Wonderful Creations

September 8, 2019 Psalm 139 Year C Wonderful Creations 13th Sunday after Pentecost Children’s Time Let the children take turns to look at themselves in a mirror as they pass it around. What parts are you thankful for? God created each of us to be just as we are. God created each part of ourselves to work together as a whole. Thank God for all of us – our face, body talents, personality - gift from God. 3. Give the children pots of bubbles to blow over the baby being dedicated or handfuls of flower petals to throw over the baby and the baby’s family. Explain that, as they blow the bubbles or scatter the petals, they are to pray a silent prayer for the baby or think of a special blessing (give them an example of a blessing to spark their creativity) for the baby. You can do this outside after the service if it isn’t appropriate to blow bubbles in your church. A sheet on the floor can catch drips from bubbles or the flower petals for easier cleanup. If your tradition includes question/s to the congregation asking them to take responsibility for the child, add a question addressed especially to the children and youth of the congregation, e.g. “Will you be a big kid friend (or big brother/sister in Christ) to NAME? Will you look out for him/her? Will you show him/her how to live like Jesus?” Scripture will be read from United Methodist Hymnal - #854 Stewardship moment – Brian McIntyre is the ministry director for Shine FM – he was with us last week. He tells the story of a father who took his son to McDonalds. He bought a large helping of fries and set it in front of his son to eat. He watched his son eat the fries. And decided to grab a fry to eat for himself. The son immediately grabbed the container, and said dad, no get your own fries. These are mine. That is our relationship with God. God provides for us, but when God asked us for that one fry – we grab ahold of the container and say that this is ours – when everything that we have was given by God. Stewarship lesson is that we can share what we have with God as a way of saying thank you. Our chance to give God one fry – excited to give . When we think of God, we think of God as King, as a ruler, as a old man with a white beard. But how many of us think of God as President of the knitting circle. I recently saw a picture of God as a old man sitting down knitting. Psalm 139 says that God knit each of us as a wonderful creation. James Limburg wrote that he has a mother-in-law who has knit Norwegian sweaters for each of the six members of his family. They are beautiful and warm, able to keep out both the cold and the rain. Limburg watched as she knit those sweaters. The process is very complicated, keeping the pattern straight, getting the design just right. But as Limburg points out: “It is complicated to knit a Norwegian sweater. But it is much more complicated to knit a Nowegian! Or an African, or an American.”2 No wonder David exclaims: “I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” We are fearfully and wonderfully made. We are complicated, sophisticated, welldesigned creatures. Fearfully and wonderfully made—I guess! God the knitter does some kind of knitting. I’ve seen a Frank and Ernest cartoon where the title characters are leaving church wearing less than spectacular clothes. And one says to the other: “The way I understand it, though our clothes may be plain, we have famous-maker bodies.” Yes we do—thanks to the love of God the Knitter. This psalm has one of the most important messages of the bible. Because even though God loves to sit with his friends and knit wonderful creations – God is still the most powerful force in the universe. God is omnipotent, - all powerful, but also God is omniscient – all knowing. God knows everything there is to know. Have you ever been around a know it all – sometimes it can be aggravating to be with someone who thinks they know everything. But God is the real thing – does know everything. God knows everything about everything – since God created everything. But the most important thing that God knows is you and me – God knitted each of us by hand, one by one – God knows every little detail about us. How many hairs we have have on our head, our fears, our hopes , our talents, our future. Everything. Sometimes we may not know those details about ourselves, but God knows. The lesson of Psalm 139 is that God is all powerful, God is all knowing, God is also all present – omnipresent. At the beginning of the serving line in front of the apples at a church picnic, an adult had written a big sign that said: "God is watching, take only one." Well, at the end of the line, next to the chocolate chip cookies, a little boy had written a little sign that said: "Take as many as you want, God is busy watching the apples." The truth is, God is busy watching everyone and everything. I heard about a skeptic who was trying to persuade a little boy that there was no God. He said, "Son, you show me where God is, and I will give you an apple." The little boy replied, "Mister, you show me where God is not, and I'll give you a whole box of apples." In his presence, God is omnipresent. The good news for us according to psalm 139 is that there is nothing that we can go through in life or death that God is not there for us – to support us. One day while out for a walk, he came to a beautiful estate. He saw a little girl (about five or six years old) come running out an iron gate. She closed the gate behind her. Suddenly, she realized that she had locked herself out. She began to cry and beat on the gate hysterically. Quickly, her mother came running to the little girl. She opened the gate, took the little girl in her arms, carried her back inside and comforted her saying, “Everything is all right, honey. You know I wouldn’t leave you out here all alone. You know how much I love you. You knew I would come, didn’t you?” As Rufus Jones saw that young mother coming to rescue her daughter, he remembered that God is like that… and that no matter what the situation is… even at the place of death, “He is there for us”… and Rufus Jones said: “In that moment, I saw with my spirit that there was love behind my shut gate also.” God is there to support us, to lead us, but most importantly to invite us to the knitting circle. No matter who we are – man or woman, whether we know how to knit or not – God still wants us to be a part of the knitting circle. Each of us is fearfully and wonderfully made – Saint Augustine once said, "People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars—and they pass by themselves without wondering."1 More wondrous than the stars that twinkle, the sun that shines, the moon that glows, the lightning that strikes, the thunder that roars, the snow that falls, or the ice that freezes, is what you can see in the mirror. This is a wonderful day – as we celebrate the love of God in the life of these five young men – excited about what God does in their lives, and what they do for our community as they grow together. As they are reminded that they are fearfully and wonderfully made. Made to make a difference in the world. With an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God on their side. They have been invited to join the knitters circle. Each of us have been invited to that sacred circle – God can knit, so can we. A friend recently told me about a popular pastime among some of the young women who attend her daughter’s college. Experienced knitters, they will go to a thrift store and look for a sweater that is past its prime and unravel the yarn to make something new. The practice is known as “frogging,” from the words “rip it, rip it.” In the process, something old and shopworn sees new life in unexpected forms. I thought of frogging when I recently reread Psalm 139, that beautiful paean to the intricate ways in which God has fashioned the human form. The Psalm contains one of my favorite Bible verses: “For you yourself created my inmost parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.” It’s always nice to find a proof-text that nicely fits your life, and so I enjoy the fact that here, beyond any doubt, we have conclusive proof that God is a knitter. Now there’s a verse that makes knitters like me happy. Let us all take our place in the knitters circle – the church. Let us pray……Amen. Additional illustrations. Her name is Pascale. She is five years old. She is a very important part of our church family. She is here in the 8:30 service most every Sunday morning. One evening recently, Pascale was watching television with her mom and dad. Suddenly, a news flash showed President Bush walking to a meeting. The President was surrounded by a group of men in dark suits. Pascale asked her parents: “Who are those men with the President? Why are they with him?” Her parents answered: “They are members of the secret service. They go with the President everywhere he goes. They travel with him always. They protect him and take care of him and keep him safe at all times.” And Pascale said: “That’s what Jesus does for me!” Read more at https://www.beliefnet.com/wellness/2006/01/the-god-who-knits.aspx#Xx4Z3QMhd0gsFUhP.99

The Gifts of Confirmation

Psalm 139:1-6,13-18 Confirmation The gifts of confirmation 2nd Sunday of Pentecost Year B Children’s Sermon – bring something knitted Psalm 139 For the music leader. Of David. A song. 139 LORD, you have examined me. You know me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I stand up. Even from far away, you comprehend my plans. 3 You study my traveling and resting. You are thoroughly familiar with all my ways. 4 There isn’t a word on my tongue, LORD, that you don’t already know completely. 5 You surround me—front and back. You put your hand on me. 6 That kind of knowledge is too much for me; it’s so high above me that I can’t fathom it. Psalm 139:13-18 Common English Bible (CEB) 13 You are the one who created my innermost parts; you knit me together while I was still in my mother’s womb. 14 I give thanks to you that I was marvelously set apart. Your works are wonderful—I know that very well. 15 My bones weren’t hidden from you when I was being put together in a secret place, when I was being woven together in the deep parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my embryo, and on your scroll every day was written that was being formed for me,[a] before any one of them had yet happened.[b] 17 God, your plans are incomprehensible to me! Their total number is countless! 18 If I tried to count them—they outnumber grains of sand! If I came to the very end—I’d still be with you.[c] Footnotes: a. Psalm 139:16 Correction; Heb lacks for me. b. Psalm 139:16 Heb uncertain c. Psalm 139:18 Correction Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible A few years ago I posted this poem on facebook. "I believe in the sun even when it's not shining. I believe in love even when not feeling it. I believe in God even when He is silent." In many ways this was a faith statement about God - I believe that God is always with us. There are times in our lives when we don’t really feel the presence of God. But God is always there. That is the point of psalm 139 – it is a reminder that God is with us. It is a reminder that God was present in our lives before we were even born and that God knows us better than we know ourselves. You know that this was a psalm of the heart, because it is written not in Hebrew, but in Aramaic. Aramaic is the original language of Jesus. And whenever he was speaking from the heart, he used Aramaic words. When the psalm says lord you know me, the original language says Lord you dig deep into my heart and you know what is there. Our relationship with God is the deepest relationship that we have it goes beyond friends, family and even ourselves. And the good news is that we don’t have to go looking for God, because God always comes to find us. As a matter of fact a little piece of God is inside of us. Psalm 139 is one of my favorite verses in the bible because it reminds me of how special I am. So I think it is a perfect verse for us to reflect on for confirmation Sunday. It is a perfect verse to remind our young people that they are special, and that God has been waiting for eons for this day – to welcome you into the fold through your own choosing. In confirmation class we learned that these young people are not the ones who is confirming their faith – God is confirming God’s faith in them. When they were baptized God made a promise to them that God was there. And as we journey we have days like this where God for just a glimpse says hey remember me? Because I remember you. I hope that you realize that today is a beginning, not a graduation. It is your opportunity to be aware and to take part in what God gives to you. It is your chance to make it a part of your life and your plans. We are gather and work out our faith, and work on our selves together, we invite you to join us and to be a part of our community. The church is not made of perfect people, but we are sincere, and we learn more about God from one another. Just this year, I learned that when we are confirmed, the holy spirit brings us seven gifts…. 137628 It is difficult to name another Catholic doctrine of as hallowed antiquity as the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit that is subject to such benign neglect. Like most Catholics born around 1950, I learned their names by rote: "wis-dom, un-derstanding, coun-sel, fort-itude, know-ledge, pie-ety, and fear of the Lord!" These are all tools to have a better relationship with God. In those times when we doubt that God is around, these 7 gifts help us to see God more clearly. To know that God is always with us. There once was a fish who asked his mother what water was. She explained that water was the source of their life. She explained that they used water for everything, but that it was a clear substance that you couldn’t see. The little fish started to believe that there was no such thing as water, because he could not see the water for himself. Not realizing that he couldn’t see it because he was immersed in it and never saw anything else. God goes far beyond anything that your parents have taught you. God goes far beyond anything that happens in church. God goes far beyond anything that we may understand about God. God is the source of all that we are and ever will be. Let god lead us all through this moment. The last verses of our scripture for today says your eyes saw my embryo and on your scroll was written everyday of my life before I even lived it. Go forward from this moment and live your life to the fullness, remembering that a full life includes God. Let us all be grateful for the gifts that we have received today. : "wis-dom, un-derstanding, coun-sel, fort-itude, know-ledge, pie-ety, and fear of the Lord!" And Eileen, Evelyn chandler and Nell- Amen.

Pottter's clay

September 4, 2016 The Potter’s clay Jeremiah 18:1-11 Psalm 139 A waterbearer in India had two large pots, one hung on each end of a pole, which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it. While the other pot was perfect, and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the mistress's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to her master's house. The perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream: "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you." Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?" "I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your mistress's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said. The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in her compassion she said, "As we return to the mistress's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path." Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure. The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. “For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my mistress's table. Without you being just the way you are, she would not have this beauty to grace her house." Moral: Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. We've just got to take each person for what they are, and look for the good in them. There's a lot of good out there. This story is a wonderful summary of both of our lessons for today. God’s word is amazing, because as I approach my 50th birthday, I felt that this was a wonderful reflection for today. If you didn’t know, the psalm lesson of the day is always a response to the Hebrew bible lesson. And today they fit the occasion perfectly. Jeremiah reminds us that God is the potter of our lives and we are the clay. As the creator of all things, God knows what the clay is capable of creating, because God created the clay. God shapes and molds our lives, God gives us a sense of purpose and God continues to lead us into that purpose. But the reality is that we are all cracked pots. No matter how hard we try, we are not perfect. Something in life has affected all of us. Ernest Hemingway said the world breaks everyone, but some of us are strong at the broken places. We are all broken pots, but some of us are strong at the broken places. In the times of Jeremiah, when a pot was broken, it was repaired with wax, and of course, when you put something hot in the pot, the wax would melt and leak. The definition of the word sincere, is without wax, solid. Sin means without, cere means wax. The Japanese would actually look forward to pots becoming cracked, they would fill the cracks with gold and call it a special pot. Some say that God fills the cracks of our lives with gold – that gold is called grace. We strive to be perfect, but the truth is, many of us would never know God if it was not for the cracks in our lives. It is our times of tribulation that God comes to us, ministers to us and shapes us into faithful people. And yet even though the cracked pot is the one that is much stronger and does the most good, we still strive to be the perfect pot. I think that is where we get into trouble and even get into a life of sin. We think that somewhere out there, there is the perfect life for us. One pastor puts it this way People sometimes ask me: "Bill, do you think that God has designed our lives so that there is only one right call for us to answer…..one right college for us to attend….one right career for us to choose….one right person for us to marry….one right home for the living, church for the going, and destiny for the finding?" And I say: "No." Because I think that such a philosophy limits both the potential in the clay and the imagination in the potter. Go back to the text. Even in the hand of God, stuff spoils…..life spoils….best laid plans spoil…..best made people spoil…. because in that wonderful dance between potter and clay that we call creation, stuff sometimes goes awry. We get into trouble because we don’t like change. No matter how much we know we are on a dead end street, we don’t want to move. We don’t want things to be different, we don’t want to change course unless we absolutely have to. And yet the scripture tells us that life is not intended to be permanent. Life is like clay, it should be pliable and willing to be molded, and shaped by God. If God does not like the way the pot is turning out, God can tear it down and reshape it all over again. God has reshaped and remolded my life so many times. I can truly understand God is the potter and I am the clay. We should be willing to ask God to shape us to remold us, to straighten our lives out again. If we are willing to be pliable, and shaped, the master creater will make us into a useful pot. The problem is some of us are silly putty. I never played with silly putty very much. But I do know that it is cool and very versatile. You can roll it into a ball, and even bounce the ball. You can roll it over the comics and it will pick up a copy of whatever is on the paper. It is very versatile, the problem is it is too versatile. You can shape it unto form. Make a bowl or a pot. The problem with silly putty is that minutes after you make your creation, it will melt into a blob of silly putty once again. It is able to shape a form, but it does not stay that way. Some people are like that with their faith. They listen to God, they are faithful, but only for the moment. Eventually they are back to the life that they started with. And then there is play doh. Play doh is a wonderful invention, of water, salt and flour. When I was a child there were only 4 colors of play doh- white, red,green and blue. Over the years there are many colors. Play doh is a great substitute for real clay. It is cheaper, easier to play with. The problem with clay do, is that unlike silly putty with is too pliable, after awhile, play do is too rigid. There is nothing more heart breaking then opening up a container of play doh and finding that it is as hard as a rock. And once it gets hard, there is nothing that you can do to soften it up. You can make wonderful pots with play doh, but eventually not only does it get too hard, it cracks. Some of us in the church are good for awhile, but after awhile we are so stuck in our ways, that you cant do anything with us. Now clay is a natural material. Clay is just a little dirt and water mixed together. Clay is soft enough to be shaped into something useful. But clay hard enough that it will stay into anything shape that you put it in. Potters have been using clay for years to make useful things, because it is so easy to work with. But the scripture says that clay has its problems. Sometimes it want to resist being shaped, sometimes it goes the wrong way. Sometimes it even has a mind of its own- sound like someone you know? When it gets out of hand, the potter has to ball it back up and start all over again. Reshaping, remolding, correcting, and making it anew. That’s our message for today. Allow god to mold our loves, let god mold us into what he wants us to be. There is God’s judgement for when we do wrong, but when we are forgiven- there is hope that we can begin again. We should welcome God’s guidance in our lives in order to be what God wants us to be. SERMON ILLUSTRATION God Won't Repent for You God will take nine steps toward us, but he will not take the tenth. He will incline us to repent, but he cannot do our repenting for us. Thomas Edison was a great, great man. When he was 67 years of age, he had a horrendous fire that burned up everything he owned in New Jersey. Every asset he had which at that time in 1914 was worth about $2 million dollars was totally uninsured. All of his experiments, all of his records, all of his equipment, all of his work, and all of his labor had gone up in smoke. He had a 24 year old son that came out to where the fire was roaring and burning up his entire life's work. The two of them tried to stop the fire, but they couldn't do it. The son were going up in flames." He said, "My dad was out there. The wind was blowing in his hair. His face was all red from the flames. He was pouring sweat and I didn't know what he was going to say to me." I couldn't believe what I heard. He said, "Son, go get your mother quick. She has never seen anything like this!" He went to get his mother just so she could see the fire. Later on this son said, "My dad was out there the next morning kicking through the embers and he said to me, 'Son, there is something wonderful about a fire like this.'" The son looked at him in amazement and said, "Dad, what in the world could be so wonderful about a fire like this?" He said, "Son, it just kind of seems to burn up all of your mistakes and failures and give you a brand new fresh start." Three months later that company presented to the world the first phonograph, because here was a man who didn't see his problems as the end, but simply a new start and a fresh beginning. This potter has nailed scarred hands, who can turn your scars into stars, your tears into triumph, your midnights into mornings and your darkness into daybreak if you will just let Him. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord. In all things he is the potter and I am the clay. My message on my 50th birthday is to bless god in all things. God knows me better than I know myself. God knows what lies ahead. God knows when I make a mistake, god knows best how to fix me and how to fix the situation. I am grateful for all that God has bought me through. I have learned to trust god totally with my life. Silly putty and play doh are fun to play with. But lord help me to be clay in your hands, shaped and formed to be useful to God. Amen. Children’s sermon – let the children play with play doh Other illustrations There is a Japanese word,kintsukuroi, that means "golden repair." It is the art of restoring broken pottery with gold so the fractures are literally illuminated—a kind of physical expression of its spirit. As a philosophy, kintsukuroicelebrates imperfection as an integral part of the story, not something to be disguised. The artists believe that when something has suffered damage and has a history, it becomes more beautiful. In kintsukuroi, the true life of an object (or a person) begins the moment it breaks and reveals that it is vulnerable. The gap between once pristine appearance and its visible imperfection deepens its appeal. Charlie Steinmetz had one of the greatest minds in the field of electricity that the world has ever known. In his day no one knew more than he. Steinmetz .. God, the Potter, Works in Mud In Nikos Kazantzakis's novel Christ Recrucified, there is a scene in which four village men confess their sins to one another in the presence of the Pope. One of the men, Michelis, cries out, "How can God let us live on the earth? Why doesn't he kill us to purify creation?" "Because, Michelis," the Pope answered, "God is a potter; he works in mud." Rick Ezell, The 7 Sins of Highly Defective People (Kregel, 2003) [ read less ] SERMON ILLUSTRATION Creator Makes and Fixes Creations When we were missionaries in the Philippines, we vacationed in Baguio City in the mountains of Northern Luzon. While there, we visited the St. Louis Silver School, where silversmiths are trained. We admired exquisite workmanship in the workshop and gift shop, and took home a souvenir—a pure silver money clip embellished with a distinctive design. I carried that clip for the next 24 years. One day it finally broke as I slipped a few bills into it. I then took the two pieces of the money clip back to the silver school in Baguio. One workman, about my age, asked if he could help me. I explained my predicament and laid the pieces in his outstretched hand. After examining the pieces for a minute or so, he looked up at me and said, "I designed this clip. I was the only one to make this design. I made all of these that were ever made." I asked, "Can you fix it?" He said, "I designed it. I made it. Of course I can fix it!" Allen Dale Golding, La Mirada, California SERMON ILLUSTRATION Genius Knew Where to Tinker Charlie Steinmetz had one of the greatest minds in the field of electricity that the world has ever known. In his day no one knew more than he. Steinmetz built the great generators for Henry Ford in his first plant in Dearborn, Michigan. Once everything was in place, the assembly line worked like clockwork. Thanks to the electrical genius, cars began to roll off the production line, and the profits began to pour into Ford's pockets. Things ran along smoothly for months. Suddenly, without warning, everything ground to a halt. Ford Motor Company went dark. One mechanic after another was unable to locate the problem, much to Ford's frustration. They were losing money. Finally, he contacted the brain behind the system. Steinmetz showed up and immediately went to work. He fiddled around with some switches and a gauge or two. He tinkered with this motor and that one, pushed a few buttons and messed with some wires. He then threw the master switch, and lights blinked on, engines began to whirl, and things were back to normal. A few days later Henry Ford received a bill from Steinmetz for $10,000. Although Ford was a rich man, he couldn't believe it. Paying such an exorbitant amount of money was out of the question, especially for what appeared to be such a small amount of work. He returned the bill with a note: "Charlie, isn't this bill just a little high for a few hours of tinkering around with a few wires and switches?" Steinmetz rewrote the bill and sent it back. It read: "For tinkering around on the motors: $10. For knowing where to tinker: $9,990. Total $10,000. Henry Ford paid the bill. As we open up our lives to God and allow him to minister to us, he knows where to "tinker," to put right what's gone wrong and repair what is broken. After all, he formed us and fashioned us in the first place. Jesus the great physician knows the right remedy because he is able to diagnose the exact problem. David A. Seamands, Healing for Damaged Emotions (Victor Books, 1981), p. 23; submitted by David Holdaway, South Wales, United Kingdom [ read less ] I read a story about a little boy whose hand got stuck in a very expensive vase that his mother owned. It was a family heirloom that had been passed down for generations. The mother tried in vain to pull his hand out, but she couldn't do it. Even though she hated to break that vase because it was so valuable, she realized it was the only way she could get her son's hand out, so she broke it, only to find out that her son had his fist all balled up and that is why she couldn't get his hand out. She said, "Son was your fist balled up like that all the time we were trying to get it out of that vase?" He said very sheepishly, "Yes Ma'am." She said, "Why didn't you let your hand open so it would have come out easily?" He said, "Mother, if I had opened my hand, I would have dropped my penny." Too many people are just like that - holding on to the dark side; holding on to that impurity and that sin in their life when God is simply trying to make out of them a beautiful, valuable vase. He can't do it, because they refuse to yield to His will. That is why you always need to remember that when God is working on you He is wanting what is best for you. To the Potter’s House I went down one day, And watched him while molding a vessel of clay, And many a wonderful lesson I drew As I noted the process the clay passed through. Trampled and broken, downtrodden and rolled, To render it plastic and fit for the mold. How like the clay that is human, I thought, Which in heavenly hands to God’s image is brought; For self must be cast as the dust at His feet, Ere man is renewed and for service made meet. And pride must be broken, and self-will lost - All laid on the altar, whatever the cost; And all that is boasted of human display Must yield to God’s hand and be taken away. (Anonymous) We are Christians under construction, seeking to build a life that really matters! What do you need from the Master Designer? And always remember: You are on God’s mind, in God’s plans, empowered by God’s grace, and headed safely home.

God knows you better than you know yourself

September 8, 2013 Jeremiah 18:1-11 Psalm 139: 1-6; 13-18 Year C 16th Sunday of Pentecost God knows you better than you know yourself Are you a salmon or a jellyfish? ((This jellyfsh and salmon illustration was borrowed from another Sermon Central contributor, Joel Smith) This will sound like a strange question to start off with, but let me ask you: Are you more like a salmon or a jellyfish? Okay maybe you don’t know much about them. I’ll describe each one and then you can decide. Salmon begin their lives in the fresh water rivers of the frigid Northwest. Not long after they’re born they begin a long swim down stream. Their destination is the ocean. It is here that they spend the majority of their adult lives. Then something strange happens. Scientists don’t even understand how, but at some point the adult salmon begins to swim back home. Though they may have swum thousands of miles from that original river location they head back home. That’s right! They swim upstream, against the current of the river. You’ve probably seen nature programs on TV that show them leaping out of the water to overcome waterfalls and other barriers impeding their progress. They face predators like bears and people. Incredibly, though they’ve been gone for years many of them return to the exact spot where they were born. I saw a documentary on one determined salmon that even swam through a maze of pipes and nudged open a grate to re-enter the hatchery where it was born. After an incredible effort the fish spawn and then does it and how He chooses to do it. God’s will is a way beyond our understanding, yet it is a way in which we are called to think and live. die. The new salmon are soon born and repeat the process. Does that describe you? Does your life have a destination? Are you going in a specific direction and are you willing to face all the obstacles to get there? If so, you’re like the salmon. Then there’s the jellyfish. There are numerous species of these yucky-looking little creatures. Some of them are tiny. Others have tentacles that can be measured in feet. Jellyfish are born in the ocean and die there too. They have limited movement, but never really use that ability to go in any particular destination. They’re moved along primary by the wind and waves and tides. They drift about stinging and surviving. Occasionally one will wash up on the beach and, if you’re not careful, you’ll step on it and mess up your vacation. circumstances or other people’s plans, but you really have no particular destination of your own. The difference between salmon and jellyfish is the same as the difference between people. Some have a direction. Most just drift. Which one are you? A salmon or a jellyfish? Someone who lives out your call or someone who just goes along with what is going on? The world expects us to be jellyfish It is not as easy as you think to live a life being called my God. As a matter of fact, the world encourages us all to be jellyfish. To wallow on our desires, abilities. Freedom means doing what we want and depending on ourselves for everything. A sense of call in our time is profoundly counter cultural.. the ideology of our time is that we can live an uncalled life, one not referred to any purpose beyond one’s self. Walter Bruggeman A man on tin roof prays for salvation until… A man was fixing his roof, a tin roof that had nothing to hold onto. He made a wrong move and started to fall off of the roof. And of course he called out to God to save him, until his pants got caught on a nail, and he was saved. He called out never mind God, I got it, I saved myself. Never even realizing that God can provide the nail, it was not just a coincidence. But that is how the world wants us to think- things just happen, they have nothing to do with God’s will. And unfortunately, the church does not make it any better. When we talk about being called, we save that term just for clergy. We think that there are special requirements to being called. Being called is something that applies to certain people. Bing called means living a life in the presence of God. It means living faithfully according to your relationship with God. God is present with everybody in the church, everybody has a calling, a meaning, a purpose. Martin Luther was one of the first to rediscover the ancient, biblical doctrine of vocation. The medieval world drew a sharp boundary between the sacred and the secular, but Luther said no, it isn’t meant to be that way. It isn’t just priest and monks, and nuns who have a vocation, but every Christian. Curiuosly, Luther uses the word vocation more often in his writing to refer to things like marriage, and familu then it does to paid employment. Vocation to him has to do with all of life, with it living it faithfully. We can have a calling to do anything, so long as it glorifies God. 1. 3446 “We Are Everywhere” 2. The growth of Christianity in the early centuries was phenomenal. By mid 2nd-century, an apologist said, “We are everywhere. We are in your towns and in your cities; we are in your army and navy; we are in your palaces; we are in the senate; we are more numerous than anyone.” 3. By AD 300, the church was spreading so fast that it appeared the entire civilized world could be evangelized by AD 500. 4. But Constantine decreed that every one in the empire was already Christian. And slowly the idea prevailed of a division between laity and clergy, for pagans could not evangelize nor did they know how. And Christianity’s movement was checked. When we started to put the presence of God in the church and not in our lives, we changed to definition of what it meant to work for God. More importantly we forgot that God is everywhere, in everything and in everyperson. It is like the young boy who was moving from Kansas to Minnesota. On the night before he moved, he prayed – God when we move we are going to miss you, but we will always remember what you have done for us while we were here. Not realizing that God was in Minnesota, long before he was. God is in Kansas and Minnesota at the same time. God is omnipotent and everywhere. Psalm 139 – reminds us that God is everywhere – where can I go that your presence is not already there?- nowhere because God is everywhere. It also reminds us that God knows everything. But more importantly, God knows you, God knows your purpose. in Psalm 139:1-6 You Examin You Know You Know You See You Know You Know You Go You Place 5. God Examins Your Heart Psalm 139:1 A. What is it to examin? B. What will God Find in Your Heart? 6. God Knows You Psalm 139:2 A. Your Actions B. Your Thoughts C. Your Words 7. God Sees Psalm 139:3 A. Your Travels B. Your Rest 8. God Goes Psalm 139:5 A. Before You B. Behind You 9. God Places Psalm 139:5 A. His Hand on You B. His Blessing My favorite verse in psalm 139 is that I am wonderfully and fearfully made. That is a reminder of God’s love for us. In a world that would like to tell us that we are uncalled. That we are unworthy of God’s service. That what we do is nothing special, and that work that we do is not sacred. There's a Great One Inside You During a practice session for the Green Bay Packers, things were not going well for Vince Lombardi’s team. Lombardi singled out one big guard for his failure to "put out." It was a hot, muggy day when the coach called his guard aside and leveled his awesome vocal guns on him, as only Lombardi could. "Son, you are a lousy football player. You’re not blocking, you’re not tackling, you’re not putting out. As a matter of fact, it’s all over for you today, go take a shower." The big guard dropped his head and walked into the dressing room. Forty- five minutes later, when Lombardi walked in, he saw the big guard sitting in front of his locker still wearing his uniform. His head was bowed and he was sobbing quietly. Vince Lombardi, ever the changeable but always the compassionate warrior, did something of an about face that was also typical of him. He walked over to his football player and put his arms around his shoulder. "Son," he said, "I told you the truth. You are a lousy football player. You’re not blocking, you’re not tackling, you’re not putting out. However, in all fairness to you, I should have finished the story. Inside of you, son, there is a great football player, and I’m going to stick by your side until the great football player inside of you has a chance to come out and assert himself." With these words, Jerry Kramer straightened up and felt a great deal better. As a matter of fact, he felt so much better he went on to become one of the all-time greats in football and was recently voted the all-time guard in the first 50 years of professional football. God often uses the least gifted people when some great service is neede. Because people who know their own weakness are fully open to the power that God offers God uses the least likely. A practical application of this is right here in the church. We are all gifted, we all have something that we can give to help the church, and there is a place in the structure of the church for us to be a part. When we see people participating, and helping, I think that we still place a value on that person, and what church they are from. It is not that individual who is doing a certain job, but a representative. As God is reshaping us, remolding us into a new church with a new mission, it is important for us to remember that we all have gifts, and the church is the place for us to explore and grow in those gifts. And it is our job as church members to honor the gifts of all people. We wouldn’t be here, if God was not using us. It is our collective gifts that do the work of the church. That is the message of Jeremiah – as God called him to go into the potter’s house. God often does not speak in words, but in images. Jeremiah saw that his nation was being remolded and reshaped for a new time and a new mission. God did not give up on them for their sins, God took the time to give them a new life. But many of us don’t want to be touched by God, we don’t want to be reshaped. And yet God sees the best in us, and prepares us for our destiny. I thought this poem said it best….. Written by Irenaues from the 2nd Century. From God’s Hands It is not you who shape God; it is God that shapes you. If then you are the work of God, await the hand of the Artist who does all things in due season. Offer the Potter your heart, soft and tractable, and keep the form in which the Artist has fashioned you. Let your clay be moist, lest you grow hard and lose the imprint of the Potter’s fingers. He is the potter; we are the clay. He is the shepherd; we are the sheep. He is the Master; we are the servant. No matter how educated we are, no matter how much power and influence we may think we possess, no matter how long we have walked w/ Him, no matter how significant we may imagine ourselves to be in His plans, none of that qualifies us to grasp why He does what He does when He God takes our sin and turns it into service, God takes our weakness and uses it as a strength. God takes what is least, and makes it into the most important. God calls clergy, but God calls laity also. Remember when 5000 people on the beach needed to be fed. Jesus asked his disciples to feed them, but they were too stuck in their doubts and what makes sense with the world that they couldn’t do it. God used a little boy with 5 loaves and 5 fishes. When God needed someone to take care of his son as he came into the world – he didn’t send an angel to an older woman, but to a young girl. A young girl who willingly accepted his word, that she would be the mother of Jesus. She didn’t think about the consequences, she just accepted God’s word for her. We all have value in God, God knows us, God knows what we are capable of, God knows what we have trouble with, he knows what we cant do. And he uses all of that to shape us into a faithful servant, who can answer God’s call. It is in our willingness, our obedience, that we respond to God’s touch. Amen. Whither shall I go from Thy Presence? From thee is there some hiding place? The deed is a thing so private, so inside the prefect working of desire that its inward part seems known to me, to me alone. The ebb and flow of thoughts within my hidden sea, the forms that stir within the channels of my mind, keep tryst with all my hidden hopes and fears. The ties that hold me fast to those whose life with mine makes one, The tangled twine that binds my life with things I claim as mine, are held in place by folds of my embrace. The sealed stillness that walls around the heartaches and the pain, is held against all else that would invade. Awe-filled contrition emptied clear of violence and sin, seeps slowly from the wilderness of my deserted soul. Almighty joy mounts to the brim and overflows in wild array, with music only ears attuned can hear. And yet, always I know that another sees and understands every vigil with me keeps watch. The door through which He comes no man can shut, He is the Door! I cannot go from Thy Presence, there is no hiding place from Thee.

how well do you know that God knows you?

September 5, 2010
Jeremiah 18:1-11
Psalm 139 1-6; 13-18
How well does God know you?
Year C
15th Sunday after Pentecost

Let me ask you, what is it that you know for sure about life? You know your name, you know your address, you know where you work or go to school, you know where you spend your time and your money; you even know that 2+2 = 4. Those are the facts, but I want to ask you again, what it is that you know about life? What is it that you know for sure?
The French actually break it down for us; they have two words for our word know. Savoir and connaitre. In English we say that we know that 2+2=4, but we also say that we know sally, or Johnny, or Pete.
In French you savoir facts - you know what your name is, and most of the time you are right about that fact. Connaitre is only used for people, and the direct interpretation of the word is to be acquainted with. You can give birth to a person, you can marry a person, you can live with a person, you can talk with them every day – but you can never truly say that you know a person. You can know a lot of fact about a person, but you can never truly know the inner being of a person, or what is really going on in the inside of their mind. No matter how deep your relationship with someone, the best you will ever do is to be acquainted with them. And that is not a bad thing – because if we truly knew one another, and we knew what we were going to say, there would be no reason to talk or to listen. We would get bored with one another pretty quickly.
And yet the psalmist says that God knows each of us in just that way. God knows our inner being; God knows our thoughts and words before we do. God can search our lives and know when we are lying and when we are telling the truth. God not only knows us – God formed each of us for a reason, and has a purpose and an intention for us.
The problem is that God knows us, but some of us don’t know that God knows. We live our lives as if we are in control. God gave us free will, we know how to use that – but we don’t know that our free will works best when it is in obedience with God’s will – which has been determined way before we were ever born.
This week's lectionary psalm (Psalm 139) begins, "O Lord, you have searched me and you know me." As one continues to read the psalm, it is an affirmation of how much God loves us, cares for us, and will abide with us. Unfortunately, though God has searched our souls, sometimes we fail to do so. When we do not live a life of self-examination, as God has put before us, then we will wander from the holiness of the Spirit into the passions of the flesh.

Ben Roethlisberger, the two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, for years lived the unexamined life. And as we know, it has brought him lawsuits, physical injury, and suspensions. His former coach with the Steelers, Bill Cowher, tried to mentor the young athlete -- but it was to no avail. Though Cowher often cautioned Roethlisberger about his off-field behavior, the response he would receive was always the same: "But we're winning games. We're winning championships." Cowher then would try to explain, "Yeah, but there's more to it than that. It's the whole body of work. It's you as a person, what kind of legacy you want to leave." Cowher, who is now retired from coaching and works as a television analyst, thinks that Roethlisberger's most recent suspension may finally have taught him that lesson. One can only hope. One can only wait and see.

God examines our lives; we are to examine our own lives; and godlike individuals will examine our lives, offering invaluable advice. Through self-examination that is informed by the scriptures and highlighted by the insight of others, we can live according to biblical principles and have a positive self-image. Then we will be able to say, as the psalmist does, "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made."

***

You never know about some people and their free will – will they ever truly get it? You can only hope and pray……

That story about winning points, actually out another point. That is that you can’t win a football game by yourself. You have to play as a team. So it is okay to think about our personal relationship with God, but we also have to think about our corporate relationship with God, who are we as a people and what is God saying to us.

Jeremiah was pondering this issue one day, as he probably went to pottery row to get something repaired. They didn’t have china or glass in those days. Everything was made of pottery, and when it broke, you needed to go to a pottery shop to fix it. In a large city like Jerusalem, there would have been a whole street of pottery shops.

The potter starts to do his job, putting the clay on the wheel and shaping it, but it doesn’t come out right- so he just balls the clay up and starts all over again.

And he realizes that God is talking to his people about the need to repent and start all over again.

God is holding the people accountable and saying that you are just like clay – if you don’t do right, I will crush you and recreate you. We think that holding people accountable when they have gotten out of hand is wrong. But it is the nicest form of love to help someone get back on the right track when they have strayed. Or else they continue down the same path and never get back to right relationship with God.

Yesterday God was talking to the people of Israel, Today I believe God is talking to the church.

The church is dying; our way of doing church is dying. Not just here but the whole Methodist Church. Not just the Methodist church, but the Presbyterian Church, the Lutheran church, even the Catholic Church. And as quiet as it is kept, the Baptist church was growing a few years ago, but it is on the decline also. We are not reaching people the way we used to.

And yet God does not change, God’s message for the world does not change. So what is it that is going on? What is the problem?

Perhaps God is telling us that it is time for us to be reformed, reshaped, and reenergized. We live in a time when all of our institutions are being questioned; those which are not relevant are disappearing.

The good news is that clay is a forgivable medium. If you sew a dress and you cut it wrong and sew it up, it is still useless you can’t use it. If you knit a scarf and you make a mistake, you have to unravel it and start all over again, if you paint a picture and you make a mistake, you paint over it so you can’t see it, but the mistake is still there.

But with clay, if you knead it, and work with it to get pliable and easier to work with. If you are making something and it doesn’t quite work out, then you ball it up and start all over again. The shape is gone, mistake and all is gone.

Clay is pliable, forgivable, and undoable. It never loses it clayness – it still is what it is. But it is willing to be shaped.

Every time I think about this verse, I keep telling myself to go to the store and get the real clay that I used to play with in grade school. Play dough doesn’t have the same sticky consistency of real clay. But it will have to do for now.

God is telling us that the condition of our hearts needs to be as pliable and willing to be shaped as clay. God is telling us that we have to be obedient and willing to be used just like clay, we have to be flexible enough to be balled back up and reshaped into a new thing.

Our sins, our mistakes, our bad ideas, our unwillingness, our hatefulness, our misjudgments, or beliefs about the way things are, our need to hang on the what we understand, all need to go back into the ball. So that we can be used by God to do a new thing in the world today.
What happens in your life what you don’t listen to God? You go back on the potter’s wheel – what happens when you do listen to God? What is it that you become? I know in my heart that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Let us pray……