bright interlude in an otherwise dreary existence. The ceremony would begin on Tuesday at midnight. After the wedding the father of the bride would take his daughter to every house so that everyone might congratulate her. It was a community experience. Weddings were a time of joy. At the wedding, which Jesus attended in Cana of Galilee, there was great joy but a problem developed. There was a shortage of wine. Not only was that a social embarrassment, it was also a symbol. For a wedding to run out of wine was an omen that there was little chance of this particular marriage reaching its full potential, maybe joy was not meant for this couple. So Mary approaches Jesus and asks him to do something. His response? "Why do you involve me woman?" Sounds harsh, so unlike him, and it has long puzzled biblical scholars... Inviting Christ Brings Joy Why do we bring Christ into the wedding ceremony? Because if we would only bring Christ into our marriages, we would have better marriages! A few years back psychologist Dr. Joyce Brothers was quoted as saying that for about half of all American couples, marriage is a “quiet hell.” Many other marriages have degenerated into a “tired friendship,” as someone put it. I submit to you that this is a tragedy, and in order to prevent such tragedies, we ought to take the traditional marriage ritual seriously and invite Christ to be a guest at our weddings, just as He was invited to the wedding at Cana in Galilee. Above all, in this quaint and lovely little story, John is proclaiming the Good News that Jesus Christ is the Life of every party, that he is the one who livens things up, brings life abundant for all, even anonymous brides and bridegrooms in an out-of-the-way peasant village located somewhere (where, we are not sure) in the Galilee. As William Barclay put it in his commentary on this passage: “...whenever Jesus comes into our lives there enters a quality which is like turning water into wine. The trouble with life is that we get bored with it. Pleasure loses its thrill. There is a vague dissatisfaction about everything. But when Jesus enters our lives there comes a new exhilaration!” Donald B. Strobe, Collected Words, www.Sermons.com A Whole New Era What about the underlying meaning? What did this strange first miracle signify? In a departure from custom, John fails to interpret for us the miraculous "sign," which for him almost always means a symbol, a kind of acted parable. Some commentators see in it a preview of the last Supper, when Jesus transforms not water into wind but wine into blood, his blood shed for all humanity. Maybe. But, I think not. I prefer a more whimsical interpretation. Tellingly, John notes that the wine came from huge thirty-gallon jugs that stood full of water at the front of the house, vessels that were used by observant Jews to fulfill the rules on ceremonial washing. Even a wedding feast had to honor the burdensome rituals of cleansing. Jesus, perhaps with a twinkle in his eye, transformed those jugs, ponderous symbols of the old way, into wineskins, harbingers of the new. From purified water of the Pharisees came the choice new wine of a whole new era. The time for ritual cleansing had passed; the time for celebration had begun. Prophets like John the Baptist preached judgment. Jesus' first miracle, though, was one of tender mercy. The lesson was not lost on the disciples who joined him at the wedding that night in Cana. Don't let it be lost on you! Adapted from Phillip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, Grand Rapids: Zondervan 1995, p. 168. _________________ In the middle ages, Thomas À Kempis wrote: "When you have Christ, you are rich. He is enough. He will provide everything you need so you won't have to count on others without him. People change and fail. You can't depend on them. Those that are for you today may be against you tomorrow. They are as variable as the wind. But Christ is eternally faithful." Mary Trusted. Mary knew that she could count on Jesus and so can we. Billy D. Strayhorn, Wedding Bell Blues Celebrating the New I once heard a speaker criticize the Lutheran Church by saying, "We have all the right words to a party, but we haven't learned how to pull it off, yet." Seldom do our worship services feel like wedding celebrations -- where 180 gallons of wine would be served during a week-long celebration. Maybe all this talk about 180 gallons of wine can encourage us to be more celebrative and joyful in our receiving and sharing of God's grace. At the same time, I often wonder what Sunday services would be like if we put in as much time, effort, and money as we do for weddings. The six stone water jars, each holding 20-30 gallons equals 120-180 gallons of wine! That's a lot of wine. I noted above that an abundance of wine was an OT eschatological symbol. The abundance of God's grace is a theme that can flow out of these huge jars. Something I hadn't noticed before is that these jars were empty. The servants have to fill them with water before the miracle occurs. Jesus is not transforming the purification water that was in the jars into the wine; but he is transforming new water that has been placed in the old containers. O'Day suggests: "New wine is created in the 'old' vessels of the Jewish purification rites, symbolizing that the old forms are given new content." Brian Stoffregen, Exegetical Notes Humor: Miracles There is a time-honored story about a skeptic who was continually harassing the local pastor. His one delight in life seemed to be making the pastor appear inadequate intellectually. The pastor bore these challenges to his theology and faith with great restraint. One day the skeptic was heckling the pastor about his views on miracles. "Give me one concrete example of a miracle," the skeptic taunted. "One concrete example." Whereupon the pastor hauled off and kicked the skeptic furiously on the shin. The skeptic couldn't believe it! The pastor asked, "Did you feel that?" "Yes," the man said as he nursed his sore leg. "If you had not," said the pastor, "it would have been a miracle!" King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com

Today is the First Day of the Rest of your Life

March 27, 2016 Luke 24:1-12 Easter Sunday! Year C We all know the story of the empty tomb, most of us. We know that Jesus was unfairly put on trial, was crucified. His mother and his followers watched as he died on the cross. They had to hurry up and bury him, because it was the Sabbath. And the day after the Sabbath, the first day of the week, the women set out for the tomb. They wanted to make sure that Jesus was properly prepared for burial. But when they got there they found the stone rolled away and there was no body. The reports do not agree on how many women were there – Luke says that there were a lot of women. Luke also says that two angels came to them and reminded them of how their master told them that this had to happen – the betrayal, the death in order for him to rise again on the third day. And then they realized what happened, they ran to tell the male disciples. But what struck me as significant about Luke’s telling of the story is the last part of our scripture. It says that the women ran back to tell the disciples what happened, and scripture says that the disciples thought that the words of the women was nonsense. They did not believe any of it. The word nonsense in our text for today is a euphemism for a bunch of crock. Total insanity, making no sense. It was no outrageous, that only 1 of the 11 even bothered to go to the tomb and to see what was going on. And when he saw the empty tomb, and he saw the linen cloth, he had to take a walk and figure out what was going on. Sometimes I think that is our problem too. We all know that story, we hear it again and again. But we are still struggling with whether it is a bunch of nonsense or not. We don’t struggle with the story we struggle with whether we believe that story or not. Is it fairy tale or is it real. And if it is really real, what does that mean for our lives? Peter struggled with his unbelief even back then. He knew that story too, he was there. When Jesus was in court being tried, he was outside denying that he even knew that man. When Jesus breath his last breath, he ran with the rest of them to hide and make sure that they would not be next. And now his body was missing. If anybody was going to steal his body – it would have been him and the other disciples. And all of them thought this whole story was a bunch of nonsense. But now what would it mean for him if it is not nonsense. What if it really happen. What would that mean for Peter? But more importantly, what does that mean for you and for me? Peter realized that if this story was real, then he would really have to believe in Jesus. And if he believed in Jesus, then he might have to change his lifestyle. He couldn’t be a coward any more. He couldn’t pretend that he didn’t know Jesus. He couldn’t just run and hide. There was no more taking the easy way out. Jesus said Peter if you love me, them feed my sheep. He said that Peter was a rock upon which the church would be built. If this story was more than nonsense, if he was really going to believe this story, then there were a lot of other things that he was going to have to believe also. One biblical scholar made a good point, when he said that the empty tomb and the resurrection has to be the center of our belief. If we don’t believe that, then we are not Christian. It was Billy Graham that said if the devil is going to attack anything about the church, then he is going to attack our belief in the resurrection. He wants us to doubt the story and call it nonsense. Because if it is nonsense, then everything else that Jesus said is wrong. And what Jesus was trying to do for the world has been defeated. This is not something that Peter came up with on his own, and made up on the church. If Peter had not moved from nonsense to truth – the church would not exist, and we would not be sitting here today. But here we are, what difference does the resurrection make today in your life? Let me tell you about one woman who had a special way of sharing her resurrection faith. Her story is told in a book by her physician, Dr. Will Phillips of San Antonio. Her name was Edith Burns. She was an elderly widow who loved Jesus. She would often sit down with someone and say, "Hello, my name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" If they said yes, she would ask them what they believe about Easter. If they talked about Easter bunnies and colored eggs, she had a chance to share with them the real meaning of Easter. Countless people were led to Christ by Edith Burns, including Dr. Phillips’ head nurse. One day Dr. Phillips called Edith into his office and said, "Edith, I’ve got bad news for you. Your tests have come back positive. You have an aggressive form of cancer, and you may not have long to live." Edith replied, "Why Dr. Phillips, you need not look so sad. I have had a full life. Now you are telling me that before long I’m going to see my Lord Jesus face to face. I will be reunited with my dear husband, my parents, and so many old friends." After several months of chemotherapy, it was clear that the cancer was winning the battle for Edith’s life. She went into the hospital. Everybody who met her was attracted by her warmth and positive faith. And if she got half a chance she would say to anyone, "Hello, I’m Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" She picked up a nickname in the hospital—"Easter Edith." But there was one person who was not attracted to Edith. Phyllis Cross was a mean, ornery nurse. She had been an Army nurse for twenty years. She had been married four times. Phyllis told her supervisor, "I don’t want to have anything to do with that religious nut, Edith Burns." One day Phyllis had to go to Edith’s room to draw some blood. Edith said, "Phyllis, God loves you and I love you too, and I’ve been praying for you." Phyllis said, "Well, you can stop your praying for me. It won’t work and I’m not interested." Edith said, "I can’t stop praying for you. And I’ve asked God not to let me go home until you have come into his family." Phyllis replied, "Then you will never die because that will never happen." Then she walked out. Edith and Phyllis saw each other regularly over the coming weeks. But Edith never asked her the question she posed to everybody else, "Do you believe in Easter?" Finally, Phyllis’ curiosity got the best of her. She said, "Edith, why have you never asked me if I believe in Easter?" Edith smiled and replied, "I asked God to cause you to ask me about the Easter question, and you just did." Phyllis was caught off guard. Her defenses dropped. Edith shared Christ with her. This tough old Army nurse invited Jesus into her heart as Savior and Lord. A few days later Phyllis walked into Edith’s room and said, "Hey Edith, today is Good Friday." "No," said Edith, "It’s Easter. In the life of a Christian, every day is resurrection day. Happy Easter, Phyllis." Two days later, on Easter Sunday, Phyllis walked into Edith’s room and noticed a tranquil smile on her face but it was obvious that her soul had departed to be with the Lord. Phyllis placed her hands on Edith’s and said, "Happy Easter, dear." Then she assisted the family in making funeral arrangements. Several hours later Phyllis managed to get a few minutes off duty. She sat down in the break room to have a cup of coffee. One of the new student-nurses happened to be there. Phyllis said, "Hello, my name is Phyllis Cross. Do you believe in Easter?"(5) So what about you? Do you believe in Easter? If the story is true and the tomb is empty – how are you going to have to change. If Peter went from coward to evangelist, if the disciples put aside their fear to tell the world about Jesus? What is going to happen to you? If God can raise a man from death to life, then anything is possible. Easter is the first day of the rest of your life – what does God have in store for you? The resurrection is God’s creative response to death. It is new day, a new way of doing things. It is time to put aside old beliefs about yourself, about life about others, It is time to give up old predjudices and to move forward. God has a plan for you and for your life. And just like God left the tomb empty, the holy spirit is working quietly behind the scenes to transform you and your life. You may not believe god’s story, but he believes yours. I Want to See Your Resurrection Father Basil Pennington, a Roman Catholic monk, tells of an encounter he once had with a teacher of Zen. Pennington was at a retreat. As part of the retreat, each person met privately with this Zen teacher. Pennington says that at his meeting the Zen teacher sat there before him smiling from ear to ear and rocking gleefully back and forth. Finally the teacher said: “I like Christianity. But I would not like Christianity without the resurrection. I want to see your resurrection!” Pennington notes that, “With his directness, the teacher was saying what everyone else implicitly says to Christians: You are a Christian. You are risen with Christ. Show me (what this means for you in your life) and I will believe.” That is how people know if the resurrection is true or not. Does it affect how we live? King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com You know the story, you may even believe the story, but the real meaning of Easter is in how you live the story. Go in peace…. Amen. Children’s Sermon – Object: An egg Boys and girls: If I brought with me a firecracker this morning, what holiday would you think of? That's right, the Fourth of July. How about if I wore a mask? That's right, Halloween. How about a turkey? That's right, Thanksgiving. How about brightly colored lights? Christmas. How about this egg? That's right, Easter. There are many things we can do with an egg. We can break it and eat it, can't we? Some of us like having eggs for breakfast. Or we could dye it. Some of you have been on Easter egg hunts this week, haven't you? Or we could let the egg alone and let a mother hen set on it and wait for what to happen? That's right. A new little baby chick would hatch out of this egg. That is a miracle, isn't it? That is why since from early in the life of the church, the egg has been a symbol of Easter. A baby chick comes from the egg just like the resurrected Jesus came forth from the tomb. Years ago in the church people were not allowed to eat eggs in the six weeks leading up to Easter. But on Easter Sunday they brought out the eggs and they gave eggs to their children as a symbol of the New Life in Christ. So the Easter egg has a great and glorious history. And I am glad for Easter egg hunts that allow us to have fun with our friends. But I hope as we think about Easter eggs, we will remember their original significance. They help us remember that Jesus is alive and that because of him, you and I have eternal life, as well.

An Idle Tale

April 4, 2010
Easter Sunday
Psalm 118
Luke 24:1-12
An Unlikely Tale
Year C

Woodrow Wilson’s butler called him one night to tell him that the tax accountant for the government had died. Sir, I was wondering if it s okay with you if I could take his place. Now mind you this is the middle of the night – butler- tax accountant. President Wilson responds – you know it doesn’t matter to me if you want to take his place – but you should probably ask the funeral director if it is okay.
The women in Jesus life have gathered to go to the tomb of Jesus. They want to anoint the body. That’s what you do when you are family – you show love and care to the body by rubbing it in spices. They have been through a hard ordeal, traveling with the teacher, believing and being inspired by his message, watching him beaten and killed for all of the wrong reasons, seeing your family fall apart from the stress, feeling like you have to do something – only to witness the final insult – his body is gone.
Bodies don’t just disappear on their own, they don’t just walk away on their own, - something had to have happened. After all they have done to this man – how could they have deprived Jesus of his final resting place? Seeing two men near the grave – she says – sir if you have taken him, just give him back, so that I can give him that final dignity of resting in peace.
The two men were really angels. And they ask her an important question. A question that certainly should have been asked of Woodrow Wilson – but needs to be asked of us today – why do you continue to look for the living amongst the dead.
If there was a body to speak of everything would be different now. If he had a final resting place- if there was a place we could go to honor his memory – we wouldn’t need to come today or any Sunday.
Even as those who come together to celebrate the resurrection – we still find ways to look for Jesus among the dead. Knowing that we will never find him – but we look anyway.
When we seek comfort instead of righteousness – we are looking for life in the midst of death. When we are in constant pursuit of pleasure and forsake joy – we are looking for life in the midst of death. When we seek security and what is best for us, instead of reaching out to help others – we are looking for life in the midst of death. When we are much more willing to listen to what the world says, and forget what god says – we are looking for life in the midst of death.
Looking for the living amongst the dead. There are times when we have to do that. I think of the recent Haiti disaster. I have a picture here of the cross that survived, when the church was destroyed. (I will pass it around).
There were people in that disaster and many others – who had the task of looking for the living amongst the dead. Who had to go through that rubble of each fallen building – and look for life in the midst of death. Who had to examine every body for signs of life. And at any sign of life, they had to stick with that person until they were taken to safety. No matter how the faint the sign may be- if they are alive then they have to be nurtured back to health. We have that type of obligation to life.
Things would have certainly been different if they had found a body. If we had found a body. Our obligation to death and to life are very different. Death can take care of itself – but it is in life that we have an obligation to carry on. In the midst of our circumstances of life, our troubles, our hardaches, our questions, our destiny. Death can give us easy answers. But when we are still alive, and we don’t know what to do, or what comes next, or how things will work themselves out- that’s when we need a resurrection faith.
Faith in an empty tomb – faith in a promise of new life, faith in divine intervention in a way that makes no sense, faith that death has been conquered, so that we will have to strength to go on in life. Faith that God will succeed and conquer all.
Lenin fashioned himself as a savior of the people. He told them that communism would save them. He told them that there was no need for faith. It didn’t do anything but give false hope. He promised his people a better life, he even took the time to teach people a new way of understanding. And then he died. At his death – the question was asked – what do you do with a God who has failed you? They actually did the same thing that the women at the tomb were planning to do with Jesus. Anoint his body with spices, preserve it, give it a nice home, and put it on display as a monument so that people from generation to generation could come and see death. And yet remember to point he was trying to make. Why do we continue to look for the living amongst the dead.
The empty tomb is a witness to a God who does not fail, but who has won the ultimate victory. The triumph of life over death. There is no body for us to remember and show respect to, there is no principle for us to be reminded of.
There is a life that we are to live. There is a story that we are to tell, there is an event that we are to witness to. There is no body – there are only people. People who choose life over death anyday.
When the women went to tell the disciples what they had witnessed. No one believed them. It couldn’t be- God never intercedes like that, no one has ever been resurrected. No one who had died, has ever come back to life. Peter even went to the grave himself – he saw the empty tomb. He saw the proof for himself that the body was gone – it had indeed just walked away. And yet he didn’t believe. It didn’t make sense. He did not see the life in such a tragic event.
The world is the same – the world sees proof everyday of a god who won – a living faith. And yet they refuse to believe.
It is easier to believe in easter bunnies, and chocolate, and eggs, than it is to believe in life over death. The good news is that Easter is not a day or an event – Easter is life unfolding, and God revealing, each and every day.
Jesus came to each an every one of them – to reveal the truth and to show them proof of the resurrection. With each passing day – they understood a little bit better, and they saw a little more clearer.
The good news is the Easter is still unfolding, God is revealing, Jesus Christ is alive an still appearing to his disciples, and we still get the chance to choose life over death. There is not body – only people. When we celebrate and sing Hallelujah God wins. When we live as if we believe that Easter is a life changing event – God wins. Otherwise this all is just another idle tale- as his own disciples believed long ago.
Let us pray…
Lord,
the resurrection of Your Son
has given us new life and renewed hope.
Help us to live as new people
in pursuit of the Ways of Christ.
Grant us wisdom to know what we must do,
the will to want to do it,
the courage to undertake it,
the perseverance to continue to do it,
and the strength to complete it.
New Saint Joseph People's Prayer Book

Amen.