The Power of the Congregation

September 30, 2012 James 5:13-20 Mark 9:38-50 “The Power of the Congregation” 18th Sunday after Pentecost Year B Cut your bills in half A man was recently arrested for a scam that he had going. He was advertising that he had a sure fire way to guaranteed to cut all of your bills in half. You had to order a kit with all the necessary tools that you need. The kit was $250. But inside the envelope was a pair of 50 cent scissors. A surefire way to cut bills in half As we look at the last chapter of James this morning. It may not offer a surefire way to cut your bills in half. But it does offer a surefire way to cut your worry in half. And that surefire way is through prayer. But for James, it is more complicated than that. In chapter 5 – James talks about the power of prayer – but he more specifically talks about the power of the prayers of the righteous. The righteous are those who follow the ways of the righteous. Elijah and the righteous There is a story of Elijah visiting his rabbi on a regular basis. And one day he was six hours late. When he finally arrived, the rabbi asked what took him so long. Elijah said that he had a very important task. First he had to wake up Abraham, wash his hands, wait while he prayed, and then put him back to sleep again. The he had to wake up Issaac, wash his hands and put him back to sleep. And then he had to wake up Jacob, wash his hands in purification, wait for him to pray and put him back to sleep. The rabbi asked why he didn’t just wake them all up at the same time and let them pray together. Oh if I Let them pray together, their prayer would have been too powerful. The world can only take them so much goodness in one place. James says that there is power in the prayers of the righteous. As a matter of fact, James says that there is power in coming together as a congregation once a week. There is power in our worship for ourselves and for the world. Are you suffering, then pray, are you celebrating – then sing, are you sick, then call the elders to pray over you. The church was the first HMO – the church was the place where you come if you have a problem. The church is a place of healing and well being. The people of the church have the power to change things. James says that when you are sick – you should have the elders pray for you and anoint you. But who are the elders? In the United Methodist Church elders are ordained clergy. In many other denominations elders are lay people who have been special training or special authority to do the work of the church. But I think that it is important to point out today that is not James understanding of elder. Because for James – an elder is someone who is a part of the church. You don’t have to have special training, or be of a certain age. You just have to have a relationship with God that is lived out in the church. If you know God – you know all that you need to know to be an elder. We all have the power of healing – the power of healing is given to ordinary church members – with the understanding that faithful church members are not ordinary. We get our power from God. From trusting in God and following Jesus. John Wesley says that everything that happens to us is a result of prayer. God hears the prayers of the faithful. If you look in Mark 9 – it talks about what it means to be a faithful follower of Jesus. To be a disciple. There is a lot in Mark 9 – but I want to talk about the middle verse, where Jesus says that if our hand sins, it is better to cut it off then to go to hell with it, or because of it. A man’s arm goes to jail I heard a story of a man in court because he had robbed a store. The lawyer’s defense was that it was the hand and not the man who was guilty. The hand was not a part of the man’s body, and did something the man did not want. The judge sentenced the hand to ten years in jail. The judge said that the hand had to pay for what it had done. The man was free to accompany the hand to jail, or he could leave it behind. Everyone in the court room was surprised when the defendant thanks the judge – detached his artificial arm and walked away. In our ordinariness, we are still human and we are still prone to sin. James reminds us to stay connected to our community. Mark reminds us to disconnect ourselves from the parts of us that make us sin. Of course Jesus would know that the sin is not in our hands, or our feet, or our eyes. The sin is in our heart. Remember what goes in our ears and eyes, comes out of our mouth, lives in our heart and is acted upon with our hands and feet. It is the sin in our hearts, not the sin our hands and feet that lead us down the wrong path. Have you wandered away from righteousness, James says – let the elders lead you back to God. Confess what is in your heart James says that one of the most important aspect of being a disciple is being able to confess what is in our hearts and to let it our, so that we can be free. The community of elders should always be a safe place for us to confess and be held accountable. Confession is healthy, because it releases us from bitterness. If we hold it in our hearts, it destroys us. If we let it go – we can move on. The good news Bishop Woodie White, a retired United Methodist pastor – lives in Chicago for awhile. But he said that no matter how bad things get in our lives – everything always ends with the good news of Christ. It has been an interesting ride through the book of James. He has said some pretty harsh things to us. but he ends in the good news. Are you suffering – pray, are you in need of testifying about what God has done for you – sing; are you sick – ask the elders to pray for you – and if you have sinned – confess and ask forgiveness. The good news for today is that there is power in the prayers of the righteous – all of us together are the righteous. We are the elders of the church. Not because of what we know, but because of who we serve. Our strength is in how we work and trust together. Faithful – let us unleash the power of God - Let us pray…..

Who is wisest amongst us?

Who is wisest amongst us? September 23, 2012 James 3:13-4:3, 7-8 Mark 9:30-37 17th Sunday after Pentecost Year B Who is Wise amongst you? I have just one question for you today - who is wise and understanding among you? James says - those who show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. I want us to remember that, so let us read that together – those who show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. James has been telling us how to live a life based on the wisdom above. In chapter 1 – and all throughout the book he says that faith without works is dead. Today he is telling us faith without good character is dead. in chapter 2 he tells us that faith is judged according to those who are less then us. In chapter 3 he tells us that we have to be careful about what comes out of our mouth. If we call us ourselves good, then bad language should not come out of our mouth. Today we will look at the end of chapter 3 and chapter 4. He talks about conflict and jealousy, and the importance of not only being gentle to others, but being in prayer to God. But I want to go back to my original question – who is wise and understanding amongst you. We have a lot of examples of wise people – people in our family, people who taught us in school, people who taught us in church, people we see on the news, people we admire. An example of wisdom Some years ago St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City was seeking a new president. Over one hundred candidates applied for the position. The search committee narrowed the list to five eminently qualified persons. Then somebody came up with a brilliant idea: let's send a person to the institutions where each of the five finalists is currently employed, and let's interview the janitor at each place, asking him what he thinks of the man seeking to be our president. This was done and a janitor gave such a glowing appraisal of Dr Myron Mccoy that he was selected President of St. Paul's School of Theology. Somebody on that search committee understood, in a flash of genius, that those who live close to Christ become so secure in his love that they no longer relate to other people according to rank or power or money or prestige. They treat janitors and governors with equal dignity. They regard everybody as a VIP. Children seem to do this intuitively; adult Christians have to relearn it. It is a telling little piece of scripture in verse 32: "But they did not understand." That's a picture that can be hung in the halls of the museum of mankind. When confronted by true greatness, we simply do not see it… Some of you may know that Dr. McCoy was also the pastor here at St. Mark. We all know that no pastor is perfect and does everything right. But let us use this example of his job interview as an example of wisdom. An example of what Jesus calls servant leadership. Servant leadership is when someone puts the needs of those who others may think of as unimportant, before our own. Jesus says that those who want to be first, but put themselves last. Our greatness is in serving others, not ourselves. Our wisdom is in doing the will of God, not what we contrive in our own hearts and minds as what is good. As a matter of fact, James says that wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. But James is also not afraid to list the characteristics of those who have wisdom from the earth. He calls this devilish, unspiritual wisdom. Where there is envy and self ambition, there is disorder and wickedness of every kind. He says that were there is conflict amongst us, there is jealousy and where there is jealousy there is selfish ambition, and not ambition for the things of God. I don’t know if that is always true, but Jesus also talks about selfish ambition in Mark 9. The disciples are back in Capernaum, at Peter’s house. That seems to be the safe house for them to come to when they have been out traveling. And Jesus gives them the news for the second time. He knows that he will be betrayed and killed. Scripture says that they start to have a discussion about who is the greatest among them. Jesus tells us that is not the discussion of a servant leader. In servant leadership, it is not about how great you are, or how talented you are, or how much more knowledge you have then anyone else. In servant leadership is it in how you treat others. It is how you listen, not in how you talk. How you are aware of the needs of those that no one else is listening to. The selfish ambition of the frog I read a story once about a little frog that wanted to go south for the winter. It was too far to hop and he did not have wings to fly. Two Little birds felt sorry for the little frog and together they came up with a plan. The little birds would hold each end of a stick in their beaks, and all the frog would have to do was to clamp down on the stick with his mouth and hold on. The sky was clear and everything seemed hopeful for the little frog. Two farmers were standing in a field and saw the little birds carrying the frog and one said to the other, "That was a brilliant idea, I wonder who came up with the plan." The little frog couldn’t keep his mouth shut and He said, “I-I-I-I-I- I”. All he had to was to keep his mouth shut. That is happens to all of us, when we feel that we need to take credit for what God has done is our lives. We don’t get anywhere. When we work together and respect one another, then we get to our destination. James is trying to address how we work together, and reach our destination. We will learn more in chapter 5 about the beauty of Christian community and the love and healing that it can bring. How wisdom for one of us is wisdom for all of us. But James likes to give the bad news first, and in chapter 4 he talks about what happens when God’s wisdom is not put first. When we don’t respect others as children of God. There is conflict and trouble. We become jealous of what we perceive others to have. The dictionary describes jealousy as a painful sorrowful, resentful desiring of others. Where does that come from, but more importantly, where does it lead us as a community? We don’t get very far. Perhaps that is why Jesus was so hard in his disciples when they tried to set up a system where one would be greater than the others. Perhaps that is why he set a little child among them, and reminded them that if they had to ambition to lead, then they needed to be like a little child. Totally dependent on others for their care. The role of a child in the old world You have to remember that in Jesus day, children were not the sweet innocent things we think of in our world today. In our world – we put our children first. In jesus day, if a house caught on fire, first a person had the responsibility to save his father as head of the household, then his mother, then his inlaws, then his wife, and if there was time – you thought about the children. Children were dead last in society. In Jesus world, a child did not have any needs. If you could put yourself into the shoes of a child, then you understood what servant leadership was. But the conversation that the disciples had that day was not totally off base. Their master had just told them that he was going to die. He was not going to be with them. The most obvious concern of all of them was, who was going to lead them. The most obvious person to take over is the person deemed the greatest, the most like Jesus. In the ways of the world, who is going to take over once Jesus is gone. James asks us that question, who is wise and understanding among you. Perhaps that person should be running things. Jesus is trying to help us as the church understand that he did not raise up a leader – he intentionally rose up leaders. Who is going to take over the work of Jesus – we all are. Not one of us does it alone – we do it together. Our gifts, our talents, our servanthood is for the good of us all. For the community. A servant leader never serves alone. Carry Someone with You There was a tribe of Indians who lived a long time ago in the state of Mississippi. They lived next to a very swift and dangerous river. The current was so strong that if somebody happened to fall in or stumbled into it they could be swept away downstream. One day the tribe was attacked by a hostile group of settlers. They found themselves with their backs against the river. They were greatly outnumbered and their only chance for escape was to cross the rushing river. They huddled together and those who were strong picked up the weak and put them on their shoulders; the little children, the sick, the old and the infirm, those who were ill or wounded were carried on the backs of those who were strongest. They waded out into the river, and to their surprise they discovered that the weight on their shoulders carrying the least and the lowest helped them to keep their footing and to make it safely across the river. Jesus is trying to teach the disciples an object lesson about greatness, about servanthood, about leadership. He is saying to them and to us, "Have you lost the childlike joy and love and faith that once were yours?" He is also saying to them and to us, "If you want to walk on secure ground in this world it helps to carry someone with you." King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Who is wise and understanding amongst you – the one - the ones who show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. In the midst of a chaotic world, that can push up in all types of directions. The message for today is that it is important for us to stay grounded. The best way to keep both feet firmly on the ground is to have someone on your shoulders to balance you. In helping others, you help yourself. In caring for others, you care for yourself. The greatest leader is one to serve. James lesson follows the prophets of old. Bad news first so that you can end with the good news. He takes us through the ringer first, and then sets us out to dry in the sun. He talks about the effects of our bad character. James is talking specifically to Christians in the church. He is not talking about bad people. He is saying that sometimes even the best of us get misled. And a lot of the things that we do, especially to one another, come not from being evil but being confused. The come not from being mean, but from getting comfortable with being double minded. From calling ourselves Christian, but forgetting that the fruit of our actions says all that needs to be said about the condition of our hearts. James asks where does all of this conflict and division come from? It comes from jealousy – where does jealousy come from? From wanting something that we think someone else has over us? But we are all children of God – anything we need, we don’t need to take from another – we can pray to God for ourselves. This is where the famous saying you have not because you ask not comes from. And if you did not get it, James says that you asked in the wrong way. There are three answers to our prayers, yes, no, and I need to prepare you to fully receive what you ask for. If we don’t have it yet – God is working it out for us. Finally martin luther tells this story of how he overcame the devil. HOW MARTIN LUTHER OVERCAME THE DEVIL Martin Luther was often very graphic in his description of the activities of the Devil. Asked one time how he overcame the Devil, he replied, "Well, when he comes knocking upon the door of my heart, and asks 'Who lives here?' the dear Lord Jesus goes to the door and says, 'Martin Luther used to live here but he has moved out. Now I live here.' The devil seeing the nail-prints in the hands, and the pierced side, takes flight immediately." It is surely good for every life and for every one to have Jesus as a permanent resident. These assured heavenly blessings are sure to fall upon such bodies. (Sword of the Lord. From a sermon by Bill Butsko, The Blind, 8/5/2010) Who is wise and understanding among you? The one who is at peace with God, and God’s intention for our lives. How much strife is out there in the world because people have not come to terms with God’s plan. They are still trying to come up with their plan. Draw near to God and God will draw near to you. James good news is that you draw near to God by bringing your entire life to God in prayer. Let God take over your heart and your soul. Stay grounded by helping others- and you will finally find the peace that you are looking for. Let us pray……

Wisdom in the Streets

September 16, 2012 Proverbs 1:20-33 James 3:1-12 Year B “Wisdom in the Streets” Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost What proverbs have stuck out in your life? Start out by asking people to share proverbs that they grew up with, or may have been important to them…… Proverbs are an important learning tool of our lives, and that wisdom sticks with us forever, we even pass it on to others. The feminine aspect of wisdom When I think of this story of wisdom crying out in the streets, I always think of my grandmother. My grandmother used to speak to me about life night and day. As an eighth grader I would tell her that I don’t wont to hear it any more, let me make my own mistakes and figure it out for myself. After she passed away a year later, felt that was the biggest mistake of my life. she was only trying to help me. Throughout the bible, wisdom is always portrayed as a woman – a wise woman telling the ways of God. The bible says that wisdom or Sophia has always been a partner of God. She was there with God from the beginning, a partner in the creation process. John 1 says in the beginning was the logos, the word and the logos was with God. Logos is a form of wisdom. Wisdom has a place in our faith, but wisdom also has a place in our lives, in the streets. A young man came to talk with me just this week, saying that he was lost and confused and did not know where to turn and did not want to go back to jail. I listened and prayed with him, but I also told him that he needed God in his life and that he needed to start coming to church. His eyes glazed over, as I talked about religion. He was sure that he would be okay. Teaching our young people a sense of respect I don’t remember who I was talking with just this week, as we talked about how our children don’t listen anymore. It seems as if they have forgot the meaning of respect. They don’t respect anyone, they don’t fear anyone, they don’t care about anyone. They are free to say things, that even in my generation I would never say to an adult. This verse of wisdom crying out in the middle of the streets and no one listening was written thousands of years ago, but people say that it is still the same. People say that our children and youth still don’t listen to the words of wisdom. One of the most important things that Sophia, lady wisdom is trying to tell us is that fear of the Lord is the beginning of true wisdom. Wisdom is living life according to God’s will. Fear of the Lord But we have to be careful about what that means. What is fear, and what does it mean to fear the Lord. A man says that he used to play a game with his kids, where he would be a monster. The game would start out as fun. But as he roared with his deep voice and started to make faces at the kids, they would become afraid. The daddy that the loved and adored would become something that might hurt them. They would always start crying before the game ended. One of the first hebrew words in the bible for fear or the lord is indeed paschad. Paschad means terror. When we are sinners and not honoring the willof God – we indeed should be terrified of his wrath. Isaiah 2:10 says go into the rocks, hide in the ground from the fearful presence of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty. Sometimes I think that there are many of us, Christians who either have not read the bible, or have not seen God in action. The consequences of sin and not obeying the laws of God can be brutal. But there is a deeper fear of God – a spiritual fear. A fear of what God can do. If you have seen the destruction of a storm. The older I get the more afraid of heights I become. I do not like high places. But I wanted to take my nieces and nephew to the Arch while we were in St, Louis. This was the day, the tornado hit Joplin Missouri two years ago. As soon as we got on the elevator and started going up, I knew that was a bad idea. When we got up, the arch was rocking back and forth. They say it is designed to sway with the wind, in order to saty standing. But that did not matter to me. I stood in the corner waiting for this nightmare to end. They jumped up and down, took pictures, climbed on the window, and had a good time. All I could think of, was anything could happen, and I don’t want to be in this thing when it does. There was a man who shared my fear of heights as he went up another tall building with his family. His children had a great time in the glass elevator, with a glass floor. All he felt was fear. Fear at the grand canyon Unlike the fear he felt when he went to the grand canyon, which was equally as high up. There were no glass walls, no gates, no protection. Yet as he saw the beauty and wonder of what God created, all he could do was walk toward it and say wow. The second word for fear in the bible is yara. That is the world used here in proverbs one – it takes into account all three types of fear – terror, trembling and awe. Awe of God The God that we serve is awesome. God is not just in nature, God is everywhere in our lives. God is in our children, in our relationships, in our fearfully made bodies, in our souls. The miracles of God is in our lives. A great modern day prophet, says that the temple of God is our everday lives. That is where the miracles of God abound – just have to be willing to see and recognize. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom – o Lord, let me not forget to tremble – be afraid. Two types of wisdom Just like there is a physical fear and a spiritual fear, there are two types of wisdom. Proverbs 1 says that there is lady wisdom, Sophia who leads us to God and lady folly who leads us to the ways of the world. And there are two responses to the call of wisdom. We can choose to live according to our will, or the will of God. The only real choice is to choose to fear the lord, live in righteousness, be a person of good character, and to accept the wisdom of God. Lady wisdom says that if you don’t, she is going to talk about you. In Acts 17 – Peter says that being a Christian means walking in the fear of God. The new testament goes on to call those who follow Jesus – God fearers. Two ways of experiencing life There was once an optimistic farmer who couldn’t wait to greet each new day with a resounding, "Good morning, God!" He lived near a woman whose morning greeting was more like, "Good God... morning?" They were each a trial to the other. Where he saw opportunity, she saw problems. Where he was satisfied, she was discontented. One bright morning he exclaimed, "Look at the beautiful sky! Did you see that glorious sunrise?" "Yeah," she countered. "It’ll probably get so hot the crops will scorch!" During an afternoon shower, he commented, "Isn’t this wonderful? Mother Nature is giving the corn a drink today!” And if it doesn’t stop before too long," came the sour reply, "we’ll wish we’d taken out flood insurance on the crops!" Convinced that he could instill some awe and wonder in her hardened attitude, he bought a remarkable dog. It could perform remarkable and impossible feats, which, the farmer thought, would surely amaze even his neighbor. So he invited her to watch his dog perform.” Fetch!" he commanded, as he tossed a stick out into a lake. The dog bounded after the stick, walked on the water, and retrieved it. "What do you think of that?" he asked, smiling. "Not much of a dog" she frowned. "Can’t even swim, can he?" Just as optimism & pessimism are diametrically opposed to each other, Like oil & water, Greed & godliness do not mix! In order to pursue the one, we must flee the other. James regard for teachers I said earlier that I was not going to talk about James. Nor relate it to the teachers strike. I think that it is a timely message that James says that most of us should not think about becoming teachers. Because teachers will be held to a higher standard because of what they teach. Teachers teach by using words, and words can close doors in the hearts of our children, or they can open up worlds just by what comes out of their mouths. Teachers are put on a pedestal because of the power they have. For James teachers are just behind apostles and prophets in importance. As I read this I am not a teacher by profession, but a pastor. But I think that James is not talking just about the profession of teachers, but about the role of being a teacher. We all have to teach our children fear of the lord As a matter of fact, I think that he is using the negative to challenge all of us in our roles as teachers. Because if we are a practicing Christian, then we all have something to teach others. But we cant take that role too lightly. We have to teach our children. We can teach them fear. We don’t have to work too hard on that one, fear is a human instinct to protect ourselves from danger and extinction. But we also have to teach our children the meaning of respect. Teach them to respect elders, teach them to respect others, teach them to respect themselves. But the greatest lesson that we need to teach our children is to learn to have a sense of awe and wonder for God’s amazing world. Einstein said that if you have never stopped in life to have a sense of wonder, then you are not alive. A teacher opens up the door to wonder Our children spend so much time out here in these streets, caught up in drama- they never stop to take the time to look at God’s great creation and have a sense of awe and wonder. Being a great teacher, means opening up that door to God’s world for them. Exposing them to things that make them stop and think and realize just how great God is. When we open up the door or awe and wonder for them – we open up the door to God in a way that they can listen.

Good Advice about God

September 9, 2012 Proverbs 22:1-2,8-9,22-23 James 2:1-17 Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost “Some Good Advice About God” Year B Telling of short story by Natalie Babbitt – Boating from the book the Devil’s other storybook…… (This is a story about three sisters who are sent to hell. But they are convinced that they are too good to be with all of the common people. So they ride in a boat circling the rivers of hell for eternity, because they refuse to get out and stand with everyone else.) The major lesson of both our scriptures for today is that Jesus has no partiality, and neither should we. Jesus doesn’t care what you have on, what you do, how much money you have in the bank, and neither should we. the way we treat the poor , determines where we will spend eternity. Proverbs 22: 1-2 says a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and God’s favor is better than silver and gold. The rich and the poor have this in common, the Lord is make of them all. Proverbs is a set of all the wisest sayings in the land. All of the things that mama used to tell us about life. Solomon was the king of wisdom, so these sayings are associated with him. But this is a mother’s advice to her son, who is being groomed for a royal life. She knows that growing up, that he will face many choices, and she wants him to make the right choice. The godly choice. We are not all men, but we are all being trained for a life of royalty. This life on earth is preparation for eternal life with God. But we have to remember, that where we spend eternity is determined by how we treat people. Especially how we treat God’s people. All people are God’s people those we like, and those we don’t. Those we understand and those who we don’t. God has helped us, and God expects us to help others. James word for us today is to always remember, that God does not show partiality, so neither should we. James 2:16 ask what good is it if you see someone in need and you smile at them and send them on their way without helping. Faith without works is dead – dead as those three sisters dressed to the nines, yet aimlessly circling hell. The message of James is that faith without works is dead. The message of chapter two – show no impartiality and always make sure that your faith is alive. What is it that really matters in your life and in your faith? What you say or what you do? What makes a difference in the lives of others? What you say you will do, or what you actually do? James says that those who go to church and listen to God and say that they believe, are God’s people – but their faith is dead. Those who do the work of God – have a living faith. Remember, what goes in the eyes and ears, comes out of the mouth, and the hands and the feet. Which Flowers Are Real? The queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon, and one day she put him to the test. She brought artificial flowers so perfectly formed that no human eye could detect them from real flowers. She put them in a vase on Solomon’s table, in his throne room next to his flowers. As he came in, the queen of Sheba is reported to have said, "Solomon, you are the wisest man in the world. Tell me without touching these flowers, which are real and which are artificial." It is said that Solomon studied the flowers for a long time and spoke nothing, until finally he said, "Open the windows and let the bees come in." There are ways to tell the artificial from the real—let the bees come in; they will know where the real is. If we live with the authentic Jesus long enough, we will recognize the artificial when we see it. Brooks Ramsey, When Religion Becomes Real Is our faith living or dead? sometimes when we are not paying attention to the wisdom of God, we are going through the motions, and don’t know that we are in hell. Spending our faith, circling around eternity. But God always knows…..

The Heart of Love

September 2, 2012 Song of Solomon 2:8-13 James 1:17-27 Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost Year B “The Heart of Love” Your mind is here with me When I was in high school, there was a song that used to come on the radio, Your Body’s here with me, but your mind is on the other side of town. – your messing me around. (give some more of the lyrics….., The O'Jays Your Body's Here With Me (But Your Minds On The Other Side Of Town) (Chorus 2x) Your Body's here with me (But your Mind is On the Other side of town) Your Messing me around I thought you told me you straightened out your life When We agreed to try it one more time It Would be my job to work and protect you And you would make our home life sublime But I keep hearing you crying after midnight While the whole world is still And I know the Reason You hurt to come home He gives you plenty thrills But I'm the one who pays your bills (Chorus 2x) Your Body's here with me (But your Mind is On the Other side of town) Your Messing me around you Never denied it but kinda hurts me bad Cause you never ever call my name All I tried to Do I just can't break through I just can't make it Feel the same I did all I could do To hold you close Did my very Best to Love you Straight up and down It's Getting plain to see Your mind just not for me When you get the urge to get down You go to the other side of town (Chorus 4x) Your Body's here with me (But your Mind is On the Other side of town) Your Messing me around I Cant Make it feel the same Your Body I'm THe one who pays the bills He's the one who gives you thrills Obviously, this is a song about a relationship. A relationship that has gone sour and stale. It is a story about a couple who had decided the give their relationship a chance. And yet the woman has someone else. And even though she is still in the relationship, the man realizes that her heart is just not in it. What does this song have to do with church? A song from the Ojays is probably not something that you would expect to hear at church on Sunday morning. God’s name is not mentioned anywhere in this song. But that is okay today, because neither of the scriptures this morning mention God or Jesus. Scriptures no mention of God The Song of Solomon was not written by Solomon, and scholars agree that it is not even about Solomon. This book is a collection of love poems, probably not even about the same person. At times, the poetry gets pretty intimate, and a little racy. The bible may be all about love, but we don’t like to get that close to the subject of love. A passionate, healthy, almost sexual type of love. Why is it in the bible, to remind us that if our minds are in the right place, and we are in love with God, then we can see the God in anything. Even in the midst of a love song. James is our second scripture. One of my favorite books, because of James blunt advice. You won’t find Jesus name mentioned anywhere in these 5 chapters. But it does contain practical advice on what it means to live on earth. It mentions the church, but it also seems to realize that the church is made of people. People who may strive to go to heaven, but still live on this earth in some difficult and confusing circumstances. It is not about eternal life, but about everyday life. Beginning of journey of wisdom For the next few weeks, we will spend some time with the wisdom literature. Reminding us that the beginning of our love affair with God is being able to listen to the wisdom given to us by God. When we are not paying attention to the call of wisdom. Our bodies might be here in church, but our spirits our out there in the world. We are depending on God to pay the bills, but looking to the world to give us our thrills. Sin happens in a broken world We live in a world that is controlled by divisions, brokenness, and fragmentation. When we look at all of our lives, there are disagreements, arguments, places where we are torn between two sides of an issue. We are most likely to sin when we are broken It is when our souls are torn and broken that we are most likely to sin. The temptation to sin comes to us all of the time, everywhere. Survey respondents noted temptations were more potent when… they had neglected their time with God (81 percent) and when they were physically tired (57 percent). Resisting temptation was accomplished by prayer (84 percent), avoiding compromising situations (76 percent), Bible study (66 percent), and being accountable to someone (52 percent). James’ message to us is that temptation is a part of life. We are all going to go through some sort of temptation in or lives. That temptation has the potential to distract us from our focus. Temptation not from God We can blame temptation on a lot of things. A 4-year old girl was caught by her Mom standing on a stool in the kitchen eating cookies. Her Mom had told her that she was not to be eating those cookies until after dinner. When caught red-handed and confronted by her Mom, she said “Mom, it’s not my fault, honest! I climbed up on that stool because I just wanted to smell them, and my tooth got caught!” We might blame temptation on a lot of things, we can blame it on our circumstances, we can blame it on the devil. But James tells us not to ever blame temptation on God. God would never do that to you. God will always love you. God is the lover who will always care for you, who will always be good to you, who will always pursue you. And when you decide to give in to temptation and walk away, God waits for you. There are a lot of things in life that will change, everything in life changes, but God stays the same. Our text in the song of Solomon speaks of a lover who leaps with vigor and energy in search of his live. But the woman is not available. He has to coax her out. Arise, my fair one, come away says the lover. Temptation is a part of our lives, but God calls us away from all of that. God calls us to be in relationship with him. When relationship gets old But I am sure that we have all been in a relationship that has gotten old and stale. A relationship that we no longer pay attention to. A relationship where we are going through the motions, but our heart is not there. Our body is here in church, but our mind is on the other side of town. And even in that state, God’s relationship never goes old for him. He is constantly pursuing you, trying to get your attention. Through prayer, God is listening to you, and asking you to listen to him. The heart of any good healthly relationship is the ability to listen. The most important thing that and child wants from a parent, is for you to listen. The most important thing that any spouse wants is to be paid attention to. The most important thing that a relative in a nursing home wants – is company. God desires the same thing for you. Christian just going through the motions There was a Christian doctor, who went on a mission trip to Honduras. Before he left, he went to church, but it didn’t mean anything to him. He was going 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 coming to church. We he returned, he gave more in the offering plate, he volunteered more, he even was able to share his faith with others in a meaningful way. There was something that changed inside of his heart, that affected what he was able to do with his hands, his feet. Faith without works is dead According to James, there are three zones of the body – the heart, the ears and eyes, and the mouth. We take in information from the world through our eyes and ears, we take it inside to our heart, and it comes out through what we do with our hands and feet. The message that James wants us to understand that faith without works is dead. If God controls what we take into our minds through our eyes and ears, of God determines what we hold in our hearts, then it will be evident to everyone else by what we do with our hands and feet. God loves you more than anything. Learn God’s story, spend time with God, seek to please God, reflect on how much better you life is, when you are in full and complete relationship with God. A certain downtown businessman became fond of the little boy who shined his shoes every day. He did such a good job that one day the businessman asked him, “Son, how come you are so conscientious about your work?” The boy felt complimented. He looked up to the man, and said, “Mister, I’m a Christian and I try to shine every pair of shoes as if Jesus Christ were wearing them.” The businessman saw something genuine in the shoeshine boy. Soon after that he began reading his Bible. When he decided to be a Christian himself, he credited his decision to the little boy who shined every pair of shoes “as if Jesus Christ were wearing them.” That’s a blessing. James says that every good thing in our lives is a gift from God. Every good things. So are you going to continue to live in the brokenness and fragmentation, with your mind body and soul in three different places. Or will your mind, body and soul be here with God. Being one with God is the definition of salvation. Let us pray…. In Luke 7:32, Jesus observed that this generation is like school children who pipe and their friends won't dance, who wail and their chums won't cry. "There is no pleasing you!" We simply find something wrong with everything. John Wesley pointed out that every gift God gives man is quickly sullied by human hands. He said every revival comes with defects. So he'd pray, "Lord, send revival without the defects." But then he told the Lord, "If you won't do it, then send the revival with the defects." Pharisees only see the smoke, never the fire. They complain about defects, never seeing the revival. Negative, critical persons, they are judgmental. Shakespeare said, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet." Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? I'm sure it would. You see, the truth is that the thing is what it is, not what someone calls it. Names are assigned to us, based on our outward circumstances by ourselves and other people. "Sinner, Failure, Stupid, Dummy, Unclean" all are names which label us. But what we are called, either by others or by ourselves does not determine who we are. It might speak of those external circumstances, but it might be wholly inaccurate. You see, a failure is not someone who fails. In reality, the people who fail the most are the ones who succeed. You only get to success by taking risks and risk-taking brings many failures along the way. A failure is someone who simply doesn't try. No, names do not determine who you are. You are who you are on the inside. So, the first important lesson is that we must cultivate the inner person. The inner person is the person who counts. The apostle Paul desired that we be strengthened in the inner man. It boils down to relationship. We are only as strong as our personal relationship with Christ. May I summarize for you? First, learn God's story. Second, spend time with God. Third, seek to please God. And, fourth, reflect on what your life is becoming with God. A mother told her son that he was not allowed to go swimming that day. However, when he returned home that afternoon his mother noticed that his hair was wet and that he carried under his arm a wet bathing suit. “Johnny!” his mother scolded, “I told you not to go swimming today.” “I couldn’t help it, Mom. I walked by the lake and it looked so clear and inviting. I was just going to stick my feet in it for a minute, and the water was so warm and felt so good on my legs. I just couldn’t resist!” he said with a big wide smile. Mom looked at Johnny and said, “One question son, why did you take your bathing suit with you when I had told you that you couldn’t swim today?” “I didn’t trust myself Mom, so I took it with me just in case I was tempted.” Webster’s Dictionary tells us that temptation is “the act of enticement to do wrong by the promise of pleasure or gain.” Now isn’t that just like the Devil, getting us to do something wrong by promising us something good? There isn’t a day that goes by in any of our lives where we aren’t tempted in some way. Temptation comes packaged in a variety of ways; we are tempted to lie, cheat, gossip, over eat, to hold grudges, to steal, and yes, to not give the Lord the first fruits of our treasure, time and talent.

A Well dressed Christian

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

What do you need from God

August 19, 2012 Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost Year B 1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14 John 6:51-58 “What do you need from the Lord” A genie in a bottle Three women were walking down a street and found a bottle laying on the side of the road. They picked it up and a genie popped out. The genie said, “You will each get one wish.” The first woman wished she was 20 times smarter. The genie made her 20 times smarter. The second woman wished she was 30 times smarter. The genie made her 30 times smarter. The last woman wished she was 60 times smarter. The genie turned her into a man. God is not a genie We may laugh at the joke of what people ask. But the truth is, that is what a lot of us, even he faithful think about prayer. We treat God like the genie in the bottle, who is willing to grant us the wishes of our heart. We see things that we want in life, and we ask God for them. And we wait for God to complete our order, and to make it all better. We wait and expect for God to give us the desires of our heart. We have to be careful when we pray. Prayer is not about a genie in a bottle in the sky granting the desires of our heart. Prayer is genuine conversation with God. Prayer is not so much about what we want in life, but about what we need. The king talks with God to get wisdom When a king took over his office, it was expected that he would go into a sacred cave, and wait on a message from the Lord. Scripture says that Solomon went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the principal high place; Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream. Solomon had a reputation of being a king of great wisdom, and Solomon had the honor of being the king who was allowed to build a house for God, the temple in Jerusalem. In the temple, Solomon did not have to travel to Gibeon to talk with God, he could talk with God in his own home. The Temple was built with an inner sanctuary, where the ark of the convenant stayed, with the presence of God. Solomon’s temple designed so that he could talk with God You know that only the Zadok priest where allowed to the inner sanctuary to care for God. But you may not know that the king was also allowed into the sanctuary in order to talk with God. The temple was built in a square, with four entrances. Ezekiel 40 gives the outline of the temple, so that the people can return to Jerusalem and rebuild it. God enters the building from the East. Once God enters the temple, no one else is allowed to enter on that side. The king has an entrance from the west, where he can walk all the way into the inner sanctum. No one else is allowed to come in that entrance. The priest come to temple from the north, the people come in to sacrifice at the south temple. I tell you this so that you know the temple was the place where Solomon could go to be with God. No longer did he have to go to Gibeon to sacrifice, he could sacrifice at home. Where do you go to be with God? Where do you go, when you need to be close to God? When you need to be in his presence? Is it the house of God? Is it the sanctuary? Is it a place in nature? The place that we go to find God is not a place at all- the place where God lives in our need to pray, to talk with God about our lives, to ask God for the things that we need. God wants you to ask Paul says that God already knows what we need in our lives, sometimes God knows better that we do. But he also wants us to be able to ask. To be able to articulate our needs, and to be confident enough to speak them, and most important to be in relationship in order to receive them from our Father who loves us. Asking has changed the world. Jesus asked the disciples to follow Him. They did, and Christianity has fundamentally changed this world. Martin Luther King, Jr. asked this nation to treat minorities with equality and it threw off much of the bigotry and injustice of his day. If you are married it is because you asked. If you have a job it is because you asked. Every day is an opportunity to ask God for his wisdom to know and do His purposes for your life. The great value of asking is it keeps us focused on the Lord. Yes, it may be a need in your life but for it to be meet or for you to have the wisdom to respond correctly, it will require the Lord’s help. Praying for wisdom keeps your focus on the Lord and his priorities. Let the spirit work in your life Words exchanged with God are not enough. We have to also be able to listen to what God has to say, and to see how it unfolds in our lives. Scripture says that Solomon’s prayer was for the ability to listen to God in order to lead his people. A heart to recognize when the holy spirit is working in his life to grant his and our request. This poem is called God says no, but in each case, I don’t hear God saying no, but God is saying trust in the work of the spirit…. ‘God Said, “No.”’ I asked God to take away my habit. God said, “No. It is not for Me to take away, but for you to give it up.” I asked God to make my handicapped child whole. God said, “No. His spirit is whole, his body is only temporary.” I asked God to grant me patience. God said, “No. Patience is a by-product of tribulations; it isn’t granted, it is learned.” I asked God to give me happiness. God said, “No. I give you blessings; happiness is up to you.” I asked God to spare me pain. God said, “No. Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.” I asked God to make my spirit to grow. God said, “No. You must grow on your own, but I will prune you to make you fruitful.” I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life. God said, “No. I will give you life, so that you may enjoy all things.” I asked God to help me love others, as much as He loves me. God said, “Ahhh, finally you have the idea.” Solomon knew that genuine success could be experienced only in discerning and doing God’s will. In each case God did not say no, he said that the answer to you prayer can only be found in time, in relationship. If we ask god for something, but don’t stick around for he answer. We walk away assuming that God said no. how many times have you prayed to God for something. But did not stick around long enough to get the answer? How many times have you expected something from God, but not prepared yourself for the changes that answer takes. They say if you pray for rain, then you should really invest in an umbrella. God loves you, God wants to hear from you, God wants to answer your prayer. But you have to realize that it is God who answer s in God’s own way. “Ask what I should give you?” Scripture says that when Solomon stood before God at Gibeon, God came to him and said – Ask what I should give you? Ask what I should give you? When you have to attention of God, what is it that you ask for? What is it that you need right now from God? Solomon understood that true wisdom is being able to ask God for what you need, and not what you want. We have To understand that the desires of our heart, come from being in right relationship with God; from being open to the movement of the holy spirit in our lives. And having an ongoing relationship with God. And trusting that God will always do what is best for us. when we pray. God’s answer belongs to God not us. God’s baseball game There was a baseball going on. The game was between God’s team and satan’s team. Freddy and the Lord stood by to observe a baseball game. The Lord's team was playing Satan's team. The Lord's team was at bat, the score was tied zero to zero, and it was the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs. They continued to watch as a batter stepped up to the plate named Love. Love swung at the first pitch and hit a single, because "Love never fails." The next batter was named Faith, who also got a single because Faith works with Love. The next batter up was named Godly Wisdom. Satan wound up and threw the first pitch. Godly Wisdom looked it over and let it pass. Ball one. Three more pitches and Godly Wisdom walked because he never swings at what Satan throws. The bases were now loaded. The Lord then turned to Freddy and told him He was now going to bring in His star player. Up to the plate stepped Grace. Freddy said, "He sure doesn't look like much!" Satan's whole team relaxed when they saw Grace. Thinking he had won the game, Satan wound up and fired his first pitch. To the shock of everyone, Grace hit the ball harder than anyone had ever seen! But Satan was not worried; his center fielder let very few get by. He went up for the ball, but it went right through his glove, hit him on the head and sent him crashing on the ground. The roaring crowds went wild as the ball continued over the fence for a home run! The Lord's team won! The Lord then asked Freddy if he knew why Love, Faith and Godly Wisdom could get on base but couldn't win the game. Freddy answered that he didn't know why. The Lord explained, "If your love, faith and wisdom had won the game, you would think you had done it by yourself. Love, Faith and Wisdom will get you on base but only My Grace can get you home." "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast."--Ephesians 2:8, 9 (NIV). It is not our desires that answer our prayer, it is God. It is God’s grace that helps us to see the work of the spirit in our lives. No matter what our concerns, no matter what our request, our prayer is for a God listening heart and spirit - True wisdom for is submission and obedience to God’s work in our lives. Let us pray…… ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It wasn't long before I had classmates hanging out in my room nights before Physics tests, asking for my help. I was always glad to give them help, and they knew that I wouldn't steer them wrong. Imagine, though, if every time I explained a problem to someone, they had said to me, "Well, that's a nice idea, but I think this way will work just as well..." And then they proceeded to use a different method, arriving at a different answer. Don't you imagine that after awhile, I would say "Excuse me, if you're not ever going to listen to what I tell you, why are you even bothering to ask?"

In the Presence of Sin

2 Samuel 11:1-15 John 6:1-21 July 29, 2012 Ninth Sunday of Pentecost Year B “In the Presence of Sin” The church has a responsibility to address the needs of others A few years ago in the city of Chicago, a crowd of community residents did something unusual. They picketed the churches in their community to do something other than have church. They picketed them to be church. They seemed to say the Christ you claim and proclaim each Sunday seems more than enough in the sanctuary, but never seems to get out in our neighbor-hoods. Why are you open only on Sunday? Need happens 24/7. There are six other days in the week, but you're closed. I don’t know if that is true or not, I don’t remember hearing that story. But it is important for us to think about during this time, as we hear of so many people taking to the streets, like the nation of islam, and the coalition of Chicago pastors who were out on the street corners to address the violence that happens this summer. But I want to start where we left off last week – we have to remember that need is a 24/7 situation. It never goes away, there is always someone in need, in need of even the most basic things in life. God created us to have needs God created us to have needs, we have to eat, we have to drink water, we have to sleep. And those are basic needs that we have to tend to each and every day. Eat, drink, sleep, those things can even take control of our lives. The importance of fasting For the muslims, the month of Ramadan is a month of fasting. A month to step out of the day to day routine of needing to spend so much time in our lives, trying to satisfy our most basic needs. I thought of the importance of a time of spiritual cleansing on Friday as I had to take a blood test. I was supposed to fast for at least 12 hours before the test. But for some reason I did not schedule the test until 2:30 pm. I spent most of the morning, literally 3 hours – staring at the clock waiting for 2:30 to come so that I could get something to eat. But was I hungry because my body needed nutrients, or out of the habit of needing something to eat. And what does it mean to satisfy the hunger? Had I not gotten hungry, I would never have thought about what hunger really means. When I was a little girl, I used to wonder why I had to eat today, when I had something to eat yesterday. It has been a long time in life since I had that problem. Natural hunger the beginning of sin We all get hungry, we all need to eat – God created the human body that way. But in reality we run into another problem. God gave us all certain needs. But there are days when we cross the lines. We no longer think about whether those needs are satisfied, we just continue to want more and more and more. It is when we cross that line from hunger into greediness that we have turned to sin. It is easy for any of us to cross that line. And it is usually not until we have gone too far, that we even become aware that we have crossed that line. The importance of this story The Hebrew bible lesson is one of the most famous stories in the bible. It is also one of the most graphic stories in the bible. It is designed for us to gasp, for us to get mad at the participants, for us to hear the story and place judgement on what a horrible person King David was for committing adultery with the wife of his most faithful servant. It is clear for us to see how David was wrong, and should have known better. We don’t think about why this story is here, why we are reading it now. For is to realize that David wanted to make an example if his life and his story in hopes that we would do differently. It happened late one afternoon The story starts out – that it happened late one afternoon. David was just out on his balcony, he just happened to see a woman, he just happened to commit adultery, she just happened to get pregnant, he just happened to have to kill her husband, he just happened to marry her, they just happened to have a boy, that boy just happened to become the heir to his throne. Nice story, but one problem. Sin does not just happen. There is always a moment when we could have turned away and avoided the consequences. And panic and hiding the sin doesn’t make it go away. They usually get us into more trouble. And even after God has forgiven us, we still live with the consequences of our sin. The bible makes it clear that David was one of God’s favorite persons. There is story after story of how God was with David, and God brought David through some tough times. God made an eternal promise to David. And yet the one thing that always sticks out to me, is that david spent most of his adult life as a very unhappy person. He was very sick, there was chaos in his family, the threats to his leadership came from his own sons. This was the point where things seemed all down hill. In his story one thing led to another because of the consequences of his life. He repented and he asked for forgiveness – but what good did it do. Cleaning lady cleaning up after her own party A lady had been the cleaning lady for one company for over 70 years. When the new managers of the company found out about their most loyal employee, they wanted to give her an appreciation party. When she found out, she asked her supervisor to please not do her any favors. The managers thought she was just being modest and insisted. She insisted also, please no party. I am still the cleaning lady, and it will be my responsibility to clean up the mess that you all make from this party. So please don’t do me any favors. That must be how God felt about David, and how he feels about us most days. We are the ones who commit the sin, and we expect God to clean up the mess. It is one thing for us to be hungry, it is another for us to be hungry for other peoples things. God says thou shalt not covet. It is one thing for us to be hungry, but it is another for us to get greedy. When we are hungry, we have to depend upon God to supply all of our needs, and to be satisfied with what God gives us. David’s sin not living up to his responsibility David’s sin did not start with adultery, it started with him not honoring his responsibilities to others. The king was expected to lead his people in battle. His people were in battle, but david decided that as king he needed to stay at home. Not only was Bathsheba married, but David was married also. But he had decided that rules were for other people, he had the freedom to do what he wanted. We will hear more about this story next week, but David had to realize that no matter how many other people who had hurt with his actions, that he also hurt God. He needed to ask for God’s forgiveness in the midst of this. Jesus 4th temptation There is an old African American story that the devil tempted Jesus Christ not three times, but 4. When jesus was in the wilderness, the devil tempted Jesus to trust himself to take care of his needs and not God, the take power over the world, and to save himself. As Jesus was in agony on the cross, in pain for all of our sins, the devil whispered in his ear – they are not worth it, they will continue to sin again and again, your death is a waste, because these people are not worth it. It was at that moment that Jesus cried out for all to hear – Father forgive them for they know not what they do. David was highly favored by God, David confessed his sins, and yet David himself realized that he would have to live the consequences of his sin forever. He never saw God’s promise for us- Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for truly taking away the effects of our sin on our lives. Sin is rooted in love, love of money, love of pleasure, love of the things of this world. Salvation is rooted in the understanding that God loves us more. Jesus Christ has the power to satisfy all of our hungers and all of our needs. The feeding of the 5000 is so important that it is the only miracle in all five gospels. Jesus understand that the need to eat is given to all of us. Jesus understands that we live in a world that does not provide for everyone, so people are hungry. People need to eat. Sometimes, you cant address the spiritual needs of a person, until you address the physical needs. You have to feed them food before you feed them the Word. John tells this story – helping us understand why Jesus sacrificed himself so that we would not have to be hungry forever. Jesus says that man cannot live by bread alone, when we just seek bread, we are on the road to sin. Sin is an outward expression of the rebellion in our hearts. A refusal to let God take care of all of our needs. John is the only version of the feeding story that ends with Jesus walking on water, in order to calm the fears of his disciples. John wants us to remember that even as disciples we have needs, we have fears, but we have to believe that Jesus has the power to overcome all of our circumstances. Sin happens in the circumstance of life, but Christ has shown us time and time again, that he is Lord of circumstance. There is always a way to rise above our circumstance, if we are willing to follow Jesus. Sailing the see according to the waves In Plato’s Republic, there is a story of a ship sailing the seas. The captain directed the ship through the sea by looking at the stars. Yet the crew felt that he should have been looking at the water and the waves in front of him. They were more responsible for the direction of the boat than the stars. They locked him in his cabin and navigated the ship themselves, according to what they could see of the waves and the water. By navigated according to what was happening in front of them, they were headed for a wreck. When we live our lives according to what we see in front of us, we are headed for disaster, because we are headed for sin. When we live in a world where things happen one late afternoon, - sin will prevail. That is the natural course of human nature. Jesus overcame human nature, Jesus overcame circumstance, Jesus died for our sins, so that we could understand to power of forgiveness and a right relationship with God. Keep you head up, looking at the stars, the heavens, to God. Then we can always steer our way clear. Let us pray…..

A Holy Place, A Holy People, A Holy God

July 22, 2012 Eighth Sunday after Pentecost 2 Samuel 7:1-14 Mark 6:30-34; 53-56 A Holy Place, a Holy People, a Holy God Year B There is something going on in the world I know that I have said this before, but with the events within the last days, I feel that I need to say it again. There is something going on in the world today. There is a very strange spirit at work in the world. It just seems that people are anxious and doing some strange things out of desperation. I have just never seen so many people doing so many things that don’t make no sense. Thing that seem to have no regard for a sense of humanity in others. It seems that they are in pain, so they just don’t care what they do to others, or how others are affected by their actions. We are definitely a world at war on a lot of different fronts. People only care about what they care about. And as long as they win, they don’t care who has to lose, or what they have to lose, even if it is their own life. You know there was a time a few years ago, when I would have thought that we were living in peace times, where everything was going fairly well, people were fairly happy, situations were fairly manageable, but that was a long time ago. And this is just not peace time. King David at rest This is nothing like King David must have been experiencing in the Hebrew bible lesson for today. Scripture says that this was a time of rest and stability for David. He was settled in his house, he was not being attacked by his enemies, and it seemed that this kingdom was well taken care of. Now David had been a warrior most of his adult life. He spent most of his life at war. As a matter of fact, back on those days, people worshipped God because they believed that God was what made them conquer all of their enemies. Yahweh was believed to be the God of victory in war. The Israelites believed that if we united together under one God, then no one could defeat us. David was a war hero, he knew battle very well. As a matter of fact, the word rest means someone who is able to take a break from all of their hard work. David was someone who had been at war, and now he was finally able in his life to take a break. You can only rest from hard work. Someone who takes a rest from rest is just plain lazy. David was settled down in his life, so he sent a message to God that it was time for God to do the same. To take a rest from the war. Scripture says that David told his plans to the prophet Nathan, who told talked with God. God has to remind David, that he was not the God of rest, but the God of work. He had always been on the move with his people, and that if his people were on the battlefield of life, then God needed to be present among them. Rest for God was not in a place. Isaiah 66:1 says – heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. Where then is a house that you can build for me, where is a place that I can rest. God is always working As long as there are people in need, God’s work is never done. There is no rest of God. And yet we live in a notion that the church is the place that we come to meet God, and that we should be able to come here and find rest. God is not a God of rest. And there is no rest in the church. There is always work to be done. Mother goes to jail to rest There was a family, two parents and five children. The husband did not work, and the mother had to do everything to support her young family. The husband did not work, but he still drove the car. He managed to accumulate over $5000 in parking tickets. He didn’t car, the car was not in his name, but his wife’s. So the city came after her for the money to pay the tickets. She told them she did not create the tickets, and that she just didn’t have the money to pay. The city told her that they would have to put her in jail for three months to settle her debt. The city thought that would make her pay, but the wife was happy. She said that as long as she had a bed, three meals a day and she did not have to deal with her family, jail would be a nice vacation. A time for her to get some rest. My point is, jail might be a place of rest, the church, not so much. The world is not at peace, and the church cannot afford to be at peace either. When we get settled, and restful, then we die. And we are not living the presence of God, who is always moving and working. We don’t get to rest in church, we rest in Jesus The good news of a God of no rest, is that we worship a God who always keeps his promises. When David wanted to build a house for the Lord, he told David that it was the other way around. He would build a house for him. He promised that there would always be a son of David on the throne. God fulfilled his promise by keeping a son of David on the throne for 400 years. He surpassed his promise when he bought Jesus Christ into the world. Jesus is known as the son of David. And he reigns on the throne forever. The disciples and Jesus look for rest Interestingly enough, the gospel lesson is also about rest. It seems that once people realized that Jesus was the messiah, they flocked to him constantly. Need never stopped. Not only did the need wear out Jesus, but it wore out the disciples. Jesus realized that he needed to take them all to what scripture calls a deserted place, a lonely place, a place to rest and get away from the crowds. And yet the crowd still followed him. It didn’t take Jesus long to realize that rest is not a place on earth as long as there are people in need. Jesus had compassion on them, as sheep without a shepherd. Feeding of 5000 We don’t hear the story of the feeding of the 5000 in Mark, but we will hear it next week in John. That was the most important story of Christ mission in the bible. But I want to point out that in the Mark version of the story, Jesus tells the disciples to give what they have to feed the people. And the disciples respond that they don’t have enough to help others. Jesus tells them to use that they have and the Holy Spirit will do the rest. This is the one time in the gospel where the 12 followers are called apostles and not disciples. They went from following the son of David, to doing his will. They were being Christ for the world. Christ calls the church to do the same. We have a chance to be called apostles, those who witness to the true good news of Jesus Christ. We have to realize that rest is in Jesus Christ, not in a seat in the world. Jesus has compassion on the people, and we have to do the same. We are called to show compassion to those in need That is what the world so lacks today – is the ability to have compassion on others. To genuinely care how others are being affected by our actions. And for us to realize, that just because the world is cruel, if we love Jesus, we don’t have to be cruel with the world. Zachary restored Wednesday, at the food pantry, I met a veteran named Zachary. As we talked, he said that it was not really food that he needed, but that he was in emotional pain because of a lot of things. He had just moved to Englewood. I invited him to church and he said, he did not know. He found that people were really cruel and heartless in this neighborhood. They seemed to like to beat up older men. He didn’t like to come out. We talked and we prayed. And as he left, he held the door open for a group of women. If I had not shown kindness to him, he would not have shown kindness to them. At that moment, whether Zachary comes to church or not, I felt that he was on the road the healing, wholeness and salvation. That was all Jesus was trying to do – not so much to give us rest, but to give us restoration. Salvation, and wholeness. He wanted to most give the ability to be human, in a very inhumane world. We are the ones to show compassion, when no one else is willing to. If we are to be more than disciples, but apostles, we have to realize that there is not rest here in the walls of this church. Our rest is in Christ Jesus. This is not the box that contains the fullness of God. And no matter how hard you try- you cannot keep God contained. God is always bigger than anything that w can imagine. Lady with dream of becoming a missionary There was a lady who had a dream of one day becoming a missionary and moving far away from home. Just as she was ready to graduate from college and step out on her own, her sister and brother in law were involved in an accident. The left 4 small children, with no one to take care of them. She had compassion on the children and raised them. By the time the children were grown and out of the house, she was too told to be a missionary. It seemed that she never got to fulfill her dream. God must have denied her dream. It turned out that all 4 of her nieces and nephews became missionaries themselves. They had been raised in a Christian household, where they clearly understood what it meant to serve God. It turns out that the woman had been a missionary after all. So there were 5 missionaries produced in that household. You might have plans of what you want to do for God, but God has bigger plans of what he wants to do for you and your household. What healing, wholeness and salvation looks like in your life is up to God, not you. Find your rest, not in the anything in the world – but in the eternal son of David – Jesus Christ. Let us pray.

Children Go Where I Send Thee

Sixth Sunday After Pentecost July 8, 2012 2 Corinthians 12:2-10 Mark 6:1-13 Year B Children Go Where I Send Thee Five Doubts There are five doubts that lurk in the shadows of the human mind and tend to rob us of our faith. First there is doubt in God’s wisdom, there is doubt in God’s teachings, second there is doubt in the person who takes the time to teach God’s wisdom, there is doubt as to whether the ways and methods suggested for following God is reliable, and finally – there is always the person, who because of his arrogant and impatient mind, may doubt the sincerity of the others who understand and follow God’s teachings. In other words there is always going to be someone who doubts the sender of the message, the message, and the messenger. The world we live in – doubtful We live in a world where people do indeed say that there is no God, and if there is a God, there is nothing that I can learn from the creator. There are people who question the bible. There are people who constantly question the credentials of the people who interpret God’s word for us today. Jesus rejection in the synagogue You get that wherever you go. It is always lurking in the human mind. God sent his only son to a people as a gift the teach them the true word. Even he experienced rejection. Jesus had been all over the countryside teaching, healing, performing miracles, transforming the world. If anyone was going to accept him, surely it would be the community that raised him. And sure enough, they allowed him to speak in the synagogue, they were astounded at his teaching. They seemed to have faith in what he said, but they doubted who it was that was talking to them. Isnt this Mary’s son? Isn’t this James brother, isn’t this the carpenter, didn’t we know him? The bible says that they took offense at him. How dare he try to teach us something. Glued to our faults James S. Hewett once gave an apt example of people not getting the respect they deserve. Especially young people. He tells about his son, who was using one of those super-adhesive glues on a model airplane he was building. "In less than three minutes," says James Hewett, "his right index finger was bonded to a shiny blue wing of his DC-10. He tried to free it. He tugged it, pulled it, waved it frantically, but he couldn't budge his finger free." Soon, they located a solvent that did the job and ended their moment of crisis. Then James Hewitt writes this: "Last night I remembered that scene when I visited a new family in our neighborhood. The father of the family introduced his children: 'This is Pete. He's the clumsy one of the lot.' 'That's Kathy coming in with mud on her shoes. She's the sloppy one.' 'As always, Mike is last. He'll be late for his own funeral, I promise you.'" James Hewett goes on to say, "The dad did a thorough job of gluing his children to their faults and mistakes. People do it to us all the time. They remind us of our failures, our errors, our sins, and they won't let us live them down. Like my son trying frantically to free his finger from the plane, there are people who try, sometimes desperately, to free themselves from their past. They would love a chance to begin again. When we don't let people forget their past, when we don't forgive, we glue them to their mistakes and refuse to see them as more than something they have done. However, when we forgive, we gently pry the doer of the hurtful deed from the deed itself, and we say that the past is just that--the past--over and done with . . ." King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com He is “just” a carpenter Some say that they were offended, because he was “just” the carpenter, he was just a child that they grew up with. In doubting Jesus, the didn’t realize that they also doubted message of God. God’s message was that even the carpenter could be used by God. The message was that indeed Mary’s son had something to teach the world. The wisdom of God came into the world in the form a carpenter, so that God could relate and speak to the ordinary person. So that we could understand his message. And understand that the message does indeed apply to us. Mark is working hard to help people overcome those five doubts that rob us of our faith. So that we can receive the message of the messiah and be saved. Mark is working hard to give us the stories of the messiah, so that we can see for ourselves that Jesus is indeed our Christ and our Lord. Scripture says that Jesus was amazed, absolutely astounded at their unbelief. He didn’t bad mouthed them, he didn’t threaten them, he didn’t curse them. Scripture says the he didn’t do too much else to prove himself to him. He healed a few people and went on about his business. But what he does do says it all – he calls his disciples to him and sends them out two by two. To continue to go out into the world and to continue to spread God’s word. Three gifts of advice As Christ disciples, he gave us three gifts in the form of advice as we go out: travel together, trust God to work wonders, and to travel light. God entrusted not just the carpenters, but the plumbers, the teachers, even the preachers to go and to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. The atmosphere in which we receive is important But the most important lesson that Jesus wanted to teach us in the story. Is that the gospel truth is not always so much in the person who is speaking. If they are speaking what God gave them, then it doesn’t matter who they are. If they are teaching the truth of what the bible says – it doesn’t matter what their profession, and it is not always our place to try and judge their character. God can use anyone to teach truth. What really does matter is not who speaks – but who hears. A friend of mine recently said, half of the sermon is not in what I say, it is in what you heard. And it is not so much in what you heard. It is in how you heard it. Ears that are receptive and listening for God’s word can hear the truth and believe. Ears that are cold and doubtful – will always question what was said. People who come together to criticize and find fault – will criticize and find fault. People who come together seeking God, seeking truth, seeking love, will find it and respond to it. And the world will be changed because of it. God has given us all an awesome responsibility. We as the church can either help or hinder the word. We can open the door wide to Jesus, or we can slam it in our face. In how we hear the word, but also in how we spread the word. Ignoring the Play When I was in elementary school, I remember when all the kids in the neighborhood got together and put on a show. We rigged up a curtain of sorts by hanging an old bedspread in a screened porch, and arranged folding chairs for the audience. Then we practiced a small play, and added in a few musical solos, for which I played the piano. (Because we couldn’t move the piano closer to the play, I had to play it very loud, and even then it was barely audible.) As I remember it, it was a prodigious feat for little kids like us. We invited all our mothers to come to our performance. (That was back in the days when housewives were not an endangered species and most mothers were home all day.) Although we did not charge admission, we went through the motions of collecting tickets and ushering our guests to their seats. Our audience was charmed by how cute that was. Then we put on our play. We put a lot of work into our play. We had to invent everything from scratch and improvise sets and costumes from things our mothers reluctantly loaned us, and yet they didn’t pay attention! They sat there and gossiped with each other, commenting on whether this kid was a natural singer or that kid was terminally shy. At the end, they retained nothing of the plot or the story of our play; they just told us how cute we were. Cute! The word stung! We wanted them to take us seriously, as if we were adults putting on a play. But they were so well acquainted with us that all they saw were cute little kids, and no play at all. Well, that is pretty much what happened to Jesus in today’s reading The Church is cute It is the atmosphere in which things are received that make the difference. In a world where people are prone to doubt and to question. To stay attached to their assumptions. And to not take the fact that god works in ordinary situations, with ordinary people. I think that this story represents the biggest challenge of the church today. We are taken as cute, but not relavant. The word of God is interesting but not important. Being in mission is good, but not transforming. We have to think seriously about how we represent the gospel to a doubting world. We have to be faithful in our task. We have to preach not our words, but the word in the bible that are given to us. Jesus says that if people still don’t listen, shake the dust off of your feet and keep stepping, keep spreading the word. We might have to give up on people, but we never give up on the message. That seems a little harsh. I think that if we are faithful, and determined, that people will eventually hear that message. Even Jesus hometown will eventually hear what is being said to them. Paul was doubted also But I want to leave you with the words of Paul. Paul had the same problem that Jesus had. He was among strangers, and yet there was doubt. Paul spent all of 2 Corinthians explaining his value in preaching God’s word. He didn’t feel he should have to prove himself. But there are five doubts that plague the human mind – those doubts are universal. God’s grace is sufficient Paul says that God gave him a thorn in his side – in order to keep him humble and focused on God’s task and not his. He says that he asked God to take the thorn away – I want to leave you with God’s response to Paul. My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness. We are just the bearers of God’s truth. God works best, when we are vulnerable and broken, relying on God’s strength because we don’t have any. Fred Craddock, whom is a preaching professor said that grace only comes in empty spaces. When we are full of ourselves, and think that we are in control and have the answers, Grace can’t do its work. But when we are dependent on God’s grace, and we genuinely pass it on in everything we do – God fills our cup. And God helps the world overcome doubt. There is a song – children go where I send thee – spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Don’t ever give up on the power of God’s word, God has not given up on you. Amen. Not a part of the sermon…… As a conclusion to this sermon we might seek to set up a dialogue between the questions of identity raised yesterday and today „ and Jesus' word of promise. "Where did this man get all this?" Jesus: "I am the Son of God." "What is the wisdom that has been given to him?" Jesus: "I come with the wisdom of the kingdom of God." "Who are you for us today anyway?" Jesus: "I am the Sower. I have come to sow the Word." "What if I just can't believe in you?" Jesus: "I just keep on sowing." "Where can I turn for assurance?" Jesus: "Read my Word. Listen to my Word. I sow the Word to call you to faith." "What can I do about you?" Jesus: "Just keep on coming with a receptive heart. You keep coming. I'll keep sowing. I will never give up on you. I'll be sowing the word of life on the soil of your heart for all eternity. Amen." . Ken Collins, No Honor in His Own Country Glued to Our Faults

Jesus Cures it All

Year B 2 Samuel 1:1,17-27 Mark 5:21-43 “Jesus Cures it All” Fifth Sunday after Pentecost Our clothes are important Every morning all humans do the same thing. We get up, take a shower, brush our teeth, and then decide what we are going to wear. Generally in western culture it remains true that “Clothes make the man,” or in the name of a popular website, “Clothes make the girl.” Got a teenager? Then you know what I’m talking about. Then you know oh-so-purse-painfully how important it is to have the “right look.” To wear the “right duds” so you can be the “right dudes.” Even if you are not a “fashionista,” it is almost impossible not to be influenced by what the current culture says is “cool” (or “hot”). Who doesn’t want to “look good” and so “feel good” about themselves? Every week the tabloids are filled with planted or paparazzi celebrity photos — either looking their best or revealing their worst. But whatever shape they are in, what those celebrities are sporting influences the fashion choices of thousands. Designers count on it. In fact they literally “bank” on it. If someone fabulous and famous wears something, it will sell. The “knock ‘em dead” designs on red carpet runways are immediately copied into much cheaper “knock-offs” so that those with a bit of disposable income can outfit themselves like royalty. Even countries without “royal families” have their “royalty.” But while all of us — whether teenager or ladder climbing corporate bureaucrat — think that our clothes lend use power and prestige. People believed that clothes were an extension of who you are It was the same in Jesus day. It was believed that your clothes were an extension of who you were. It was believed that your clothes contained the essence of who you were. If you were a holy man or woman, then your clothes were holy also. If I can just touch the hem of his garment Perhaps that is why the woman felt that if I can just touch the hem of his garment, then everything will be okay for me. The holiness that he has inside will rub off on me. Jewish mean wore tassels of faith Not just Jesus, but all jewish men were expected to wear a tassel on each corner of their outer garment. That represented their faith in God. I had a woman make a robe for me, I cant wear the robe anymore, but she explained that the tassel represented spiritual power, and that the spirit had told her that I needed a tassel on my robe. The woman felt that if she could just touch the tassel, then everything would be okay. This woman had been suffering for a long time That woman is like a lot of us- she went through 12 year of suffering in silence. 12 years of dealing with life, even though no one really knew what was going on inside of her. Whenever she heard of a cure – she didn’t discuss it with others, but she tried it. The literature of the day gives 10 different cures for her problem, such as carrying the ashes of an ostrich egg in a rag. Nothing seemed to work. Scripture says that even back then, she went to the doctor, doctor after doctor. They took her money, but could do nothing to help her. I heard someone say the other day that God is the only doctor that will not send you a bill. She had heard that maybe this man Jesus could help her with her problem. She has tried everything else, she might as well try him. The messiah can take care of our deep need The lesson that Mark is teaching us in these miracle stories, is that Jesus is not ordinary man of faith. He has power that the others don’t have. He has access to God, he is the messiah. Last week as Jesus calmed the storm, the question was who is this that the wind and the waves obey. Today the question is who is this that can take care of my deepest need, my most taxing problem? This woman’s problem was so deep, that she couldn’t even talk about it in public. Yet Jesus was able to take care of it. Because Jesus has the power to reach to heaven and bring that peace to earth. The power of faith to overcome a 3% chance There was a man who woke up in the hospital after a horrible accident. The doctor told him that he had a 3% chance of ever walking again. I will take it said the man, God has worked against greater odds. He asked if he would be able to play the violin. The doctor told him the if he would walk out of the hospital, then he could play the violin. The man said he never played the violin, but if God could make him walk, then we would play. That man is walking well, and living happily ever after. All because he believed in the power of God. Jesus has the power to make the power of God real in our lives. Some say that you have to see it to believe it. When you have faith in God you have to believe it in order to see it. Our power comes from something bigger than anything in this world. Jesus gives her more than she expects This woman went through 12 years of pain, 12 years of being locked in a personal prison. Because of her problem, she was not allowed to be around people, she was to live in isolation. She was smiling on the outside, but on the inside she was suffering. She just wanted to get better. She didn’t want anything else from Jesus, she didn’t expect anything else. As a matter of fact, she was planning on walking away as soon as she touched him. She got what she wanted, now she needed to go on with her life. We are all just the same. We hang around Jesus, we pray, we have faith, we are waiting for a change. But if that change were to come tomorrow, would we still be faithful? 12 years this woman was waiting for a cure, If everything in life was given to us as we wanted it, would we even bother to pray? Jesus taught the woman that touching is a 2way street. We can touch, but we also have to be prepared to be touched. We can be transformed, but we are transformed in order to transform. Compassion is Jesus showed her compassion. Compassion literally means coming with passion. Compassion means to suffer along side of someone. When you show pity- you can remain at a distance. When you show sympathy it means that you are somehow better than the person. Charity is what the rich do for the poor. Compassion means to genuinely care for someone. Jesus genuinely cared for this woman. She got more than she bargained for – she was expecting to get her healing and to just walk away. If Jesus was an ordinary faithful man – he could have just observed what she was doing and let her walk away. But Jesus wants her to know who healed her, and how deep her healing really was. He wanted her to know that God had truly healed her. He stopped, looked her in the eye, introduced himself, and told her that she does not get to just walk away and go on with her life. She had been touched by the soul of God. Have you had the deep personal moment when God has touched your soul and said it is not okay to just walk away. I feel your pain, I have made you whole, walk with me. 12 connection to Jairus’ daughter 12 years this woman has been suffering. 12 years a little girl had been growing and living, and now she lay close to death. This is a story within a story. Because as Jesus is healing this woman, he has been asked to come and heal this little girl. 12 years old and near death. Once the woman is healed, they tell him that it is too late. She is dead. We give up so easily, when God never does. In order to be resurrected, we have to experience death. I am not hugging you to death, hugging youto life A business executive became depressed. Things were not going well at work, and he was bringing his problems home with him every night. Every evening he would eat his dinner in silence, shutting out his wife and five-year-old daughter. Then he would go into the den and read the paper using the newspaper to wall his family out of his life. After several nights of this, one evening his daughter took her little hand and pushed the newspaper down. She then jumped into her father’s lap, wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him strongly. The father said abruptly, “Honey, you are hugging me to death!” “No, Daddy,” the little girl said, “I’m hugging you to life!” about human nature that makes us put off the most important things until a crisis Then, one day it is too late, we have waited too long. We are like the Rabbi who did not run to Jesus until his daughter was “at the point of death .” Take a moment to examine your life today. What is at the “eschatos” — the point of death — in your life right now? What part of your spiritual or relational life is barely breathing? Find ways to make those areas (family, friendships and faith) a higher priority than career and income. Do something different this week. Before scheduling anything else, book time with God, schedule an appointment with those in your own family. Then, after prioritizing God and your family, then set up the rest of the week. Where are the dead spots in our life? The good news is that it is in those dead spots that God will show up. There are some things in our life that are dead for a reason, and some that are dead for a season. Some of those places are where God will show up in touch us in an unexpected way. Jesus was not ordinary man of faith, God’s love for us is no ordinary love. When you are touched by God, you can walk again. Compassion brings new life. Talitha cumi – it is time for us to arise When Jesus bought Jairus’ daughter back to life he said – Talitha Cumi – little lambkin, get up and arise. What is Jesus calling you out of , and telling you it is time to come to live and move one. The last words that Jesus said to the woman with a deep personal problem – go in peace and take good care of yourself, your faith has made you whole. Jesus is calling… do you believe in his words? Let us pray….