Hope in the Midst of Darkness

October 27, 2019 Joel 2:23-32 Hope in the midst of Darkness 20th Sunday After Pentecost Year C Children’s sermon: Who knows what they want to be when they grow up. Have hopes for the future. Everything starts in life with a dream, a hope. Living with that hope helps us inspires us. Dreams- do all we can to make dreams come true – your future is our future. What does the future look like and what do today to make it happen…. Stewardship moment: If you could make the world a better place to live, what would you do? If you could make this town a better place what would you do? If you could make this community the perfect place to be- where everyone would be happy with life what would you do? Our theme for today is visions and dreams. Visions of a better time. God has a dream to fulfiil, but so do we. We come together to dream of a better world, to have hope that it is not just a dream – if we work together to make it a reality. Dream of an open community all feel welcome all touched, all healed, all return to be a part. Chances in prayer, praise in fellowship in working toward that. Also have a chance to give of our hearts, to know that God shares our concerns shares our dreams. WOrk together and give together – live in that vision, power to spread in our giving. Joel 2:23-32 Common English Bible (CEB) 23 Children of Zion, rejoice and be glad in the LORD your God, because he will give you the early rain as a sign of righteousness; he will pour down abundant rain for you, the early and the late rain, as before.[a] 24 The threshing floors will be full of grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and fresh oil. 25 I will repay you for the years that the cutting locust, the swarming locust, the hopping locust, and the devouring locust have eaten— my great army, which I sent against you. 26 You will eat abundantly and be satisfied, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has done wonders for you; and my people will never again be put to shame. 27 You will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God—no other exists; never again will my people be put to shame. 28 After that I will pour out my spirit upon everyone; your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. 29 In those days, I will also pour out my spirit on the male and female slaves. 30 I will give signs in the heavens and on the earth—blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood before the great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. 32 But everyone who calls on the LORD’s name will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be security, as the LORD has promised; and in Jerusalem, the LORD will summon those who survive. Footnotes: a. Joel 2:23 Or at the first Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible If you were to ask me, I am always going to say that summer is my favorite time of year. I love the hot weather, the bright sunshine, the long hours of the day. Life is always better for me in the summertime. I am a late summer baby, so that is when life is good. But I gotta say that there is something magical about the fall. Every year, my spirit looks forward to the cooler weather, the changing of the leaves, the wind blowing and signaling that things are about to change. Yesterday, was an absolutely glorious day, as I watched the wind blow and the autumn rain fall. It is days like that that tell my spirit that it is time to get ready for a change. Officially it is the time of year, that when I come home from work or errands, I can just relax and put on my pajamas. Because I am in for the day- I am not coming back out. It is the time of year where you switch from outdoor activities to inside. Where you stop eating the light salads and get ready for soup. Where you switch from summer clothes to socks and shoes and sweaters. Autumn is just a magical season. I can see why the prophet Joel would speak of the presence of God as Autumn rain. Traditionally, the wind and the rain are sure signs of God’s presence. We don’t know much about who Joel was. It was thought that he must have been a priest in the temple. We do know that he was speaking to an agricultural people, who thought of all of life according to the planting season. That paid attention to the messages of the wind and the rain. Being that this is a warm climate, they had two planting seasons. One in the spring, with a big harvest in the fall. Also one in the fall. They always welcomed the autumn rain, because it helped the crops grow. They were very aware that each season was different. That each season bought challenges, and that some challenges were harder than others. This last season had been particularly difficult. As a matter of fact, difficult only scratched the surface of what this season was for them. The locust came out of the middle of nowhere and just ate everything. They ate all of the crops in the field before they could even grow. They came into the houses and the businesses, they were in the streets, they were relentless and took everything. Not only was this a personal loss for the farmers and their families, it was a loss for the whole community. As a people they had lost everything. Many had stopped going to the temple to pray a long time ago. But after this, that is all that they could do, was gather, pray, reach out to others, and to look together as a community about what to do next. How to make meaning of this, and to move forward. There is a saying, that what does not kill you – will make you stronger. It is supposed to be a positive statement of growth. Unless you are actually in a situation, where you have lost everything and you are not so sure that you are going to survive the devastation. Locust can come to us in many ways in family issues, in health issues, in financial issues, in relationship issues, in the lives of our children. And the locust can take everything. When Frank and Karen got home from their Bible study at church, there were two messages waiting for them on their telephone answering machine. Both messages were bad news. One call was from Ted, one of Frank's friends at work. Ted had received tragic news about a death. The other call was from Paula, one of Karen's friends from her aerobics class. Paula had received tragic news from her doctor. Neither Ted nor Paula were actively involved in a church. In the past, Frank had invited Ted to church and Bible study, and Karen had invited Paula, but both Ted and Paula had declined the invitations. Neither of them thought about God very much -- at least, not until tonight. Now, God was suddenly very much on both Ted's and Paula's minds. Neither of them knew of a pastor to call, so Ted had called Frank and Paula had called Karen. Both phone calls were desperate pleas for help. Ted's message was first. "Frank, this is Ted from the office. I'm sorry to bother you like this, but my wife and I got a phone call this evening." Ted's voice began to break up. "Our son, who lives in Germany, was killed in a car wreck." There was a long pause before he could continue. "I just don't know what to do. I don't know what to think." There was another pause and the sound of muffled sobs. Ted continued, "Frank, I know you are always reading the Bible and all that. I thought maybe I could talk to you. I hope it's okay for me to be calling you like this, Frank, I just don't know what's happening. Why would God let something like this happen? What is God doing?" There was another pause while Ted tried to collect himself. "I guess I've changed my mind about reading the Bible with you. If you could come over for a little bit, I'd sure appreciate it. We couldn't get a flight until tomorrow morning, so I'll be at home all night. If you can, please bring your Bible and come over." There was a beep and Paula's message followed on the tape. She was sobbing. "Karen, this is Paula. Oh God, I wish you were there. I hate talking to these machines. Karen, I really need to talk to you. I didn't tell you yesterday at class, but my doctor was running some tests on me because she suspected a problem." Paula began to sob harder. "Karen, I just found out that I've got bone cancer. It's bad." There was a pause while Paula tried to collect herself. "I didn't know who else to call. I'm so scared. I need some help here, Karen. I know we don't really know each other that well, but you're the only person I know who even talks about God. Karen, I don't know what's going on. Why is this happening to me? What is God doing?" Paula took a deep breath. "I really hate these machines. God, I wish you were there. Please call me when you get in. Better yet, come over if you can. Please." Both Frank and Karen picked up their Bibles again and headed back out the door. It was a bad time for each of their friends. With Bibles in hand, Frank and Karen set out in different directions to try to answer the same question. In the midst of their respective suffering and confusion, both Ted and Paula had asked the same question: "What is God doing?" When Frank reached Ted's house, Ted was alone. His wife had gone over to her sister's house. The two men sat at the kitchen table to talk. After they had talked for a while, Ted looked down at Frank's Bible lying on the table. Ted knew that Frank had been to his Bible study that evening. He asked Frank, "What did you study about tonight?" Then, he added with a hopeful tone, "Was it anything that applies to me?" Frank said, "Our church group has been studying the Old Testament prophets. This evening we looked at the book of Joel." Frank gazed down at the Bible in front of him and thought for a moment. Then, looking up at Ted, he said, "Joel is probably a good book for you right now. It talks about why bad things happen and what God wants people to do." Ted listened as Frank described the events recorded by the prophet Joel. Frank explained that there was a terrible plague of locusts that swept across the land of Israel. The locusts came in wave after wave after wave. All the crops were destroyed and the people had nothing to eat. They were devastated. It was a very bad time for them. The prophet told the people that the terrible thing that had happened was not just a coincidence. The locusts were God's army and they were sent because the people were not worshipping properly. They had turned away from God. The prophet told the elders and all the inhabitants of the land that they must fast and cry out to God. The prophet said, "Return to the Lord, your God." The people listened to what the prophet was telling them and they prayed to God. God then answered their prayer and blessed them. Frank looked at Ted and said, "Think of your son's death like the locust plague. Even though it is devastating, you can see that, in a way, it is a good thing. God is using it as a way to get your attention -- a way of letting you know that you have not been worshipping properly. Just like in the book of Joel, God is giving you a message. It's the same message: 'Return to the Lord, your God.' You wanted to know what God is doing. That is what God is doing." Frank was just about to ask Ted if he wanted to pray, but he saw that Ted was standing up. As Frank looked, he saw that Ted was trembling. Frank could not tell if he was trembling with anger or illness. Actually, it was a combination. Ted spoke slowly in a very restrained voice, "Frank, I know I asked you to come over here, but now I am going to have to ask you to leave. I cannot listen to any more of this. You're telling me that the Bible says God intentionally took my son's life in order to punish me? If I were to believe that what you are saying is true, I would die myself from despair. But before I did, I would use my last breath to curse a God who would do such a thing! Please go now. Please leave and take your Bible and your God with you!" When Frank had gone, Ted sat at the table with his head in his hands. He cried long into the night. He felt so alone in his pain. There was an aching emptiness deep within him. He had hoped that somewhere there was a God who could fill that emptiness. Ted knew now that that would never happen. Meanwhile, in another part of town, Karen arrived at Paula's house. Paula was also alone. She was divorced and had no children. At first, Karen just held her friend and let her cry. Eventually Paula stopped crying and the two women went into the kitchen and made some coffee. As they sat at the kitchen table, Paula looked at Karen and said, "Please tell me. What is God doing?" Karen had, of course, attended the same Bible study that evening as her husband. Like Frank, Karen's mind jumped immediately to the book of Joel. After thinking for a moment, Karen, just as her husband Frank had done with Ted, decided that the message from the prophet Joel was a good way to explain to her devastated friend what God was doing. Karen opened her Bible. She told Paula that the prophet begins by describing a great plague of locusts. Karen said that the reason for beginning with the devastation of the locusts and famine was to show that no matter how great a problem is, God is greater still. Karen and Paula began to read together at the verse in Joel that begins today's Old Testament lesson. In the midst of the devastation that has passed through the land, God tells the people to "be glad and rejoice in the Lord your God" (2:23). Karen said there was reason to rejoice because of the promises that God made to the people. First, God promised that there would be plenty of rain so that "the threshing floors would be full of grain," and the vats for the wine and oil would "overflow" (2:24). Before, the locusts had been eating everything. Now the focus is on the people eating from the abundance of what God will provide. God promises to meet the people's needs in the midst of their devastation. Karen read the next verse. God says, "I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten" (2:25). Karen remembered what she had learned in the Bible study earlier that night. Karen explained to Paula how, in Hebrew, the word for "repay" used here also has the meaning of "healing" or "making whole." God is sensitive to the total loss that the people have experienced. God knows that the ordeal has left psychological scars far deeper than only the direct effects of the famine. There is a God who thoroughly understands people's pain. The two women continued reading. God says, "I will pour my spirit on all flesh" (2:28). Karen explained that before this time God's spirit had only come to a select few -- special leaders and some prophets. Moses had said that he wished "that all the Lord's people were prophets, and the Lord would put his spirit on them!" (Numbers 11:29). Now it was happening, everyone received the spirit -- old and young, the men and the women, the slaves and the free. Karen looked up at Paula and said, "Actually, God was talking only about the Hebrew people. It was their sons and their daughters referred to here. But later on, on the day of Pentecost, Peter quotes these very verses as the spirit of Christ was poured out on all people indiscriminately." Karen smiled at her friend, "You and I are included in this." Karen said, "The same God who made all these promises to a people who were in the middle of a very bad time, is the same God who is with you now in your pain and suffering. God is in the midst of those who suffer. God promises not to leave you alone." After they had talked a bit more, Karen gave Paula another hug and went home. Even after Karen had gone, Paula found herself crying softly to herself. Her tears were different than the tears that Ted was crying across town. Paula's tears were tears of joy. She was still afraid, but she no longer felt so alone. Deep within her an empty space had been filled by a gracious, loving and understanding God. It was a God she had met in the book of Joel. Obviously Karen's visit had a happier ending than Frank's, but who was right? Both Ted and Paula had a devastating thing happen to them. They each asked what God was doing. Were they, as Frank had suggested, receiving God's punishment for what they had done? Or were they, as Karen had suggested, receiving God's presence for what they were going through? Both Frank and Karen were basing their statements on scripture. In fact, they were quoting from the same book. Who was right? The lesson for us, is that no matter how dark things get in our life, and things can get pretty dark. God cares about us. God has no intention for death to be the final word in our life. Lessons like this in the Hebrew bible, have an important message for us as Christians. Life is hard, dark days come. Devastation comes. Sometimes the problems are beyond our control, sometimes they are the consequences of our own actions. What doesn’t kill you will make you stronger. But hope is only for those who intend to survive until tomorrow. The last words of this scripture say – The Lord will call on those who survive. Jeremiah is even more explicit- that not everyone will understand or get through the tribulation. Only a remnmant will remaing faithful, and that God will move the nation through that remnant. God’s word of hope is for those who stand strong and survive to see the rain, take away the devastation. For those who stand strong – the spirit will come and truly make a difference. The rain will pour out on all flesh – the young, old, male female. Through visions, dreams and prophecy will see hope turn into reality. The visions are about a collective hope. For us who gather and look to God – God has only one word – redemption. Things get better when we work together on fulfilling God’s dream. From Old testament times to now, as history unfolds – we can see God bringing us back to a relationship with him. The old testament always speaks of a future where they will be no more tribulations – if we are faithful we will see that day, but hope starts today in our present situation. The story continues with Jesus coming into the world and teaching us more. But it comes today. With the coming of the autumn rain – bringing our attention to God’s presence in our lives and in our situations. It continues in our dreams. Business executive Robert E. Greenleaf in his provocative book, Servant Leadership, has a lot to say about goal-setting. He is convinced that the church cannot grow and flourish unless it is caught up in an all-consuming purpose. A growing-edge church constantly looks ahead to the future. In his own words: “Someone in the church must paint the dream. For anything to happen there must be a dream. And for anything great to happen there must be a great dream.”4 Who is going to paint the dream in your church? A pastor known for his pulpit prayers always found something to thank God for, even in troubled times. On one dark stormy day when he had experienced some personal tragedy in his own life, his members said: "Surely the Pastor will have nothing to thank God for on a morning like this." But as the preacher began his prayer, he said: "Lord, we know that this is a dreary morning. But, Lord, let us learn from our troubles and be reminded that it has not always been like this. You have given us days of sunshine. And we have enough faith to thank you ahead of time that it will not always be like this in the future. By your grace we believe that there is a bright side somewhere and the sun will shine again. We believe that new life is possible and you have the future in your hand. We believe your grace has brought us safe thus far, and we believe your grace will lead us home." Our prayer is our dream…let us pray… Amen.

The consequences of stupidity

Jeremiah 4:11-28 September 11, 2016 Ordinary Time Remember the line from Forrest Gump movie, Forrest would always say- stupid is as stupid does? Well my sermon today is about being stupid. Maybe it is just me, but I think that stupidity has become a national epidemic. There are a lot of stupid things going on in the this world. I remember at the jurisdictional conference I was talking with someone about Trump winning the republican nomination. I told her that I can’t wait for the day when common sense comes back in style. Because it certainly is not the style of the day. Growing up I lived in the illusion that the world was getting better for black people. That the nation was moving forward in its tolerance of people with a darker skin color. But then I hear the story of so many people upset with the young football player because he refuses to stand for the national anthem. Really? My mother never said the pledge of allegiance, because she said that it was not true. Her brother who was 20 years older than her, and he didn’t say the pledge of allegiance either. And they are just now noticing this one black man who refuses to stand for the national anthem. And besides that, what ever happened to freedom of expression? Whatever happened to this being a diverse nation where the rights of all people are protected? If a white player had refused to stand for the anthem, would we be having all of this conversation about it? There is still a double standard in the land of opportunity. And as quiet as it has been kept, the world has not changed for the better for people of color, the same attitudes and stupidity are running rampamt. Speaking of stupid, in our scripture for today – God calls his own people stupid. It is one thing to be stupid in worldy matters. But God’s people are stupid in spiritual matters. As a matter of fact, the two go hand in hand. God speaks himself in Jeremiah 4 and he says – my people are stupid, they don’t know me. They are good at doing wrong, but they are incompetent is doing what is right. God is not talking to people of the world in general – God says my people are stupid. My people should know better, but they don’t act like it. So the message for us this morning – don’t be stupid. As I was reflecting on scriptures for this week – Jeremiah 4 stood out to me as a very powerful message. It is a message of anguish and pain. Jeremiah says that he speaks out of his anguish. The sentence literally means that she speaks out of his bowels, that his bowels are wreaked in anger. You see the Jews believed that the bowels were the seat of deep emotion. The bowels, the guts were the place that you felt anger, pain, sorrow and any other deep emotion. A prophet is one who speaks to God’s people with a message from God. The prophets always speak from the bowel. Isaiah speaks from the bowel and so does Paul. But Jeremiah’s message always hits me the most. You have to know about his life in order to know why he cared so much about his message to the people. God started messing with Jeremiah as a child. Jeremiah said that he was too young and that his family was not a wholesome family. His dad was a royal priest, a levite. They were a well off family. But in Jeremiah’s lifetime he watched the destruction of his nation. Eventually everything was torn down and he and all of the rich and important people were taken away to another country. There was utter chaos and destruction everywhere. Jeremiah felt that he needed to talk his people through what was going on. Many people think Jeremiah was a message of doom. But it was actually a story of hope after the destruction. He wanted people to realize that all was not lost, and that things would be rebuilt. Jeremiah built property in the midst of the destruction, so that his family would have a heritage after it was all over. He preached that a remnant of people would survive the destruction so that God’s name could continue. 1918 was a bad year for my family. We lost at least 5 people in our family. In doing research, I learned that there was a flu epidemic that year that affected the whole nation. It hit rural families harder than others, because they had less access to a doctor. I explained to one of my students, that the good news was that even though every one was sick and many died. The good news of my family is that some people survived. Some people had a natural immunity. If they didn’t, I wouldnt be here speaking to you. In the midst of even an epidemic, God makes sure that a remnant survives in order to carry on god’s work. So there is good news for the stupidity epidemic. That is the message that Jeremiah felt so strong in his bowels. God's’people may be lost, but we are not down. We are broken but not destroyed. The strength is in our spirit. We cannot afford to be stupid or disconnected from God. Jeremiah’s deep message is not just about God’s people. He is not talking about them, he is talking with them. Their fate is his fate, that is why he cares. As a matter of fact, Jeremiah dies in exile. He never sees the hope that he talked about. But Jeremiah’s salvation is tied up in our salvation. God’s judgement always turns into God’s salvation because God always loves us, even when we are sinners. Al Mohler, Words from the Fire (Moody Publishers, 2009), p. 38; submitted by Robert Dawson, Lake Park, Georgia God Loves Me There is a wonderful story about Maya Angelou. She is an active member now of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco. She wrote that years ago when she first came to San Francisco as a young woman she became sophisticated. She said that was what you were supposed to do when you go to San Francisco, you become sophisticated. And for that reason she said she became agnostic. She thought the two went together. She said that it wasn't that she stopped believing in God, just that God no longer frequented the neighborhoods that she frequented. She was taking voice lessons at the time. Her teacher gave her an exercise where she was to read out of some religious pamphlet. The reading ended with these words: "God loves me." She finished the reading, put the pamphlet down. The teacher said, "I want you to read that last sentence again." So she picked it up, read it again, this time somewhat sarcastically, then put it down again. The teacher said, "Read it again." She read it again. Then she described what happened. "After about the seventh repetition I began to sense there might be some truth in this statement. That there was a possibility that God really loves me, Maya Angelou. I suddenly began to cry at the grandness of it all. I knew if God loved me, I could do wonderful things. I could do great things. I could learn anything. I could achieve anything. For what could stand against me with God, since one person, any person, with God form a majority now." Mark Trotter, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Jeremiah’s message to us, as stupid as we are, we are still God’s people and God still loves us. We can live with God’s hope. God is on your side. God loves you and wants you to win. I chose this very morbid text because of its powerful message. God loves you, God is all powerful. But one thing that God will not do – he will not take away the consequences of your actions. The wages of sin is death. If you are stupid, there are still consequences of your actions. And remember, there is a difference between stupidity and ignorance. Ignorance means that you do stupid things because you did not know any better. God intentionally uses the term stupid – meaning you knew better and did it anyway. Do stupid things, you will suffer the consequences of your actions. The jews were exiled as a result of their political policies. When they were doing well, they did not think they needed to help other people. But you always reap what you sow, God cannot will not stop the process, not even for the people he loves. We forget that God is omnipotent, the God of all things. God controls not just our angels, but also our demons. God is the God of good things, but also the God of bad things. In our stupidity, we tend to relegate God to a corner. God is the God ofgood, but also bad. God is the God of love but also the God of hatred, God is the creator, but God is also the destroyer. If Genesis is the story of God’s creation. Jeremiah is the story of God’s destruction. The lectionary cuts out half of this scripture as God talks about his destruction of the nation that he worked so hard to create. The good news for us – we are God’s people. For us hatred turns into love, destruction turns into recreation, consequences turns into forgiveness and a newlife. Things always turn around for us. Love prevails in the end. Jerimiah 4:11 starts out by saying that a hot wind blows in. the hot winds are called the Socorro. The wind is so hot that it is miserable. I have found that change always comes in the form of a wind. Whenever the weather is about to change, the wind starts to blow. This is the second week of September. I look forward to this weekend every year. When I was pastor in Oak Park, the church would take a retreat in Lake Geneva Wisconsin on this weekend every year. And every year we would get the same warning that it was going to be too cold to sleep in the cabins, because the frost was coming today. And like clockwork there were always right. I always look forward to this weekend, because no matter how hot the summer has been, the cold winds blow in on this weekend. Winds are a sign that things are about to change. Fall is coming. The winds of change are starting to blow. The wind is a sign of God’s presence blowing through the land. The winds of change blew across a group of people gathered together to pray, and the wind made them into the church. The winds of change are blowing now for our church, our community, our world. This is the presidential season. Will the day come where black, brown and red lives matter? While this epidemic of stupidity turn to faith? Will despair turn to hope? Sickness turn to health? Death turn to life? Let us all pray for god’s salvation. Amen. Additional illustrations…. SERMON ILLUSTRATION Thinking about the Unthinkable David Seamands tells the story of the alchemist who sold villagers a special powder that he claimed would turn water into gold provided that when they mixed it, they never thought of red monkeys. Well, of course, no one ever got the gold, because you can't tell yourself to stop thinking about red monkeys or you'll just keep thinking about red monkeys. It doesn't work to say, "Well, I'm just not going to think about those things. I'm going to put all of that out of my mind." So often I see Christian brothers and sisters trying to do that. "Blessed Are the Pure in Heart," Preaching Today, Tape No. 83. SERMON ILLUSTRATION Buried Alive We must be careful what we bury in our heart. To bury something does not mean it is dead. It may simply mean we have buried something alive that will devour and destroy us from within. Maxie Dunnam in Let Me Say That Again. Christianity Today, Vol. 40, no. 5. [ read less ] SERMON ILLUSTRATION Research Points to Our Belief in an "Ordinary God" Several years ago in Britain, researchers went door-to-door asking persons about their belief in God. One of their questions: "Do you believe in a God who intervenes in human history, who changes the course of affairs, who performs miracles, etc.?" When published, their study took its title from the response of one man who was seen as rather typical of those who responded. He answered, "No, I don't believe in that God; I believe in the ordinary God." How many of our friends and neighbors believe in "just the ordinary God"? Create Him Not The love of God is indescribable but a old Jewish legend does a pretty good job. It describes what happened when God created man. The legend says God took into counsel the Angels that stood about his throne. The Angel of Justice said; 'Create him not … for if you do he will commit all kinds of wickedness against his fellow man; he will be hard and cruel and dishonest and unrighteous.' The Angel of Truth said, 'Create him not … for he will be false and deceitful to his brother and even to Thee.' The Angel of Holiness stood and said; 'Create him not … he will follow that which is impure in your sight, and dishonor you to your face.' Then stepped forward the Angel of Mercy, God's most beloved, angel, and said; 'Create him, our Heavenly Father, for when he sins and turns from the path of right and truth and holiness I will take him tenderly by the hand, and speak loving words to him, and then lead him back to you.' Brett Blair, Sermons.com When I Say I Am a Christian In 1988, the poet Carol Wimmer, became concerned about the self-righteous, judgmental spirit she was seeing in some people because she felt strongly that being judgmental is a perversion of the Christian faith. So, she wrote a poem about this. It’s called “When I say I am a Christian” and it reads like this: “When I say, ‘I am a Christian,’ I’m not shouting, ‘I’ve been saved!’ I’m whispering, ‘I get lost!’ That’s why I chose this way. When I say ‘I am a Christian,’ I don’t speak with human pride. I’m confessing that I stumble – needing God to be my guide. When I say ‘I am a Christian,’ I’m not trying to be strong. I’m professing that I’m weak and pray for strength to carry on. When I say ‘I am a Christian,’ I’m not bragging of success. I’m admitting that I’ve failed and cannot ever pay the debt. When I say, ‘I am a Christian,’ I don’t think I know it all. I submit to my confusion asking humbly to be taught. When I say ‘I am a Christian,’ I’m not claiming to be perfect. My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I’m worth it. When I say, ‘I am a Christian,’ I still feel the sting of pain. I have my share of heartache which is why I seek His name. When I say, ‘I am a Christian,’ I do not wish to judge. I have no authority – I only know I’m loved.” James W. Moore, quoting Carol Wimmer, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com _________________________________________ God Is Personal God loves you. So he tells you: don't be stupid! but I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience for an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. Children’s sermon…… Object: A difficult puzzle or something that requires a lot of patience to figure out. Good morning, boys and girls. Today I want to teach you something that is almost the hardest thing to learn. I know that you will not learn it today, but it may be a start, and if it is, then this will be one of the best lessons you have ever learned. I brought along a puzzle with me this morning. How many of you like to work puzzles? (Let them answer.) This is not a regular kind of puzzle. I want you to know that this is one of the hardest puzzles I have ever seen. I may never be able to work this puzzle, but it teaches me something that I must really learn. Do you know what I am learning from this puzzle? (Let them answer.) You are pretty close, but I must tell you the answer. I am going to learn about patience. We all like puzzles that are easy to work, because finishing them quickly makes us feel smart. But hard puzzles that do not have easy answers make us nervous, and even unhappy. Those kinds of puzzles are like problems that we have in living. We don't like big problems because when we do not have easy answers, we become nervous and unhappy. A hard puzzle teaches us patience because we have to work at it for a long time. Some of us are very hard "puzzles" for God. He works with us for as long as we live and maybe even longer. God is very patient with us. He will work with us every day to help us find the answers to the big problems in our lives. We know that he does this because we know that no matter what we do, he is ready to forgive us and start all over again with us if we only ask him to help. God is always ready to "work us out" and help us solve our problems, problems that we think, are too hard for us. God could do it another way. He could keep us from having any problems, but then we would not be people. We would be like puppets. God lets us have our problems or puzzles, and then helps us to work them out. That is one of the reasons why we think that our God is such a great God. God is very patient with us. Lots of people have found that out, but Paul, who wrote the Bible book of 1 Timothy, remembered how patient God was with him and he told us about it. The next time you have a really hard problem or puzzle and you don't find the answer right away, remember that you are being taught to be patient, just as God is patient with us. Then you will be glad for the love that God shares with you.

A Well dressed Christian

August 26, 2012 The well Dressed Christian Ephesians 6:10-20 John 6:56-69 Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost Year B Casualties in war in afganistan The war in Afghanistan is still going on after 11 years. In that time over 1900 american soldiers have been killed, and about 3000 soldiers killed overall. I used to keep track of that number until it got way to big. Casualties in war in the streets Father Pfleger has been keeping up the statistics in another war, the war on the streets of Chicago. Every day this summer he has listed the number of people killed in Chicago on that day. Last night, he said that 4 had been killed and 31 wounded in shootings in Chicago. Once again I am sad to say that he gives those statistics so frequently, that I have stopped keeping track of the number. Spiritual warfare But Ephesians reminds us that there is a much deadlier war going on. And the statistics are not being kept by anyone. And the effects are just was real, but sometimes you just cant see them. That is the war going on in the spirit. The war for our souls, and for what is right and wrong. The war against the devil in our lives and in the lives of others. No control over emotional warfare It seems that it is easy for us to identify physical bodies. But you cant identify the hatred, the greed, the disrespect, the jealousy, the need to control, the anger The tangible problems are relatively easy to deal with. Dealing with the intangible - dealing with jealousy, greed, patriotism that has degenerated into uncritical nationalism, community pride that has become twisted into bigotry and prejudice, fear that has become all-controlling both of individuals and of communities - the unseen forces that lead us towards death. These things are far harder to deal with. That goes behind the physical wars. Before there can be a war in the physical realm, it has to start in the spiritual realm, against things that you cannot see. The news does not talk about the casualties, but we can certainly see the results in the pews of our churches. It makes a difference to us, as we see where people used to come to church but they are not here anymore. In order to protect ourselves from this war, we are encouraged to put on the whole armor of God. The armor of god The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, the helmut of salvation. You will notice that there is nothing given to us to hurt other people. That is all protective armor, designed to defend ourselves against an attack. And if we are not careful it is a daily attack. Sometimes the enemies uses other people to hurt us, often times it uses ourselves, our own spirit, our own heart. If we are not steeped in the word of god everyday- we don’t know what the consequences are. We are given one weapon against the devil in our armor. The sword of the spirit – the word of God. Take bible in small doses Some seem to expect the Word of God to hit them like a jolt of adrenaline each time they read or study it. Although the "jolt" may hit us periodically, the benefits of the Word of God act more like vitamins. People who regularly take vitamins do so because of their long-term benefits, not because every time they swallow one of the pills, they feel new strength surging through their bodies. They have developed a habit of consistently taking vitamins because they have been told that, in the long haul, vitamin supplements are going to have a beneficial effect on their physical health, resistance to disease and, general well-being The same is true of reading the Bible. At times it will have a sudden and intense impact on us. However, the real value lies in the cumulative effects that long-term exposure to God’s Word will bring to our lives. Most people are looking for the word to be a quick fix, a pill that you can take and fix everything. Your heart, your mind, your kidneys, anything and every all at one time. Sometime we even think that holding the bible will protect us from all. There is a woman who parks in front of the church all the time. She want to protect her camero. She wont come into the church, but puts that bible prominently in her window. The bible is our protection only if we read it and know what it says. It is not a pill to fix everything. It is a vitamin to keep us healthy. Taken in daily doses, that sustain us and guide us. Jesus Christ is the answer to everything. But we have to read in order to know that right question to ask, the right prayer to pray. God is a warrior Today a lot of people are uncomfortable with the warrior image of being a soldier for Christ. The don’t want to have to fight. And how in the world can a sword – bring peace. Not realizing that the image of God in the bible is as a warrior, a warrior fighting the spiritual war on behalf of his people. Ephesians is telling us to dress just like God is dressed. Isaiah 59: 17 says that when God discovered that there was no justice in the world. he put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head, he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in the zeal as in a cloak. The redeemer will come to zion. Soldiers prayer There is a tradition that an soldier offered up this prayer for a son, in his devotions to god and his country. “Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory. “Build me a son whose wishes will not take the place of deeds; a son who will know Thee … and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge. “Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be high, a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past. “And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom and the meekness of true strength. “Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, “I have not lived in vain.”” —Gen. Douglas A. MacArthur This is a prayer that God himself granted for himself. That son was Jesus Christ. People don’t get Jesus Now we have been reading about Jesus as the bread of life for six weeks. It can be heard to preach when we are on the same chapter for that long. We learn that you have to have physical bread before you can have spiritual bread, that you need that spiritual bread in order to live. That physical bread sustains you for a short time, but eating eternal bread sustains you forever. Once again where do we get this spiritual bread- from the word of God in the bible, in the life of Jesus Christ. That seems to make sense to us. but there are people who don’t get the connection of the spirit and the flesh. Who don’t get that the spirit came together with the flesh in Jesus Christ. Why would we be feasting on Jesus? Not everyone gets it. Jesus says that not everyone gets it. God says that not everyone gets it. We still live in the illusion that everyone will. The word is open for everyone to take, but not everyone will. Churches feel the pain That brings me back to casualties of spiritual warfare. When we look at our pews, we see that many people have fallen away. When we look at our families there are many people that we would like to get back into the church. Sometimes we think that there is something that we did to make them leave, and that there is something that we can say to bring them back. Not realizing that is not the case. We think their refusal to come is a rejection of us, not always the case either. No where in the bible does it say that every one who started out with you on the journey is going to finish the journey. When the lord delivered the isrealites from Egypt, he concluded that most of them would never make it to the promisedland. When he told them they were the children of god, in jeremiah, god says that he can only use the remmant of the faithful. Not everybody. Even jesus says the many are called, but few are chosen. On revelation, when the rapture comes, scripture says that one will be taken up, and the other left. The bread of life is for everyone, but not everyone will be able to take it in. that is biblical. That is in John 6. Jesus explains that if you cant except this teaching, how can you accept the resurrection? That is a teaching only for the faithful. And there is nothing that we have done to make them reject the teachings of jesus. They were given a choice and they chose not to accept it. Preach people out of the church Clarence Jordon was a civil rights leader, he visited a church one day and found that it was one of the few churches, where black and whites worshipped together he asked how it go tthat way.. It was a white church that had been given a black preacher. He started preaching that the church was for everyone. He said the deacons sat him aside one day and said that he could not say that. So he fired the deacons. He said that he preached and preached until there were only 4 people left in the church. And not long after that the church grew and grew. Sometimes the gospel is not about bringing people in, it is about driving people out. People who have no use for the bread of life, and don’t want to listen to jesus. Once the negative energy leaves, then the positive energy can flow freely. When jesus spoke of the bread of life, many people walked away. He turned to the remaining twelve and asked if they were leaving too. They said no, there was no place else to go. This is the only place to get the living bread from heaven. It was that few that believed the good news, that were willing to work, who were prepared to follow jesus through the tuff times. And those were the people god used to build his kingdom. Pray Be strong in the lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of god, and paul’s final words to us – to pray. Pray for ourselves, pray for our loved ones, pray for our church, pray for god mission. Pray for a mission There was a general, who used to pray daily. He never talked about his mission, but he prayed for it everyday. There would be some days when his butler knew to pack his bags foe he was going off to battle. Someone asked how the bulter knew this without talking with the general. He said that whenever he was going to fight, he would stop and pray two or three times a day. Everything he did was in prayer. There was a church, that grew, people stopped activities, and held prayer services. It is time for us to pray. We have work to do, god had plans for us, we need to be ready for those that god is sending to us. let us pray…