November 1, 2009
All Saint’s Day
Isaiah 25:6-9
John 11:32-44
Year B
Let me start by rereading the Isaiah scripture – it is not very long.
On this mountain the Lord will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well ages wines strained clear. And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take way from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, Lo this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he moght save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
God makes a profound promise in this passage – he will swallow up death. Then God will wipe away the tears from all faces. Everything that we are struggling with at the moment will disappear.
This is a profound reversal of the human condition. Living on this earth just naturally causes pain, tears and suffering. It does not matter who we are. Every year – at All Saints day we need to stop and to honor the grief in our lives.
I just returned from a wonderful spiritual experience at the Upper Room in Nashville. Trevor Hudson was our spiritual leader for the week. Trevor is a pastor from South Africa- but he travels all over the world to talk about the spiritual journey. He talked about what it meant to be a minister. He said that it is important to listen to the life of everyone. All of us have a pool of tears next to us in life. There is something that we are struggling with. And it is important in ministry to acknowledge that sadness in every life. We need to give a healthy place for our grief.
Another profound part of the text in Isaiah is that God promises that there is a place for us to go and to meet God – to be fed richly and lavishly by God. The church is that place to come and to feel safe to grieve.
As a child, every year in my grade school we had this haunted house. As we got older and saw the same exhibits year after year – you got use to them, but we still went anyway. The highlight of the haunted house was sticking our hands into the black cardboard box. We were supposed to be grossed out by what was in the box. By the fifth grade, we all knew that the box had cooked spaghetti in it. But we stuck our hand in anyway.
I tell you that cheesy story because in many ways All Saints Day is that black cardboard box. It is the place we come to be in touch with the spirits that have passed on to the other side. We all know that this is just an ordinary candle – but in some way we also know that it contains the spirit of the departed. We are a part of the mystery and the veil between life and death. This is the day to realize that there is a thin line between our world and God’s world. There is a thin line between life and death.
Originally All Saints day was created because it was believed that departed souls had not made it to heaven, they needed the prayers of the faithful to finish their journey.
Today we celebrate the presence of loved ones. They are here with us. I used carpenters tape to keep our pictures of loved ones up and displayed, and they continue to fall down anyway. That is a reminder that this moment is not intended to last forever. Their spirit is with us right now, but wont be here forever.
A saint is a child of God – so they now have a place in God’s world. The sickness, the trouble, the pain, the suffering of this world is no longer present for them. They are at God’s table enjoying the feast. Their spirit is free and they have a new life.
All Saints day is for the living – for those left behind. It is for us to acknowledge that we still live in that world of pain. We are the ones to carry on the legacy of their life lived here on earth. We need to acknowledge our pool of tears. The spirits are here with us for now, but they are now seeking eternity.
John says that Jesus was so touched by the human condition that he wept. What is it that makes Jesus cry? He wept for us, yet reminded us of new life.
In scripture today – Jesus woke Lazarus and told them to unbind him and let him go on with his life. What is is that binds us today? What do we need to let go of in order to move forward to journey to that glorious banquet waiting for us?
We need to acknowledge the abundant feast we have before su everyday as our loved ones join us.
A man’s newborn daughter died recently. She had been sick for her whole life. One night he had a dream about his father and his wife’s father – both of whom had passed on. His wife’s father was holding a baby girl but he did not make the connection. Both men talked to the man and told him that everything was okay. They were both watching over the family from heaven. That their family spanned both heaven and earth. They were taking good care of the baby and she was happy. It was then that he realized that his was his baby girl – and he realized the wonderful connection he had to heaven through his loved ones. He woke up with a feeling of comfort and peace.
We cant have life without death. There are times like these that our friends and family come from heaven to invite us to the feast no matter what. We are all part of God family. We are at those thin places in life were for moments we are reunited.
All will be reconciled by God. We will all one day be at that table of God. But we cannot have the reconciliation of our whole family without hospitality, welcomness, forgiveness, and acknowledgement of our grief.
Tears are a part of life.
Finally I want to leave you with this poem
This is from a book by Edward Hays – called Pray in all ways. He says that our lives are a prayer, and that we can pray in many ways – with our hands, our feet, our hands. Our tears are even a prayer. There are times when we may not have to words to express our pain and request to God – it does not matter – God can read our tears….. This is the prayer of tears
Lord, beloved God,
since all communion with you is prayer,
may even my tears be psalms of petition
and canticles of praise to you.
This is a prayer that you value greatly:
the prayer of my tears;
it is a prayer that you always hear
for you are a compassionate and kind God.
And, Lord, I know you understand
that whan I am overcome by my tears -
unable to speak or form a prayer -
that these very tears voice volumes of verse.
All truly great prayer
rises from deep inside
and springs spontaneously to the surface.
It would then seem
that from among the many beautiful prayers,
the sacred songs and canticles of praise,
my tears may be the best worship of all.
Help me not to be ashamed of them;
show me how I can let go of control
and let this prayer of my heart, my tears,
flow naturally and freely to you,
my blessed Lord and divine Lover.
In times of joy or sorrow,
blessed be my tears,
the holy prayers of my heart.
AMEN.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Ten Special Words
Ten Special Words
James 5:13-20
Mark 9:38-50
Sixteenth Day of Pentecost
Year B
A man travelled to Calcutta to learn more about faith, and he had the opportunity to meet with mother Theresa, she said that she would pray for him, but what did she want him to pray for? He said that he came here for clarity – so that was his prayer to see more clearly. She told him that there are a lot of times in life when we wont see very clearly. As a matter of fact, most days we wont see things clearly, and yet we need to go forward. I wont pray for clarity – I will pray for trust. I will pray that in the midst of all of the confusion – you will still decide to trust God anyway I think in life, most of us are like that man. We are waiting for things to finally make sense. For all of the answers to come. We are waiting for God to finally come clean and to tell us what all of life is all about – why we go through all that we go through. And when we don’t get the answers that we have been looking for – then there must be something wrong with God – prayers don’t really work, there is no real reason to have any faith. When we hear those stories about how prayer has worked for others – we take it personal – maybe we are not doing it right. Maybe we don’t know how to pray. Maybe we don’t understand this whole prayer thing.
Well, we are at the end of our study of the book of James. Our book of practical wisdom. And all throughout the book, we have had the same advice. Prayer is an important part of the life of an faithful person. We are to pray in the midst of all circumstances. Pray not for clarity, but for trust. Trust God in all circumstances. Our verse for today begins with a three step process for trusting in God. If you need something pray for it, If you are happy then sing about it and if you are sick go the elders and ask them to pray for you. That is good advice for all of us to remember – when you need something you should do what? When you are happy you should do what? When you are sick what should you do?
That last piece of advice has always got me. I first read this advice as a young adult in a bible study at my cousin’s Pentecostal church. And if you know anything about Pentecostals – they love to pray. The pray about everything. But not always in a positive way if I must say so myself. So I have always had this image of being very dubious about that advice. Who are these elders anyway – and why would they have so much power to pray for me – when I couldn’t pray for myself. I would think that they wold judge me and call me a bad person, which is why my prayers didn’t work. There was a story in the tribune last week of a woman who had members of her church arrested for praying on her front yard. She was sick, and another member of the church did vow that it was because she was a sinner in need of prayer. So she and the pastor came to the front yard and prayed. The police were called, but the lady came back again, and the second time was arrested. Perhaps the lady was following the advice of james to pray – but James doesn’t say that our prayers work because of our judgement of others.
Who is worthy of being called an elder anyway. If you look on the picture in the bulletin – those are the elders – the jewish elders. In the United Methodist Church the pastors are the elders, in other denominations they are lay people who have been entrusted to be leaders of the church. For some reason, in our humanness, we think that James is saying that the elders are special people with special powers. They are people that have been specially trained to do their job. They are people who may have a right to judge us. Theyare people up there somewhere.
But if you read further in James, it does not say that at all. Their power comes not from training or a special connection. Their power comes from being a part of the community of Christ. He says therefore confess you sins to one another, pray or one another. He uses Elijah as an example, that he was a faithful man that prayed that it not rain, and his prayer was answered. He prayed that it rained and the heavens opened up.
We tend to think that you have to have some special training for God to answer your prayers. But that it not so. God will answer the prayer of any sincere person. You don’t have to use special words, or have special intentions, or special gifts. Just use the words you have, the thoughts that you have, the faith that you have, the trust that when you pray you are being heard, and your prayers will work.
John Wesley says that everything in life is in answer to someone’s prayer. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Just because they are faithful. Whether you have gone to church everyday of your life – or made a deathbed confession you are the same in the eyes of God. And god responds to us all just the same. It is our faithfulness that is powerful, not our ego. Prayer is not the right words, and it is not even the right spirit, it is the right relationship. And the only relationship that we can ever hope to have with God is a relationship of trust. Prayer is not our clarity about life, it is our willingness to trust the will of God for our lives.
A famous muslim holy woman was once asked how she go to be so holy. How did she come to know God. She replied that she was willing to lose all that she had attained in the will of God. How do you know God – she was asked. You want to know God – I know God without knowing how to know him.
There is nothing that you could ever say to God that will be just the right words. There is no way that you can ever speak for God. There is no way to ever be able to see clearly who God is or what God is exactly doing in the world. But it doesn’t really matter. The prayers of the righteous are still powerful and effective. Because God loves us enough to listen, no matter what we have to say or how we say it.
As we leave the book of James - let us remember his advice. When you need something pray, when we feel joy sing, when you are sick come to the elders.
All of us together are the elders of the church – the faithful. Our strength is in how we work and trust together for ourselves, the church, and the world. Let us pray…..
James 5:13-20
Mark 9:38-50
Sixteenth Day of Pentecost
Year B
A man travelled to Calcutta to learn more about faith, and he had the opportunity to meet with mother Theresa, she said that she would pray for him, but what did she want him to pray for? He said that he came here for clarity – so that was his prayer to see more clearly. She told him that there are a lot of times in life when we wont see very clearly. As a matter of fact, most days we wont see things clearly, and yet we need to go forward. I wont pray for clarity – I will pray for trust. I will pray that in the midst of all of the confusion – you will still decide to trust God anyway I think in life, most of us are like that man. We are waiting for things to finally make sense. For all of the answers to come. We are waiting for God to finally come clean and to tell us what all of life is all about – why we go through all that we go through. And when we don’t get the answers that we have been looking for – then there must be something wrong with God – prayers don’t really work, there is no real reason to have any faith. When we hear those stories about how prayer has worked for others – we take it personal – maybe we are not doing it right. Maybe we don’t know how to pray. Maybe we don’t understand this whole prayer thing.
Well, we are at the end of our study of the book of James. Our book of practical wisdom. And all throughout the book, we have had the same advice. Prayer is an important part of the life of an faithful person. We are to pray in the midst of all circumstances. Pray not for clarity, but for trust. Trust God in all circumstances. Our verse for today begins with a three step process for trusting in God. If you need something pray for it, If you are happy then sing about it and if you are sick go the elders and ask them to pray for you. That is good advice for all of us to remember – when you need something you should do what? When you are happy you should do what? When you are sick what should you do?
That last piece of advice has always got me. I first read this advice as a young adult in a bible study at my cousin’s Pentecostal church. And if you know anything about Pentecostals – they love to pray. The pray about everything. But not always in a positive way if I must say so myself. So I have always had this image of being very dubious about that advice. Who are these elders anyway – and why would they have so much power to pray for me – when I couldn’t pray for myself. I would think that they wold judge me and call me a bad person, which is why my prayers didn’t work. There was a story in the tribune last week of a woman who had members of her church arrested for praying on her front yard. She was sick, and another member of the church did vow that it was because she was a sinner in need of prayer. So she and the pastor came to the front yard and prayed. The police were called, but the lady came back again, and the second time was arrested. Perhaps the lady was following the advice of james to pray – but James doesn’t say that our prayers work because of our judgement of others.
Who is worthy of being called an elder anyway. If you look on the picture in the bulletin – those are the elders – the jewish elders. In the United Methodist Church the pastors are the elders, in other denominations they are lay people who have been entrusted to be leaders of the church. For some reason, in our humanness, we think that James is saying that the elders are special people with special powers. They are people that have been specially trained to do their job. They are people who may have a right to judge us. Theyare people up there somewhere.
But if you read further in James, it does not say that at all. Their power comes not from training or a special connection. Their power comes from being a part of the community of Christ. He says therefore confess you sins to one another, pray or one another. He uses Elijah as an example, that he was a faithful man that prayed that it not rain, and his prayer was answered. He prayed that it rained and the heavens opened up.
We tend to think that you have to have some special training for God to answer your prayers. But that it not so. God will answer the prayer of any sincere person. You don’t have to use special words, or have special intentions, or special gifts. Just use the words you have, the thoughts that you have, the faith that you have, the trust that when you pray you are being heard, and your prayers will work.
John Wesley says that everything in life is in answer to someone’s prayer. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Just because they are faithful. Whether you have gone to church everyday of your life – or made a deathbed confession you are the same in the eyes of God. And god responds to us all just the same. It is our faithfulness that is powerful, not our ego. Prayer is not the right words, and it is not even the right spirit, it is the right relationship. And the only relationship that we can ever hope to have with God is a relationship of trust. Prayer is not our clarity about life, it is our willingness to trust the will of God for our lives.
A famous muslim holy woman was once asked how she go to be so holy. How did she come to know God. She replied that she was willing to lose all that she had attained in the will of God. How do you know God – she was asked. You want to know God – I know God without knowing how to know him.
There is nothing that you could ever say to God that will be just the right words. There is no way that you can ever speak for God. There is no way to ever be able to see clearly who God is or what God is exactly doing in the world. But it doesn’t really matter. The prayers of the righteous are still powerful and effective. Because God loves us enough to listen, no matter what we have to say or how we say it.
As we leave the book of James - let us remember his advice. When you need something pray, when we feel joy sing, when you are sick come to the elders.
All of us together are the elders of the church – the faithful. Our strength is in how we work and trust together for ourselves, the church, and the world. Let us pray…..
The Person in the Mirror
August 30, 2009
James 1:17-27
Mark 7
The person in the mirror
Year B
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Story of mirror woman
There once was a wolf pack – who stuck together to just make a living. There were willing to share with one anther – but also with others. One day this very strange woman came to live with them. And they were willing to share what they had with her. But they could never really see what she looked like because she hid her face with a mirror. They called her mirror woman. She would also show the faces of the wolves in the mirror. Whenever they would try to hold a conversation with her – she would hold up the mirror. And she would point out all of the bad things that she saw in others from this mirror. The wolves saw themselves so much, that they started to believe everything that she said. They started to believe they were the bad behavior in the mirror. Until one say the den mother explained, that they were so much more than the mirror reflected. There was some bad things, but there were also some good things. They actually started to resent mirror woman, and asked her to take the mirror down. But she was afraid and left the pack. She did not want to think about her own bad, it was easier to see that in others. But when she was gone – they started to reflect the love that they wanted to see in others.
I am always amazed at how people quickly the people who don’t go to church like to use that word hypocrite when a talking about Christians.
How many times have I heard that people don’t go to church, because the church is full of hypocrites. What does that mean? And why do you need to say such a thing.
It is just like the woman in the story – who was so busy blaming and accusing others, that she did not take the time to look at her own character. She did not see that what she was doing was even more destructive for the group, then anything that she accused them of doing.
The word hypocrite – comes from greek – it means an actor. In the days of classical theater- an actor would put on one of those masks – either with a happy face or a sad face – to show what character they were playing in a play.
It was very clear that they were not the person they were playing on the stage. They were putting on a persona – taking on a personality that was not really their own.
There are many people today besides actors who have a professional persona and a personal life. That is just a part of the job they have. There is nothing wrong with what they are doing. And most of the time these are really nice people. And their persona is just an exaggeration of their real self.
Hypo – means under - crite means truth – which means under truth or understatement – not overstatement.
Over the years – it seems that the word has taken on a negative connotation that was not intended. Today to word means someone who intentionally takes on a religious or moral persona to hide their true self.
That does not describe the average Christian.
I told you about the workshop on safe sanctuaries. On making the church a safe place for children. The FBI agent warned us that child predators look at life in a totally different way then we would. He also said that many of them intentionally develop a persona of being thought of as a good person. They intentionally go to church, they intentionally try to be a nice guy. So that you don’t question their behavior.
The agent says that usually at the trial of these people, the family members or friends will spit on him, or yell at him. And say that the offender is really a nice guy – look at all of the things he has done in the community. He loves children.
That is the problem – he loves children, that is why he is being prosecuted. To me I would say that is the true definition of a hypocrite.
In Mark 7 as jesus is talking to the Pharisee – he calls them hypocrites.
It is a part of the tradition of the elders – to wash your hands before you eat. Every jews would have known that. The tradition was a set of unspoken rules that everyone would have known and everyone would have obeyed without question.
To jewish tradition to be clean was everything. In order to be close to god you had to be clean. As a Pharisee, you had to be intentional to make sure that you did not do anything that would dirty your hands or your body. That meant you were not fit to worship god. Today, when you enter into a muslim mosue – before you can pray – you have to ceremonially wash your entire body. Even though they are intentional to tell visitors that is only intended for muslims, others are not bound by that custom.
In the Christian church – we don’t have ceremonial cleanings, even though it is still tradition to dress up and look nice when we come to church. We still have the tradition of the elders.
And that was what Jesus was trying to attack when he called the Pharisees hypocrites. The tradition of the elders was not scripture - it was something someone made up. It was something that you just did without question and no one really knew why. Jesus point was that we should stop doing things because they were tradition and to give some thought to what they were doing and why. Maybe the intention of what you were doing was more important than following tradition. And jesus had a mission to fulfill, more important than the way it was always done.
Jesus went on to point out that it was not the tradition of being clean that caused the real evils in the world – it was the condition of the heart – the human heart – to lie, to steal, to criticize, to hurt when we have been hurt.
So we shouldn’t spend so much time worrying about the outside – but concentrate on the inside.
It is not just Christians, or people trying to be good who have those things – but all of us – it is human nature. In some ways we are all hypocrites. Not just Christians, but all people.
The lesson for us as Christians is not that we don’t have those tendencies inside of us, and not that we don’t have an inner self and an outer self. Being a Christian means that we know what is inside of ourselves and we acknowledge that we are sinners and we work to do something about it. We don’t exploit our sin to hurt others, to know that we are sinners, totally dependent on the grace of god to deal with our sinful nature.
For an outsider to be obsesses with calling a Christian a sinner is like the mirror woman finding the faults of the wolf pack – they spend so much time talking about others, that they forget to correct themselves.
Jesus knows that we will always sin, but some of us will look in the mirror and be able to fix what we see is wrong.
James talks about uses mirrors as a metaphor for looking at our selves and our actions too. He says that when we know the will of god and we don’t do it – we are like someone who looks in the mirror and forgets what they look like.
We look like the sons and daughters of God. In the message – Euguene Peterson says that when we know the word of god but we don’t do it – it is like we forget the face we were born with. We forget that we were all born sinners, but we were all born in the image of God. That is the true persona of all people – to reflect the love of god in their lives in some way.
Yesterday, sydaney and ray and I attended the workshop on stewardship. Great speaker, he told a story about a docter who went on a mission trip to Honduras. Before he left, he went to church, but it didn’t mean anything to him. He went through the motions, but it had no meaning. But when he went to help the people of Honduras – he saw the word of god being put into action, and he started to understand why he was really coming to church.
When we returned, he gave more in the offering plate, he volunterred more, he even was able to share his faith with others in a meaningful way.
There was something that was changed in his inner heart – that changed his outer actions. It was the cleansing of his inner heart – that made his outer heart clean. That is all jesus is trying to say to us. Cleansing comes from the inside out – not the outside in.
When we go outside of the sanctuary there are still those who will look on the outside and be critical no matter what. There are still non Christians who need to call Christians hypocrites, there are still neighbors who tell us that they need to see a change in our behavior to really trust us and to believe that we are who we say we are.
I hope you will always be able to admit that you are a sinner saved by the grace of God. Someone who has a heart of jealousy, anger and all kinds of bad things. But a sinner who has been touched in your heart by God, who lives a life not mandated by the mirror of others, but the light of God’s love for you.
James 1:17-27
Mark 7
The person in the mirror
Year B
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Story of mirror woman
There once was a wolf pack – who stuck together to just make a living. There were willing to share with one anther – but also with others. One day this very strange woman came to live with them. And they were willing to share what they had with her. But they could never really see what she looked like because she hid her face with a mirror. They called her mirror woman. She would also show the faces of the wolves in the mirror. Whenever they would try to hold a conversation with her – she would hold up the mirror. And she would point out all of the bad things that she saw in others from this mirror. The wolves saw themselves so much, that they started to believe everything that she said. They started to believe they were the bad behavior in the mirror. Until one say the den mother explained, that they were so much more than the mirror reflected. There was some bad things, but there were also some good things. They actually started to resent mirror woman, and asked her to take the mirror down. But she was afraid and left the pack. She did not want to think about her own bad, it was easier to see that in others. But when she was gone – they started to reflect the love that they wanted to see in others.
I am always amazed at how people quickly the people who don’t go to church like to use that word hypocrite when a talking about Christians.
How many times have I heard that people don’t go to church, because the church is full of hypocrites. What does that mean? And why do you need to say such a thing.
It is just like the woman in the story – who was so busy blaming and accusing others, that she did not take the time to look at her own character. She did not see that what she was doing was even more destructive for the group, then anything that she accused them of doing.
The word hypocrite – comes from greek – it means an actor. In the days of classical theater- an actor would put on one of those masks – either with a happy face or a sad face – to show what character they were playing in a play.
It was very clear that they were not the person they were playing on the stage. They were putting on a persona – taking on a personality that was not really their own.
There are many people today besides actors who have a professional persona and a personal life. That is just a part of the job they have. There is nothing wrong with what they are doing. And most of the time these are really nice people. And their persona is just an exaggeration of their real self.
Hypo – means under - crite means truth – which means under truth or understatement – not overstatement.
Over the years – it seems that the word has taken on a negative connotation that was not intended. Today to word means someone who intentionally takes on a religious or moral persona to hide their true self.
That does not describe the average Christian.
I told you about the workshop on safe sanctuaries. On making the church a safe place for children. The FBI agent warned us that child predators look at life in a totally different way then we would. He also said that many of them intentionally develop a persona of being thought of as a good person. They intentionally go to church, they intentionally try to be a nice guy. So that you don’t question their behavior.
The agent says that usually at the trial of these people, the family members or friends will spit on him, or yell at him. And say that the offender is really a nice guy – look at all of the things he has done in the community. He loves children.
That is the problem – he loves children, that is why he is being prosecuted. To me I would say that is the true definition of a hypocrite.
In Mark 7 as jesus is talking to the Pharisee – he calls them hypocrites.
It is a part of the tradition of the elders – to wash your hands before you eat. Every jews would have known that. The tradition was a set of unspoken rules that everyone would have known and everyone would have obeyed without question.
To jewish tradition to be clean was everything. In order to be close to god you had to be clean. As a Pharisee, you had to be intentional to make sure that you did not do anything that would dirty your hands or your body. That meant you were not fit to worship god. Today, when you enter into a muslim mosue – before you can pray – you have to ceremonially wash your entire body. Even though they are intentional to tell visitors that is only intended for muslims, others are not bound by that custom.
In the Christian church – we don’t have ceremonial cleanings, even though it is still tradition to dress up and look nice when we come to church. We still have the tradition of the elders.
And that was what Jesus was trying to attack when he called the Pharisees hypocrites. The tradition of the elders was not scripture - it was something someone made up. It was something that you just did without question and no one really knew why. Jesus point was that we should stop doing things because they were tradition and to give some thought to what they were doing and why. Maybe the intention of what you were doing was more important than following tradition. And jesus had a mission to fulfill, more important than the way it was always done.
Jesus went on to point out that it was not the tradition of being clean that caused the real evils in the world – it was the condition of the heart – the human heart – to lie, to steal, to criticize, to hurt when we have been hurt.
So we shouldn’t spend so much time worrying about the outside – but concentrate on the inside.
It is not just Christians, or people trying to be good who have those things – but all of us – it is human nature. In some ways we are all hypocrites. Not just Christians, but all people.
The lesson for us as Christians is not that we don’t have those tendencies inside of us, and not that we don’t have an inner self and an outer self. Being a Christian means that we know what is inside of ourselves and we acknowledge that we are sinners and we work to do something about it. We don’t exploit our sin to hurt others, to know that we are sinners, totally dependent on the grace of god to deal with our sinful nature.
For an outsider to be obsesses with calling a Christian a sinner is like the mirror woman finding the faults of the wolf pack – they spend so much time talking about others, that they forget to correct themselves.
Jesus knows that we will always sin, but some of us will look in the mirror and be able to fix what we see is wrong.
James talks about uses mirrors as a metaphor for looking at our selves and our actions too. He says that when we know the will of god and we don’t do it – we are like someone who looks in the mirror and forgets what they look like.
We look like the sons and daughters of God. In the message – Euguene Peterson says that when we know the word of god but we don’t do it – it is like we forget the face we were born with. We forget that we were all born sinners, but we were all born in the image of God. That is the true persona of all people – to reflect the love of god in their lives in some way.
Yesterday, sydaney and ray and I attended the workshop on stewardship. Great speaker, he told a story about a docter who went on a mission trip to Honduras. Before he left, he went to church, but it didn’t mean anything to him. He went through the motions, but it had no meaning. But when he went to help the people of Honduras – he saw the word of god being put into action, and he started to understand why he was really coming to church.
When we returned, he gave more in the offering plate, he volunterred more, he even was able to share his faith with others in a meaningful way.
There was something that was changed in his inner heart – that changed his outer actions. It was the cleansing of his inner heart – that made his outer heart clean. That is all jesus is trying to say to us. Cleansing comes from the inside out – not the outside in.
When we go outside of the sanctuary there are still those who will look on the outside and be critical no matter what. There are still non Christians who need to call Christians hypocrites, there are still neighbors who tell us that they need to see a change in our behavior to really trust us and to believe that we are who we say we are.
I hope you will always be able to admit that you are a sinner saved by the grace of God. Someone who has a heart of jealousy, anger and all kinds of bad things. But a sinner who has been touched in your heart by God, who lives a life not mandated by the mirror of others, but the light of God’s love for you.
Is God the answer to our modern questions?
October 18, 2009
Job 38:1-7 (34-41)
Hebrews 5:1-10
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
Year B
Is God the answer for our modern questions?
Joe was going to bed when his wife, Susie, informed him he had left the light on in the garden shed; she could see it from the bedroom window. But Joe said he hadn't been in the shed that day. He took a look, and there were people in the shed stealing things.
He called the police, but they told him that no one was in his area, so no one was available to catch the thieves. Joe said okay, hung up, counted to thirty, and called the police again.
"Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were thieves in my shed. Well, you don't have to worry about them now; I just shot them all."
Within five minutes there were half a dozen police cars in the area, an armed response unit-the works. Of course, they caught the burglars red-handed. One of the policemen said to Joe, "I thought you said you shot them!"
Joe replied, "I thought you said there were no cops available."[1]
In these days of budget cuts, this story cuts very close to home. As we expect help from others, and get an answer that no help is available. I just recently called the police myself, and was surpised when asked if I was expecting them respond to my call. In many ways I guess that is a sign of the times.
But the call for help in times of need is universal. The concern when those you depend on don’t help is also universal. That is why we have the story of Job. Where is God when I need God – is a universal question that we have all asked at some time or another.
God seems to hear Job asking questions and demanding personal audience, and comes to speak to Job personally. Job is convinced that he is innocent. He has done nothing to deserve all of these horrible things. And he does not intend on changing or doing anything to get out of all of this stuff. God has a responsibility to rescue him and make it all better. But when God does speak to him – God could care less about whether he is innocent or not. Whether he has been faithful, or even whether he deserves all of this bad luck.
Job has some unanswerable questions, but God has God’s own set of Questions. Where were you during creation? Do you know how to make the sun set? Do you know how to call the wind to blow? Job realizes that his ways are not God ways. And that God is always much wiser than we could ever be. God is much more in control of the the world than we could ever be. And we are a part of God’s plan, God is not a part of our plan. God has a reason for doing everything in life. And there is no way to be privy to God’s plan. Faith in tough times is just a matter of trusting that God has a reason for everything. Faith that things turn out for the good of those who believe in God.
Life is full of suffering – we cant do anything about it. Sometimes going through that suffering makes us stronger that we could ever believe. When we think about who we are today – much of what forms our character and personality comes from overcoming adversity and challenge in our lives.
God’s point to Job still applies to our modern day lives and our modern day problems. Today we experience illness, economic problems, accidents, times when we are doing the right thing, yet still suffering, Times when we see loved ones struggling and stand by feeling helpless. All of these things are in the Job story, all of these things are in our story. And yet God wants us to know that when we stop and think about it – God is with us. We can see the presence of God in our lives. We can see the hand of God, when we feel out of control. For me I can see that so clearly. And even when I don’t see that – I still trust in that. God is on control – even in times when I am at loss for what is going on – which is most of the time.
Last Thursday I went to the Borders in Schaumburg – hoping to get Julie Andrews to sign my book. Something told me to call ahead of time – but no, when I got there, they were not allowing anyone else to get in line for her signature. In order to pass the time away – I looked at al l of the bestsellers. One really caught my attention. It is called “The New Atheism”. New atheism – I have enough problem with the old atheism, for there the be a new one. Isnt that why our churches our dying? – because people don’t want to believe in God. When they see the evil of the world – they don’t know what to think, they don’t know how to recognize God’s presence in our lives. So people conclude that there is not God. Our experience tells us that once a person dies, they cant come back to life – so there is no need to take the story of Jesus seriously. When faced with the answerable questions in life – an atheist cant look beyond the questions.
It seems that the new atheism is a movement that has come out of observations of the events of 911. A group of scientist concluded that the events of 911 would never have happen if it wasn’t for religion. Thus it is their task to free the world of ignorance, myth and doctrine. They believe that believing in God has hurt more people than anything else. They take offense that in the aftermath of 911 that our politicians seemed to justify their policies of war and destruction with religious language.
I find it interesting that many of those call themselves new atheist are scientist. Scientist who believe that everything in the natural world can be explained by scientist, so there is no need to explain it by an outdated notion of God.
Yes it is true- science can explain most things in the natural world. Today we know why the sun rises. We know how the sun rises. We even know that heaven not up there in the sky- in the sky is the atmosphere of earth, space, the solar system, the sun and many universes beyond. And yet science has not found anything that resembles a heavenly throne room. As we look at the natural world – we can explain how everything that exist today came into being.
And yet when God talks with Job, he does not ask how creation came into being. Science has a very different answer than faith to that question. God consistently asks Job if he was there when creation came into being. Job says no, we have to say no, and the atheistic scientist have to answer that question no. you can explain the wind, but can you make the wind blow – can you control the weather? We may not understand why God makes the wind blow, but I can assure you that if it were humanly possible to stop a hurricane or to change its course – we would but science cant do that. We can explain nature, but we cant control it. Which is God’s reminder to Job. As much as we want to be in control of our lives – God is still in control. Our ways are not God ways. And and how and why God does anything is still mystery to us. How do we explain the events of 911 – personally I think it goes much beyond the fact that there were a few people zealous for God wanting to hurt us. There was history, there were consequences, there social reality, there was the human spirits desire to move beyond hurt and pain and learn to heal. All things which cant be defined simply be a scientific explanation.
Job came to God because he wanted to prove his innocence. There was no reason for these things to happen to him. God never doubted that Job was innocent. As a matter of fact, God had enough faith for Job to hold onto to his innocence and his faith no matter what happen to him. It was faith that bought him through to this point. Victor Frankl – a jewish man who went throught the holocaust said that as long as you have a why – you can endure any of the hows that life throws at you. As long as you have something to look forward to – all that happens to you is just a means to an end. It is not the end for you.
Job has many chances to become a new atheist and to say that there is no God. We have those same chances – to walk away at any moment and to join others in the world. Yet Job made a choice – to hold onto his faith in God not matter what. To know that God would make things clear if he asked in faith, and to accept whatever answer he received. If I am faithful – then I have to choose obendiance in good times and in bad. The lord giveth, the lord taketh away blessed be the name of the Lord.
I believe in the sun, even when the sun doesn’t shine. I believe in the daylight, even when it is dark, I believe in God even when God is silent, and out dated. What about you?
Job 38:1-7 (34-41)
Hebrews 5:1-10
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
Year B
Is God the answer for our modern questions?
Joe was going to bed when his wife, Susie, informed him he had left the light on in the garden shed; she could see it from the bedroom window. But Joe said he hadn't been in the shed that day. He took a look, and there were people in the shed stealing things.
He called the police, but they told him that no one was in his area, so no one was available to catch the thieves. Joe said okay, hung up, counted to thirty, and called the police again.
"Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were thieves in my shed. Well, you don't have to worry about them now; I just shot them all."
Within five minutes there were half a dozen police cars in the area, an armed response unit-the works. Of course, they caught the burglars red-handed. One of the policemen said to Joe, "I thought you said you shot them!"
Joe replied, "I thought you said there were no cops available."[1]
In these days of budget cuts, this story cuts very close to home. As we expect help from others, and get an answer that no help is available. I just recently called the police myself, and was surpised when asked if I was expecting them respond to my call. In many ways I guess that is a sign of the times.
But the call for help in times of need is universal. The concern when those you depend on don’t help is also universal. That is why we have the story of Job. Where is God when I need God – is a universal question that we have all asked at some time or another.
God seems to hear Job asking questions and demanding personal audience, and comes to speak to Job personally. Job is convinced that he is innocent. He has done nothing to deserve all of these horrible things. And he does not intend on changing or doing anything to get out of all of this stuff. God has a responsibility to rescue him and make it all better. But when God does speak to him – God could care less about whether he is innocent or not. Whether he has been faithful, or even whether he deserves all of this bad luck.
Job has some unanswerable questions, but God has God’s own set of Questions. Where were you during creation? Do you know how to make the sun set? Do you know how to call the wind to blow? Job realizes that his ways are not God ways. And that God is always much wiser than we could ever be. God is much more in control of the the world than we could ever be. And we are a part of God’s plan, God is not a part of our plan. God has a reason for doing everything in life. And there is no way to be privy to God’s plan. Faith in tough times is just a matter of trusting that God has a reason for everything. Faith that things turn out for the good of those who believe in God.
Life is full of suffering – we cant do anything about it. Sometimes going through that suffering makes us stronger that we could ever believe. When we think about who we are today – much of what forms our character and personality comes from overcoming adversity and challenge in our lives.
God’s point to Job still applies to our modern day lives and our modern day problems. Today we experience illness, economic problems, accidents, times when we are doing the right thing, yet still suffering, Times when we see loved ones struggling and stand by feeling helpless. All of these things are in the Job story, all of these things are in our story. And yet God wants us to know that when we stop and think about it – God is with us. We can see the presence of God in our lives. We can see the hand of God, when we feel out of control. For me I can see that so clearly. And even when I don’t see that – I still trust in that. God is on control – even in times when I am at loss for what is going on – which is most of the time.
Last Thursday I went to the Borders in Schaumburg – hoping to get Julie Andrews to sign my book. Something told me to call ahead of time – but no, when I got there, they were not allowing anyone else to get in line for her signature. In order to pass the time away – I looked at al l of the bestsellers. One really caught my attention. It is called “The New Atheism”. New atheism – I have enough problem with the old atheism, for there the be a new one. Isnt that why our churches our dying? – because people don’t want to believe in God. When they see the evil of the world – they don’t know what to think, they don’t know how to recognize God’s presence in our lives. So people conclude that there is not God. Our experience tells us that once a person dies, they cant come back to life – so there is no need to take the story of Jesus seriously. When faced with the answerable questions in life – an atheist cant look beyond the questions.
It seems that the new atheism is a movement that has come out of observations of the events of 911. A group of scientist concluded that the events of 911 would never have happen if it wasn’t for religion. Thus it is their task to free the world of ignorance, myth and doctrine. They believe that believing in God has hurt more people than anything else. They take offense that in the aftermath of 911 that our politicians seemed to justify their policies of war and destruction with religious language.
I find it interesting that many of those call themselves new atheist are scientist. Scientist who believe that everything in the natural world can be explained by scientist, so there is no need to explain it by an outdated notion of God.
Yes it is true- science can explain most things in the natural world. Today we know why the sun rises. We know how the sun rises. We even know that heaven not up there in the sky- in the sky is the atmosphere of earth, space, the solar system, the sun and many universes beyond. And yet science has not found anything that resembles a heavenly throne room. As we look at the natural world – we can explain how everything that exist today came into being.
And yet when God talks with Job, he does not ask how creation came into being. Science has a very different answer than faith to that question. God consistently asks Job if he was there when creation came into being. Job says no, we have to say no, and the atheistic scientist have to answer that question no. you can explain the wind, but can you make the wind blow – can you control the weather? We may not understand why God makes the wind blow, but I can assure you that if it were humanly possible to stop a hurricane or to change its course – we would but science cant do that. We can explain nature, but we cant control it. Which is God’s reminder to Job. As much as we want to be in control of our lives – God is still in control. Our ways are not God ways. And and how and why God does anything is still mystery to us. How do we explain the events of 911 – personally I think it goes much beyond the fact that there were a few people zealous for God wanting to hurt us. There was history, there were consequences, there social reality, there was the human spirits desire to move beyond hurt and pain and learn to heal. All things which cant be defined simply be a scientific explanation.
Job came to God because he wanted to prove his innocence. There was no reason for these things to happen to him. God never doubted that Job was innocent. As a matter of fact, God had enough faith for Job to hold onto to his innocence and his faith no matter what happen to him. It was faith that bought him through to this point. Victor Frankl – a jewish man who went throught the holocaust said that as long as you have a why – you can endure any of the hows that life throws at you. As long as you have something to look forward to – all that happens to you is just a means to an end. It is not the end for you.
Job has many chances to become a new atheist and to say that there is no God. We have those same chances – to walk away at any moment and to join others in the world. Yet Job made a choice – to hold onto his faith in God not matter what. To know that God would make things clear if he asked in faith, and to accept whatever answer he received. If I am faithful – then I have to choose obendiance in good times and in bad. The lord giveth, the lord taketh away blessed be the name of the Lord.
I believe in the sun, even when the sun doesn’t shine. I believe in the daylight, even when it is dark, I believe in God even when God is silent, and out dated. What about you?
Prayers answered
“Prayers Answered”
November 15, 2009
Twenty-fifth Sunday of Pentecost
Year B
1 Samuel
Mark 13:38-44
It seems that every few years now there is a different prediction that the end is coming near. Remember all of the hoopla that was made about Y2K. None of the computers were programmed to read the year 2000 – and everything was going to shut down – and life as we know it would end. I am sure that I am missing another one since then.
Well now, it has been decided that the world will come to an end in 2012. The 5000 year old Mayan calendar will end in the year 2012 – And this end is not predicted by Christians waiting for Christ to return – this end is much older and deeper than that, so it must be true. People have been talking about it and preparing for it for years now – and now it is only 2 years away.
The new movie 2012 debuted this Friday – Friday the 13th mind you. That is not my genre of movie, so I didn’t watch it – but I saw the previews. They reviews say that this is the movie of all movies. The director took scenes from every destructive movie ever made and made this one even more destructive. You see all types of icons – the Vatican, Rio De Janero’s statue of Jesus, even the city of Los angeles – totally fall apart in this movie. Signifiying that this is indeed the end of the world as we know it. This is indeed a time of cataclysmic change. This is indeed the end of the world. The end of the world as we know it. That is just it. People have been predicting the end of the world for centuries. People – Christian and non Christian have been asking the same question of Jesus as asked in Mark 13 – when will we know – tell us when will this be, and what will be the signs that all of these things are about to be accomplished? When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, nation rising against nation, earthquakes and famine – this is but the beginning.
And we take Jesus at his word – and we believe that the end of the world must be total chaos and destruction. We have to feel and witness something big, and painful and worldwide in order for the world to change. In order for the world of Jesus to come into the earth – the earth must be totally destroyed. – right? Wrong? In order for the end of the world to come – we have to be destroyed. Right? Wrong. We got it all wrong.
This verse is called the little apopcalyse – the big apopcalyse is the book of revelation. And yet Jesus is not talking about endings – he says that this is the beginning of birth pangs. The world will not be destroyed – but recreated. Life as we know it does not come to an end- it simply transforms. The mayan prediction of 2012 – has been intentionally distorted by our culture – who seems to love sensationalism and exaggeration. The prediction is not that the world will end after 5000 years – but that after 5000 years a new era of understanding will be ushered in. A time when people are able to let go of old things – and look at life from a brand new perspective.
A time of cataclysmic change and transformation. But the transformation is not about what is going on out there somewhere – the change is about what is going on in here. Jesus constantly reminds us that God is not concerned about outward appearances – God is concerned about the condition of our hearts.
In a world that is in deep pain and groaning. In a culture that is asking itself some serious questions, in a time when life is seriously evaluating itself and its values – we are being asked to have a change of heart. A change in who we are and how we relate to the world.
We have no idea of what events will lead us to our final destiny – we have no idea of what the world will go through within the next two years, we have no control over even what the future holds for us – but what we do know is that the time has come for us to transform.
The thing is – we come to this point in our faith every year. As the old Christian year winds down- and the new year is about to begin – we are taken in scripture to the questions and the tumult of the apopcalypse. We are reminded of the end of the times. But we are never challenged to die – we are always challenged to begin again. To realize that in every ending – there is always a new beginning. It is time for us to start looking for those new beginnings, those unexpected births, those moments of faith.
Every year we relive the circle of life. Every year we relive the birth, life , death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior to be reminded that transformation is a normal occurance. The lesson for us is to be prepared for a catalcymic transformation in every moment of our lives.
If every moment is special, then every person is special. The entrance of every person into the world is a story to tell the began in the hopes and dreams of our ancestors long ago.
There is another theme for our scriptures for this time of year. A reminder that every great man who came into the world to bring about hope and change – was raised and nurtured by a faithful mother. That is an interesting pattern in the bible. In the story of Jesus, we learn about his mother Mary. In the story of David, we learn about his great grandmother Ruth, on the story of John we learn about his mother Elizabeth, and in the story of Samuel – we learn about his mother Hannah.
Samuel was a man who bought great change to the Hebrew culture. He was not a king, he was a kingmaker. HE ushered his people into a new understanding of leadership. He was the last of the judges over the people, and he made Saul and them David a king. He spent his life as a priest in the temple – he realized that even that system was not working – because priest had become corrupt.
Our scripture read is a celebration of his mother’s answered prayer. Where she acknowledges that it is time for a change, and that in God’s answered prayer the world would be shaken up and turned upside down, so that the people on the bottom would now be on the top.
Hannah was a second wife with no children, and she got tired of being mistreated by the other wife, who had plenty of children for her husband. Hannah prayed that if God would just give her a son – she would give that son back to God and raise him as a priest. Well – she got pregnant and after three years she did indeed give her son Samuel to be raised in the temple. It was her faith that gave the world a transformational leader. It was also her willingness to trust God to answer her prayer. How well do we trust God with our prayers?
A man was really sick and needed a very serious surgery. He prayed to God that things would go well for him. But just to sweeten the deal he promised the surgeon that he would donate enough money to build a new wing for the hospital if things turned out. Well the surgery turned out – and the surgeon came to the man a few months later – reminding him of he bargain that he had made with the hospital before the surgery. The man had forgotten about that bargain. He said o gee, I really must have been sick to have made a promise like that. I am better now, - I don’t need to pray anymore.
What would have happen had Hannah had the same attitude – and not kept her promise to God? What bargains do we make with God in our times of need – how are we in maintaining our faithfulness?
We would all agree that we live in some really tough times, and that we all have some really tough challenges ahead. We may not all agree on what it takes to change the circumstances, but we all agree that the circumstances need to be changed. We are all looking for that cataclysmic transformation for things to be different. For the peace that God promised us all to begin and to spread throughout the world.
Some need to see the sensationalism of 2012 in order to realize that things can truly be different. All of us – especially the faithful of God need to realize that every moment and every life is a part of the great change. God uses our lives, our moments, our faith to bring about the greatest change. The toughest jobs in life are given to the faithful who are willing to trust in God and willing to be used by the creative movement of the holy spirit – present and every changing our lives one prayer at a time. Amen.
November 15, 2009
Twenty-fifth Sunday of Pentecost
Year B
1 Samuel
Mark 13:38-44
It seems that every few years now there is a different prediction that the end is coming near. Remember all of the hoopla that was made about Y2K. None of the computers were programmed to read the year 2000 – and everything was going to shut down – and life as we know it would end. I am sure that I am missing another one since then.
Well now, it has been decided that the world will come to an end in 2012. The 5000 year old Mayan calendar will end in the year 2012 – And this end is not predicted by Christians waiting for Christ to return – this end is much older and deeper than that, so it must be true. People have been talking about it and preparing for it for years now – and now it is only 2 years away.
The new movie 2012 debuted this Friday – Friday the 13th mind you. That is not my genre of movie, so I didn’t watch it – but I saw the previews. They reviews say that this is the movie of all movies. The director took scenes from every destructive movie ever made and made this one even more destructive. You see all types of icons – the Vatican, Rio De Janero’s statue of Jesus, even the city of Los angeles – totally fall apart in this movie. Signifiying that this is indeed the end of the world as we know it. This is indeed a time of cataclysmic change. This is indeed the end of the world. The end of the world as we know it. That is just it. People have been predicting the end of the world for centuries. People – Christian and non Christian have been asking the same question of Jesus as asked in Mark 13 – when will we know – tell us when will this be, and what will be the signs that all of these things are about to be accomplished? When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, nation rising against nation, earthquakes and famine – this is but the beginning.
And we take Jesus at his word – and we believe that the end of the world must be total chaos and destruction. We have to feel and witness something big, and painful and worldwide in order for the world to change. In order for the world of Jesus to come into the earth – the earth must be totally destroyed. – right? Wrong? In order for the end of the world to come – we have to be destroyed. Right? Wrong. We got it all wrong.
This verse is called the little apopcalyse – the big apopcalyse is the book of revelation. And yet Jesus is not talking about endings – he says that this is the beginning of birth pangs. The world will not be destroyed – but recreated. Life as we know it does not come to an end- it simply transforms. The mayan prediction of 2012 – has been intentionally distorted by our culture – who seems to love sensationalism and exaggeration. The prediction is not that the world will end after 5000 years – but that after 5000 years a new era of understanding will be ushered in. A time when people are able to let go of old things – and look at life from a brand new perspective.
A time of cataclysmic change and transformation. But the transformation is not about what is going on out there somewhere – the change is about what is going on in here. Jesus constantly reminds us that God is not concerned about outward appearances – God is concerned about the condition of our hearts.
In a world that is in deep pain and groaning. In a culture that is asking itself some serious questions, in a time when life is seriously evaluating itself and its values – we are being asked to have a change of heart. A change in who we are and how we relate to the world.
We have no idea of what events will lead us to our final destiny – we have no idea of what the world will go through within the next two years, we have no control over even what the future holds for us – but what we do know is that the time has come for us to transform.
The thing is – we come to this point in our faith every year. As the old Christian year winds down- and the new year is about to begin – we are taken in scripture to the questions and the tumult of the apopcalypse. We are reminded of the end of the times. But we are never challenged to die – we are always challenged to begin again. To realize that in every ending – there is always a new beginning. It is time for us to start looking for those new beginnings, those unexpected births, those moments of faith.
Every year we relive the circle of life. Every year we relive the birth, life , death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior to be reminded that transformation is a normal occurance. The lesson for us is to be prepared for a catalcymic transformation in every moment of our lives.
If every moment is special, then every person is special. The entrance of every person into the world is a story to tell the began in the hopes and dreams of our ancestors long ago.
There is another theme for our scriptures for this time of year. A reminder that every great man who came into the world to bring about hope and change – was raised and nurtured by a faithful mother. That is an interesting pattern in the bible. In the story of Jesus, we learn about his mother Mary. In the story of David, we learn about his great grandmother Ruth, on the story of John we learn about his mother Elizabeth, and in the story of Samuel – we learn about his mother Hannah.
Samuel was a man who bought great change to the Hebrew culture. He was not a king, he was a kingmaker. HE ushered his people into a new understanding of leadership. He was the last of the judges over the people, and he made Saul and them David a king. He spent his life as a priest in the temple – he realized that even that system was not working – because priest had become corrupt.
Our scripture read is a celebration of his mother’s answered prayer. Where she acknowledges that it is time for a change, and that in God’s answered prayer the world would be shaken up and turned upside down, so that the people on the bottom would now be on the top.
Hannah was a second wife with no children, and she got tired of being mistreated by the other wife, who had plenty of children for her husband. Hannah prayed that if God would just give her a son – she would give that son back to God and raise him as a priest. Well – she got pregnant and after three years she did indeed give her son Samuel to be raised in the temple. It was her faith that gave the world a transformational leader. It was also her willingness to trust God to answer her prayer. How well do we trust God with our prayers?
A man was really sick and needed a very serious surgery. He prayed to God that things would go well for him. But just to sweeten the deal he promised the surgeon that he would donate enough money to build a new wing for the hospital if things turned out. Well the surgery turned out – and the surgeon came to the man a few months later – reminding him of he bargain that he had made with the hospital before the surgery. The man had forgotten about that bargain. He said o gee, I really must have been sick to have made a promise like that. I am better now, - I don’t need to pray anymore.
What would have happen had Hannah had the same attitude – and not kept her promise to God? What bargains do we make with God in our times of need – how are we in maintaining our faithfulness?
We would all agree that we live in some really tough times, and that we all have some really tough challenges ahead. We may not all agree on what it takes to change the circumstances, but we all agree that the circumstances need to be changed. We are all looking for that cataclysmic transformation for things to be different. For the peace that God promised us all to begin and to spread throughout the world.
Some need to see the sensationalism of 2012 in order to realize that things can truly be different. All of us – especially the faithful of God need to realize that every moment and every life is a part of the great change. God uses our lives, our moments, our faith to bring about the greatest change. The toughest jobs in life are given to the faithful who are willing to trust in God and willing to be used by the creative movement of the holy spirit – present and every changing our lives one prayer at a time. Amen.
Monday, November 09, 2009
The Widow's Club
November 8, 2009
The Widow’s Club
Twenty Fourth Day of Pentecost
Ruth 3-4
Mark 12:38-44
Year B
Why the Widow’s Club
Interestingly enough both of the scriptures for today are tales about widows. I think it is just a coincidence, don’t think it really means anything. A coincidence is just God wanting to remain anonymous.
The Widows in the story
Yet both the old testament and the new testament have a lot to say about widows. In many societies, it is a pretty significant thing to be a widow. So you paid attention to what they did.
A Widow’s condition
Friday night – we had a wonderful young adult group present to speak their poems. And one of the young women did a poem (I can’t remember the title), but her point was that as females we are taught that our whole lives revolve around a man.
Everything we do from a small child to an older woman is geared toward getting married, and even when we get married our lives are defined by that marriage.
Today in modern American society – we as woman can look back at that reflect that maybe that mindset of having a man define us is not all that there is to life. Today there are laws and social norms in place to allow a woman to survive and have an identity after she has lost a husband.
That has not been true for all women in all societies in all times. In biblical times a woman was totally defined by her husband. She was not allowed to speak in public, she was not allowed to hold a job, or to manage a household, or have an income. Without a mate a women was absolutely nothing – a non entity. People knew you were there – but you were nobody. If you did not have a man to take care of you – then you were totally dependent on the charity of others for every means of life.
You notice in the bible, that there is an obsession with taking care of the widows. Paul talks a lot about church being in mission and helping out – his whole point was that the widows of Jerusalem needed some means of support- and if the good people of the churches and synagogues didn’t give it to them – they had nothing.
As a matter of fact, the word for widow in Hebrew means nobody – bereft, to be without, to have a large empty space in life.
To be bereft – empty, left with nothing. I entitled this sermon the widow’s club – because this is a sermon about widows. There are widows in our stories that teach us about life – but in a sense I think that all of us can relate at some place in our lives to feeling like a nobody – like an empty space that longs to be filled, to be acknowledged, to be cared about and loved.
Perhaps that is why thousands of years later, we hear stories of these widows and the lessons in life that they still have to teach not just other widows – but all spiritual beings.
Our first lesson comes from the book of Ruth. Naomi and her husband have moved away to the desert in hopes of a better life. They and their sons and their sons wives have all relocated. But for some reason the men in the story do not survive. And after they have died, the women are left alone. And in the world she lives in, Naomi knows that there is no such thing as fending for themselves. They are widows, they have nothing, and they have now entered into the societies of nobodies. As an act of caring – Naomi sends her daughter in laws home so they can be taken care of by their families. And yet Ruth refuses, she believes that in some way they will survive. Naomi knows that in this world that is not a possibility – but she does have a plan.
Ruth actually does have property that she has inherited from her husband. But she can’t have it – her husband has to inherit it for her. And her new husband has to be a relative of her old husband. Because he has to be willing to carry on the family name for the dead man.
Naomi tells Ruth to lie down next to Boaz on the threshing floor. She is to lay facing his feet, and when he wakes up he will be willing to marry her. I have always thought that part of the story a little strange – there has got to be something missing they they are not telling us.
But is works and Ruth and Boaz get married and have a son – Ruth gives the son to Naomi – so that she can have an heir. The family name continues.
That is the moral of the story – here is a woman who with a husband and two sons had everything – when she lost them she lost everything in life – including a future. And yet through faith and love and relationships she gained it all back. Her grandson became the grandson of the greatest king – king david. When you read the lineage of Jesus – it is the lineage of the males in Jesus family – yet there are 4 women listed one of them is Ruth – a foreign widow
We have to create it
The lesson there for us is that if spiritually we are all widows – person with an empty space in our hearts – we have to means to fill it. When we are hopeless – we have to be hopeful that God does indeed have a plan for our despair , and when we look at the world and see that we have no future – we have to create it. We have to use our faith, our love and our relationships to move forward anyway – and God will do the rest.
Lesson from widow 2
Now I want to shift over to the lessons of our second widow story. The widow in the temple that Jesus notices as she gives everything.
Picture the story
Now the Hebrew Temple was divided into sections – the priest had a section, the men had a section, the women had a section, the gentiles had a section, and foreigners had a section. It was expected that you would bring your money to the temple, and it was collected differently in each section.
This story takes place in the gentile section – there would have been large pots placed to collect money – and as you walked in you through your donation into a pot.
It is not hard to imagine being to hear the clanking of the coins as each person gave their offering. If there were a number of rich people in the temple – you would have been able to hear the coins as each person gave.
What is hard to imagine is why Jesus would have been standing there watching and basically counting and taking account for what each person gave.
He notices the widow as she comes in, he probably talked to her in the street and knows that she has been begging. He hears the clanking of the man before her in line, but when she gives – there is no sound, the coins she tosses in are so light, you cant even hear them.
Only Jesus would recognize that the little she gives, is worth so much more than all of the rich people before her. They gave out of their abundance, she gave out of her need. They have money left over, Jesus seems to believe that she has nothing else. Others wonder is it really appropropriate for her to take what she has been given and give it away to God. Obviously she trusted that God will use the money for a better purpose. We can never beat God giving, no matter how much we give – so she trusted that what she gave would be returned.
She gave everything that she had
She trusted God for everything
She didn’t just give her best to God, she gave her all to God. She took seriously that command to love to lord your god with all of your mind, all of your heart, all of your soul and all of your pocket book. That is not written in the but it is implied.
2 lessons – have hope in the future and trust for in our darkest hour
That is the second lesson for us widows in spirit – to trust god – trust God with everything.
Two lessons for us today – have hope in the future to create it, and to trust God in our darkest hour.
3rd story of a widow
I want to tell you the story of a 3rd widow.
Agnes lives on a farm in Iowa. She is very astute and together, but kind of strange. Her clothes are always clean, but a little outdated. Clothes from the 1920’s and 30’s. when you meet Agnes she is always complaining about something in life. She attends a lot of funeral these days, not to show her sympathies, but to get the free lunches. She doesn’t waste her time coming to church – but loves fellowship hour, she takes the leftover cookies. Her pastor came to her son one day and asked how the church could help her financially, since like so many older people, she was struggling. Her son revealed that Agnes was doing quite well financially – she has enough stocks and bonds to be comfortable well into her life. And yet she was not willing to give to others. Agnes was a poor widow – but not poor economically – but poor in spirit. Poor in love, poor in relationship, poor in faith.
Three widows stories for us today – three lessons.
Have hope to create the future
Trust God with all that you have – God is good for it,
Fill our empty spaces with joy and the love of God.
The Widow’s Club
Twenty Fourth Day of Pentecost
Ruth 3-4
Mark 12:38-44
Year B
Why the Widow’s Club
Interestingly enough both of the scriptures for today are tales about widows. I think it is just a coincidence, don’t think it really means anything. A coincidence is just God wanting to remain anonymous.
The Widows in the story
Yet both the old testament and the new testament have a lot to say about widows. In many societies, it is a pretty significant thing to be a widow. So you paid attention to what they did.
A Widow’s condition
Friday night – we had a wonderful young adult group present to speak their poems. And one of the young women did a poem (I can’t remember the title), but her point was that as females we are taught that our whole lives revolve around a man.
Everything we do from a small child to an older woman is geared toward getting married, and even when we get married our lives are defined by that marriage.
Today in modern American society – we as woman can look back at that reflect that maybe that mindset of having a man define us is not all that there is to life. Today there are laws and social norms in place to allow a woman to survive and have an identity after she has lost a husband.
That has not been true for all women in all societies in all times. In biblical times a woman was totally defined by her husband. She was not allowed to speak in public, she was not allowed to hold a job, or to manage a household, or have an income. Without a mate a women was absolutely nothing – a non entity. People knew you were there – but you were nobody. If you did not have a man to take care of you – then you were totally dependent on the charity of others for every means of life.
You notice in the bible, that there is an obsession with taking care of the widows. Paul talks a lot about church being in mission and helping out – his whole point was that the widows of Jerusalem needed some means of support- and if the good people of the churches and synagogues didn’t give it to them – they had nothing.
As a matter of fact, the word for widow in Hebrew means nobody – bereft, to be without, to have a large empty space in life.
To be bereft – empty, left with nothing. I entitled this sermon the widow’s club – because this is a sermon about widows. There are widows in our stories that teach us about life – but in a sense I think that all of us can relate at some place in our lives to feeling like a nobody – like an empty space that longs to be filled, to be acknowledged, to be cared about and loved.
Perhaps that is why thousands of years later, we hear stories of these widows and the lessons in life that they still have to teach not just other widows – but all spiritual beings.
Our first lesson comes from the book of Ruth. Naomi and her husband have moved away to the desert in hopes of a better life. They and their sons and their sons wives have all relocated. But for some reason the men in the story do not survive. And after they have died, the women are left alone. And in the world she lives in, Naomi knows that there is no such thing as fending for themselves. They are widows, they have nothing, and they have now entered into the societies of nobodies. As an act of caring – Naomi sends her daughter in laws home so they can be taken care of by their families. And yet Ruth refuses, she believes that in some way they will survive. Naomi knows that in this world that is not a possibility – but she does have a plan.
Ruth actually does have property that she has inherited from her husband. But she can’t have it – her husband has to inherit it for her. And her new husband has to be a relative of her old husband. Because he has to be willing to carry on the family name for the dead man.
Naomi tells Ruth to lie down next to Boaz on the threshing floor. She is to lay facing his feet, and when he wakes up he will be willing to marry her. I have always thought that part of the story a little strange – there has got to be something missing they they are not telling us.
But is works and Ruth and Boaz get married and have a son – Ruth gives the son to Naomi – so that she can have an heir. The family name continues.
That is the moral of the story – here is a woman who with a husband and two sons had everything – when she lost them she lost everything in life – including a future. And yet through faith and love and relationships she gained it all back. Her grandson became the grandson of the greatest king – king david. When you read the lineage of Jesus – it is the lineage of the males in Jesus family – yet there are 4 women listed one of them is Ruth – a foreign widow
We have to create it
The lesson there for us is that if spiritually we are all widows – person with an empty space in our hearts – we have to means to fill it. When we are hopeless – we have to be hopeful that God does indeed have a plan for our despair , and when we look at the world and see that we have no future – we have to create it. We have to use our faith, our love and our relationships to move forward anyway – and God will do the rest.
Lesson from widow 2
Now I want to shift over to the lessons of our second widow story. The widow in the temple that Jesus notices as she gives everything.
Picture the story
Now the Hebrew Temple was divided into sections – the priest had a section, the men had a section, the women had a section, the gentiles had a section, and foreigners had a section. It was expected that you would bring your money to the temple, and it was collected differently in each section.
This story takes place in the gentile section – there would have been large pots placed to collect money – and as you walked in you through your donation into a pot.
It is not hard to imagine being to hear the clanking of the coins as each person gave their offering. If there were a number of rich people in the temple – you would have been able to hear the coins as each person gave.
What is hard to imagine is why Jesus would have been standing there watching and basically counting and taking account for what each person gave.
He notices the widow as she comes in, he probably talked to her in the street and knows that she has been begging. He hears the clanking of the man before her in line, but when she gives – there is no sound, the coins she tosses in are so light, you cant even hear them.
Only Jesus would recognize that the little she gives, is worth so much more than all of the rich people before her. They gave out of their abundance, she gave out of her need. They have money left over, Jesus seems to believe that she has nothing else. Others wonder is it really appropropriate for her to take what she has been given and give it away to God. Obviously she trusted that God will use the money for a better purpose. We can never beat God giving, no matter how much we give – so she trusted that what she gave would be returned.
She gave everything that she had
She trusted God for everything
She didn’t just give her best to God, she gave her all to God. She took seriously that command to love to lord your god with all of your mind, all of your heart, all of your soul and all of your pocket book. That is not written in the but it is implied.
2 lessons – have hope in the future and trust for in our darkest hour
That is the second lesson for us widows in spirit – to trust god – trust God with everything.
Two lessons for us today – have hope in the future to create it, and to trust God in our darkest hour.
3rd story of a widow
I want to tell you the story of a 3rd widow.
Agnes lives on a farm in Iowa. She is very astute and together, but kind of strange. Her clothes are always clean, but a little outdated. Clothes from the 1920’s and 30’s. when you meet Agnes she is always complaining about something in life. She attends a lot of funeral these days, not to show her sympathies, but to get the free lunches. She doesn’t waste her time coming to church – but loves fellowship hour, she takes the leftover cookies. Her pastor came to her son one day and asked how the church could help her financially, since like so many older people, she was struggling. Her son revealed that Agnes was doing quite well financially – she has enough stocks and bonds to be comfortable well into her life. And yet she was not willing to give to others. Agnes was a poor widow – but not poor economically – but poor in spirit. Poor in love, poor in relationship, poor in faith.
Three widows stories for us today – three lessons.
Have hope to create the future
Trust God with all that you have – God is good for it,
Fill our empty spaces with joy and the love of God.
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Who presides over your life?
October 4, 2009
Who Presides Over Your Life?
Eighteenth Sunday of Pentecost
World Communion Sunday
Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12
Mark 10:2-16
Year B
As you go through life, it doesn’t take long to discover in life that there are questions – lots of questions for which there is no answer. You can ask the question – but there is never an answer. At least not one which is gonna shed any real light on the the situation. One of those questions – do I look fat in these pants. There is no answer for that. First of all, if ever asked, you know that it is never in your best interest to answer that question. But secondly, if someone was brave enough to answer that question- either yes or no. There is no answer that will satisfy the questioner – they will continue to ask and ask, never quite satisfied enough to just stop asking the question.
But seriously there are serious questions about life that we ask God. We ask ourselves, we ask life – we constantly ask – and there is never a good answer. Questions like why do bad things happen to good people? Why do good things happen to bad people? When will we finally see justice for all, where we are all treated fairly? If God is totally in control – then why are we allowed to suffer? If God is good, then why does it seem that the devil is allowed to prosper? When the world is so awful and cruel, what is the point of remaining faithful to God?
If you live long enough and you go through life long enough, then you have asked these kinds of questions. And with each crisis, we have to be reminded of God’s answer to us.
The closest you can come to straight answer is a story – about something that happen to someone else – that you can relate to.
Job is not a real person, and the events in the story did not really happen. There is no rich foreigner, who had been greatly blessed and lost everything. There are none of us who are so righteous and upright that we don’t have to take some type of responsibility for what it happening to us. And I would venture to say that there is a point in all of our lives when things can get so bad, that we can get mad and blame God for what we are going through. This story is not intended to be historical truth – it is intended to tell the truth of the human story. The story is intended to teach a lesson – God does not intend to answer all of our questions. Faith is not the answers to life – it is a story of how to remain faithful and trusting and loving in the midst of the questions of life.
I would like to believe that God, the angels, the heavenly beings, and satan don’t have daily staff meetings – where Satan is up there criticizing everything that I am doing. Questioning my life and asking God if he can have permission to test my faith and make me suffer just because. But of course what other explanation is there for horrible things happening to us, when we know that we are being faithful and good. Not even the book of Job can give us a satisfying answer to that question.
Wisdom has been a theme for this year. And Job is a wonderful book of wisdom – it a book of dialogue, between the events of Job’s life, his wife, his friends, himself and finally God. We will be reading this story for the next 4 weeks. This is a wise story because it tells the story very clearly, but in reality gives no answers. The author of Job probably didn’t have any answers to give. But it wanted to give you some tools to think about your own unanswerable questions.
The book of Hebrews also tackles those unanswerable questions – but from a different perspective. It reminds us that God did not give us a direct answer to our suffering, but God did give us a person – who makes our suffering and his meaningful.
Hebrews relates to Job also, because it talks about heavenly beings. It talks about how decisions on earth were started on earth – that that Jesus Christ was there in the midst of creation to make sure that we would have a voice in heaven to talk about what it in our best interest. So that we don’t have to worry about Satan being present to ask God to tempt us.
we celebrate Jesus and what he did for us, for all of us
- in every corner of the world.
We celebrate what Jesus did
-and what by the power of Holy Spirit he still does,
we celebrate the Jesus who considered family unity to be important,
we celebrate the Jesus that welcomed little children into his arms,
we celebrate the Jesus that took time to bless everyone,
- no matter who they were and no matter what others thought of them.
Jesus - our saviour and our Lord,
Jesus - the promised one of God,
Jesus, the son of God - and yet a man:
a man like us....
a man who struggled to be faithful to God,
a man who was called to love his neighbours as himself,
a man who was tempted like we are tempted,
a man who suffered as we suffer.
The letter to the Hebrews, which our first reading came from today, speaks
of Jesus in exalted terms - calling him "the radiance of God's glory" and
"the exact representation of God's being", "superior to the angels";
And this is true - our whole faith speaks of it,
But the letter to the Hebrews also reminds us of something else that our
whole faith speaks of - it reminds us that here, on this earth, Jesus was
made like us - that he was made like us a little lower than the angels,
that Jesus was one with us, born of a woman,
born as our brother
to walk as we walk through this life.
Jesus was one with us,
able to sympathize with us,
able to identify with us,
able to rejoice with us,
able to suffer with us,
and, because of what he suffered and suffered in faithfulness,
he is able to intercede for us before God his Father, God our Father.
Jesus, one with us, Jesus our Saviour. Jesus our Brother. He understands us, he understands our questions.
My favorite aspect of Christ that we are reminded to celebrate in Hebrews about Christ is for a time he for a little while was made a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor. We too as humans are made a little lower than the angels. We too are crowned with glory and honor.
We may never have to answer to why bad things happen to good people. But we can always have the love of God in our lives. No matter what happens, we can look to the heavens for our strength and support – because now, Jesus Christ is up there – rooting for us as his sisters and brothers. He know what we have been through - and through faith – we know what he is going through up in heaven.
Alister McGrath writes a story about her aunt who never married. When she passed away, her relatives were going through her possessions and found a picture of a young man. The young man had been the aunt’s true love. He died tragically, and she never loved another man. And yet she held onto that picture.
Through the years of loneliness and grief, she held onto the that picture. She needed to be reminded that she had a love in life. When people doubted that she ever loved anyone she could hold onto that picture. That picture was a reminder of her life as it could have been. But for some reason the reality of death set in.
Jesus is the image of God. When we want to know what God looks like we have a story to look at. When we want something to depend on, we have the words of Christ to hold onto. When we want to talk with God – when can pray in the name of Jesus and know that we are heard.
And Jesus knew that there would be days when we would have our doubts. There would be days when we would feel disconnected from God, there would be days when we wonder about the story of Jesus. If the story of Job is a fairly tale – then how do we know that Jesus too if not just a fairly tale. The signs before us today -- communion the bread and the wine, they remind us of how he came to be our Saviour, they remind us of what his love and his faithfulness cost him. On the night of his betrayal Jesus took bread and broke it,and gave it to his disciples, saying, This is my body, given for you;and he took the cup and gave it to his disciples, saying, This is my blood, which is poured out for you. The next day, out of love for the world, Jesus died.
Jesus is our brother, jesus is one of us, jesus understand us, jesus knows our questions. While on the cross even he asks God why has he forsaken him.
Communion is our picture – our memory- or crutch to hold onto- our strength to hold onto – in the midst of the answerable questions.
Today we celebrate communion with Christians all over the world. In all types of churches
God has made us his family,
a family that stretches around the world,
a family that is called to love as we have been love,
to forgive as we have been forgiven,
to give as we have been given too.
As we share today in our family meal;
GIVE THANKS to God that we are not alone,
THAT WE HAVE BOTH each other and the Spirit of Christ amongst us,
the Spirit of him who was, who is, and who shall ever be one with us, and
one over us, and one under us, one who truly loves us.
Blessed be God - day by day. Amen
*Portions of this sermon borrowed from a sermon from Rev. Richard J. Fairchild “One with us”
Who Presides Over Your Life?
Eighteenth Sunday of Pentecost
World Communion Sunday
Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12
Mark 10:2-16
Year B
As you go through life, it doesn’t take long to discover in life that there are questions – lots of questions for which there is no answer. You can ask the question – but there is never an answer. At least not one which is gonna shed any real light on the the situation. One of those questions – do I look fat in these pants. There is no answer for that. First of all, if ever asked, you know that it is never in your best interest to answer that question. But secondly, if someone was brave enough to answer that question- either yes or no. There is no answer that will satisfy the questioner – they will continue to ask and ask, never quite satisfied enough to just stop asking the question.
But seriously there are serious questions about life that we ask God. We ask ourselves, we ask life – we constantly ask – and there is never a good answer. Questions like why do bad things happen to good people? Why do good things happen to bad people? When will we finally see justice for all, where we are all treated fairly? If God is totally in control – then why are we allowed to suffer? If God is good, then why does it seem that the devil is allowed to prosper? When the world is so awful and cruel, what is the point of remaining faithful to God?
If you live long enough and you go through life long enough, then you have asked these kinds of questions. And with each crisis, we have to be reminded of God’s answer to us.
The closest you can come to straight answer is a story – about something that happen to someone else – that you can relate to.
Job is not a real person, and the events in the story did not really happen. There is no rich foreigner, who had been greatly blessed and lost everything. There are none of us who are so righteous and upright that we don’t have to take some type of responsibility for what it happening to us. And I would venture to say that there is a point in all of our lives when things can get so bad, that we can get mad and blame God for what we are going through. This story is not intended to be historical truth – it is intended to tell the truth of the human story. The story is intended to teach a lesson – God does not intend to answer all of our questions. Faith is not the answers to life – it is a story of how to remain faithful and trusting and loving in the midst of the questions of life.
I would like to believe that God, the angels, the heavenly beings, and satan don’t have daily staff meetings – where Satan is up there criticizing everything that I am doing. Questioning my life and asking God if he can have permission to test my faith and make me suffer just because. But of course what other explanation is there for horrible things happening to us, when we know that we are being faithful and good. Not even the book of Job can give us a satisfying answer to that question.
Wisdom has been a theme for this year. And Job is a wonderful book of wisdom – it a book of dialogue, between the events of Job’s life, his wife, his friends, himself and finally God. We will be reading this story for the next 4 weeks. This is a wise story because it tells the story very clearly, but in reality gives no answers. The author of Job probably didn’t have any answers to give. But it wanted to give you some tools to think about your own unanswerable questions.
The book of Hebrews also tackles those unanswerable questions – but from a different perspective. It reminds us that God did not give us a direct answer to our suffering, but God did give us a person – who makes our suffering and his meaningful.
Hebrews relates to Job also, because it talks about heavenly beings. It talks about how decisions on earth were started on earth – that that Jesus Christ was there in the midst of creation to make sure that we would have a voice in heaven to talk about what it in our best interest. So that we don’t have to worry about Satan being present to ask God to tempt us.
we celebrate Jesus and what he did for us, for all of us
- in every corner of the world.
We celebrate what Jesus did
-and what by the power of Holy Spirit he still does,
we celebrate the Jesus who considered family unity to be important,
we celebrate the Jesus that welcomed little children into his arms,
we celebrate the Jesus that took time to bless everyone,
- no matter who they were and no matter what others thought of them.
Jesus - our saviour and our Lord,
Jesus - the promised one of God,
Jesus, the son of God - and yet a man:
a man like us....
a man who struggled to be faithful to God,
a man who was called to love his neighbours as himself,
a man who was tempted like we are tempted,
a man who suffered as we suffer.
The letter to the Hebrews, which our first reading came from today, speaks
of Jesus in exalted terms - calling him "the radiance of God's glory" and
"the exact representation of God's being", "superior to the angels";
And this is true - our whole faith speaks of it,
But the letter to the Hebrews also reminds us of something else that our
whole faith speaks of - it reminds us that here, on this earth, Jesus was
made like us - that he was made like us a little lower than the angels,
that Jesus was one with us, born of a woman,
born as our brother
to walk as we walk through this life.
Jesus was one with us,
able to sympathize with us,
able to identify with us,
able to rejoice with us,
able to suffer with us,
and, because of what he suffered and suffered in faithfulness,
he is able to intercede for us before God his Father, God our Father.
Jesus, one with us, Jesus our Saviour. Jesus our Brother. He understands us, he understands our questions.
My favorite aspect of Christ that we are reminded to celebrate in Hebrews about Christ is for a time he for a little while was made a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor. We too as humans are made a little lower than the angels. We too are crowned with glory and honor.
We may never have to answer to why bad things happen to good people. But we can always have the love of God in our lives. No matter what happens, we can look to the heavens for our strength and support – because now, Jesus Christ is up there – rooting for us as his sisters and brothers. He know what we have been through - and through faith – we know what he is going through up in heaven.
Alister McGrath writes a story about her aunt who never married. When she passed away, her relatives were going through her possessions and found a picture of a young man. The young man had been the aunt’s true love. He died tragically, and she never loved another man. And yet she held onto that picture.
Through the years of loneliness and grief, she held onto the that picture. She needed to be reminded that she had a love in life. When people doubted that she ever loved anyone she could hold onto that picture. That picture was a reminder of her life as it could have been. But for some reason the reality of death set in.
Jesus is the image of God. When we want to know what God looks like we have a story to look at. When we want something to depend on, we have the words of Christ to hold onto. When we want to talk with God – when can pray in the name of Jesus and know that we are heard.
And Jesus knew that there would be days when we would have our doubts. There would be days when we would feel disconnected from God, there would be days when we wonder about the story of Jesus. If the story of Job is a fairly tale – then how do we know that Jesus too if not just a fairly tale. The signs before us today -- communion the bread and the wine, they remind us of how he came to be our Saviour, they remind us of what his love and his faithfulness cost him. On the night of his betrayal Jesus took bread and broke it,and gave it to his disciples, saying, This is my body, given for you;and he took the cup and gave it to his disciples, saying, This is my blood, which is poured out for you. The next day, out of love for the world, Jesus died.
Jesus is our brother, jesus is one of us, jesus understand us, jesus knows our questions. While on the cross even he asks God why has he forsaken him.
Communion is our picture – our memory- or crutch to hold onto- our strength to hold onto – in the midst of the answerable questions.
Today we celebrate communion with Christians all over the world. In all types of churches
God has made us his family,
a family that stretches around the world,
a family that is called to love as we have been love,
to forgive as we have been forgiven,
to give as we have been given too.
As we share today in our family meal;
GIVE THANKS to God that we are not alone,
THAT WE HAVE BOTH each other and the Spirit of Christ amongst us,
the Spirit of him who was, who is, and who shall ever be one with us, and
one over us, and one under us, one who truly loves us.
Blessed be God - day by day. Amen
*Portions of this sermon borrowed from a sermon from Rev. Richard J. Fairchild “One with us”
Sunday, September 20, 2009
A tale of Two Types of Wisdom
A tale of two wisdoms
September 20, 2009
Sixteenth Day of Pentecost
Year B
Have you ever had those moments in your life when you know God is there? When you know that in that moment – you know that someone or something had to have come from heaven to help you out of a situation? There had to be some angels from above looking over you and guiding you through the situation?
A colleague of mine tells about the time when he was helping his church prepare for the fair, they were selling cider, and they needed a press for the apples. In hauling it, he dropped it and an important piece of it broke. He tried to fix it but he couldn’t . And he remembered that the repairman that he went to- had recently died. The fair was to start in 3 hours – what would he do. He prayed and he found that indeed he did have to strength to try and fix it. As he started to work – this face appeared in his mind – the face of the repairman – and gave him step by step advice to fix the wine press- in two hours the press was ready and he could go to the fair.
Another colleague speaks of her mother in law who lived with she and her husband. The mother in law loved flowers – so they built her a greenhouse. One day she and her mother in law came home and found the house smelling like flowers. It was a very distinctive smell. The mother in law was particularly excited, because she said the house smelled just like her mothers house. I might add they never identified where the smell was coming from.
I have had one of those moments – when I knew God was near recently – when I asked for a prayer – and it was answered within a day. And when I asked for something expecting to have to wait and search for an answer – and as life unfolded – the answer was in an obvious very close place. I have had one of those times when I knew God was near. What about you – have you had those times in your life? God can sometimes be illusive, but comes to us in short glimpses, and unexpected ways. I am sure if you think about it, we have all had one of those encounters.
James point to us is that there are two kinds of wisdoms in the world – wisdom from above and wisdom from the world. James is making his point to us because we like to believe that all wisdom is the same. That we can play into the values of the world and the values of God at the same time, because they all fit intogether. We can believe both at the same time. James is telling us that they are not the same, and that they don’t fit in together. As a matter of fact, they are opposite kinds of wisdom, and if you will – they have two very different kinds of personalities. And two very different results.
One is self centered – about me- about my safety, my best interest, my concern. One is based on jealousy – which is a fear that I wont get what is coming to me. “those conflicts and disputes among you- where do they come from – do they not come from your own cravings that are at war within you? You want something and you cannot obtain it”
If there are indeed two kinds of wisdoms in the world – one from earth and one from heaven,which one is James speaking of?......
How is that different from the wisdom of God? …….
James goes on to say that we do not have, because we do not ask. And God does not give to us because we ask for the wrong reason. Once again, we ask for personal gain, and not the will of God.
Jesus actually picks up this theme in Mark. They are journeying along to Jerusalem – Jesus first tells of where they are going and why. But the disciples cant handle that conversation. But Jesus notices that they have been arguing. Who is the greatest among them? Is that a conversation using wisdom from above or wisdom from earth?.....
We know because it is a conversation about personal gain. A concern about where am I in the world. So it is an earthly conversation.
Jesus wants them to think about the things of God. So he pulls a little child aside and reminds the disciples the greatest on earth, and the greatest I heaven are different. Whosoever welcomes a little child in my name, welcomes me.
Now what is so cool about this story – is that we think of children very differently then they did 2000 years ago. Today – we do honor our children. We are a congregation which thinks about the best interest of the child. We understand that children need to be loved and cared for. And that they are not able to take care of themselves. We are willing to do what we can to take care of them. No so in Jesus times, children were nothing. They were a burden. You never knew if a child was going to survive into adulthood. Children were not allowed to own property. If they did not have a family – they were left to fend for themselves. In the eyes of the disciples they counted for nothing. They had absolutely no rights. They were essentially a none person. Today, we get a warm fuzzy feeling when Jesus grabs the little children and says let the children come to me. Then – they gasped in horror – how could Jesus even think of such a thing.
And yet he reminds us that these are the people who God loves the most – the people who the world values the least. There are two types of wisdom in the world – that from above and that from the earth. You cant embrace both at the same time – because they are very different – they are opposites. And they take you in two different directions. With two very different outcomes.
Speaking of Jesus loving the little children – did you see the film clip of the man at the Phillies game – who was fortunate enough to catch a foul ball. He was so excited about his souvenir that he gave the ball to his 3 year old daughter. And she does the right thing – she throws it back into the field. The father is looking on in horror as she has just thrown away his ball. But she is so proud of herself for doing the right thing – she runs into daddy’s arms for a hug. What else was there for him to do – but hug her back and tell her he loves her. Someone commented that perhaps he hugged her because he wanted to squeeze the life out of her. I wonder if his reaction would have been different without the camera rolling. But it captured the heart of America – because it was a God moment. A moment when God was truly present.
I think of the times in my life when I have done the very wrong thing – and God embraced me and loved me anyway. There are two kinds of wisdom in the world – wisdom from God and wisdom from the world- which kind of wisdom was present at this moment?....
Whereever gentleness, compassion, humility, and peace making are present – God is always there. Whereever there is an opportunity to do what you know is right – God is there. Wherever there are people like us – Christians, disciples of Christ present who are determined to put the will of God before their own interest. God is present. God will be seen by the world. The lesson for us today is to be those people who bring God into the world. Not by waiting for miracle, but by living out the wisdom from God in everything that we do.
The final words of James says submit yourselves to god. Of you resist wisdom from earth – the devil will flee, if you seek wisdom from above – by drawing near to God – God will draw near to you. Look for God in actions of others- but in the actions of your heart. And finally Mark reminds us that if you humble yourself – God will always raise you up. The Phillies gave the man in the stands another baseball, and signed jersey’s for the whole family for the love he showed to his daughter. How much more is in store for us? Peace.
September 20, 2009
Sixteenth Day of Pentecost
Year B
Have you ever had those moments in your life when you know God is there? When you know that in that moment – you know that someone or something had to have come from heaven to help you out of a situation? There had to be some angels from above looking over you and guiding you through the situation?
A colleague of mine tells about the time when he was helping his church prepare for the fair, they were selling cider, and they needed a press for the apples. In hauling it, he dropped it and an important piece of it broke. He tried to fix it but he couldn’t . And he remembered that the repairman that he went to- had recently died. The fair was to start in 3 hours – what would he do. He prayed and he found that indeed he did have to strength to try and fix it. As he started to work – this face appeared in his mind – the face of the repairman – and gave him step by step advice to fix the wine press- in two hours the press was ready and he could go to the fair.
Another colleague speaks of her mother in law who lived with she and her husband. The mother in law loved flowers – so they built her a greenhouse. One day she and her mother in law came home and found the house smelling like flowers. It was a very distinctive smell. The mother in law was particularly excited, because she said the house smelled just like her mothers house. I might add they never identified where the smell was coming from.
I have had one of those moments – when I knew God was near recently – when I asked for a prayer – and it was answered within a day. And when I asked for something expecting to have to wait and search for an answer – and as life unfolded – the answer was in an obvious very close place. I have had one of those times when I knew God was near. What about you – have you had those times in your life? God can sometimes be illusive, but comes to us in short glimpses, and unexpected ways. I am sure if you think about it, we have all had one of those encounters.
James point to us is that there are two kinds of wisdoms in the world – wisdom from above and wisdom from the world. James is making his point to us because we like to believe that all wisdom is the same. That we can play into the values of the world and the values of God at the same time, because they all fit intogether. We can believe both at the same time. James is telling us that they are not the same, and that they don’t fit in together. As a matter of fact, they are opposite kinds of wisdom, and if you will – they have two very different kinds of personalities. And two very different results.
One is self centered – about me- about my safety, my best interest, my concern. One is based on jealousy – which is a fear that I wont get what is coming to me. “those conflicts and disputes among you- where do they come from – do they not come from your own cravings that are at war within you? You want something and you cannot obtain it”
If there are indeed two kinds of wisdoms in the world – one from earth and one from heaven,which one is James speaking of?......
How is that different from the wisdom of God? …….
James goes on to say that we do not have, because we do not ask. And God does not give to us because we ask for the wrong reason. Once again, we ask for personal gain, and not the will of God.
Jesus actually picks up this theme in Mark. They are journeying along to Jerusalem – Jesus first tells of where they are going and why. But the disciples cant handle that conversation. But Jesus notices that they have been arguing. Who is the greatest among them? Is that a conversation using wisdom from above or wisdom from earth?.....
We know because it is a conversation about personal gain. A concern about where am I in the world. So it is an earthly conversation.
Jesus wants them to think about the things of God. So he pulls a little child aside and reminds the disciples the greatest on earth, and the greatest I heaven are different. Whosoever welcomes a little child in my name, welcomes me.
Now what is so cool about this story – is that we think of children very differently then they did 2000 years ago. Today – we do honor our children. We are a congregation which thinks about the best interest of the child. We understand that children need to be loved and cared for. And that they are not able to take care of themselves. We are willing to do what we can to take care of them. No so in Jesus times, children were nothing. They were a burden. You never knew if a child was going to survive into adulthood. Children were not allowed to own property. If they did not have a family – they were left to fend for themselves. In the eyes of the disciples they counted for nothing. They had absolutely no rights. They were essentially a none person. Today, we get a warm fuzzy feeling when Jesus grabs the little children and says let the children come to me. Then – they gasped in horror – how could Jesus even think of such a thing.
And yet he reminds us that these are the people who God loves the most – the people who the world values the least. There are two types of wisdom in the world – that from above and that from the earth. You cant embrace both at the same time – because they are very different – they are opposites. And they take you in two different directions. With two very different outcomes.
Speaking of Jesus loving the little children – did you see the film clip of the man at the Phillies game – who was fortunate enough to catch a foul ball. He was so excited about his souvenir that he gave the ball to his 3 year old daughter. And she does the right thing – she throws it back into the field. The father is looking on in horror as she has just thrown away his ball. But she is so proud of herself for doing the right thing – she runs into daddy’s arms for a hug. What else was there for him to do – but hug her back and tell her he loves her. Someone commented that perhaps he hugged her because he wanted to squeeze the life out of her. I wonder if his reaction would have been different without the camera rolling. But it captured the heart of America – because it was a God moment. A moment when God was truly present.
I think of the times in my life when I have done the very wrong thing – and God embraced me and loved me anyway. There are two kinds of wisdom in the world – wisdom from God and wisdom from the world- which kind of wisdom was present at this moment?....
Whereever gentleness, compassion, humility, and peace making are present – God is always there. Whereever there is an opportunity to do what you know is right – God is there. Wherever there are people like us – Christians, disciples of Christ present who are determined to put the will of God before their own interest. God is present. God will be seen by the world. The lesson for us today is to be those people who bring God into the world. Not by waiting for miracle, but by living out the wisdom from God in everything that we do.
The final words of James says submit yourselves to god. Of you resist wisdom from earth – the devil will flee, if you seek wisdom from above – by drawing near to God – God will draw near to you. Look for God in actions of others- but in the actions of your heart. And finally Mark reminds us that if you humble yourself – God will always raise you up. The Phillies gave the man in the stands another baseball, and signed jersey’s for the whole family for the love he showed to his daughter. How much more is in store for us? Peace.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
The Fashionable Christian - August 23, 2009
The Fashionable Christian
Ephesians 6:10-20
John 6:
Year B
The Twelfth Sunday of Pentecost
The one word that comes to mind as I think of the lessons of Ephesians and John 6 today is propaganda. Propoganda – the telling of facts and figures to a group of people, with an agenda in mind- to get a certain response. Usually this response is more about appealing to the emotions of a group, then it is appealing to the rational sense of a group. The whole point is that propaganda is not intended to be rational – it is usually exaggerated or inflammatory for a reason.
Today we usually associate that term to communication in wartimes. Times when people are trying to rile the crowd up- to get them to take their side and to justify their actions against another group. Truths, that when we look at them seem obviously taken out of perspective.
And yet recently, I have been amazed at how alive and well the concept still is. Propoganda is still very much alive and well in the way we communicate with one another today.
Politics is still a big arena for propaganda. We have all seen on the news the debates over health care reform. Recently I drove to Elkhart In to hear the president speak. Unknowingly discovering that we were put in the middle of a debate between republicans and democrats on this issue.
Propoganda is in our movies – recently I went to see the movie inglorious basterd a very dark comedy – keenly aware that is a movie that would only work in America to a crowd who did not live through the experience. They are the only ones who would laugh at a movie about a group of soliders getting killed.
And yet what strikes me most is how present propaganda is in the way we communicate with one another. Think that it is human nature for us to listen to the emotions of what someone says before we hear the logic. If we like that person, or we care about that person, or we have a connection to the person, then we automatically buy into their perspective – how else would you explain going to the story and getting 20 different scarves in 20 different colors because it is the style. I am sure if you thought about it – you can think of ways that you have been influenced by the emotional communication of those around you. Okay so maybe you are not susciptable to over shopping just because your friend does it – but that is human nature.
When Jesus spoke to the crowd about bread from heaven being the bread of life and giving all those who listen eternal life – that how the crowd took his words – as propaganda. An exaggeration of the truth in order to make himself look more important than he really was. No one is a gift from heaven – god would choose no one to bring the spirit of love into the world. And if you really loved God, certainly you wouldn’t claim such a crazy thing for yourself.
Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abid in me, and I in them. Just as the living father sent me, and I live because of the father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that of which your ancestor ate and they died, but the one who eats this bead will live forever.
Even back then when the words came out of Jesus mouth – he knew this would be a difficult saying for his audience. He said it in many ways – to get past their doubts and skepticism. He knew that from what they had heard all of their lives – this would be taken as propaganda.
And it remains so today. We don’t study John very often – because his beliefs are a little strong and hard to defend even for a Christian today. No one knows why he was saying these things. He was Jesus best friend – maybe he just got caught up into what the man was saying and forgot to think.
Propoganda is alive and well in the church today. And sometimes even we as Christians are susceptible to believing what others with an agenda have to say. All of the bible is to some propaganda - because it does encourage us to look at the world from a certain perspective. Paul also likes to use a lot of images of fighting a war in his talking. Ephesians 6 encourages us to put on the armor of God. The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes of peace, the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation. I have always thought of this as an outdated image – until I actually saw someone selling the armour of god – for children. It looks like a cross between a bad Halloween costume and a tacky pair of pajamas. As I picked up the bright silver and suit – couldn’t help but to think of what cruel and confused parent would actually buy this for their child. And where besides Sunday school class would someone even wear something like that. How far do you get carried away with teaching children bible lessons. Now I cant wait to get one- I hope they make them in my size.
Of course we don’t need a suit of armour to remember Paul’s lesson to us.
We live in a world full of propaganda – others peoples messages, others hidden agandas, others intentions for us, even other gospels of what is in our best interest.
Whether we think of ourselves as soldiers or not, we are all fighting a war. A war for our beliefs, our loyalties, our hearts and souls, a war for what is really right and true. How do we ever really know what it good for us and what and sometimes who is in our best interest to believe.
Even as Jesus talked – he started with a crowd of 5000, and the more that came out of his mouth – the more people walked away. The more people stopped listening. The more they decided that he was just talking propaganda – nothing for them to take seriously. Jesus talked and talked until there were only 12 people left. And he asked them do you also wish to go away? And Peter responds lord to whom can we go? You have the word of eternal life, we have come to believe and know that you are the holy one of God.
Carls Jordon and the church of 4.
With all of the proganda coming at us – how to we determine what is true and what it not, what to believe and what to not? Who is telling us something in our best interest and who is just trying to appeal to our emotions to get us to react to something?
Paul says the the fashionable Christian puts on the armor of God – truth, righteousness, peace, faith and salvation. But the most important thing that we wear – is prayer. Everything that we do is undergirded in prayer. Every question we have is given to god, every person we know is lifted up in prayer.
There is no way in this world to escape propoganada. And sometimes there is not real test to determine if the words of others are for us or against us. Even the words of the bible can be thought of as proganada – very strong words that can have no meaning. It can even be hard for us to take jesus seriously.
But jesus whole point is that when you do – it is not because of your senses – belief in what jesus is saying is a gift from god. We believe it because God was made it so for us.
John 6 – jesus the flesh and blood of God – jesus bread of life, jesus words being one with the will of God – were meant to be offensive. Meant for us to question, intended not to make any sense of have any meaning.
Words are truly the grace of God. Grace is the only real protection that we have or need.
Ephesians 6:10-20
John 6:
Year B
The Twelfth Sunday of Pentecost
The one word that comes to mind as I think of the lessons of Ephesians and John 6 today is propaganda. Propoganda – the telling of facts and figures to a group of people, with an agenda in mind- to get a certain response. Usually this response is more about appealing to the emotions of a group, then it is appealing to the rational sense of a group. The whole point is that propaganda is not intended to be rational – it is usually exaggerated or inflammatory for a reason.
Today we usually associate that term to communication in wartimes. Times when people are trying to rile the crowd up- to get them to take their side and to justify their actions against another group. Truths, that when we look at them seem obviously taken out of perspective.
And yet recently, I have been amazed at how alive and well the concept still is. Propoganda is still very much alive and well in the way we communicate with one another today.
Politics is still a big arena for propaganda. We have all seen on the news the debates over health care reform. Recently I drove to Elkhart In to hear the president speak. Unknowingly discovering that we were put in the middle of a debate between republicans and democrats on this issue.
Propoganda is in our movies – recently I went to see the movie inglorious basterd a very dark comedy – keenly aware that is a movie that would only work in America to a crowd who did not live through the experience. They are the only ones who would laugh at a movie about a group of soliders getting killed.
And yet what strikes me most is how present propaganda is in the way we communicate with one another. Think that it is human nature for us to listen to the emotions of what someone says before we hear the logic. If we like that person, or we care about that person, or we have a connection to the person, then we automatically buy into their perspective – how else would you explain going to the story and getting 20 different scarves in 20 different colors because it is the style. I am sure if you thought about it – you can think of ways that you have been influenced by the emotional communication of those around you. Okay so maybe you are not susciptable to over shopping just because your friend does it – but that is human nature.
When Jesus spoke to the crowd about bread from heaven being the bread of life and giving all those who listen eternal life – that how the crowd took his words – as propaganda. An exaggeration of the truth in order to make himself look more important than he really was. No one is a gift from heaven – god would choose no one to bring the spirit of love into the world. And if you really loved God, certainly you wouldn’t claim such a crazy thing for yourself.
Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abid in me, and I in them. Just as the living father sent me, and I live because of the father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that of which your ancestor ate and they died, but the one who eats this bead will live forever.
Even back then when the words came out of Jesus mouth – he knew this would be a difficult saying for his audience. He said it in many ways – to get past their doubts and skepticism. He knew that from what they had heard all of their lives – this would be taken as propaganda.
And it remains so today. We don’t study John very often – because his beliefs are a little strong and hard to defend even for a Christian today. No one knows why he was saying these things. He was Jesus best friend – maybe he just got caught up into what the man was saying and forgot to think.
Propoganda is alive and well in the church today. And sometimes even we as Christians are susceptible to believing what others with an agenda have to say. All of the bible is to some propaganda - because it does encourage us to look at the world from a certain perspective. Paul also likes to use a lot of images of fighting a war in his talking. Ephesians 6 encourages us to put on the armor of God. The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes of peace, the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation. I have always thought of this as an outdated image – until I actually saw someone selling the armour of god – for children. It looks like a cross between a bad Halloween costume and a tacky pair of pajamas. As I picked up the bright silver and suit – couldn’t help but to think of what cruel and confused parent would actually buy this for their child. And where besides Sunday school class would someone even wear something like that. How far do you get carried away with teaching children bible lessons. Now I cant wait to get one- I hope they make them in my size.
Of course we don’t need a suit of armour to remember Paul’s lesson to us.
We live in a world full of propaganda – others peoples messages, others hidden agandas, others intentions for us, even other gospels of what is in our best interest.
Whether we think of ourselves as soldiers or not, we are all fighting a war. A war for our beliefs, our loyalties, our hearts and souls, a war for what is really right and true. How do we ever really know what it good for us and what and sometimes who is in our best interest to believe.
Even as Jesus talked – he started with a crowd of 5000, and the more that came out of his mouth – the more people walked away. The more people stopped listening. The more they decided that he was just talking propaganda – nothing for them to take seriously. Jesus talked and talked until there were only 12 people left. And he asked them do you also wish to go away? And Peter responds lord to whom can we go? You have the word of eternal life, we have come to believe and know that you are the holy one of God.
Carls Jordon and the church of 4.
With all of the proganda coming at us – how to we determine what is true and what it not, what to believe and what to not? Who is telling us something in our best interest and who is just trying to appeal to our emotions to get us to react to something?
Paul says the the fashionable Christian puts on the armor of God – truth, righteousness, peace, faith and salvation. But the most important thing that we wear – is prayer. Everything that we do is undergirded in prayer. Every question we have is given to god, every person we know is lifted up in prayer.
There is no way in this world to escape propoganada. And sometimes there is not real test to determine if the words of others are for us or against us. Even the words of the bible can be thought of as proganada – very strong words that can have no meaning. It can even be hard for us to take jesus seriously.
But jesus whole point is that when you do – it is not because of your senses – belief in what jesus is saying is a gift from god. We believe it because God was made it so for us.
John 6 – jesus the flesh and blood of God – jesus bread of life, jesus words being one with the will of God – were meant to be offensive. Meant for us to question, intended not to make any sense of have any meaning.
Words are truly the grace of God. Grace is the only real protection that we have or need.
Dreams and Nightmares - August 16, 2009
Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost
Year B
1 Kings
Ephesians 5:15-20
Dreams and nightmares – what is the difference
This week I watched this really cool video from Honda Corporation of all places, on dreams and nightmares. It talked about why we dream. Dreaming is thinking in an altered state, said one expert on the video. And it showed clips on how we dream, and how the mind can put together thoughts in a dream in really strange ways, for instance they showed a dream of someone cooking a boot on the stove.
The video helped me to realize that there is really no difference between our dreams and nightmares. They are both our minds way of trying to work something out. The difference is our reaction, nightmares play upon our fears that we are usually afraid to face in a waking state.
The difference is in the way we interpret them and the meaning we place on what is happening. A nightmare is a dream.
Solomon found that out the night he talked with God in a dream
He Asked for wisdom to lead his country. and God gave him more. God felt that because his heart was in the right place, that he would also have the things that make life enjoyable, a good life, health, riches, and wives.
Sometimes Nightmare and a dream are the same thing. Solomon was fulfilling the dreams of his father. He built the temple, he built the kingdom, he gained a international reputation.
Solomon started out doing some amazing things
But in the later years not so much. He got cocky and started to tax the people the support his extravagant building projects, he lost the kingdom – what david united, was split apart again. He also married many wives, and at times started to adopt their religions, sometimes giving his own a second seat – breaking to commandment to put no other God before God. What started out at a dream come true, became a nightmare. He even stopped thinking about the wisdom which was so important to his daily rule.
Wisdom is the way we live our lives – and what we do. It is the choices that we make.
Ephesians picks up this theme of wisdom and doing the right thing
Everyone has to be filled with something – some filled with wine – you should be filled with the spirit says Ephesians.
Singing and rejoicing, Righteousness and Wisdom are the three themes of our scripture for today.
Wisdom is Defined as a doing the will of the lord
God has a vested interest in the way we use our time
Just as God had a vested interest in the way Solomon used his wisdom – God has that same interest in us and what we do with our lives.
eksagorazamenoie means buying time in the marketplace. We have a responsibility to buy our time, just as Solomon purchased wisdom and spend it wisely.
The way we use our time affects not just us, but the world. Filled with the spirit – living our lives according to gods will
Story of rubber, metal and glass. Some of our commitments are rubber commitments – it doesn’t matter if we follow them, if we break an appointment, we can just make it up when we realize we have done wrong and there is no love lost. Some of our commitments are metal – they make a lot of noise when we drop them – but the reality is they don’t break the relationship. And other commitments are glass – once broken they cannot be repaired, once the moment passes we cant make it up.
Our priority are glass commitments – time we spend in the will of God – is fragile and will break. God wants us to think about our glass – special time.
Heal and make a difference.
Year B
1 Kings
Ephesians 5:15-20
Dreams and nightmares – what is the difference
This week I watched this really cool video from Honda Corporation of all places, on dreams and nightmares. It talked about why we dream. Dreaming is thinking in an altered state, said one expert on the video. And it showed clips on how we dream, and how the mind can put together thoughts in a dream in really strange ways, for instance they showed a dream of someone cooking a boot on the stove.
The video helped me to realize that there is really no difference between our dreams and nightmares. They are both our minds way of trying to work something out. The difference is our reaction, nightmares play upon our fears that we are usually afraid to face in a waking state.
The difference is in the way we interpret them and the meaning we place on what is happening. A nightmare is a dream.
Solomon found that out the night he talked with God in a dream
He Asked for wisdom to lead his country. and God gave him more. God felt that because his heart was in the right place, that he would also have the things that make life enjoyable, a good life, health, riches, and wives.
Sometimes Nightmare and a dream are the same thing. Solomon was fulfilling the dreams of his father. He built the temple, he built the kingdom, he gained a international reputation.
Solomon started out doing some amazing things
But in the later years not so much. He got cocky and started to tax the people the support his extravagant building projects, he lost the kingdom – what david united, was split apart again. He also married many wives, and at times started to adopt their religions, sometimes giving his own a second seat – breaking to commandment to put no other God before God. What started out at a dream come true, became a nightmare. He even stopped thinking about the wisdom which was so important to his daily rule.
Wisdom is the way we live our lives – and what we do. It is the choices that we make.
Ephesians picks up this theme of wisdom and doing the right thing
Everyone has to be filled with something – some filled with wine – you should be filled with the spirit says Ephesians.
Singing and rejoicing, Righteousness and Wisdom are the three themes of our scripture for today.
Wisdom is Defined as a doing the will of the lord
God has a vested interest in the way we use our time
Just as God had a vested interest in the way Solomon used his wisdom – God has that same interest in us and what we do with our lives.
eksagorazamenoie means buying time in the marketplace. We have a responsibility to buy our time, just as Solomon purchased wisdom and spend it wisely.
The way we use our time affects not just us, but the world. Filled with the spirit – living our lives according to gods will
Story of rubber, metal and glass. Some of our commitments are rubber commitments – it doesn’t matter if we follow them, if we break an appointment, we can just make it up when we realize we have done wrong and there is no love lost. Some of our commitments are metal – they make a lot of noise when we drop them – but the reality is they don’t break the relationship. And other commitments are glass – once broken they cannot be repaired, once the moment passes we cant make it up.
Our priority are glass commitments – time we spend in the will of God – is fragile and will break. God wants us to think about our glass – special time.
Heal and make a difference.
Are you still hungry? - August 9. 2009
Year B
10th Sunday after Pentecost
2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
John 6:35, 41-51
Why do we say a table blessing today?
A group is seminary students asked why do we still say table blessings today. In its original intention, table blessings were said because you never knew the condition of your food. In times without refrigeration, you could only hope that you would not be poisoned by the food you needed so desparately, so you prayed over it.
And of course, you never knew when you were going to eat, so you were grateful for what you received.
Do we still need to?
Today, especially in America, we do not have to worry as much if our food will harm us. More importantly, we tend to take three meals a day for granted, we just assume that we will always have enough to eat. So we really have to bless every meal that we get?
Of course we need to
Today, we may eat much more extravagantly than those before us, but we still need to be thankful for what we receive. We still need to acknowledge the fact that everything that we receive is a gift from God.
Food is still important to us
We may get too much of it, but we can still be grateful to God for the food that we do get.
Bread was considered a staple of life – every culture eats some kind of bread.
Bread has always been considered a staple of the human diet. Every culture in the world eats some kind of bread. (not me, I don’t care for bread, and will not eat it unless I have to.)
Jesus has been telling us that he is the bread of life
This is the last week of our study of John 6. Jesus has been telling us that he is the bread of life. That his teachings are our staple as Christians. We need bread, but more importantly, we need Jesus.
Levels
Fed,
Told to read the word of God
He is the bread
This bread is from heaven
Jesus taught this lesson to the people of his times in many ways, but more importantly, on many different levels. First he fed them real bread so that they could pay attention to the teaching. Then he told the them the word of God from heaven. Then he explained that he is the bread of life, and then he explained that what he had to teach was indeed bread from heaven, just like their ancestors received manna from heaven.
Why this offended the jews
This was very offensive to the Jewish population. Why would anyone associate themselves with bread from heaven. It was offensive for them to eat flesh and blood. So they were offended by Jesus message. But Jesus knew this was the case. He knew this would be a hard message and that many would need to fall away – because they could not bear what he had to say. No one should believe that they knew the word of God, only God knew the word of God. And God would never come in human form.
Spiritual practices of life – to truly be able to experience life
Forgot all about the bread – but remember the lesson
For Christians we don’t have to get caught up on the physical reality of what Jesus is saying. Jesus knew that the bread was important, but the bread would pass away. But the point of believing that Jesus us the bread of life should stick withus.
Early church thought of as cannibals- eating flesh and blood
Many people were critical of the early church, they thought they were cannibals, eating the flesh and blood of Jesus.
Not so – gather together in community, praying together, living together helping together, most importantly believing in Jesus together
Life is made up of many struggles, many pressures, many opinions, many decisions – but there is only one Jesus
We Didn’t read Ephesians this morning – in the scripture, Paul tells us to be imitators of Christ –
Imitate the ones we love and admire.
Jesus did he best to imitate God – and succeeded
Story of pastor visiting
There was a pastor who visited a woman in the hospital. She was very close to dying. And when you came to see her, she did not always open her eyes. On the day that pastor visited, she did not immediately open her eyes to greet him. But when she did – she told him that she thought that he was Jesus coming to visit her. He told her that when she did finally reach heaven and talked with Jesus, he hoped that Jesus did indeed look just like him. As Christians we are called to be mistaken for Jesus by many people. And in turn Jesus looks just like us in the face.
But the story – when I get to heaven and see Jesus – as if Jesus saw me – if He looks like me.
The point of bread from heaven – we are the bread of life from heaven, when we imitate Jesus.
Mutual love – we are in a mutual relationship, we look like Jesus and Jesus looks like us.
We will be studying John 6 for two more weeks. Two more weeks of this bread of life. John says that Jesus is bread, light, gate, shepherd, life, vine. All images that he uses in the book of John.
There is no one image that captures the full meaning of Jesus or of God’s love for us.
There is no one person who can be the body of Christ – we are all Jesus in our own way – when we come together and take the bread and believe it is from heaven.
10th Sunday after Pentecost
2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
John 6:35, 41-51
Why do we say a table blessing today?
A group is seminary students asked why do we still say table blessings today. In its original intention, table blessings were said because you never knew the condition of your food. In times without refrigeration, you could only hope that you would not be poisoned by the food you needed so desparately, so you prayed over it.
And of course, you never knew when you were going to eat, so you were grateful for what you received.
Do we still need to?
Today, especially in America, we do not have to worry as much if our food will harm us. More importantly, we tend to take three meals a day for granted, we just assume that we will always have enough to eat. So we really have to bless every meal that we get?
Of course we need to
Today, we may eat much more extravagantly than those before us, but we still need to be thankful for what we receive. We still need to acknowledge the fact that everything that we receive is a gift from God.
Food is still important to us
We may get too much of it, but we can still be grateful to God for the food that we do get.
Bread was considered a staple of life – every culture eats some kind of bread.
Bread has always been considered a staple of the human diet. Every culture in the world eats some kind of bread. (not me, I don’t care for bread, and will not eat it unless I have to.)
Jesus has been telling us that he is the bread of life
This is the last week of our study of John 6. Jesus has been telling us that he is the bread of life. That his teachings are our staple as Christians. We need bread, but more importantly, we need Jesus.
Levels
Fed,
Told to read the word of God
He is the bread
This bread is from heaven
Jesus taught this lesson to the people of his times in many ways, but more importantly, on many different levels. First he fed them real bread so that they could pay attention to the teaching. Then he told the them the word of God from heaven. Then he explained that he is the bread of life, and then he explained that what he had to teach was indeed bread from heaven, just like their ancestors received manna from heaven.
Why this offended the jews
This was very offensive to the Jewish population. Why would anyone associate themselves with bread from heaven. It was offensive for them to eat flesh and blood. So they were offended by Jesus message. But Jesus knew this was the case. He knew this would be a hard message and that many would need to fall away – because they could not bear what he had to say. No one should believe that they knew the word of God, only God knew the word of God. And God would never come in human form.
Spiritual practices of life – to truly be able to experience life
Forgot all about the bread – but remember the lesson
For Christians we don’t have to get caught up on the physical reality of what Jesus is saying. Jesus knew that the bread was important, but the bread would pass away. But the point of believing that Jesus us the bread of life should stick withus.
Early church thought of as cannibals- eating flesh and blood
Many people were critical of the early church, they thought they were cannibals, eating the flesh and blood of Jesus.
Not so – gather together in community, praying together, living together helping together, most importantly believing in Jesus together
Life is made up of many struggles, many pressures, many opinions, many decisions – but there is only one Jesus
We Didn’t read Ephesians this morning – in the scripture, Paul tells us to be imitators of Christ –
Imitate the ones we love and admire.
Jesus did he best to imitate God – and succeeded
Story of pastor visiting
There was a pastor who visited a woman in the hospital. She was very close to dying. And when you came to see her, she did not always open her eyes. On the day that pastor visited, she did not immediately open her eyes to greet him. But when she did – she told him that she thought that he was Jesus coming to visit her. He told her that when she did finally reach heaven and talked with Jesus, he hoped that Jesus did indeed look just like him. As Christians we are called to be mistaken for Jesus by many people. And in turn Jesus looks just like us in the face.
But the story – when I get to heaven and see Jesus – as if Jesus saw me – if He looks like me.
The point of bread from heaven – we are the bread of life from heaven, when we imitate Jesus.
Mutual love – we are in a mutual relationship, we look like Jesus and Jesus looks like us.
We will be studying John 6 for two more weeks. Two more weeks of this bread of life. John says that Jesus is bread, light, gate, shepherd, life, vine. All images that he uses in the book of John.
There is no one image that captures the full meaning of Jesus or of God’s love for us.
There is no one person who can be the body of Christ – we are all Jesus in our own way – when we come together and take the bread and believe it is from heaven.
The Person in the Mirror - August 30, 2009
Story of mirror woman
There once was a wolf pack – who stuck together to just make a living. There were willing to share with one anther – but also with others. One day this very strange woman came to live with them. And they were willing to share what they had with her. But they could never really see what she looked like because she hid her face with a mirror. They called her mirror woman. She would also show the faces of the wolves in the mirror. Whenever they would try to hold a conversation with her – she would hold up the mirror. And she would point out all of the bad things that she saw in others from this mirror. The wolves saw themselves so much, that they started to believe everything that she said. They started to believe they were the bad behavior in the mirror. Until one say the den mother explained, that they were so much more than the mirror reflected. There was some bad things, but there were also some good things. They actually started to resent mirror woman, and asked her to take the mirror down. But she was afraid and left the pack. She did not want to think about her own bad, it was easier to see that in others. But when she was gone – they started to reflect the love that they wanted to see in others.
I am always amazed at how people quickly the people who don’t go to church like to use that word hypocrite when a talking about Christians.
How many times have I heard that people don’t go to church, because the church is full of hypocrites. What does that mean? And why do you need to say such a thing.
It is just like the woman in the story – who was so busy blaming and accusing others, that she did not take the time to look at her own character. She did not see that what she was doing was even more destructive for the group, then anything that she accused them of doing.
The word hypocrite – comes from greek – it means an actor. In the days of classical theater- an actor would put on one of those masks – either with a happy face or a sad face – to show what character they were playing in a play.
It was very clear that they were not the person they were playing on the stage. They were putting on a persona – taking on a personality that was not really their own.
There are many people today besides actors who have a professional persona and a personal life. That is just a part of the job they have. There is nothing wrong with what they are doing. And most of the time these are really nice people. And their persona is just an exaggeration of their real self.
Hypo – means under - crite means truth – which means under truth or understatement – not overstatement.
Over the years – it seems that the word has taken on a negative connotation that was not intended. Today to word means someone who intentionally takes on a religious or moral persona to hide their true self.
That does not describe the average Christian.
I told you about the workshop on safe sanctuaries. On making the church a safe place for children. The FBI agent warned us that child predators look at life in a totally different way then we would. He also said that many of them intentionally develop a persona of being thought of as a good person. They intentionally go to church, they intentionally try to be a nice guy. So that you don’t question their behavior.
The agent says that usually at the trial of these people, the family members or friends will spit on him, or yell at him. And say that the offender is really a nice guy – look at all of the things he has done in the community. He loves children.
That is the problem – he loves children, that is why he is being prosecuted. To me I would say that is the true definition of a hypocrite.
In Mark 7 as jesus is talking to the Pharisee – he calls them hypocrites.
It is a part of the tradition of the elders – to wash your hands before you eat. Every jews would have known that. The tradition was a set of unspoken rules that everyone would have known and everyone would have obeyed without question.
To jewish tradition to be clean was everything. In order to be close to god you had to be clean. As a Pharisee, you had to be intentional to make sure that you did not do anything that would dirty your hands or your body. That meant you were not fit to worship god. Today, when you enter into a muslim mosue – before you can pray – you have to ceremonially wash your entire body. Even though they are intentional to tell visitors that is only intended for muslims, others are not bound by that custom.
In the Christian church – we don’t have ceremonial cleanings, even though it is still tradition to dress up and look nice when we come to church. We still have the tradition of the elders.
And that was what Jesus was trying to attack when he called the Pharisees hypocrites. The tradition of the elders was not scripture - it was something someone made up. It was something that you just did without question and no one really knew why. Jesus point was that we should stop doing things because they were tradition and to give some thought to what they were doing and why. Maybe the intention of what you were doing was more important than following tradition. And jesus had a mission to fulfill, more important than the way it was always done.
Jesus went on to point out that it was not the tradition of being clean that caused the real evils in the world – it was the condition of the heart – the human heart – to lie, to steal, to criticize, to hurt when we have been hurt.
So we shouldn’t spend so much time worrying about the outside – but concentrate on the inside.
It is not just Christians, or people trying to be good who have those things – but all of us – it is human nature. In some ways we are all hypocrites. Not just Christians, but all people.
The lesson for us as Christians is not that we don’t have those tendencies inside of us, and not that we don’t have an inner self and an outer self. Being a Christian means that we know what is inside of ourselves and we acknowledge that we are sinners and we work to do something about it. We don’t exploit our sin to hurt others, to know that we are sinners, totally dependent on the grace of god to deal with our sinful nature.
For an outsider to be obsesses with calling a Christian a sinner is like the mirror woman finding the faults of the wolf pack – they spend so much time talking about others, that they forget to correct themselves.
Jesus knows that we will always sin, but some of us will look in the mirror and be able to fix what we see is wrong.
James talks about uses mirrors as a metaphor for looking at our selves and our actions too. He says that when we know the will of god and we don’t do it – we are like someone who looks in the mirror and forgets what they look like.
We look like the sons and daughters of God. In the message – Euguene Peterson says that when we know the word of god but we don’t do it – it is like we forget the face we were born with. We forget that we were all born sinners, but we were all born in the image of God. That is the true persona of all people – to reflect the love of god in their lives in some way.
Yesterday, sydaney and ray and I attended the workshop on stewardship. Great speaker, he told a story about a docter who went on a mission trip to Honduras. Before he left, he went to church, but it didn’t mean anything to him. He went through the motions, but it had no meaning. But when he went to help the people of Honduras – he saw the word of god being put into action, and he started to understand why he was really coming to church.
When we returned, he gave more in the offering plate, he volunterred more, he even was able to share his faith with others in a meaningful way.
There was something that was changed in his inner heart – that changed his outer actions. It was the cleansing of his inner heart – that made his outer heart clean. That is all jesus is trying to say to us. Cleansing comes from the inside out – not the outside in.
When we go outside of the sanctuary there are still those who will look on the outside and be critical no matter what. There are still non Christians who need to call Christians hypocrites, there are still neighbors who tell us that they need to see a change in our behavior to really trust us and to believe that we are who we say we are.
I hope you will always be able to admit that you are a sinner saved by the grace of God. Someone who has a heart of jealousy, anger and all kinds of bad things. But a sinner who has been touched in your heart by God, who lives a life not mandated by the mirror of others, but the light of God’s love for you.
There once was a wolf pack – who stuck together to just make a living. There were willing to share with one anther – but also with others. One day this very strange woman came to live with them. And they were willing to share what they had with her. But they could never really see what she looked like because she hid her face with a mirror. They called her mirror woman. She would also show the faces of the wolves in the mirror. Whenever they would try to hold a conversation with her – she would hold up the mirror. And she would point out all of the bad things that she saw in others from this mirror. The wolves saw themselves so much, that they started to believe everything that she said. They started to believe they were the bad behavior in the mirror. Until one say the den mother explained, that they were so much more than the mirror reflected. There was some bad things, but there were also some good things. They actually started to resent mirror woman, and asked her to take the mirror down. But she was afraid and left the pack. She did not want to think about her own bad, it was easier to see that in others. But when she was gone – they started to reflect the love that they wanted to see in others.
I am always amazed at how people quickly the people who don’t go to church like to use that word hypocrite when a talking about Christians.
How many times have I heard that people don’t go to church, because the church is full of hypocrites. What does that mean? And why do you need to say such a thing.
It is just like the woman in the story – who was so busy blaming and accusing others, that she did not take the time to look at her own character. She did not see that what she was doing was even more destructive for the group, then anything that she accused them of doing.
The word hypocrite – comes from greek – it means an actor. In the days of classical theater- an actor would put on one of those masks – either with a happy face or a sad face – to show what character they were playing in a play.
It was very clear that they were not the person they were playing on the stage. They were putting on a persona – taking on a personality that was not really their own.
There are many people today besides actors who have a professional persona and a personal life. That is just a part of the job they have. There is nothing wrong with what they are doing. And most of the time these are really nice people. And their persona is just an exaggeration of their real self.
Hypo – means under - crite means truth – which means under truth or understatement – not overstatement.
Over the years – it seems that the word has taken on a negative connotation that was not intended. Today to word means someone who intentionally takes on a religious or moral persona to hide their true self.
That does not describe the average Christian.
I told you about the workshop on safe sanctuaries. On making the church a safe place for children. The FBI agent warned us that child predators look at life in a totally different way then we would. He also said that many of them intentionally develop a persona of being thought of as a good person. They intentionally go to church, they intentionally try to be a nice guy. So that you don’t question their behavior.
The agent says that usually at the trial of these people, the family members or friends will spit on him, or yell at him. And say that the offender is really a nice guy – look at all of the things he has done in the community. He loves children.
That is the problem – he loves children, that is why he is being prosecuted. To me I would say that is the true definition of a hypocrite.
In Mark 7 as jesus is talking to the Pharisee – he calls them hypocrites.
It is a part of the tradition of the elders – to wash your hands before you eat. Every jews would have known that. The tradition was a set of unspoken rules that everyone would have known and everyone would have obeyed without question.
To jewish tradition to be clean was everything. In order to be close to god you had to be clean. As a Pharisee, you had to be intentional to make sure that you did not do anything that would dirty your hands or your body. That meant you were not fit to worship god. Today, when you enter into a muslim mosue – before you can pray – you have to ceremonially wash your entire body. Even though they are intentional to tell visitors that is only intended for muslims, others are not bound by that custom.
In the Christian church – we don’t have ceremonial cleanings, even though it is still tradition to dress up and look nice when we come to church. We still have the tradition of the elders.
And that was what Jesus was trying to attack when he called the Pharisees hypocrites. The tradition of the elders was not scripture - it was something someone made up. It was something that you just did without question and no one really knew why. Jesus point was that we should stop doing things because they were tradition and to give some thought to what they were doing and why. Maybe the intention of what you were doing was more important than following tradition. And jesus had a mission to fulfill, more important than the way it was always done.
Jesus went on to point out that it was not the tradition of being clean that caused the real evils in the world – it was the condition of the heart – the human heart – to lie, to steal, to criticize, to hurt when we have been hurt.
So we shouldn’t spend so much time worrying about the outside – but concentrate on the inside.
It is not just Christians, or people trying to be good who have those things – but all of us – it is human nature. In some ways we are all hypocrites. Not just Christians, but all people.
The lesson for us as Christians is not that we don’t have those tendencies inside of us, and not that we don’t have an inner self and an outer self. Being a Christian means that we know what is inside of ourselves and we acknowledge that we are sinners and we work to do something about it. We don’t exploit our sin to hurt others, to know that we are sinners, totally dependent on the grace of god to deal with our sinful nature.
For an outsider to be obsesses with calling a Christian a sinner is like the mirror woman finding the faults of the wolf pack – they spend so much time talking about others, that they forget to correct themselves.
Jesus knows that we will always sin, but some of us will look in the mirror and be able to fix what we see is wrong.
James talks about uses mirrors as a metaphor for looking at our selves and our actions too. He says that when we know the will of god and we don’t do it – we are like someone who looks in the mirror and forgets what they look like.
We look like the sons and daughters of God. In the message – Euguene Peterson says that when we know the word of god but we don’t do it – it is like we forget the face we were born with. We forget that we were all born sinners, but we were all born in the image of God. That is the true persona of all people – to reflect the love of god in their lives in some way.
Yesterday, sydaney and ray and I attended the workshop on stewardship. Great speaker, he told a story about a docter who went on a mission trip to Honduras. Before he left, he went to church, but it didn’t mean anything to him. He went through the motions, but it had no meaning. But when he went to help the people of Honduras – he saw the word of god being put into action, and he started to understand why he was really coming to church.
When we returned, he gave more in the offering plate, he volunterred more, he even was able to share his faith with others in a meaningful way.
There was something that was changed in his inner heart – that changed his outer actions. It was the cleansing of his inner heart – that made his outer heart clean. That is all jesus is trying to say to us. Cleansing comes from the inside out – not the outside in.
When we go outside of the sanctuary there are still those who will look on the outside and be critical no matter what. There are still non Christians who need to call Christians hypocrites, there are still neighbors who tell us that they need to see a change in our behavior to really trust us and to believe that we are who we say we are.
I hope you will always be able to admit that you are a sinner saved by the grace of God. Someone who has a heart of jealousy, anger and all kinds of bad things. But a sinner who has been touched in your heart by God, who lives a life not mandated by the mirror of others, but the light of God’s love for you.
Labor of Love - September 6, 2009
In a village in Africa, a teacher taught her students the meaning of Christmas. Of giving gifts in honor of the new born king. The children were not Christian, but they understood anyway. One little boy was so taken with the idea, that he gave his teacher a gift the next stay. A beautiful stone, she noticed that this kind of stone could only be found in a village by the sea – that was some distance from where they lived. She thanked the little boy and asked where he go the stone – he told her that village. She said that is a little far, you didn’t need to go through that much trouble to give me a gift, you could have gotten me something simpler. No replied the little boy – the trip was a part of the gift to show you that I care.
Often when we get a gift, we are not aware of what the person needed to do to achieve the gift. We don’t know the labor and love that went into acquiring it for us.
Think about the gifts that God has given us – the earth, our food, our well being, our lives, our families and the countless other blessing we have in life – what did it take for God to create those gifts?
What about the gifts that Christ has given us – salvation, understanding, new life, - how much did he have to sacrifice to come to earth and to die on a cross?
Labor Day is our chance to think about our gifts, and the hands that gave them to us. We get to rest, but we also think of theneeds of others. Many who work in order to survive and to help their families – and yet who work tirelessly to give us the gifts of comfort and life, many of which we don’t even think of.
The scriptures for today all have one theme in mind – that is to remember the poor. To remember what we have received from them and to not just say thank you, but to make sure that they are supported and taken care of.
Proverbs is based in the premise that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God. Not a fear that we will be punished for doing wrong – but an awe, a sense of respect, a sense of mystery that what God does is unknown to us, and yet we see the results of God’s work and we are grateful.
The writer of proverbs believes that we have two choices in life – we can choose wisdom or we can choose death. The difference is in how we live – a good name is better than riches says wisdom. The difference in the way you live is in your willingness to do hard work. It is in your labors of love to the world and to God. When you give a gift – are you focused in the material item or the journey it took to aquire it.
I went to the Brookfield zoo for the first time last week. It was a great experience to see not just the animals – but the relationship that we have with them as people. How we learn to live together. The primate building – starts out like a maze, and you had to choose which way to get in. Making the point that primates are the only animals in the world who are able to make a choice about anything. All other animals don’t really think about what they are doing they just automatically do it. They rely on their instincts to live and survive. Some choices we take for granted – and some we ponder over for months. But are lives are always full of choices. Our faith reminds us that we even have a choice about how we deal with life. When cant control the events of our life – but no matter what we can always choose joy – and the joyful path. We can choose to heal and move on from hurts, or we can stay stuck and constantly remember what someone said or did. Life for humans is full of choices.
James, the new testament book of wisdom also is based on the premise of choice. We can choose what is wise or we can choose what is foolish. The consequensces are different for each choice. James also wants us to know that one is alive and one is dead.
Chapter 2 is also a reminder to treat the poor with respect. How we treat the poor determines the consequences of our faith. How do you treat the poor- like you would anyone else. James says that you don’t make a distinction between the rich and the poor, those we like and those we don’t like. As Christians we should not show partiality to those who are better able to take care of themselves. We don’t have favorites in our lives.
I think we all agree with that in principle – and if asked we would say that we treat everyone the same. But we are not aware of our biases and values that force us to unfairly judge people. And we don’t notice when we are sharing favoritism to others. What is wise and what is foolish about our behavior – we have to constantly pay attention to what we do and why. Who is our nieighbor and who do we extend hospitality to – anyone who is around us. I think it is a very poignant example within itself when James says that when you see someone in need and you wish them well and send them on their way without helping – them your faith is dead. Faith without works is dead.
Its is sort of like two plants – one alive and one dead. The dead one looks beautiful and takes no work but a little dusting. The living one must be waters and sunned and taken care of. Which type of faith do you have – living are artificial?
What labor of love goes into what you do for others. More importantly what labor of love has gone into what others have done for you? Look at the gifts in your live – who gave them? How did you get them? What is your response to those who gave them to you?
This labor day – we all may have many struggles but we also have many gifts- to be grateful for and to remember the journeys of those who gave them. Amen.
Often when we get a gift, we are not aware of what the person needed to do to achieve the gift. We don’t know the labor and love that went into acquiring it for us.
Think about the gifts that God has given us – the earth, our food, our well being, our lives, our families and the countless other blessing we have in life – what did it take for God to create those gifts?
What about the gifts that Christ has given us – salvation, understanding, new life, - how much did he have to sacrifice to come to earth and to die on a cross?
Labor Day is our chance to think about our gifts, and the hands that gave them to us. We get to rest, but we also think of theneeds of others. Many who work in order to survive and to help their families – and yet who work tirelessly to give us the gifts of comfort and life, many of which we don’t even think of.
The scriptures for today all have one theme in mind – that is to remember the poor. To remember what we have received from them and to not just say thank you, but to make sure that they are supported and taken care of.
Proverbs is based in the premise that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God. Not a fear that we will be punished for doing wrong – but an awe, a sense of respect, a sense of mystery that what God does is unknown to us, and yet we see the results of God’s work and we are grateful.
The writer of proverbs believes that we have two choices in life – we can choose wisdom or we can choose death. The difference is in how we live – a good name is better than riches says wisdom. The difference in the way you live is in your willingness to do hard work. It is in your labors of love to the world and to God. When you give a gift – are you focused in the material item or the journey it took to aquire it.
I went to the Brookfield zoo for the first time last week. It was a great experience to see not just the animals – but the relationship that we have with them as people. How we learn to live together. The primate building – starts out like a maze, and you had to choose which way to get in. Making the point that primates are the only animals in the world who are able to make a choice about anything. All other animals don’t really think about what they are doing they just automatically do it. They rely on their instincts to live and survive. Some choices we take for granted – and some we ponder over for months. But are lives are always full of choices. Our faith reminds us that we even have a choice about how we deal with life. When cant control the events of our life – but no matter what we can always choose joy – and the joyful path. We can choose to heal and move on from hurts, or we can stay stuck and constantly remember what someone said or did. Life for humans is full of choices.
James, the new testament book of wisdom also is based on the premise of choice. We can choose what is wise or we can choose what is foolish. The consequensces are different for each choice. James also wants us to know that one is alive and one is dead.
Chapter 2 is also a reminder to treat the poor with respect. How we treat the poor determines the consequences of our faith. How do you treat the poor- like you would anyone else. James says that you don’t make a distinction between the rich and the poor, those we like and those we don’t like. As Christians we should not show partiality to those who are better able to take care of themselves. We don’t have favorites in our lives.
I think we all agree with that in principle – and if asked we would say that we treat everyone the same. But we are not aware of our biases and values that force us to unfairly judge people. And we don’t notice when we are sharing favoritism to others. What is wise and what is foolish about our behavior – we have to constantly pay attention to what we do and why. Who is our nieighbor and who do we extend hospitality to – anyone who is around us. I think it is a very poignant example within itself when James says that when you see someone in need and you wish them well and send them on their way without helping – them your faith is dead. Faith without works is dead.
Its is sort of like two plants – one alive and one dead. The dead one looks beautiful and takes no work but a little dusting. The living one must be waters and sunned and taken care of. Which type of faith do you have – living are artificial?
What labor of love goes into what you do for others. More importantly what labor of love has gone into what others have done for you? Look at the gifts in your live – who gave them? How did you get them? What is your response to those who gave them to you?
This labor day – we all may have many struggles but we also have many gifts- to be grateful for and to remember the journeys of those who gave them. Amen.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
God's Prestige
2 Samuel 11: 1-15
John 6: 1-23
Year B
The eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Experience at Michael Jackson memorial
I told you a few weeks ago, that I had went to the Michael Jackson Memorial in Gary, IN. No one wanted to go with me, but all of my friends made a point to call afterward to see how it was. Even Theresa (our day care director) asked about it. I told everyone, I was really glad to be there. It is a memory that I will treasure forever, but it was the weirdest thing I ever attended. You weren’t quite sure if you were at a funeral, a celebration, a giant talent show, a concert, or a dance party. And it wasn’t all of those things combined.
The show was very well planned out – but no thought was given to logistics
The stage was positioned so people could not see, the sound went out halfway into the show, and the acts had not performed ahead of time. There was only one person who was professional enough to project her performance for 6500 people. And when Joe Jackson came out- he was booed, so they spent the rest of the night trying to get the crowd to say – We love Joe Jackson. It wasn’t true – so the crowd would not say it.
Logistics a very important part of life – Napoleon
My lesson for the night was that logistics in any event is very important. But particularly when you are dealing with a crowd of people. Napolean made a point that wars follow the course of the men’s stomaches. An army can only fight a war, where they are properly fed. The mightiest warriors of all time, finally lost his battle – because he sent his army to fight in a place where he had not logistically thought through how his men were going to be fed and taken care of.
Jesus speaking to a crowd of 5000 – the important thing logistics
Logistics is important in anything where you are dealing with a large crowd of people. Jesus was good at thinking about the logistics of his message. He always gave a lot of thought to how his message was going to be received, and what he needed to give the people to make sure they would take his message home. In a movie I watched, this is called the prestige – the hook that people will always remember. For Jesus crowd – the hook was food. People were hungry and needed to be fed. Jesus knew that his message involved feeding them – they would listen to him.
There was a crowd of 6500 at the memorial for Michael Jackson. Jesus looked and realized that he was speaking to a crowd of 5000 people. 5000 hungry people.
What are these people going to eat, how are they going to take this message, what will keep them peaceful
Jesus is tired of teaching to the crowds. He tries to take a break and get away. But the papporazi search him out and find him. And the crowd is not far behind. Jesus looks at all of these people and asks the disciples – how are we going to feed all of these people?
We have heard this story before – why are we hearing it again?
The feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle story which has been featured in all four gospel. We are reading the book of mark, and this is a convenient time to switch gears and listen to John. We have heard this story before – even this year – we have heard this story before. Many of my colleagues have asked why are we reading and preaching in it again. And why are we reading it in John, in the middle of our study of Mark.
John has a very interesting perspective – and an interesting message
Well, it is because Matthew, Mark, and Luke like to tell the human story of Jesus. They want to fit Jesus into our lives, and things we can relate to. John was Jesus best friend – but he wants us to get a deeper understanding of Jesus – who is Jesus for us and why is so special to all of mankind? Jesus is the son of God, he is the messiah, He has the power of God on his side, because he is the power of God. He has the power to feed all of our hungers.
Tell the story.
In John’s feeding of the 5000, the disciples go out into the crowd. Andrew finds a young boy with three fish and five loaves. He brings it to Jesus, jesus blesses it and it is enough to feed 5000, with twelve baskets left over. After it is over with, jesus takes the disciples into a boat and walks on water.
What are we to get out of that story? We have heard it all before?
Jesus is thinking about the logistics – using this as a teaching moment.
Ask Philip – how are we going to find bread for these people?
Asks Andrew the same thing – and goes looking
Not looking for food – looking for opportunity for God to step in
The story is not about bread and fish, but about the miracle of God’s work - For John everything is a symbol.
People wanted Jesus to become their king – a reincarnation of David for their time. They wanted to good days of David to be restored. They wanted peace, stability, and a chance to be taken care of.
Jesus wanted them to know that we cannot eat by bread alone – but by God’s power.
Says I am he – but it is not what you think
Not a physical kingdom, but a spiritual kingdom
The nun and three pennies
There was a nun who got a vision from God to build an orphanage. As she got this idea- she thought of the logistics. How was she going to pay for it? In her search and her prayer, she found three pennies. She grabbed the pennies and ran to her superiors to tell them her vision.
With Three pennies and a dream from God you can do anything
When questioned about the logistics, she showed her superiors the three pennies. They laughed at her and told her there was nothing she could do with three pennies. She explained that with three pennies, and a dream from God you can do anything.
It is not the three pennies, not even the dream – but the power of God that makes it possible.
Jesus is the bread of life
The point of John’s feeding of the 5000 is the Jesus can satisfy all of our hungers. Jesus is the bread of life. Our hope is not in the food we receive, it is in the jesus who gives it to us. This story is so important to us. Jesus knows that we will be talking about the day he created enough food for he crowd out of a little boys lunch for 2000 or more years. All we know is that the people were hungry and they were fed. That’s the prestige, the hook. But this is not a story about loaves and fishes, it is not a story about food, it is not a story about being hungry. It is a story about acknowledging Jesus as our savior. And recognizing that Jesus provides all of that and more for our lives.
We will hear Jesus teaching about this next week
We will hear from John 6 for a few weeks. And after preaching this sermon, Jesus gives his own explanation to this story next week.
But today remember – Jesus is the bread of life. Jesus is our lord and savior and king. Jesus is our hope. Jesus takes all of our earthly actions and makes them so much more – through the power of God.
John 6: 1-23
Year B
The eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Experience at Michael Jackson memorial
I told you a few weeks ago, that I had went to the Michael Jackson Memorial in Gary, IN. No one wanted to go with me, but all of my friends made a point to call afterward to see how it was. Even Theresa (our day care director) asked about it. I told everyone, I was really glad to be there. It is a memory that I will treasure forever, but it was the weirdest thing I ever attended. You weren’t quite sure if you were at a funeral, a celebration, a giant talent show, a concert, or a dance party. And it wasn’t all of those things combined.
The show was very well planned out – but no thought was given to logistics
The stage was positioned so people could not see, the sound went out halfway into the show, and the acts had not performed ahead of time. There was only one person who was professional enough to project her performance for 6500 people. And when Joe Jackson came out- he was booed, so they spent the rest of the night trying to get the crowd to say – We love Joe Jackson. It wasn’t true – so the crowd would not say it.
Logistics a very important part of life – Napoleon
My lesson for the night was that logistics in any event is very important. But particularly when you are dealing with a crowd of people. Napolean made a point that wars follow the course of the men’s stomaches. An army can only fight a war, where they are properly fed. The mightiest warriors of all time, finally lost his battle – because he sent his army to fight in a place where he had not logistically thought through how his men were going to be fed and taken care of.
Jesus speaking to a crowd of 5000 – the important thing logistics
Logistics is important in anything where you are dealing with a large crowd of people. Jesus was good at thinking about the logistics of his message. He always gave a lot of thought to how his message was going to be received, and what he needed to give the people to make sure they would take his message home. In a movie I watched, this is called the prestige – the hook that people will always remember. For Jesus crowd – the hook was food. People were hungry and needed to be fed. Jesus knew that his message involved feeding them – they would listen to him.
There was a crowd of 6500 at the memorial for Michael Jackson. Jesus looked and realized that he was speaking to a crowd of 5000 people. 5000 hungry people.
What are these people going to eat, how are they going to take this message, what will keep them peaceful
Jesus is tired of teaching to the crowds. He tries to take a break and get away. But the papporazi search him out and find him. And the crowd is not far behind. Jesus looks at all of these people and asks the disciples – how are we going to feed all of these people?
We have heard this story before – why are we hearing it again?
The feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle story which has been featured in all four gospel. We are reading the book of mark, and this is a convenient time to switch gears and listen to John. We have heard this story before – even this year – we have heard this story before. Many of my colleagues have asked why are we reading and preaching in it again. And why are we reading it in John, in the middle of our study of Mark.
John has a very interesting perspective – and an interesting message
Well, it is because Matthew, Mark, and Luke like to tell the human story of Jesus. They want to fit Jesus into our lives, and things we can relate to. John was Jesus best friend – but he wants us to get a deeper understanding of Jesus – who is Jesus for us and why is so special to all of mankind? Jesus is the son of God, he is the messiah, He has the power of God on his side, because he is the power of God. He has the power to feed all of our hungers.
Tell the story.
In John’s feeding of the 5000, the disciples go out into the crowd. Andrew finds a young boy with three fish and five loaves. He brings it to Jesus, jesus blesses it and it is enough to feed 5000, with twelve baskets left over. After it is over with, jesus takes the disciples into a boat and walks on water.
What are we to get out of that story? We have heard it all before?
Jesus is thinking about the logistics – using this as a teaching moment.
Ask Philip – how are we going to find bread for these people?
Asks Andrew the same thing – and goes looking
Not looking for food – looking for opportunity for God to step in
The story is not about bread and fish, but about the miracle of God’s work - For John everything is a symbol.
People wanted Jesus to become their king – a reincarnation of David for their time. They wanted to good days of David to be restored. They wanted peace, stability, and a chance to be taken care of.
Jesus wanted them to know that we cannot eat by bread alone – but by God’s power.
Says I am he – but it is not what you think
Not a physical kingdom, but a spiritual kingdom
The nun and three pennies
There was a nun who got a vision from God to build an orphanage. As she got this idea- she thought of the logistics. How was she going to pay for it? In her search and her prayer, she found three pennies. She grabbed the pennies and ran to her superiors to tell them her vision.
With Three pennies and a dream from God you can do anything
When questioned about the logistics, she showed her superiors the three pennies. They laughed at her and told her there was nothing she could do with three pennies. She explained that with three pennies, and a dream from God you can do anything.
It is not the three pennies, not even the dream – but the power of God that makes it possible.
Jesus is the bread of life
The point of John’s feeding of the 5000 is the Jesus can satisfy all of our hungers. Jesus is the bread of life. Our hope is not in the food we receive, it is in the jesus who gives it to us. This story is so important to us. Jesus knows that we will be talking about the day he created enough food for he crowd out of a little boys lunch for 2000 or more years. All we know is that the people were hungry and they were fed. That’s the prestige, the hook. But this is not a story about loaves and fishes, it is not a story about food, it is not a story about being hungry. It is a story about acknowledging Jesus as our savior. And recognizing that Jesus provides all of that and more for our lives.
We will hear Jesus teaching about this next week
We will hear from John 6 for a few weeks. And after preaching this sermon, Jesus gives his own explanation to this story next week.
But today remember – Jesus is the bread of life. Jesus is our lord and savior and king. Jesus is our hope. Jesus takes all of our earthly actions and makes them so much more – through the power of God.
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