Rev. Joe Evans' Sermons

Those Who Wait for the Lord

2012-02-06T07:58:00.000-08:00

Isaiah 40: 21-31, page 668
Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is God who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in; who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.
Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when the Lord blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
To whom then will you compare to me, or who is my equal? Says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created them?
The one who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because God is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing.
Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”?
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
The Lord does not grow faint or grow weary; God’s understanding is unsearchable.
The Lord gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.
Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
Sermon
All of life must take on a different perspective from outer space; the earth like a blue green marble from the window of a space shuttle. From outer space all the great works of human kind take on a new perspective: the obelisks erected that the world would remember the name of the one who erected them are reduced to the size of sewing needles, skyscrapers – here on earth a testament to the genius of modern architecture - are like tooth picks; the great pyramids of Giza like a handful of Hersey’s kisses. I remember hearing that you can see the Great Wall of China from outer space, but you have to look for it.
The view from outer space sounds like God’s view according to the prophet Isaiah: “It is God who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.”
Sometimes it’s that kind of perspective that we all need to avoid giving ultimate significance to what is passing. This afternoon we’ll gather around to watch the Super Bowl, or at least watch the commercials that air during the Super Bowl, and we’ll be captivated by people who appear larger than life. Tonight a quarterback’s name is sure to be etched in the history books, one team will go home knowing that they’re champions, and the other will go home feeling as though their dreams have just slipped through their fingers.
It’s a big deal. Billions of dollars will be spent – but from the perspective of outer space – the earth’s inhabitants, even Eli Manning and Tom Brady, are like grasshoppers.
This seems like an important lesson to remember – especially for those who suffer from high-self esteem. There are those among us who are so convinced of their greatness that a little bit of perspective is in order. I heard an acceptance speech this past week from a musician, and on hearing his name called for best artist he took the microphone, not to thank his producer, his band, or even his mother. Instead he said, “I’d like to thank you for this award. I’m sure there is someone who deserves this award more than me, I just don’t know who they are.”
A little perspective is sometimes in order, and sometimes we get it.
It can be easy to think that we are all indispensible, that we can’t take a day off, that they won’t be able to get along without us, but they do.
A music director who will go un-named told me a story about himself last week. It was during his younger days of staying out later than he should on Saturday night, and one Sunday morning after a particularly long night and during a particularly long sermon, he fell asleep not to wake up until the second verse of the last hymn.
Even the choir can make it without you, though this is hard to believe at times.
Our scripture lesson asks the question: Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in; who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing?
It’s not me and it’s not you.
The world has a way of reminding us of that truth and puts life back into perspective. Maybe you’re the tallest boy in fourth grade, but then the first day of middle school comes and you find yourself in a hall full of eight grade giants – the king of the hill is back down at the bottom. Or maybe you’re sure that he’ll ask you out, you’ve been counting on it, only to find that he’s asked someone else and all the confidence you had goes up in flames. Or worse, maybe you’ve been thinking that work is what matters most, that you’re defined not by who you are but by what you do. Reports, data, meetings all trump parent teacher conferences, dinner, and soccer games – you and your job are just too important. Then suddenly one day you’re called into the boss’s office and left to pick yourself up from the floor by the words – laid off, fired, and we’re so sorry.
You don’t always need a space ship to look down on yourself in order to feel the size of a speck of dust.
But it is in times like these that you learn what strength really means.
The prophet Isaiah wrote this passage from chapter 40 to a people brought low by the realities of life. They had lost their independence, were taken out of their homeland, and were forced to live as second class under the rule of Assyrian Emperors.
Their own strength was nothing, their armies had already been soundly defeated, and their children were growing up ashamed of who they were and where they were from.
From such despair came the words of a prophet: “those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.”
Waiting seems like a strange word, and suggesting that someone should wait seems like strange advice, but waiting for something to come is very different from giving up.
Those who wait for the Lord expect something different to happen.
Those who wait for the Lord rely on someone other than themselves.
At the bottom; down in the pit of disappointment, despair, down in the place of broken dreams – the powerless are left hopeless, the strong will try to summon more strength, the young will try again but will fall exhausted.
But those who wait – those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.
There comes a point when those who rely only on themselves stumble and fall – but those who wait on the Lord – they shall soar on wings like eagles.
Self determination gives way to trust.
Self confidence gives way to hope.
Faith in yourself gives way to faith in God.
Wait on the Lord.
Amen.

They left their father Zebedee

2012-01-23T09:44:00.001-08:00

Mark 1: 14-20, page 35
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea – for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.”
And immediately they left their nets and followed him.
As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
Sermon
A word that is used a lot in the Gospel of Mark is “immediately,” whereas a phrase I use a lot is “now wait just a minute.”
I’ve read that the subconscious mind can make decisions very quickly – the subconscious of a person well versed in art can look at a sculpture and tell whether or not it is a fake in seconds, but may not be able to tell you why. There are people in the world who are hired by chicken farms who can immediately look at new born chicks and tell whether they are male or female chickens, but who have no idea how they are able to do so, and yet some are reported to judge the gender of these chicks with 99% accuracy. Also amazing to me, something that I remembered after reading on Friday’s front page about Dolly Parton’s new theme park to be built near Nashville, is how some Columbia residents were immediately able to smell a rat when a man came to town, seemingly out of nowhere, claiming he would build a convention center and theme park in Spring Hill. It was going to be called “Festival Tennessee” and was to attract an NBA team, a water park, and over 80 restaurants.
No one knew him or where he came from, so without being able to say why exactly, immediately many knew that he would never be able to do what he said he would. At the Liar’s Contest during Mule Day weekend Sheila Hickman who hosted the event told the crowd, “it’s a shame no one here is claiming they’re going to build a convention center in Spring Hill – then there’d be no reason for a contest.” While others, the mayor of Spring Hill included, went along with him and believed, following a man who disappeared just as suddenly as he showed up.
Jesus came to Galilee, seemingly out of nowhere. He started preaching, and while most didn’t, four men followed him immediately. I believe it is most important to wonder whether you would have done the same.
It might be that unlike you, they just didn’t have anything better to do. That would make sense – I once drove to Vancouver with three of my high school friends because we didn’t really have anything better to do.
Or was it that they were naive, having never been made a fool out of before?
Or, was it that they had taken inventory of their lives, decided that they could do better, so once the opportunity came they dropped everything and left?
That’s often the case with people who follow Jesus – it’s not that they’re particularly holy but that they’re particularly desperate. Bob Duncan, Maury County Historian and member of this church, once told me that farming tobacco was such difficult work, especially in the heat, that there were more than a few who heard God calling them to the ministry for no other reason than anything had to be better than farming tobacco.
The Gospel of Mark doesn’t explain their decision making process; you might even say that the author of this gospel goes to some length to keep their rationale a mystery – “As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired hands.”
They left their father Zebedee in the boat. They didn’t help him finish up for the day, selling the day’s catch, mending and cleaning the nets, but left their father in the boat with the hired hands.
I doubt Zebedee was impressed, as it’s one thing to run off to the movies with friends after the babies are fed and asleep, it’s one thing to slip off to go fishing after the big meeting, there’s time to retire and there’s a time to keep working – and you can’t just go leaving your father in the boat with the hired hands.
There’s a time for things, and now is just not the time.
That’s what people say anyway.
That there’s a time to quit smoking, but now is just not the time.
Victims of domestic abuse say the same thing, “I want to leave, but now is just not the time, the rent’s due, the kids are still young, and in times like this any man is better than no man at all.”
Addicts aren’t any different – “I know I need to quit, but not today. I just can’t do it today.”
And that’s exactly what they said to Dr. Martin Luther King – we know that segregation is wrong, but be patient, now is just not the right time to end it.
Those who are happy with the way things are have no trouble postponing change. But those who aren’t? King, having been bold enough to imagine that things could be different couldn’t wait any longer. He had been up on the mountain top and seen over to the other side, to a new society free from the evils of racism, and out of intolerance for the way things were and a desire for how they could be, he pushed on.
I believe that this is the quality that all followers of Jesus must possess.
Christ doesn’t ask that anyone possess anything more. He doesn’t ask that his followers be particularly well versed or knowledgeable, no skills are more important than another, experience isn’t necessary – the only thing that is necessary is a willingness to give up life as you know it for life as it could be.
Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
They gave up life as fishermen to become fishers of men.
It’s as though they gave up life with drugs, with alcohol, for the life they might have without them.
They gave up life with abuse for the idea of a life in safety.
They gave up what is for what could be.
The great Christian author, C.S. Lewis wrote in his book Mere Christianity, that humans are often like children who are invited to go spend the day at the beach, but who settle instead to play in a puddle in an alleyway, because what is known is more attractive always than what isn’t.
I pray that the same will not be true for you.
In your misery, be willing to give up on what you have for what could be.
Should you bear grudges, be willing to give up the anger that you have and have grown used to for the forgiveness that could be.
And out of a desire for justice, give up on the idea that things as they are will never change for the truth – that the Kingdom of God has come near. The hungry cry out for food, the homeless long for shelter, the oppressed call for justice, and who will hear them? Only those not so tied to the way things that they fail to believe there could be a better world.
Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
Immediately four followed him – now go and do the same.
Amen.

Speak

2012-01-18T12:34:00.001-08:00

1st Samuel 3: 1-20, page 247
Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.
At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.
Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.”
So he went and lay down.
The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.”
Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.”
Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy.
Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if the Lord calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’”
So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” Then the Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew because his sons were blaspheming God and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.”
Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.” Eli said, “What was it that the Lord told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that the Lord told you.”
So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, “It is the Lord; let the Lord do what seems good to the Lord.”
As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord.
Sermon
It’s hard to appreciate interruptions, so most people don’t most of the time.
A cell phone rang during the final measures of Mahler's Symphony No. 9 at the New York Philharmonic on Tuesday night. The conductor, Alan Gilbert, was so disturbed he stopped the performance and as this one patron scrambled to silence his phone the crowd began to boo him.
Interruptions derail the flow of what is supposed to happen, and when accidents interrupt the normal commute of many drivers, good, kind people sometimes become so irritated by the delay that evil thoughts creep into their minds. When they’ve slowed traffic it’s hard to see them as people in need of help, and they become objects that are in the way.
No one really likes to be interrupted, even though it seems like the great, life changing events of our lives don’t happen during our normal routine, but when the normal routine is interrupted.
That was the case for me last Tuesday. Mr. David Locke barged into my weekly staff meeting and before I could ask him to wait outside while we finished the meeting he was helping himself to a doughnut hole and a cup of coffee.
“Yes, Mr. Locke,” I said.
“Ya’ll don’t mind waiting for me to finish my doughnut hole,” he responded.
We waited, and then he asked me to stand.
“Joe, you’ve been preaching at First Presbyterian Church for a full year now,” he began, “and during this first year you’ve preached good sermons, even preached on national radio. I want you to know that I look around the sanctuary while you’re preaching and it seems like there aren’t even that many people sleeping. We just wanted to get you something in recognition of your ministry.”
Then he handed me this. An airbrushed tee-shirt that says, “Joe is a preaching machine.”
David Locke didn’t say that he made this shirt himself, but he didn’t say that he didn’t either. You’ll have to ask Ms. Jean if her husband has been sneaking off to Gatlinburg for airbrush lessons. Regardless, I was honored, and much more honored than irritated by the interruption to my staff meeting.
Most of the time we don’t like interruptions, though.
The gospel of Luke tells the story of three who were on their way down the road. On the side of the road lay a man in need of their help. Only the third, a Samaritan stopped to help, while the first two, a priest and a Levite, were unwilling to be interrupted on their way to wherever they were going.
In the same way the Psalmist in our first scripture reading is amazed by God and the body that God has created: “you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” To be so amazed takes time however, so rarely are normal schedules interrupted to consider it all.
Most of the time it seems as though we are most interested in just getting on with it – getting on with work, getting on with our appointments, getting on with our normally packed schedule. Then should we have a few minutes to sit and read a book or watch TV we certainly don’t want to be interrupted regardless of who needs help or attention. When we finally lay down to go to sleep we don’t want that interrupted either.
No one really likes to be interrupted, even though it seems like that’s when everything important happens – not when the normal routine is intact, but when it’s not.
It’s hard to believe that when you’re fast asleep, only to have your rest interrupted by a crying baby, a late night trip to the bathroom, or a boy named Samuel who thinks that you’ve been calling him.
The first time it happens I bet Eli wasn’t disturbed, not too annoyed, maybe not even completely woken up by Samuel who barges into the room, “Here I am, for you called me.”
The second time, though, must have been different, and I’m sure that while scripture tells us Eli says, “I did not call, my son; lie down again,” he really said something else a little less saintly.
Then the third time – the third time it happens – how do you feel when someone wakes you up for the third time? Your mind is made up that there’s no good reason for it. You’re not going to check under the bed for a monster a third time happily; a dog that wakes you up a third time to go out may not have a home the next day; and whatever is making that beeping sound in the kitchen for the third time is on its way to being completely destroyed.
But Eli, after being woken up for the third time, doesn’t stare down Samuel with contempt but takes this young boy and his trouble seriously: “Go, lie down; and if you hear the voice again, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’”
It all started then. The boy became a prophet of the Lord – and not just any prophet, but the prophet who would call Israel’s first kings.
But for Samuel to listen to God he first had to be heard by Eli. For him to take God seriously he first had to be taken seriously by Eli. And for Samuel to allow his life to be interrupted by God, Eli had to allow his sleep to be interrupted so that he could listen to this boy for whom “the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed.”
He didn’t have any idea how special he was in the eyes of God. And if Eli had ignored him or not taken him seriously, sending him back to bed for the third time, he may never have found out.
You and I – we’re no different. Born with God-given gifts that we only learn how to take seriously because of parents, teachers, and friends who take us seriously – who pick up the phone in the middle of the night because we’re more important to them than sleep – who turn off the TV to hear what we have to say because our words are more important than the words of the evening news. We only learn to take ourselves seriously because we have been taken seriously.
Your call, then, is to go and do the same: to put down whatever you’ve been working on to hear the concern of the little girl pulling on your sleeve, to look her in the eye rather than dismiss her, to not be satisfied with “I’m fine mom” when you know well and good that everything isn’t.
You are the church and if any child of this church is ever going to believe that they are as important to God as we say they are, you have to listen to what they have to say.
Amen.

You Are Mine

2012-01-18T12:32:00.001-08:00

Mark 1: 4-11, page 44

John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
Now john was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens town apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Sermon
It’s possible also to feel like your finances are in order, then comes tax season, and there’s plenty more to worry about. Or feeling as though the house is finally clean after Christmas, that you can put your feet up and relax; then the dog runs away, the furnace goes out, or you make the mistake of going down to the basement and the feeling as though there is too much work to do and you’ll never get it all done rushes right back in.
If ever I’m feeling as though I have things under control all I need to do is take my two daughters to lunch and I am convinced otherwise.
Or should I feel too competent I need only remember that it took me two weeks to install a swing that Sara’s sister bought our daughters – she said it would be easy.
The feeling of inadequacy lurks around every corner, stars back from every mirror, and jumps out from every Christmas card sent from a family who managed to have all their children in clean clothes at the same time.
Baby books were the worst. After one chapter I was convinced that our baby would burst into flames if I didn’t find a way to purify our drinking water, filter our air, and sanitize every surface in the house.
Based on this experience of complete and utter inadequacy I have decided that if I were going to write a book for moms and dads expecting their first child it would start with some basic things right at the beginning – don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t do drugs, eat healthy. Then, instead of continuing on with what the experts think the new mother should or should not be doing, I would just write, “you are doing great and the baby is fine” over and over again, week after week, page after page.
That’s not the way these baby books work though – they fill you up with so much information you can’t help but feel inadequate – and now I know that there is plenty of time for feeling that way once that baby is born.
I know that you are supposed to want to know everything you can, but in our world of seemingly limitless knowledge and ever rising standards, I think every new parent deserves a book that will say the thing that they really need to hear and nothing more.
That’s one reason it’s nice to read the gospel of Mark, as in this book there isn’t a whole lot, so what is there takes on a new meaning when you consider what’s not.
Notice what isn’t there. We started our lesson in verse 4 and already Jesus is grown. In Mark’s gospel there is no Christmas story – Mary isn’t even mentioned much less Joseph, traveling kings, or shepherds. We don’t even really know who he is, where he came from, or what Jesus has been doing up until this point.
But what there is, is John. From Mark we know what John looked like, that he was wearing clothing made of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist. We know what he ate even, that depending only on what the wilderness could provide he kept alive eating locusts and wild honey. And we know that he could preach and that people wanted to know what he had to say.
Mark doesn’t take the time to hold our hand through this story, doesn’t fill space with adjectives, adverbs, or side plots, but from these first sentences we know why John was such a compelling and controversial figure, we know why John the Baptist is beheaded in chapter 6 by King Herod, as some thing else that is missing from Mark’s gospel are the crowds at the Temple. “People from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him.”
There are plenty of preachers who aren’t like John – they don’t wait for the people to come to them, they go to the people, and from a street corner preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins. No one every stops though.
John on the other hand preached a message so compelling that the city of Jerusalem was rendered empty. Schools must have closed, marketplaces vacant, and pews went unfilled – everyone had gone out to hear what this John had to say.
But the synagogue – it easy to think that John couldn’t have been preaching something so different from what was heard in the synagogue, after all, John practically is living out the same book the priests and scribes were reading out of – he’s not someone so different, maybe not different at all from Elijah and Isaiah who he dresses just like. But if what John had to say was the same as what the priests at the Temple or the local synagogue had to say, if what John had to say was the same as what teachers in schools, storeowners on the street or managers in the work place had to say then why would the people travel so far into a desert wasteland to hear him if they could stay home and hear the same thing?
We know that John preached repentance for the forgiveness of sins – and I bet that everyone who went out there went to hear the same thing that we want to hear – something different from the voices we hear in the school telling us we could study harder and do better – something different from the voices we hear in the marketplace telling us that we should look better or dress better – something different from the voices we hear in the church – telling us that we aren’t quite good enough, that we are sinners, or we are inadequate and that we have fallen short.
So like Jesus, we go out to hear what John has to say.
In this passage from Mark, there’s nothing that makes us really different from him. Remember, the author of Mark doesn’t include Mary or Joseph, there’s no virgin birth here, there’s nothing here to tell us that Jesus is any different from you or me, and in fact, if he has gone out to the desert like everyone else he must be just as hungry to hear the same thing that we are – that you can repent – you can start again – God has not given up on you – your sins can be washed away.
Hearing these words Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan. And as he was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
I think it’s easy to believe that these words are only for Jesus, only meant for his ears, but Mark, by virtue of what he leaves out, doesn’t give us any reason to make that conclusion.
It’s almost as though Mark knows there are already a million ways to feel inadequate. That there’s no reason to replicate that feeling of knowing that a baby is coming and that you will never be as ready as you might like to be – or of watching bills piling up and not having a job to pay for them – or of seeing all the groups at school and not feeling like your cool enough or smart enough – or of looking through magazines and not feeling beautiful – or of having a Mom who is never satisfied or a Dad who isn’t verbal enough to say he loves you – or of hearing from the church that you are all wrong and soon the wrath of a vengeful God will rip open the sky to crush you like a tin can because you aren’t good enough.
So Mark doesn’t spend time with the Virgin Birth, doesn’t tell the story about Jesus running off to the Temple at an early age entertaining the wise teachers there, we weren’t visited by kings or shepherds during our stay in the hospital – so Mark doesn’t dwell on such things.
What makes Jesus special in Mark is the same thing that makes you and I special today.
That way when God rips open the heavens you can put yourself in Jesus’ shoes and hear the words that he heard.
The standards that Jesus sets in Mark’s gospel are standards we are living up to right now – we wanted to hear some good news, so like Jesus we have come to a place where we might hear it. From Mark, that’s all that Jesus has done to deserve what he gets, so Mark won’t let us explain it away when we get the same thing.
You were baptized, and God has called you by name, saying, “You are mine, my Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
I think there are plenty of us who have been waiting our whole lives to hear words like these, and not hearing them makes just as much a difference as hearing them does.
So hear these words from God now – don’t wait until you feel like you’ve earned them because you never will, and don’t wait until you feel like your good enough because you already are. Words from God to you: “You are mine, my Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
-Amen.

Simeon

2012-01-02T07:21:00.001-08:00

Luke 2: 22-40, page 59
When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him.
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him.
Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed – and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town in Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.
Sermon
I have spent a lot of time looking forward to today. I’ve pictured our first Christmas in Columbia, our first Christmas in our new house, our first Christmas as parents of two in my imagination – and it looks something like this – there’s a fire burning in the fire place, that good smoked sausage is cooking in the kitchen, both my girls are overjoyed sitting under the Christmas Tree, I’m wearing a Christmas sweater, and everyone is listening to me sing a rendition “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas,” because it’s snowing outside.
Now that’s not exactly how it went earlier this morning.
Our fireplace hasn’t been used in two years so we’re too scared to burn anything in there, I was out voted on the sausage, my girls were both very happy, but not what I would call over-joyed, more over-whellemed, I don’t own a Christmas sweater, and no one would ever listen to me sing anything so why would I think they’d listen to me sing on Christmas morning? Besides, it wasn’t snowing.
I dream up the ideal in my head, especially when it’s a big day I’m looking forward to, but the reality can’t ever measure up.
Weddings are like that – the birth of a child is like that – certainly a baby’s baptism is like that too.
I’m sure Mary grew up looking forward to her wedding day – and I doubt she pictured being pregnant when the big day came.
I bet she also grew up thinking about being a mother – where the baby would be born, what clothes she would dress him in – and I bet a barn and bands of cloth had nothing to do with her imaginary scenario.
And maybe she had come to grips with how different her wedding day was, maybe she had accepted her child’s birth for what it was, so overjoyed to hold that happy and healthy baby boy in her arms regardless of the sounds and smells of livestock around her; but could you blame her if she wanted the day of his presentation at the temple to be different?
On her wedding day she had bent her head in shame, knowing well what everyone was saying, so this day she held her head high.
She had settled for bands of cloth when he was born, and so she splurged on something special to put him in on the day he went to the temple.
Everything up unto this point had been so different from how she imagined it, finally she was doing something the way it was supposed to be done, and gladly bought the appropriate offerings – a pair of turtledove or two young pigeons.
It must have felt so good, to do, what the Gospel of Luke tells us, “was customary under the law,” everything up until this point having been so un-customary.
But then comes Simeon.
“Simeon took him in his arms” and this moment was taken like the others.
His words mean something – and truly they mean everything – but what mother wants to hear on such a special day: “and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
This is how it happens though.
An imperfect wedding, an imperfect birth, which nonetheless produces the perfect child – when all of a sudden the doctor brings some harsh word – asthma that will require breathing treatments, speech that will require a therapist, cancer that will require chemo therapy, and a sword will pierce your own soul too.
It’s enough to not go through with it at all. It’s enough to keep the baby home, safe, never to go out again, but the time came and so the child had to be brought up to Jerusalem, it’s there in the law for “every firstborn shall be designated as holy to the Lord.”
That line is enough for me to rethink what holy means completely – as there could be no more holy child than this despite his story so unlike any ideal I’d ever imagine.
If that’s how it was with Jesus, then what if that’s what holy is?
What if holy isn’t perfection.
What if holy isn’t the attainment of every dream and ideal and imagination.
What if holy is just what Jesus was – a human being born into an imperfect marriage, born on a day when nothing went how it was supposed to, and began his life with his mother knowing that one day something was going to happen to her little boy that would pierce her soul.
It’s not the way I would dream it up, but it’s the way it happens.
Today give thanks for Christmas, the Christmas that you have even if it’s not the Christmas that you dreamed of, because holiness isn’t perfection – Christ entered our imperfection and made it all holy.
So Merry Christmas.
Amen.

A Voice Cries Out

2011-12-08T08:20:00.000-08:00

Isaiah 40: 1-11, page 667
Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
A voice says, “Cry out!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?” All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever.
Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to your cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”
See, the Lord God comes with might, and God’s arm rules for him; God’s reward is with him, and God’s recompense before him.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.
Sermon
“Now don’t make me come down there.”
You all know what that means, and the feeling these words gave you in the pit of your stomach isn’t something that you’ve left behind in childhood – you’re reminded of it when the boss calls you into her office, a letter comes in the mail from the IRS and it doesn’t come with a check, or the police officer walks towards your car.
It’s a short distance, but it takes him forever to get there. You compose yourself and get ready to plead your case.
“I’m so sorry officer, I didn’t realize how fast I was going, my mind was on things at home – the baby’s sick, I can’t sleep and I was just trying to get to the drug store as fast as I could. I’m sure you understand.”
Once or twice that may actually work. I met a police officer once who told me the excuse that worked on him back in 1987 was, “Miami Vice is about to start and I don’t want to miss the opening scene.”
More often though, it doesn’t pay to be a police officer who is too understanding or overly compassionate. Therefore, on those unfortunate times when I’ve been pulled over I don’t plead my case, I just wait for my punishment.
I don’t assume that the officer who sits in his car for far too long, walks to my car way too slow, and then looks down on me while I’m sitting in my car brings with him anything less. That would be as foolish as expecting a delivery of hot chocolate on a tray after hearing your mother yell, “Now don’t make me come down there.”
You hear those words and you want to lock the door, but you know that would make things even worse. You see the police officer coming and you pray for an earthquake to hit and divide the earth so that the police officer would be stopped in his tracks.
The last thing you’d want to do is make his paths straight.
However, this is what John the Baptist is charged with doing, but for a higher authority than even your mother. In our first scripture lesson the prophet John the Baptist was sent by God to “prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,” and so in preparation for the one to come he proclaimed “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
Repentance isn’t normally a word used during the month of December, but that’s what John was telling everyone to do – he’s coming soon, so get your house in order, because “he’s making a list and checking it twice, he’s going to find out who’s naughty and nice.”
Or, in other words – the one who’s been yelling, “Don’t make me come down there” is on the way.
The question is, hearing this message out of John’s mouth, what did the people do?
Did they rejoice?
Or did their stomachs sink?
Did they begin preparing their excuses?
Or did they even bother, assuming that the Messiah would be like any other earthly authoriety, not wanting to hear it, not in the business of compassion or understanding, but in punishment?
A lot of people feel that way about God. They hear God described as a father and assume that God must be like the one they grew up with – distant, uncaring, unconcerned.
Some hear Jesus described as a bridegroom and assume that God must be like the one they were once married to – harsh, violent, cold.
And some hear God described as a judge and assume that God must be like the ones they have stood before in court – not wanting to hear their excuses and ready to deliver the verdict.
All three are used in scripture, but in our 2nd scripture lesson there’s another option. Isaiah says that the Messiah is coming – but not as a father, a bridegroom, or a judge – as a shepherd.
I don’t know much about livestock – I might even go so far as to say that I know nothing about livestock. John Satterwhite who happens to raise beef cattle was once driving me around Maury County and pointed out a herd of cows grazing on a hillside. “You see those cows Joe. They’ve been eating grass on that hillside so long that the legs on their right side grew shorter than the legs on their left side.”
Somebody who believes something like that really doesn’t know anything about livestock and that’s me. The author of Isaiah however, he knew more about it, and so describes God as a shepherd, but not just any shepherd, the kind of shepherd who knows how to deal with sheep:
“Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.”
That’s how shepherds do it. He takes a lamb in his arms, the lamb’s mother follows right behind, and every sheep follows her.
It’s just like a joke Murray Miles told us last Wednesday night at Bible study: a young boy’s teacher asked him, “if you have 10 sheep and you take one away, how many do you have left?”
“Well none,” he answered. The teacher said, “You don’t know much about arithmetic.” The young boy responded, “You don’t know much about sheep.”
So much of the time that’s the world we live in. The powers that govern our world understand us about as well as that teacher understood her pupil. There were the parents who just didn’t understand, the IRS who is without compassion, and the police officers who don’t want to hear it. Why should we expect anything less from the God of heaven and earth?
Why should we not fear the day of his coming?
Why should we make his paths straight?
Why should we not fear the day of his birth?
It’s because, in him we find something different.
Not judgment, but compassion.
Not punishment, but forgiveness.
Not misunderstanding, selfishness, greed, or brutality – for the one who is coming is not like the authorities of this world who work you until you have nothing else to give, who attempt to control you through fear, who hold on to you as long as you have something that they want.
The one who is coming is like a shepherd, and he will hold you in his arms.
“Comfort, O comfort my people,” the prophet Isaiah cries, for the day is coming, and may the day come soon, that the Lord comes down from heaven to make all things right.
“Comfort, O comfort my people,” the prophet Isaiah cries, for the day is surely coming, when the guilt that you’ve been carrying will be lifted and replaced by the one who says, “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”
“Comfort, O comfort my people,” the prophet Isaiah cries, and John used those same words to tell the world, that Christ is coming, not to exact payment for sins, not to beat you down lower than you already are, and not to make you feel the righteous wrath of God, but to hold you in his arms, and to take you home.
Amen.

He will guide them

2011-11-07T06:59:00.000-08:00

Revelation 7: 9-17, page 249
After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.
They cried out in a loud voice, saying,
“Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing,
“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?”
I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.”
Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship God day and night within God’s temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Sermon
Last Thursday I was invited to compete in a trivia competition over at Central High School. It was a fund raiser for Central’s own trivia team, who, despite their small budget travels around to compete with other schools, attempting to be the first to answer questions concerning math, science, history, English, even religion.
There were buzzers and everything, and several different teams. There was a team of doctors representing Maury Regional Hospital, a team of judges and lawyers, a team of academics from the college, and I was a proud member of the Maury County Archives Team along with Bob, Dorothy, and Dave Duncan.
As soon as Bob asked me to join the team I began guaranteeing anyone who would listen our victory, but this was either over-confidence in our team or under-confidence in the others, as we were soundly defeated by the doctors in the second round.
We stayed for the rest of the event however, and as the doctors and academics from the college competed against each other in the finals I was mostly impressed by both their knowledge of important facts as well as their knowledge of completely useless facts. That was until this question was asked: “Who, in the book of Genesis, lived to be 930 years old and was the father of Cain and Abel?”
Someone guessed Methuselah, then there was silence – no buzzer ringing, no guessing – until the silence was broken by someone from the crowd who yelled, “Ya’ll need to get to church!”
It’s amazing how very intelligent, well read people can miss a question like this one about Adam – but mention anything about an apple and universally all minds recall Eve.
It just goes to show that despite significant Biblical illiteracy in much of the world today, still, deep in our collective memory, are images from scripture, though many don’t realize it’s scripture they’re recalling.
“God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden;” but the serpent said, and Adam and Eve decided to listen, “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
This image is everywhere.
During the opening scene of hit TV show Desperate Housewives the main characters stand together all with an apple in their hands, and by this sign we all know that these women are not nearly as innocent as they seem.
The image of the apple is there as well on computers, iPods, iPads, and iPhones, as an apple with a bite out of it has become the iconic symbol of Apple Computers.
Even Steve Jobs, casual adherent of Zen Buddhism, atheist mostly, was well versed in scripture enough to resonate with the image of the apple. According to Andy Crouch, editor for Christianity Today and the author of a recent article in the Wall Street Journal that appeared just after Jobs’ death, “That bitten apple was just one of Steve Jobs’ many touches of genius, capturing the promise of technology in a single glance.”
After eating the apple God cursed the serpent, the woman, and then the man, saying, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust and to dust you shall return.” According to philosopher Albert Borgmann, it is technology that promises to relieve us of the burden of this curse of being merely human, of being finite creatures in a harsh and unyielding world. And all of technology, especially that developed by Steve Jobs, promises to reverse the curse on humanity that resulted from that first bite out of an apple.
Maybe Jobs came the closer than anyone ever has – his technology is so easy to use, reducing all function down to one button, but uses that one button to help you navigate through your entire music library, browse a virtual bookstore, organize pictures, edit video, all while talking on the phone.
His technology is beautiful, and it’s beautiful because he dedicated his whole life to it – as though improving human life through technology were his great white whale. However, I think we may all agree that like Captain Ahab, after pouring his entire self into his goal, he met his fate before truly liberating humanity from anything more than boredom.
The work of his hands – though he gave Apple his all – remains a beautiful technological innovation, but is that all Steve Jobs aspired to be?
Technology, if all it does is aspires to captivate our imaginations, than it is successful. But if technology, even the work of modern genius, aspires to reverse the curse of human kind that began with that apple in the book of Genesis, than only failure awaits.
I have faith enough in humanity to believe that we were the ones who got us into this situation – this life so often defined by struggle and always shadowed by the reality of death - but to get out of it – for that I need faith in God.
It is faith in God that we are bold to celebrate today – faith in God who defies the grave that so many fear – faith in God that allows for celebration as we remember those who have died. For rather than only mourn, today we celebrate all that they have gained.
“They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Only as his last breath left him did Steve Jobs come face to face with the majesty of this God, a majesty beyond even what his hands could create. As he left this earth his last words were proclaimed amazement – not at the work of his own hands, but at the work of the hands that he had only just come to know.
May you always be so amazed by the Lord our God.
While the work of human hands can launch into outer space, it was God’s words who called the stars into existence.
While modern medicine can prolong life, only God can give it.
Always give thanks to the Lord your God and to the Lamb. He is our Shepherd, and when the work of your hands finds its limit, entrust yourself to the hands of the Lord your God. For it is God’s hands who will wipe away every tear from your eyes.
Amen.

What do these stones mean?

2011-10-31T07:40:00.000-07:00

Joshua 4: 1-9 and 19-24, page 196
When the entire nation had finished crossing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua: “Select twelve men from the people, one from each tribe, and command them, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood, carry them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you camp tonight.’”
Then Joshua summoned the twelve men from the Israelites, whom he had appointed, one from each tribe. Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take a stone on his shoulder, one for each of the tribes of the Israelites, so that this may be a sign among you.
When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the Israelites a memorial forever.”
The Israelites did as Joshua commanded. They took up twelve stones out of the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord told Joshua, carried them over with them to the place where they camped, and laid them down there. (Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant had stood; and they are there to this day.)
(19) The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. Those twelve stones, which they had taken out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal, saying to the Israelites, “When your children ask their parents in time to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel crossed over the Jordan here on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you crossed over as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which God dried up for us until we crossed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, and so that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”
Sermon
It’s not quite Halloween, but already, available in the ice cream isle at Kroger on James Campbell Boulevard is Blue Bell’s candy cane ice cream. I’m not complaining, it’s delicious, but it’s still October and it seems like Christmas comes earlier and earlier each year.
When I was 10 it couldn’t get here soon enough. It seemed like the days of December lasted forever and the sooner toy stores provided ideas for my Christmas, list the better.
I assume that’s the point. Stores assume that the earlier they start promoting Christmas the more time we’ll have to think about what we want. And the more time we have to think about what we want, the more we’ll buy. But there’s a problem here. We’re trained to want. Earlier and earlier every year we are trained to gear up for wanting, and when Christmas morning comes, even if we receive everything our heart desires, it’s still hard to turn our brains off wanting.
When I was five, six, and seven – I don’t think it worked this way, but by the time I was 11 something started to change. By the time I was 11, I remember going through all my presents and after unwrapping everything I could see. I’d check under the sofa to make sure I didn’t miss anything. I’d go through my Christmas list in my head accounting for what I received and longing for what I didn’t.
What I didn’t get became the focus of my attention; surrounded by wrapping paper and who knows how many presents, I was busy thinking about what I still wanted.
To stop, look around, and be thankful – that’s what I needed, and it’s too bad I didn’t know how.
That’s the danger in wanting, I think. Once our minds are tuned to wanting it’s hard to shift gears to being thankful. So after longing for freedom during generations of enslavement, after longing for the Promised Land after years of wandering through the desert, the Lord stops the waters of the Jordan and Joshua leads the people in building a monument.
“When your children ask their parents in time to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel crossed over the Jordan here on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you crossed over as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which God dried up for us until we crossed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, and so that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”
‘What do these stones mean?’ It’s a simple question and one I can easily imagine a child asking her mother, because it’s children who ask just that kind of question. When I was a kid we’d drive under the Richard Hunter Memorial Bridge and I’d ask my parents who he was and how he ended up with a bridge named after him. But they didn’t know.
The same thing might happen to you. Driving down 7th Street towards Trotwood, a curious child might look to her right and notice the 20 foot tall stone monument standing on top of the hill and ask her father, “Who was Pop Gears?” I hope you have an answer, but you may not. Today it’s a little more difficult, because while our children ask the same questions they always have, Joshua’s not here to give us the answer.
‘What do these stones mean?’ These stones mean that before you were born there were people who did great things, who gave of themselves, who crossed deserts, who endured hardship, who sacrificed, who survived so that you might have a better life.
‘What do these stones mean?’ These stones mean that all the gifts you take for granted, all the privileges you enjoy, came from somewhere, and to those who gave you what you have, you should be thankful.
‘What do these stones mean?’ These stones mean that entitlement stands on ignorance, while those who know where what they have came from are filled with something else: gratitude.
This country, this city, this church – they are gifts given by people who came before.
The foundation of this sanctuary, the pews you sit in, and the music you hear – gifts given to the glory of God that you and I enjoy.
‘What do these stones mean?’ These stones mean that the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you. These stones mean that just as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, the Lord dried up the waters of the Jordan for us until we crossed over.
Now here are words of gratitude, and it was gratitude that defined the Israelites as they entered the Promised Land – not longing, not wanting anymore – gratitude.
This is the purpose of Stewardship – that in a world of longing for more, in a world where satisfaction always lies just beyond our grasp, the Lord invites us to give thanks for what we have, to give a portion back acknowledging the source of all our blessings.
So it is gratitude that defines us, even during this recession where all around us we are told there isn’t enough.
It is gratitude that defines us, even in a season of asking, hoping, and longing.
It is gratitude that defines us, because we are God’s people, and for us the Lord dried up the waters; the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for us until we crossed over.
‘What do these stones mean?’ These stones mean that you are the recipient of so many good gifts, and it’s time to acknowledge the source of all that you have been given.
Amen.

Leave them for her to glean

2011-10-24T14:41:00.001-07:00

Ruth 2: 1-16, page 242
Now Naomi had a kinsman on her husband’s side, a prominent rich man, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain, behind someone in whose sight I may find favor.”
She said to her, “Go, my daughter.” So she went. She came and gleaned in the field behind the reapers. As it happened, she came to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. Just then Boaz came from Bethlehem. He said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you.” They answered, “The Lord bless you.”
Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, “To whom does this young woman belong?”
The servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the Moabite who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. She said, ‘Please, let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the reapers.’ So she came, and has been on her feet from early this morning until now, without resting even for a moment.”
Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. Keep your eyes on the field that is being reaped, and follow behind them. I have ordered the young men not to bother you. If you get thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.”
Then she fell prostrate, with her face to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should take notice of me, when I am a foreigner?”
But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. May the Lord reward you for your deeds, and may you have a full reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge!”
Then she said, “May I continue to find favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant even though I am not one of your servants.”
At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here, and eat some of this bread, and dip your morsel in the sour wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he heaped up for her some parched grain. She ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. When she got up to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, “Let her glean even among the standing sheaves, and do not reproach her. You must also pull out some handfuls for her from the bundles, and leave them for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”
Sermon
It’s amazing what gets left behind.
Take pretzels for example. I bet as many broken pretzels get left behind as fully formed pretzels are produced; but that was before the discovery of pretzel pieces. You can buy pretzel pieces at Kroger, and what they are I’m sure, are pretzels that broke during the production process repackaged and renamed as pretzel pieces – though really they’re just broken pretzels.
It’s not unlike mixing scraps of wood with glue and calling it particle board or mixing up scraps of meat with salt and flavoring and calling it a hot dog – it’s economical using up every little bit, it’s not wasting, and it’s making someone a lot more money than if they were throwing the stuff out or giving it away.
The owner wants to make as much money as possible, so why not take advantage of what’s left behind.
Boaz, as the owner of the field, doesn’t want the reapers who are harvesting his grain to let anything go to waste – he wants them to get all that they possibly can. However, we know from this lesson from the book of Ruth that there is a whole group of people whose survival depends on what gets left behind.
They’re called gleaners, and without any fields of their own, without any other means to provide for their families, the most desperate people in the land follow behind the reapers picking over what they leave behind.
I had never put much thought into what their lives must have been like until John Satterwhite called me out to a corn field on Mt. Pleasant Pike. I was having a great time riding with him in the air conditioned cab of the combine, and then he started talking about how hard it must have been for Ruth and Naomi, and next thing I knew he had me walking behind him gleaning as many corn kernels as I could find for a little hands on education.
Maybe you can imagine it. I wasn’t really dressed for the occasion, but there I was in the middle of that corn field with a grocery bag looking for corn kernels left behind from the combine. There wasn’t much left either – not that I was thinking too much about it, I was mostly just hoping no one I knew drove by.
It’s a little strange to be walking around in a corn field with just a bag, looking through the broken stalks hoping to find something you can eat, but that’s what Ruth was doing. She was out there alone, known to belong to no one, and there’s a reason Boaz orders the young men not to bother her – not only was she in a humiliating position, she was in a dangerous one as well.
Leaving as little as possible behind the reapers worked, as the more they harvested the more money they would make, but the more they harvested the less there would be for the gleaners who followed.
But then Boaz does something strange. When Ruth got up to glean again after mealtime he instructed his young men, “Let her glean even among the standing sheaves, and do not reproach her. You must also pull out some handfuls for her from the bundles, and leave them for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”
I’m sure these young men must have wondered why Boaz was instructing them to do this, and I’m sure they must have thought it was bad business, but profits were no longer his chief priority. He saw Ruth, not as a gleaner, but as a person, and with what Boaz was willing to leave behind she filled her empty belly with parched grain, filled her bag with grain to bring back to Naomi, and survived to became not just a person but a great hero of scripture so revered that her name is listed in the great genealogy of the gospel of Matthew. She survived, but not only survived, joined the ranks of Abraham, King David, and Jesus Christ himself.
She could have been just a gleaner, but with what he was willing to leave behind, with the profit he was willing to sacrifice, she became something else – she became “and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.”
There in the field Boaz was willing to give up a bushel of barley, and with that barley Ruth did more than survive, she became the great grandmother of King David himself.
It didn’t have to happen this way – she could have died nameless, just another gleaner in the field, but because of the kindness of Boaz she became Ruth.
Isn’t that a horrible fate – namelessness? But this is the state of so many who depend on what we leave behind, and the more we keep for ourselves the less there will be for those who depend on what gets left behind.
Last week I was reading Sound Off as I always do. A caller called in the following to the Daily Herald: “I was recently at the intersection of the Polk Home and the Methodist Church downtown admiring the home, the fountains and much hard work the lady does to take care of the flowers there, when I noticed that we had a tour bus (of people) getting ready to go on a cart-drawn ride. And then I looked and I see our permanent homeless resident’s shopping cart full of old clothes and anything else that could be left there. I was so embarrassed. I cannot believe that we put up with him leaving things out in public – especially when we have guests. It’s a disgrace.”
His name is Melvin, but knowing that demands seeing him as more than a disgrace. Knowing his name demands acknowledging the fact that he’s a person; a person who has been fed by the members of this church who are less concerned with the shopping cart full of old clothes that he leaves junking up the prettiest corner in the city and more concerned with leaving enough behind for him to survive.
For a long time there was another who walked the streets of Columbia to the embarrassment of some. Last month she passed away, and while she might have died nameless, just another of the faceless poor, because of the generosity of a handful of members of this church she was given a gravestone that reads “Nancy Oliver.”
I’m sure that money could have gone to something else; members of our church didn’t have to leave that money behind for her – but what a gift it is to remember someone’s name.
Here in this place names are learned. Children in Fellowship Hall, in this sanctuary, in Kroger hear their names called by you – and it makes all the difference in the world.
This is one of the great purposes of the church – to call them by name, and to nourish them with what we leave behind so that their future might be one where they know who they are – that they are known by God and know that God calls them daughter and son.
Moses went up from the plains of Moab, the same land that Ruth called home, and climbed to Mount Nebo where God showed him the whole land that he had only dreamed of, only to learn that he would never cross himself. In this moment he knew that he had been walking across the desert not for himself, but for those who followed.
It’s amazing what gets left behind.
Moses left behind a whole land of promise for his people, Boaz left behind the grain that helped Ruth to survive and become one of scripture’s great heroes.
And what will you leave?
I pray that you will leave behind enough of what you could keep for yourself to feed every homeless person who would go nameless and hungry without your kindness.
I pray you will leave behind enough of what you could keep for yourself so that every person in this room might know who they are in the eyes of God.
I pray that you will leave behind enough of what you could keep for yourself so that every child, every child’s child, down to third, fourth, and fifth generation will be able to come into the place and hear some word worth hearing.
It takes you leaving something behind. It takes you making people more important than profits. It takes you giving up what you could keep for yourself – but what you leave behind may well be the food to feed the heroes of our future.
Next Sunday you will be asked to make your contribution to this church, and I pray that you will consider how much you can leave behind this week. The more you leave behind the less you will have, but the more you leave behind the brighter the future.
Amen.

The Emperor's

2011-10-16T13:27:00.000-07:00

Matthew 22: 15-22, page 24
Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said.
So they sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”
But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.”
And they brought him a denarius.
Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?”
They answered, “The emperor’s.”
Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s.”
When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.
Sermon
“You can’t buy your friends,” my mother used to say. Maybe Chechnyan President, Mr. Ramzan Kadyrov’s (Ram-Zan Kitty-ruv) mother never told him that, as he recently spent millions to buy himself several celebrity friends to attend his 35th birthday party. Singer Beyonce cost Chechnyan taxpayers 2 million dollars, and also in attendance were other American celebrities Maria Carey, Usher, Jean Claude Van Damn, and Hilary Swank who all came with a price tag of their own. I don’t imagine that the taxpayers were happy, but I doubt any complained, as in addition to having to buy friends President Kadyrov is also a known human rights abuser, accused of abducting and torturing those Chechnyans who have dared question his authority.
The story was on the Today Show last Thursday morning and was focused on these celebrities, many who were urged not to attend the big birthday party by human rights groups. Although it’s difficult to decide who to be most disappointed in, the president whose authority is maintained through force or the celebrities whose friendship can be bought at the right price. But the real losers here are the Cheznian people whose money could have gone to fund badly needed schools, hospitals, and roads, but instead covered a lavish birthday party for a president they don’t even like.
This wasn’t the first time however; so it was for the Ancient Jews in the time of Jesus. Taxes were so despised, so resented, that tax collectors were considered hopeless when it came to salvation, rebellions were frequent but strongly suppressed by the Roman legion, and most of the money was shipped off to Rome. Some of the money did stay in Jerusalem however. It went to pay the Herodians, the Roman puppet government, and pay for Herod’s self-aggrandizing building projects.
The Pharisees didn’t want anything to do with it, and didn’t believe God wanted anything to do with it either. Rather than accept the vulgar coins used to pay the Roman Tax at the Temple, they set up money changers so that coins bearing the graven image of the Emperor could be exchanged for coins worthy of being offered to God; God, who is holy and just, while the Emperor is pagan and oppressive.
They feared Jesus, however. They feared that his popularity was a threat, so they set a trap attempting to “entrap him in what he said.”
“Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”
It’s a well laid trap because anyone for the tax was a traitor and anyone against it was a criminal. The Pharisees were there to condemn him if he was for it, and they brought the Herodians with them to condemn him if he were against it.
It’s as though John Adams were campaigning for the 1st Continental Congress. He stands before Sam Adams and the other organizers of the Boston Tea party, violently opposed to British taxation, as well as the British authorities who are prepared to take down anyone openly opposed to paying tribute to the king.
“Mr. Adams, is it lawful to pay taxes to the king, or not?” someone asks from the crowd.
On the one hand is the treat of being tarred and feathered, on the other, execution for openly questioning British authority.
It’s not too different from asking politicians today about it. Even though most of our taxes will be spent on projects that will benefit us, much of what our taxes go to pay for aren’t representative of our priorities. They don’t go to pay for lavish birthday parties, but they do fund unpopular wars and they would go to pay for an unpopular health care plan.
Politicians don’t want to be labeled as being against taxes for fear of seeming irresponsible, but they can’t be for taxes either, as so many in our nation are sick and tired of it. We look at our pay checks and want that big chunk that gets taken by our Federal and State government back. For this reason the IRS has the public approval rating equal to that of the Cheznian President; we just don’t like to give up money that we’ve worked hard for.
So the question the Pharisees and the Herodians ask of Christ could be just as damaging to any presidential candidate – “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the government, or not?”
“Show me the coin used for the tax,” he says to them.
“Whose head is this, and whose title?”
They answered, “The emperor’s.”
“Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
He answers their question, but not the way they wanted him to. Is he for taxes? Yes, but that’s not the point anymore. He has avoided the trap himself and used it against them, showing the crowd what it means to be faithful in a time where money is given universal allegiance. Tertullian, a great patriarch of Christianity writing during the early 3rd Century, explains what Christ means – the emperor has a right to what is made in the emperor’s image: the coin; but in the same way God has a right to what is made in God’s image: you.
So much fighting over a coin; so much resentment. It is the fuel of commerce as with it anything can be bought or sold: cars, homes, and land. Some even put their very bodies and souls up for sale, selling their friendship, compromising their values for a price, knowing their worth in terms of dollars and cents.
But is it theirs to sell?
Give to the emperor what bears his image, but give to God what bears the image of God.
These words mean something in a world where human slavery is more prevalent today than before the Civil War – those who believe that bodies can bought and sold, that lives can be bartered for; they are attempting to sell what God already owns.
These words mean something in a world where so much of self-worth is based on salary, unemployment tearing down the foundation self-confidence, as though human worth was susceptible to the whims of the stock market.
These words mean something when a financial recession causes a state of emergency, compromises standards of ethics, causes spikes in domestic violence and child abuse as though money dictated happiness, not realizing that it does only if we allow it to.
“Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” they ask him, as though this were even the issue.
For so many it is – so often it’s easier to keep than to give and to go on longing for whatever percentage escapes our grasp – but the deeper issue Christ puts before you today gets to the illusion of ownership, the weakness of the emperor compared to the majesty of God, and the price tag we put on human life.
Today is the first Sunday of the Stewardship Season, but the question isn’t how much do you really need to give, the question for today is how much was God willing to give for you.
In a world where value is assigned, fortunes are made, and money talks, your value has been decided by Christ who laid down his life to prove how much you are worth in the eyes of God. Your worth, your value, has already been determined by the God who died on a cross so that you might live. You, bearing the image of your creator, belong to God and God will not let you go. While the emperor may want more and more and more, God wants all of you, and for you our God has paid the ultimate price.
You, are God’s own – give to God then your life, your whole self.
Amen.

Tenants

2011-10-05T09:35:00.000-07:00

Matthew 21: 33-46, page 24
“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’
So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read the scriptures:
‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’?
Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.
Sermon
We went to the zoo, and I was watching a young boy lag behind the rest of his family. The boy’s dad kept yelling to him to keep up, but it wasn’t working. Then the dad says, “You mean they just let that gorilla roam around loose in here?”
There’s a big difference between looking at animals when there’s a fence separating you from them and finding a gorilla sneaking up behind you, and I think it’s the same as the difference between listening to one of Jesus’ parables from a safe distance and listening to one of Jesus’ parables suddenly realizing that it’s you he’s talking about.
Chapter 21 of the Gospel of Matthew concerns the temple – in verse 12 Jesus enters the temple and cleanses it by overturning the tables of the money changes saying, “My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you are making it a den of robbers.” In verse 18, a fig tree represents the temple, and Jesus curses it for not producing fruit, then the chief priests and the elders ask him “by what authority do you do these things”?
He doesn’t answer directly – instead he tells them a story.
He could have just said, “I am God’s son, the rightful heir to this temple over which you claim lordship, and, having used it to honor yourselves rather than honor God, I have been sent here to put things right.”
But he doesn’t say that. Instead he tells them a story – there was a vineyard and the tenants entrusted with the care of that vineyard didn’t respect the messengers sent by the owner. They beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Then more were sent, but to no avail. Finally the owner said, “They will respect my son,” surely they will respect my son, so I’ll send him. But they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him as well.
“Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” Jesus asks them.
Assuming this was just a story, they gave him the clear answer: “They said to him, He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at harvest time.”
But it wasn’t just a story, and suddenly the gorilla that was behind the bars in the zoo is sneaking up behind them as they answer his question before they realize he’s not talking about a vineyard at all. He’s talking about them.
Now, from our perspective this is a pretty good trick. Jesus doesn’t have to come out and tell them they’re doing wrong – they’ve done it for him. He also doesn’t have to threaten a punishment; they pick out a punishment that seems just, only they don’t realize their picking out their own punishment.
And that’s how Jesus is. Rather than tell you what you’re doing wrong, rather than threaten punishment, he’s more interested in your repentance than delivering a stern lecture that’s sure to go in one ear and out the other.
So say he’s trying to tell you something through this parable.
If he is he wouldn’t just come out and tell you, instead Jesus would help you realize it for yourself.
Say you were the tenant and the earth was the vineyard. If Jesus were concerned about you overstepping your bounds, using up more than your share, taking and destroying more than can be replaced, Jesus wouldn’t just tell you to change your ways, to take seriously the damage pollution is doing to the earth, to think more about the environmental impact of our way of life. Instead there would be prophets sent for us to ignore, and then innocent life lost just because we became more interested in preserving our way of life than honoring the God who freely gave us this earth as a gift.
Say you were the tenant and your school was the vineyard. If Jesus were concerned about the way you were treating your classmates, treating some with disrespect, bullying others, and using words that tore each other down rather than built each other up, Jesus wouldn’t just tell you to change your ways, to take more seriously how much damage your words can do. Instead there would be prophets warning you along the way, and then innocent life would be lost because we became more interested in feeling good about ourselves at the expense of others than honoring the God who says that Kingdom belongs to the least of these.
Or say you were the tenant and grace was the vineyard. If Jesus were concerned about your keeping grace, a gift given by God freely but kept selfishly by you, then Jesus wouldn’t just come and tell you to change your ways. Instead there would be warnings ignored, friends lost, and innocent victims hurt because you were incapable of offering others the same forgiveness that you have received.
I think it’s significant that the owner of the vineyard sends the son rather than an army. An army would have been able to seize the watchtower, fight the tenants into submission, take back the vineyard. But instead the owner of the vineyard seems intent on helping the tenants see the error of their ways.
So he sends the son – surely they’ll listen to him – surely they will respect my son.
Ours is not a God of punishment and retribution, though that would have been easier. Instead our God shows us that Christ is hurt, killed, innocently because of the error of our ways.
They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”
Will he, or will he hope that the son’s innocent blood will be enough to show the tenants that they have gone far enough?
Will God put those wretches to a miserable death, or is God after something more – not punishment, but repentance, change that you choose to make?
Choose then, today, to listen to the warnings, to be aware of the harm that you can do. For when you live your life aware of the innocent Christ who was killed by those who wouldn’t listen, you honor the God who gave you everything that you have.
Amen.

All Lives Are Mine

2011-09-27T12:44:00.000-07:00

Ezekiel 18: 1-4 and 25-32, page784
The word of the Lord came to me: What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, “the parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge”?
As I live, says the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. Know that all lives are mine; the life of the parent as well as the life of the child is mine: it is only the person who sins that shall die.
(25) Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is unfair.”
Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair? When the righteous turn away from their righteousness and commit iniquity, they shall die for it; for the iniquity that they have committed they shall die. Again, when the wicked turn away from wickedness they have committed and do what is lawful and right, they shall save their life. Because they considered and turned away from all transgressions that they had committed, they shall surely live; they shall not die.
Yet the house of Israel says, “The way of the Lord is unfair.”
O house of Israel, are my ways unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair?
Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, all of you according to your ways, says the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions; otherwise iniquity will be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!
Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord god.
Turn, then, and live.
Sermon
I was talking with my friend Andy Crichton the other day; he was on his way to the dentist to have a crown put on a tooth.
“That doesn’t sound like much fun Andy,” I said.
“I don’t think it will be. Have you had anything like this done?” he asked.
“No, I don’t think I’ve had but two cavities in my life,” I answered.
“Well,” Andy said, “you must not go to see the dentist very often.”
The truth is, or so our family dentist used to say, is that I have my Dad’s teeth, and so in addition to regular brushing and flossing I am the beneficiary of good genes.
I’m thankful that genetics has given me good teeth, but I might trade in good teeth for a fuller head of hair, as in addition to his teeth I am acquiring my father’s hair line. Unfortunately, such decisions aren’t up to me – when it comes to genetics you get what you get.
We know this to be true – that so much of who we are is determined without our consent. Many traits pass from parents to children – hair color, skin tone, body shape. To some degree or another, even your athletic ability, personality, intellect, all may be decided before you even had a chance to decide for yourself who you wanted to be.
So we end up with expressions like “a chip off the old block,” “the apple doesn’t land far from the tree,” or “she’s her daddy’s girl” because who we are has to do with who our parents are. The genetic material that knit us together decides for us, and our genes didn’t even think to ask before they gave some of us long legs, slow metabolisms, or quickly receding hair lines.
The Israelites were so convinced of this truth that they believed not only that eye color, skin tone, and height were determined by genetics, they went so far as to believe that even sin can be passed down from mother to daughter, father to son. Hence the expression that begins our 2nd scripture lesson: “The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”
The expression is one of those that are almost from the Bible but not quite. Sort of like “God helps those who help themselves” or “the Lord never gives us more than we can handle,” it is almost biblical.
This expression was probably inspired by Moses, where in Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy God claims that some sins are so powerfully bad that punishment for committing them must span not just lifetimes, but generations.
The Israelites, at the time of Ezekiel, took this idea and used it to explain their situation. They were in exile in Babylon, taken there as military prisoners of war, and were stuck, not because they did anything wrong, but because their parents did.
The book of Lamentations, probably written at the same time and certainly responding to the same frustration of life in exile says, “Our ancestors sinned; they are no more, and we bear their iniquities.”
Scripture explains the Babylonian invasion, their destruction of homes, violence towards women and children, and death in the streets as God’s judgment, punishment for their disobedience. As the living were captured and taken forcibly to live in Babylon, they explained the horror as the wages of their own sin.
We don’t think about it exactly that way, but we do believe that the wages of sin is death; that those who live by the sword die by the sword. We don’t call it unfair that those who choose adultery also watch their marriages crumble - not as random misfortune but as the logical result of their actions. The same is true for theft or murder – if you do wrong you should expect to be punished.
But the cruel reality is that not only the one who sinned pays the price.
Children are the innocent victims of their parents’ mistakes all the time, all alcoholism, all drug abuse. They pay the price not for their own sin but the sins of their parents – and so some truth resounds from the proverb: “the parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” For the sins of the parents may well go on punishing the children.
But the difference between stating that we bear their iniquities and that sin passes from one generation to another is the role that God plays in the process.
Certainly society has seen it both ways. Across the street from Presbyterian College where Sara and I graduated sits the Thornwell Children’s Home – an orphanage founded by the same man who started the college. Only in the last 50 years have children out of wedlock been accepted, as though God were punishing the children for their parents’ sin.
When our expectations of children are influenced by who their parents are, we’re not so different – expecting little from those whose parents have accomplished little in our eyes and expecting much from those whose parents have accomplished much, as though God’s blessing or curse passed down from one generation to the next. “Well, you know who his father is, what do you expect?” we might say.
So the Israelites didn’t have much trouble believing that God was keeping them there in exile because of what their parents did or didn’t do, as sometimes we believe that the present is completely determined by the past – who we are is totally contingent on who we come from – and the future – our future – is already set in stone as though God already decided.
But it’s God’s role in all of this that we shouldn’t be so sure of, the prophet says. For while you might be so bold to think that the sons and daughters of alcoholism, infidelity, and laziness are stuck in the trap that their parents laid out; don’t be so bold to go believing that God has preordained it to be so.
“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, all of you according to your ways, says the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions; otherwise iniquity will be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!
Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord God.
Turn, then, and live.”
Turn, then, and live, says the Lord – making plain the truth that a new way of life is just as possible now as it ever was.
Turn, then, and live - making plain the truth that who you are has not been decided until it has been decided by you.
Turn, then, and live - making plain the truth that where you come from, your family, even your genes will not determine the course of your future.
Turn, then, and live says the Lord – for the Lord God takes no pleasure in your death and continually celebrates your new life.
Amen.

Jonah's Anger

2011-09-18T11:54:00.001-07:00

Jonah 3: 10 – 4: 11, page 861
When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed God’s mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and God did not do it.
But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord! Is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
And the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city.
The Lord appointed a bush, and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort; so Jonah was very happy about the bush. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?”
And he said, “Yes, angry enough to die.”
Then the Lord said, “You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”
Sermon
There’s probably not a better preacher alive than Dr. Fred Craddock, a minister in the Disciples of Christ tradition who served a church here in town for a number of years. And while he was there, Mr. Bronston Boone, long time member of this church, served with him, leading meetings of that congregation’s elected leaders.
Not only did Bronston drive me down to Ellijay, GA to meet Dr. Craddock, Bronston recently gave me a couple DVDs of Dr. Craddock preaching at a big convention up in Nashville.
Dr. Craddock began by talking about the recession: “Money is in short supply, as are our jobs, but we really suffer because also in short supply are words.”
We need words to explain our situation, to tell the story of how we got here, and we need words to give us a clear direction for how we are going to get out.
But where are the inspiring words? There are plenty of questions; there’s plenty of blame, plenty of excuses and distractions, but not much inspiration, and maybe that’s because no one takes words quite as seriously as deeds.
Words are undervalued, Dr. Craddock says, but we need to remember “that sticks and stones may break your bones, but words…words will kill you.”
If you don’t believe it think about the words of Homecoming season. You have teenage boys up all night amassing the courage to say the words, “Would you like to go with me to the Homecoming dance?”
Those are big, powerful words – so big and so powerful they get stuck on their way out – maybe they get halfway out or maybe they end up never spoken, even though you have teenage girls dying to hear them.
Some people don’t take words seriously. High school boys certainly do though, and I want you to know that I believe words are more powerful than just about anything else.
Think about the words “I love you.” If you’ve never heard those words from a person you needed to hear them from then you know exactly how powerful they are.
All you can eat buffet – some people take those words very seriously.
In sickness and in health, as long as we both shall live – some people take those words very seriously, others, not so much. But regardless, the minister says them and it’s how the bride and groom interprets them that matters.
I’m sorry – it matters how these words are said, but parents make their children say them even if they don’t really mean it because the words themselves have power beyond the speaker’s level of repentance.
Repentance, redemption, forgiveness – we all hear these words, often from me, but what matters is not whether or not I say them – what matters is whether or not you hear them.
Some people hear them loud and clear – those coming to church seeking forgiveness will surely find it if their ears are open and their hearts are willing – as each and every week I say the words, “who is in a position to condemn, only Christ, and Christ was born for us, Christ lived for us, Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us, by the testimony of Jesus Christ you are forgiven.”
Those are good words – good enough that I’ve memorized them so that I can say them with some conviction – but what matters is not how I say the words, what matters is how you hear them.
For some, forgiveness is only serious business when it comes to their forgiveness, and from the belly of a whale Jonah cries out to God for forgiveness. In our call to worship we read that Jonah cries out to God to save him though he knows he doesn’t deserve it.
On the other hand, when it’s the Ninevites crying out to God, Jonah hopes that God won’t listen as forgiveness is something else when it’s the Ninevites.
That’s a horrible quality, really – to believe in forgiveness only selfishly, but that’s how some people are. Jonah goes through the city of Nineveh begrudgingly preaching as all prophets do – God’s wrath is coming. Unlike most prophets, Jonah leaves no room for repentance, there’s only judgment and wrath, but the Ninevites take his words and hear the opportunity for repentance and turn from their evil ways.
This isn’t what Jonah wanted to happen, however, and this attribute also sets him apart from all the other prophets. He is the only prophet in the Bible who hopes that the people won’t listen.
Jonah doesn’t celebrate, then, when he becomes the most effective prophet in scripture, successfully convicting all the hearts of Nineveh enough that they repent and turn from their ways. Jonah was hoping that he might just control the way his words were interpreted. I guess he was hoping that his words would either fall on deaf ears or wouldn’t be taken seriously, that his words would not change a single heart, that his words would mean what he wanted them to mean: “40 days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” But what the Ninevites heard is what matters, not what Jonah said. His words were like forced apologies, they came out empty of conviction, but they were heard loud and clear.
And that’s how words are – they take on a meaning of their own, and sometimes it’s how they’re heard that matters, not how they’re said.
Cancer is a word like that. The doctor who says that word can mean it one way, but it’s how the word is heard by the patient that matters.
It’s hard to hear a word like “divorce” and not think the worst. But from that word one person hears failure, heartbreak, another relief, freedom.
There are some who grow up hearing that you’re not good enough, and it’s difficult not to carry those words around, letting them define you and everything you do, letting the one who said them determine your life’s course. But it’s how you hear the words that matters. It’s how you choose to interpret them that is really holding you back or setting you free.
The Ninevites heard the words “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” and while they could have started preparing for the worst, instead they said to themselves, “Let’s just try. Who knows? God may relent and change God’s mind; God may turn from God’s fierce anger, so that we do not perish.”
I pray this day that you will be so bold to go and do the same, not letting the meaning of words be set in stone, but daring to believe that they may indeed be heard a different way.
Hear words of despair, sadness, and sickness and be bold to see in them a reason to hope.
Hear words of condemnation, foolishness, and shame and be bold to hear over and above them words of God’s promise and love.
Hear words like “not good enough,” “can’t be fixed,” and “it’s too late,” and be bold enough to say, “Who knows? God may…God just might.”
Because the truth is, it’s God who gets to decide what happens next – not the one who said the words.
“For I know that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent form punishing.”
Forgiveness is real, and while Jonah didn’t quite want to believe it, God was longing to hear of the Ninevites’ repentance. While Jonah uttered his words without conviction, not believing in the worth of an entire city, God looked down, full of forgiveness, full of love, full of patience, and was only too eager to celebrate their return.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.

It's Just That Easy

2011-09-04T07:49:00.001-07:00

Romans 13: 8-14, page 162
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Sermon
Two of my favorite parts of the worship service here are things that we do every week without even thinking about it – we stand and say together what we believe using the Apostles Creed, one of the earliest statements adopted by the Christian Faith, and we pray together as Christ taught us using the Lord’s Prayer.
I love these parts of the service because it’s a rare treat to find yourself in a room full of people who can agree enough to say that we all believe the same thing, not once, but twice.
Human beings are notorious for complicating such simple pleasures as though we were predisposed for seeing room for disagreement.
Maybe you’ve been to a wedding, the groom’s a Methodist, the bride a Presbyterian and when it comes time to pray the Lord’s Prayer you’re not sure whether you need to be forgiven for your debts or your trespasses.
There’s an advantage to keeping things simple, but there’s something about people that makes us want to complicate matters – to take something simple like a candy bar, dip it in batter and deep fry it. People are doing that now at State Fairs and things, and it seems over the top, but this is what people do – we take simple things and make them more and more complicated.
Think about your car – it started out without power windows. But now that we have them, air conditioning, satellite radios, power steering, and heated seats it’s hard to imagine getting by without them, until something breaks and there’s absolutely no way to fix it ourselves and so we long for a simpler time when cars were just cars.
When you add things, when you make things more complicated, you have to be careful because often are things added – for convenience, for the sake of luxury, to be new and exciting - but rarely is anything taken away.
That’s how closets work. Things get added. Everything in my closet is important…or at least it was at one time. More importantly I can’t imagine going through it all to clean it out – now that all that stuff is in there I’m used to it being in there. I know I don’t need it, but I’m not going to clean it all out either.
Taxes work this way too. You start with something simple and you add to it and it gets complicated fast. I’m sure that every tax code we have seemed like a good idea at the time, but today I’m not sure what my Dog License Tax goes to pay for, and I’m certain that now that it’s been established there is no committee in our Federal Government who is going to put it to sleep. Our tax code is like a closet – I’m sure everything there is important – or at least it was at one time – and now that it’s in there it’s never coming out.
In the last 100 years, more than 40 new types of tax have been instituted, and so today there are many who call out for a simplification of the process that most need a professional to understand. The only good thing is that those who know can benefit from the exemptions.
You add and you add and you add – but not all of that adding is bad because you pay less if you can be smart about it. There’s an exemption for children, there’s an exemption for buying products that are considered environmentally friendly, and there are tons of exemptions for religious institutions.
And that’s what we really lose when we hear Paul’s words in his letter to the church in Rome: “The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.” This kind of simplification sounds wonderful – there’s no need for the whole legal code we find in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th books of the Bible: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy – it’s just this simple – Love one another. But what we lose are the exemptions and I believe we depend more on those than we think.
In the time of the ancient Israelites the rules for life had been added to and amended until there was a law for everything. Just as there were laws against eating shrimp and pork, there were ways to deal with lepers and disease – there were standards for purity that allowed the Israelites to, in the name of sanitation, avoid those with disease, especially those diseases that involved blood.
Jesus, however, has a problem with avoiding people, and when a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, Jesus doesn’t push her away because the Law would have allowed him to. He says to her, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.”
In the time of the ancient Israelites there was such resentment for tax collectors that there was no call to treat them with the love and respect enjoyed by others. There was the idea that some could be despised and resented in the name of unfair taxation.
Jesus, however, has a problem with such resentment, and rather than put them aside as he would have been justified in doing, everywhere he went he was called a friend of prostitutes, tax collectors, and sinners.
There were also those who feared mental illness in the time of the Israelites, and there were Laws to provide guidance to deal with such people. That’s how a man ended up chained and confined to the tombs – to protect the village and to protect himself.
Jesus, however, asked him his name. He replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” And Christ cast out the demons, though he had every reason to walk on by. He would have been justified in doing so – the Law offering exemptions in such extreme cases.
Paul calls us to go and do the same – to wipe the slate clean and follow this one simple commandment – “love one another.” But there is certainly a multitude of problems with wiping the slate clean. You lose the exemptions, and without the exemptions, what are you supposed to do? What are you supposed to do if you don’t like your neighbor, if your neighbor doesn’t like you? What are you supposed to do if your neighbor hates you, or you hate your neighbor?
What if you are afraid – and loving someone means facing your fears?
What if you are happy as you are and happy with the world as it is – and loving someone means opening a whole can of worms?
What if you are guarded – because loving someone has broken your heart before?
There are a lot of reasons to be scared of cleaning out a closet full of complicated rules, to be afraid of wiping the slate clean and staring into the face of “love your neighbor as yourself”. But more than anything else, we should all be afraid of what’s left at the bottom once you’ve cleaned out all complications, because down at the bottom is the foundation for faithfulness. If you get down to the heart of it all, all the rules, all the ordinances, all the exemptions, you’ll find the reason for obedience.
The Lord said to Moses, “this day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.”
Down at the heart of all our perpetual ordinances is gratitude – gratitude to God who spared the Israelites from the angel of death that passed through Egypt. Gratitude to God who led them out and on into the Promised Land. And now, gratitude to God who laid down his very life that we might live. Gratitude to Christ who saved us.
At the bottom of the closet is gratitude – that we are loved despite all the reasons God has not to. All the times God had every reason to give up but didn’t.
All the times good advice would have told God to walk away.
All the times the Law would have provided God with a fine exemption.
In the Lord’s Prayer we pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
You can expect to be forgiven – you can expect to be loved – and so you owe it to God to return the favor.
Thanks be to God – the one who had every reason to stop loving, but never did and never will.
Amen.

Marks of the True Christian

2011-08-29T07:27:00.001-07:00

Romans 12: 9-21, page 162
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.
Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.
Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Sermon
You can get in a lot of trouble if you act without thinking.
You might enter into senseless business deals because of emotional pressure. You might go along with the crowd because in the moment it feels like the best thing to do. You might do something that you know you’ll regret, but you do it anyway because you just want to give in to impulse – in to momentary pleasure without thought for lasting wellbeing.
It’s dangerous – to act without thinking. Your parents told you so. But it’s also dangerous to think without acting.
It’s possible to think and think and think – to think through all the possible problems, to become aware of all the potential drawbacks, to become so fearful of risk that you become immobilized. And this is dangerous too – because without action life will pass you by.
Thinking through all the possibilities – not wanting to commit to early – all the while doors are closing.
So afraid of making a miss-step that no step is ever taken.
Assuming that there is plenty of time while the clock keeps on ticking.
Its dangerous stuff – thinking is. I can think of all kinds of reasons why now is not the best time to potty train our two year old daughter Lily – for one thing she doesn’t want to stop using diapers, but for another thing now is just not the right time. She has a new baby sister to adjust to. We’ll soon be moving into a new house, I hope anyway, and I wouldn’t want her to get used to using one set of toilets then ask her to get used to some that are completely new.
More than that, I know what to do with diapers, so I don’t have any problem telling myself “now is just not the right time.”
But if not now, when?
This is really a good question to ask when you say to yourself, now is not the right time to visit grandma, assuming that she’ll be there forever. Now just isn’t the best time to talk to your children about drugs or cigarettes or whatever else, as though you could protect them just a little while longer. Now is just not the right time to quit smoking – there’s too much stress at work – now is just not the right time – all the while assuming that we are guaranteed more than right now, when really the question is – if not now, when?
Moses surely wouldn’t have denied the fact that his people needed to be liberated from Pharaoh’s oppression – but was he just going to walk away from his flock?
Now’s not the right time – and besides – Pharaoh wants me dead for murder, my mother set me down the river in a basket – there’s nothing for me back in Egypt and here I have a family, a life – maybe later, but now’s just not the right time.
But if not now, when?
Moses had plenty of reasons to put it off – just as you do.
He had a life to attend to. Babies to feed. Times were tough.
But if not now, when? And if not you, then who?
Let love be genuine, Paul says – and maybe this one is easy enough to go along with, but in reality we push this one to the backburner as much as any other – focusing on whatever emergency we face, putting out whatever fire is burning bright while the fire of relationships needs tending. It’s easy to assume that it won’t ever go out, but for how long can you really ask those who love you to wait before the fires start to cool?
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them he says – and I suppose that we always intend to burry hatchets, put an end to harsh words, put aside old resentments – but intentions are only kind thoughts that don’t do anyone any good until they turn into action.
We postpone hard conversations – we postpone forgiveness – we postpone living as we know we should not realizing that time is short and getting shorter.
The bush is burning – as we assume it will burn on forever.
The people are suffering under Pharaoh’s oppression – as we assume that they can just go on suffering a little while longer – but why not put an end to it today?
Moses did have a life as a shepherd – but God had prepared him for a life as a shepherd of his people leading them into the promised land – and you may have a life now – but God has prepared for you a life free from the torment of grudges held tight for too long, forgiveness withheld, and the constant drive for vengeance – and why would you postpone such a life any longer? If not now, when?
Our second scripture lesson for today is from Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, and the minister I knew as a child used this passage for his benediction Sunday after Sunday.
At the close of every worship service he would stand before us calling us to leave church going forth as true Christians – letting love be genuine, hating what is evil, holding fast to what is good.
Sunday after Sunday he called us to live life defined by the marks of the true Christian – but it was so easy, and it still is so easy, to believe that now is not the time and that living as we should can wait.
After all – today we live in a world where knowing what to love and what to hate is not nearly so easy as it should be – blessing those who persecute you seems a dangerous proposition indeed, and surely today is not the time for loving enemies – should we go loving our enemies leaving room for the wrath of God we may not live to see tomorrow.
But if we don’t live by these standards today – when will we?
The world is not getting any better – and if there aren’t people out in the world determined to choose another path it never will.
Now is the time. Today is the day.
Let love be genuine – now and forever.
Amen.

We Have Gifts

2011-08-22T07:15:00.001-07:00

Romans 12: 1-8, page 157
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.
For the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
Sermon
You’ve all heard about the dangers of low self-esteem. How some, or maybe all of us at certain times, look in the mirror and don’t like what we see, don’t see beauty, intelligence, or creativity, but a person who could stand to look better, work harder, and give more.
What you don’t hear as much about is the flip side of that same coin – high self-esteem. I’m not sure that’s even a real term, but I heard about it once on TV and it’s stuck with me, as there are always people around who seem to suffer from thinking too highly of themselves.
Paul writes, “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment,” and he follows this statement with his rational, “For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function.”
In our world however, some functions seem to matter more than others. A search of the word “celebrity” on Google will come up with 382 million results, but you won’t have much luck trying to find information about their mothers, without whom they would not exist; their housekeepers, without whom they would not survive; or their agents, without whom they would know what to say or where to go.
There are some people in our world who seem to matter more than others, whose names you know and can remember, but Paul calls us to recognize that humanity is like a body – there are many members with different functions – and while the world might celebrate some functions more than others you must not be tricked into believing that some functions matter more than others.
Take the first two chapters of Exodus for example. Certainly you know who this story is about, the heading of chapter two tells you everything you need to know, it’s the story of the “birth and youth of Moses.” But notice that Moses wasn’t mentioned in our reading for today – he’s not given a name until verse 10. This story isn’t really his story yet – the first two chapters of Exodus is the story of strong women whose names have mostly been forgotten because our world values some functions more than others.
The heroes of this story are Shiphrah and Puah. The king of Egypt said to them, “when you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live.”
Maybe even Pharaoh himself valued some functions more than others, believing that only a man would rebel against him toppling him from his seat of power, but here he underestimated two midwives who saved the lives of innumerable boys, saying to Pharaoh, “the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.”
These two are named in chapter one of Exodus, because these two women, Shiphrah and Puah, matter. Without their faith in God, Moses would have been killed at birth.
More than that, by these women we know that Moses was not the first to defy Pharaoh’s orders. He was not the first to stand before the most powerful man in the land without cowering. These two women went before him, defying Pharaoh’s power, refusing to follow his orders, finding a means to execute justice in a time of terror and fear.
But their names could have been forgotten. Moses is the name that we remember today. He is the one who seems the most important, as it is his function as liberator of the Israelites, bringer of the 10 Commandments, and as the guide into the Promised Land that has been valued by generations of the faithful over these two who function as his crafty and brave midwives.
It falls to us then, to remember the names Shiphrah and Puah, because without them there would have been no Moses.
On the other hand, to most people their names will be forgotten. Like mothers or housekeepers or agents of celebrities, it’s not their function as nurturers or promoters that society values, it is the one they nurtured or promoted whose name goes up in lights.
The same is true for so many in our world who live their lives disconnected from reality and ungrateful to those who held them up. Rev. Bill Williamson, longtime pastor of this church was known for saying, “There are some people who we were born on third, but think that they’re there because they hit a triple.” So it goes for the well born who go their whole lives believing that they deserve their privilege, the entitled who believe it is their right to receive gifts and handouts. For some life is easy, blessings overflow. And should they ever ask why, we should pity those who reach the conclusion that they deserve what they have been given.
Paul urges you, “not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think,” as those who fall into positions of power, prestige, and privilege without recognizing how they got there miss out on the opportunity to be thankful.
Tina Fey is not a notoriously religious woman. She’s a comedian notorious for her Sarah Palin impersonation and her role as lead actress and writer of the Thursday evening show 30 Rock. But in her recent book she included a prayer titled, “the Mother’s Prayer for Its Daughter.”
The prayer begins, “First, Lord: No tattoos,” and it ends with this: “And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 AM, all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back. “My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans [who knows what] off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know. Because I peeped it with Your God eyes. Amen.”
For Moses there were two incredible brave women, without them he never would have breathed his first breath. Then for him there was a mother who hid him as long as she could before she placed him in a basket and prayed; and then there was his sister who watched the basket float downstream into the hands of Pharaoh’s daughter. His sister was brave enough to suggest that a Hebrew woman be called to nurse him and Moses grew up nurtured in Pharaoh’s house by Pharaoh’s own daughter and his own mother.
Without these women there would be no Moses – so who can say that one gift is better than another.
For you there are others – some whose names you remember while the memory of others has faded. There are generations of faithful, those who witnessed firsthand the mighty acts of God all the way to the forefathers and foremothers of this church who gave us a place to hear the Good News and be saved. We are the recipients of their legacy. Give thanks for them all, because without them there is no you – so who can say that one gift is better than another.
The foolish may go their whole lives thinking that nothing important happened before they showed up on the scene – but those of you who know the truth will remember and be thankful for all those who came before. Those of you who know the truth will face the trials and tribulations of today knowing that generations have passed through hardship before and lived to tell the tale. Those of you who know the truth will enter into the unfolding drama that is the great story of humanity, serving this church as many have served before, giving of your gifts just as so many before you have given.
Rejoice and be thankful – not thinking too highly of yourself, but giving thanks to all those who made you who you are.
Amen.

Things That Defile

2011-08-14T07:28:00.000-07:00

Matthew 15: 10-28, page 17
Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.”
Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.”
But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” Then he said, ‘Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”
Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.”
But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.”
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”
He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”
She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
Sermon
This past week I was in Charleston, South Carolina. My grandmother has been in the hospital there for the past few weeks struggling to fight a rare strain of pneumonia, and my grandfather, wanting to be at her bedside each day, needed me to drive him back and forth from the hospital.
One night I fried him chicken wings, and I was reminded of how differently he eats. He grew up in a swamp, more or less, not that that explains it, but I suppose he grew up not wasting anything. When it came to chicken wings I ate the little drum stick part and the flat part with the two bones. He thought this was wasteful, because he on the other hand, in addition to eating both those parts also scrapes the skin of the pointy piece that makes up the tip of the wing that I didn’t even know was edible.
He’s always been like that. His favorite part of the catfish is the tail fin, and at Thanksgiving or Christmas I remember being called into the kitchen as a 7- or 8-year-old where he’d cut off a piece of fat from the roast: “Here you go boy; don’t tell your mother I gave you this.”
The things that go into his mouth aren’t want I would call clean, nor would I call it healthy, but what comes out of his mouth is often something different – “I can’t tell you how proud we are of you Joe,” he has so often said to me.
Then he said to the disciples, ‘Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart…’
What people eat, what goes in their mouths, is largely informed by culture. Here in Columbia, at least until the close of Sam Hills, there were rooster fries. Bushmen in Africa like nothing better than porcupine skin, and my grandfather grew up eating squirrel. But more than that, culture informs not only what we eat, but who we eat with, who we accept and who we don’t, who are worth associating with and who aren’t. So Christ makes this statement about food, “Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles,” and follows this statement with its application.
Jesus grew up in a time with its own cultural norms, and by those norms he was told what was good to eat and what wasn’t, but more than that, he was told who he should eat with, who should be accepted, and who was worth associating with. When a woman from a certain region came to him shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon,” Jesus didn’t just think on his own, his response was informed by the cultural norms of his own day – “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”
That’s not what we expected Jesus to say, but Jesus wasn’t born into a cultural vacuum. The Canaanite people for generations had been defined by where they lived, how they lived, and what they ate. These people were not just considered to be less than the Israelites, they were so low as to be considered dogs. And Jesus, just as he was taught what was good to eat by his environment, he was also taught who was good. Born into a certain family, he knew who was better and who was worse – who got the pork loin and who got the chittlins. He took in these lessons from culture, but it’s not what lessons you take in that matters, it’s not what you take in, what you eat, or where you grew up, it’s what actions that come out that define who you are.
A lot has changed at airports in the last 10 years, but the only change that I don’t find frustrating is the new Dyson Air Blade you can use to dry your hands in the Nashville Airport bathroom. There’s a lot more to be aggravated by – check-points, lines, always being ready with your boarding pass and drivers license, having to take off your shoes and not being allowed to take normal size shampoo. There’s a lot to get aggravated by, but it’s not the environment that you find yourself in at the airport that defines you – it’s how you react to the environment at the airport.
It amazes me how some supremely kind people will still help others to get baggage on and off the conveyor belts or how veteran flyers will explain to those who don’t know what can go on their carry-on and what can’t. How many people will return valuable objects left behind in airport restaurants, say please, thank you, and excuse me, even if they’re obviously running to catch their flight.
Their response to this new cultural norm of airport security says something about who they are, just as Jesus’ response to cultural norms of discrimination says everything about who he is.
In saying, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs” we hear the echo of cultural norms of prejudice and racism, the hold that culture has taken on even the Son of God – but when she says to him, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table,” he is invited to speak, not as his culture has taught him to speak, but to speak from his heart. Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
You are all the product of culture. What goes in are standards of not only what you eat, but who you eat with, who you accept and who you don’t, who are worth associating with and who aren’t. However, “it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.”
It is not the cultural norms you were born into that define who you are, but whether you live your life never questioning those norms, especially those that discriminate against groups and individuals.
It is not the norms of the household that you grew up in that define who you will be, but it is the choices that you make – to be like them or to be different – that make you who you are.
It is not the words that you heard growing up to describe groups of people, it is not the separation that culture deemed appropriate, it is not the generalizations that you grew up believing were true that determines the future – it is what you do – what you say – that will change the world.
Amen.

On Your Lips and On Your Heart

2011-08-07T11:50:00.000-07:00

Romans 10: 5-15, page 160
Moses write concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that “the person who does these things will live by them.”
But the righteousness that comes from faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say?
“The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart”
(That is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.
The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
Sermon
There’s a difference between actually being there and assuming you know what is going on without being there.
Before I started seminary I worked for a lawn maintenance company and I would sometimes be working in someone’s lawn, cutting their grass, trimming their hedges, spraying their weeds, and I knew I was being watched as though I weren’t completely trusted with their boxwoods. At the time I was offended, feeling as though I deserved their trust, but there is a lot of wisdom in actually being there rather than assuming you know what is going on.
Assuming that everything is fine, that you’ve given good instructions and that they’ll be carried out isn’t always a good idea.
Bob Duncan, our county historian and long time member of this church told me a story the other day about a man who paid the price for not being there, assuming that everything was fine.
This man’s church, a beautiful old church south of Bigbyville in the Hopewell Community, needed a fresh coat of paint, and the man decided he was just the one to do something about it. There weren’t any other negotiators as shrewd as him, and with painters always out to make an extra buck off the kindness of church folk, this man began interviewing painters.
One rose above the rest – or you might say he bid below the rest – and the man patted himself on the back for such shrewd negotiating and told the painter, “I want you to paint everything below the roof white.”
“Everything?” the painter asked.
“Everything,” the man said, and he assumed his work was done, having given clear directions to the painter, and assured the painter that he was not the kind to be pushed around.
Soon he would be the hero of the congregation the man assumed, without returning to the church to make sure everything was going on as it should.
On Sunday the man came to church. The painter was gone having finished his work, done just what the man had asked, but not what the man assumed the painter would do. The congregation was standing outside the church admiring the new coat of paint - the siding was painted white, the doors were white, and so were the door knobs and even the windows. Everything below the roof had been painted white and that day church was held in a dark room, not as much worshiping as hand wringing and arm crossing.
There is a difference between actually being there and assuming you know what is going on without being there.
Adam Southern, columnist for the Daily Herald, wrote a story with a similar moral in the paper last week. He decided to take a trip to Atlanta, but rather than ask friends who had actually been there for recommendations about where to go and where to stay he made hotel reservations on-line. The hotel described itself as, “close to attractions and Downtown Atlanta.” Being from Atlanta I want you to know that’s not necessarily good, but that sounded good to Adam, as reading about a place is one thing and actually being there is another.
He pulled into the hotel parking lot at the same time as an ambulance. Not that an ambulance is bad, but the theme of the hotel is what concerned him – there are some hotels that seem inspired by bed and breakfasts, others that posses the flavor of the beach with shaded windows and palm trees – this hotel seemed to possess a prison theme, only lacking razor wire and a gunned parapet.
“Well, looks aren’t everything,” he told himself as he walked across the parking lot, only to be greeted by a man running and screaming to explain the presence of the ambulance, “That was a drive-by they just had!”
He went on into the office; “May I help you?” asked the desk clerk. Immediately Adam replied, “Yes! I would like to cancel my reservations please.”
There’s a difference between actually being there and assuming you know what is going on without being there. Sometimes you just have to be there – you can’t assume you know what’s going on, you can’t read about it on the internet. You just have to be there – and the same is true for people – the power of presence is always significant, there being a big difference between being present and not.
The Apostle Paul in this lesson from Romans writes, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard?”
Paul seems to believe that you know the answer to this question – how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed – that wouldn’t make any sense, now would it? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard – well, you can’t expect them to do that either. What, then, are you to do? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
He can’t be talking about your feet, you might say. He may as well be asking you to walk on water. But we know he asked Peter to do that too, and so we can’t be surprised that he asks you to get on your feet, regardless of how uncomfortable that makes you feel. How else are they going to call on the Lord? How are they going to believe without you?
It’s a clear enough message, I think, but still it’s a great challenge for Presbyterians. There’s an old joke: what do you get if you cross a Presbyterian with a Jehovah’s Witness? Someone who knocks on your door but doesn’t know what to say.
Let me say this then - there’s a difference between actually being there and assuming you know what is going on without being there.
There is a difference between setting foot in the hospital room to sit by a dying friend not knowing what to say, and assuming there’s no point in going.
There is a difference between getting to know a teacher by seeing her in action, and assuming that education in this country is failing and teachers are the problem.
There is a difference between setting foot in East Columbia and seeing our neighbors face to face, and assuming that there’s nothing we can do to fight crime and poverty in our community.
There’s a difference between actually being there and assuming you know what is going on without being there – “How beautiful are the feet then,” Paul writes, “How beautiful are the feet” of those who don’t put their faith in assumptions.
Those who do so honor our God, Paul says, for there is no need to bring Christ down from heaven or to descend into the abyss that you might bring Christ up – there is no need to go looking for Christ for God has made the word near you, on your lips and in your heart.
Ours is a God who has drawn near, walked the lonesome valley with you, not looking down from heaven in times of your distress, but coming as near to you to know all your joy and all your pain, taking human form to know you rather than make assumptions about the human condition.
Go and do likewise then. Go to them.
Do not assume that they’ll figure it out on their own – if you do we may as well paint the windows and keep the good news in here and all to ourselves.
Go to them and do not assume that you already know who they are. Do not assume that they already know what you have to bring, and do not worry about what you will say – it’s not the mouth, nor the words, but the feet. For beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news.
Amen.

My Kindred According to the Flesh

2011-08-01T08:29:00.001-07:00

Romans 9: 1-5, page 159
I am speaking the truth in Christ – I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit – I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh.
They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
Sermon
Last Sunday afternoon, James Fleming, the chair of the pastor nominating committee who interviewed and called me to this church, challenged me with an email titled: “Can you top this?”
The email was a video of a protestant minister praying before a huge crowd at a NASCAR race:
“Heavenly Father, we thank you tonight for all your blessings. You say in all things give thanks. So we want to thank you for all these mighty machines that you have brought before us. Thank you for the Dodges, and the Toyotas, thank you for the Fords, and thank you most of all for Rouch and Yates partnering to give us the power that we see before us tonight. Thank you for GM performance technology and R07 engines, thank you for Sunoco racing fuel, and Goodyear tires that give performance and power to the track. Lord, I want to thank you for my smoking hot wife tonight Lisa, my two children, Eli and Emma, or as we like to call them, the little “e’s”. Lord I pray you’ll bless the drivers and use them tonight. May they put on a performance worthy of this track. In Jesus name, boogedy, boogedy, boogedy, Amen.”
The titled of Mr. Fleming’s email was, “can you top this?” but I’m pretty sure that if he really thought I could pray a prayer to match that one he never would have been interested in interviewing me to serve this church.
There’s a degree of polish that comes with being a Presbyterian. There’s a certain air, and maybe you, like me, consider yourself to be different from the kind of pastor who would pray a prayer like this one and the kind of crowd who would appreciate it.
I would like to believe that there are miles of difference between the two of us, but when you get right down to it we have a lot more in common than I’d like to admit. We’re both pastors, we’re both protestant pastors for that matter. I assume we share many of the same hopes and aspirations – to live as Christ would have us, to pray for those who face danger, to see and know fully all the blessings that we have to be thankful for. This pastor, Joe Nelms and I, not only share the same vocation and many other similar qualities; we have the same first name.
I’m stuck with him, just as he’s stuck with me, as in a lot of ways our Spiritual Family isn’t any different from the families we were born into. They’re not like your friends, in that you don’t get to pick them. You and I are stuck with Pastor Joe Nelms, though we’re tempted to see ourselves as different, and maybe even better.
The Apostle Paul must have been faced with the same temptation, to believe that he was more enlightened, to believe that he knew more or was closer to God than those Israelites who stayed with the old traditions and failed to see Christ as the Messiah. He must have been tempted to believe that there were miles of difference between where he came from and where he ended up, going from a life in Judaism to a life in Christ. But in our scripture lesson we see a man who doesn’t distance himself from the Israelites, but honors them despite their differences:
“They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah.”
Rooted then in the faith of his forefathers and foremothers Paul celebrates not only his new life in Christ, but his heritage in the people who gave Christianity a savior.
While Paul sees it this way I doubt his family did. They must have seen him as their great disappointment. There’s no evidence that anyone in his family followed his example, and maybe you can imagine how dinner conversation went when Uncle Paul journeyed back to Jerusalem to visit his brothers and sisters. His grandmother had been explaining his quirks to all her friends – yes, he was such a student of the Torah, yes, he adhered to the letter of the Law, yes, he did go on to persecute Christens…but right now he’s going through some kind of phase you see – but I’m confident his parents are going to be able to talk him back to reality – you know how young people are.
I’m sure that his parents were worried, and that they saw miles of difference between where he was and where they thought he should be. But while it would be understandable for Paul to go and do the same, call attention to the gap of difference between them, Paul calls their attention to what they hold in common and longs for a way to bridge the gap – “For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh.”
This way of thinking doesn’t last very long as relations between Christians and Jews deteriorate rapidly – first Christians are kicked out of the synagogues, then ostracized by their families, and soon Christians begin returning the favor, and by the middle ages you have Crusaders who find it appropriate to destroy Jewish settlements in Europe on their way to fight Holy War in the Middle East.
What develops is the kind of mindset that becomes the foundation of the Holocaust – but it didn’t have to be this way.
The Apostle Paul doesn’t call for animosity between Christians and Jews – here he so clearly calls Christians to acknowledge the truth that the foundation of all their belief is with the Israelites, and rather than strike out at them we should longingly look forward to the day when they recognize the coming of their Messiah in Christ.
We’re not so different at all, he seems to be saying, but sometimes our tendency is to call attention to the differences.
Last Friday the Daily Herald quoted late night television host David Letterman: “The NFL lockout is over. All the parties agreed and we have a compromise. It’s too bad the national debt isn’t as important as football.”
It is too bad, but these days the difference between a Democrat and a Republican seems insurmountable – Speaker of the House John Boehner not wanting to have much to do with President Obama, and I’m sure the feeling is mutual.
It seems today as though there are miles of difference between the two camps, and the more this difference is aggravated the more you and I will suffer.
That’s how it seems to be anyway – that this country stands to gain from a government working together rather than perusing two difference goals, that we have more in common than we have different, and we should be praying for each other rather than fueling division with our rhetoric.
“I am speaking the truth in Christ – I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit – I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh.”
Paul does not represent the current attitude among politicians in Washington, but may he represent yours.
See commonality when all around you there is focus on division.
Feel the pain of schism, with great sorrow and anguish in your heart.
And while some focus on what they have to gain from attacking opponents and catering to likeminded factions, remember that Paul would cut himself off from Christ for the sake of his people.
Exhibit that same love for those who seem different and you’ll honor the one who makes us all sons and daughters, brothers and sisters.
Amen.

I Am Convinced

2011-07-24T12:22:00.000-07:00

Romans 8: 26-39, page 158
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.
And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to God’s purpose. For those whom God foreknew God also predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family.
And those whom God predestined God also called; and those whom God called God also justified; and those whom God justified God also glorified.
What then are we to say about these things?
If God is for us, who is against us?
God who did not withhold God’s own son, but gave him up for all of us, will God not with him also give us everything else?
Who will bring any charge against God’s elect?
It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn?
It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.
Who will separate us from the love of Christ?
Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
For I am convinced, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Sermon
August 6th is to be a day of prayer, or so hopes Texas Governor Rick Perry, who has called on the president, our nation’s governors, and Texas lawmakers to fill up Houston’s reliant stadium with people who are “Christ-loving and realize that our country has gotten off track.”
Governor Perry has touched a nerve with many Christians in our country who hope that a day of prayer will spur a return to God, a change of heart, and a new direction for our nation and our world.
It must be a hopeless feeling, believing that such a drastic change is necessary – a hopeless feeling that our nation, our representatives, maybe especially our President, no longer seeks to follow the will of God, or at least, no longer represents their religious values.
If a Texas Governor in a nation led by a President who is a Protestant feels a need for this kind of dramatic change, we can scarcely grasp how the congregation Paul addresses must have felt each day living in an empire led by an Emperor who was a Pagan.
Certainly the Emperor of Rome couldn’t have supported the church that Paul addresses in this letter, and certainly the church must have felt cut off from an Empire who pledged allegiance to different gods, followed a different code of ethics, and neither respected nor even recognized the existence of Christianity.
But Paul doesn’t urge this fledging group to storm the coliseum for a prayer meeting – instead Paul offers this group assurance, that their relationship with God is not contingent upon the empire who rules over them, nor is their relationship with God at all in question.
That must have been hard to believe, as I think it will always be hard to believe – this idea that we need not pray using formal or even beautiful speech, “for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words”.
So many have lived their lives believing something else entirely – that God is distant, hard to reach, and surely we have fallen too far afield to be heard.
There’s a story about Jim Morrison, the lead singer for the Doors, a rock and roll band who pushed the limits of what was acceptable with their controversial lyrics and scandalous stage persona during the 1960’s. The story goes, Morrison is brought to a place, the Factory, to meet the artist Andy Warhol, who greets Morrison like the returning prodigal son though it’s not clear that they’ve ever met. Warhol gives Morrison a golden telephone, which Warhol picks up and holds out to Morrison saying: "Somebody gave me this telephone... I think it was Edie... yeah it was Edie... and she said I could talk to God with it, but uh... I don't have anything to say... so here... (giving Jim the phone) this is for you... now you can talk to God.”
In some ways, for some people, this is easier to believe – that it must take something magical, something special, to be heard by God, to be noticed by God – and so those who know that they have fallen off track, slipped backwards, and believe they have lost favor can’t believe that communication with the Most High God is as simple as getting down on your knees wherever you are. It must be more complicated than that – there must be a need for a golden telephone – surely God will not hear and be merciful to me, a sinner.
Not realizing that God is ever more ready to hear than we are to speak.
Not believing that if God is for us, surely no one could be against us.
Not daring to trust in the assurance that in all things we are more than conquerors considering the one who has loved us beyond measure.
After all, our world just doesn’t work that way.
Ours is a world of loss and gain – in the workplace, some gain favor with promotions and raises while others lose it. In school the push to succeed is so strong that teachers themselves in Georgia have been found guilty of cheating on standardized tests. And in society those who have made it hardly know where they stand if they don’t know whom they have left out.
In our world of lay-offs, failing math and science scores, and social hierarchy, who could ever believe in a God whose love is not given based on deserving, but whose love is simply poured out in the hope that you will see yourself for who you truly are?
Not according to the opinion of your boss, who saw you as replaceable.
Not according to the standardized test scores, which saw your need for improvement.
Not according to society, who lifted up the Pharisee over and above the thieves, the rogues, the adulterers, or even the tax collector.
For while we must always demand better of ourselves, striving to use our gifts to the fullest of our capacity, we can never forget that in all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen.

It's Coming

2011-07-18T09:56:00.000-07:00

Romans 8: 12-25, page 158.
So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh – for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father! It is that very spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ – if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons and daughters of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from the bondage of decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons and daughters, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we are saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what one already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
Sermon
Almost three weeks ago my wife Sara and I left our two year old daughter Lily at home with her grandmother to go to the hospital – feeling like our lives were about to change forever. There is a difference between two kids and one kid, or so we’d heard, and perfectly happy with our lives as three, Sara and I would often talk about the change to four – how with two kids and two parents you can plan on man on man coverage, but when one of us is gone there are two kids to keep safe and only one parent to do it. How on earth would one of us ever make it to and from the grocery store, how would one of us feed them both lunch, how would one of us console them both if they both needed arms to hold them?
But then there wasn’t much of a point to this speculation – it was too late for that – you get to a certain point and there is no going back – the baby is coming.
The baby is coming – that’s true no matter who you are or what age you live in – at a certain point the mother realizes that there is only one way this baby is coming out.
That was certainly true in Paul’s day, though childbirth was something different from what those of us with access to modern medical care experience in the sense that the process back then was more painful, less public, and carried with it a much greater risk.
Sara and our new daughter Cecelia benefited from the care of a doctor who has delivered half of the city of Columbia and a nationally ranked hospital where mothers have access to sanitary conditions, epidurals, even television and popsicles. We benefited from a system of health care unavailable to everyone, but certainly unimaginable compared to conditions in the Roman Empire.
In the ancient world, where we can assume that in Rome, as in all ancient cultures and still many cultures today, the rate of infant mortality was high, as was the chance of a mother dying in labor.
But some things never change and Paul’s words still ring true, I assume they resonate with every mother of every time and place: “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”
We can assume that the women in his congregation would have known exactly what he was talking about, that childbirth is a time of groaning – but something new is coming and for the mother, there’s no going back to how it was before.
However, for the father, that may not be true, especially considering the accepted practice in Ancient Roman society of exposure, as the choice to raise a child lay not in the hands of the mother, but in the hands of the father who would examine the newborn and choose whether to raise it or leave it to die, often on the street. The Romans thought it was strange that some nations subsumed by their empire would raise all healthy children, that Egyptians, Germans, and Jews exposed none of their children but raised them all.
As they struggled for hours, risking their own lives and the life of that child who would be born, they had with them also a great worry – that all this work, all this pain, could be for nothing should the father choose not to raise this child.
As Paul elevates this image of the mother, using it as a divine image to explain the pain felt by all people, all of creation, we can assume that he not only sought to give an adequate metaphor for the new Kingdom that is coming, but sought to challenge the patriarchal assumptions of Ancient Rome – that the choice or decision made by a father was not akin to the divine working of God in creation, but the delivery of a new child by a mother, this glorious and unavoidable act was.
He lifts up an act – a new creation that is coming regardless of your waning state of mind, your back sliding, your fear, to make a point about our world – the Kingdom is coming – and there’s just as much a chance of stopping it as stopping a child from being born in the heat of labor.
I remember too well the night our oldest daughter Lily was born. After hours and hours of labor my wife Sara faced an emergency c-section. It was a big change from our expected birth plan, but more than that, it was an emergency c-section, and as they wheeled her out of the delivery room to take her to surgery I was left wondering whether the birth of my daughter might mean the death of my wife. My wife summoned tremendous strength and courage that night to face that pain and uncertainty, but there was no going back.
I, like many, will never have the privilege of giving birth, but as we all live in the midst of a changing world that we don’t always like and rarely understand we are invited to see the truth – that the Kingdom is coming and there’s no one can stop it.
While we don’t always like to look ourselves in the mirror.
While we don’t always like to remember our regrets - who we’ve known, who we’ve been hurt by and who we’ve hurt.
While we would save ourselves from dwelling too long on our greatest mistakes, fearing that they will define us over and above our greatest success.
While often, when we consider all of who we are, it’s hard to believe that we are truly worthy of love and acceptance, especially the love and acceptance of God.
While it seems as though sin and bad decisions will define us, Paul does not understand our relationship with God to be one where we are worthy of God’s love, but one where we are adopted by God’s grace whether we choose to follow or not.
And Paul does not understand creation as though all of creation’s redemption were a matter of choice, as Paul does not portray creation as a Roman father who makes a decision to choose or not choose a newborn child, but as an expectant mother, giving birth to the new creation whether she chooses to or not.
We are used to choice and we are used to our choices defining who we are. But the choice between obedience and disobedience does not paint the picture of creation in Romans. Paul does not liken the pain creation suffers to a Roman father who faces a choice, but a “creation” who like a pregnant mother, “waits in eager expectation” for the joy that is to come.
From this perspective Paul writes, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us,” that the Kingdom is coming – whether we choose it or not.
It is God who governs our existence, and it is hope and not disappointment that defines who we are as the people of God.
“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time,” and as we feel the pain of this childbirth what do we expect?
Out of sadness, regret, depression, disappointment you may expect the worse and come to believe that our whole society is going down and, likewise, when you look down deep at who you are and who you’ve been you may reach the conclusion that you are sure to go down with it. But who are you but a child of the God who calls you son, who calls you daughter, and if you are God’s children, then you are also heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ – and if, in fact, you suffer with him, you suffer so that you may also be glorified with him – so you do not suffer pessimistically, but while trusting that all pain and discomfort are like birth pains – you suffer knowing that all groans lead the way to new life.
You see, you are the children of God, and so you encounter mistakes, not as lost opportunities, not as wrong turns that have lead off course, but as a part of an unavoidable process God is working in you and in the world.
You are the children of God, and so you must see yourself, not in disappointed judgment, but as a hopeful air of the God who has already chosen you as God’s own.
You are the children of God, who like an expectant mother know that your present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in you, because you have a reason to hope.
Amen.

The Sower's Lesson

2011-07-10T12:31:00.000-07:00

Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23, page 13
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thrones grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!
Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.
Sermon
It is convenient that I already had two sermons written for this month – one that corresponds with this week’s assigned readings, another that corresponds with next—because months ago I recorded sermons on Day 1, a nationally syndicated radio show that broadcasts sermons according to the lectionary.
So the two Sundays following my second daughter’s birth, theoretically, I wouldn’t need to scramble to piece together sermons for Sunday--I wrote them already.
But the problem is, I wrote these two sermons to address a church that struggles to remain relevant in a changing world. And this morning I preach to you, a church that is powerfully relevant. Months ago, I wrote two sermons to address a church that has seen diminishing membership and today I preach to you, a church that is growing. And I wrote two sermons to address a church that is less and less able to meet the needs of young people, but today I preach to you, a church who is blessed with young families and more children than we know what to do with.
In other words, I wrote a sermon months ago that corresponds with today’s assigned scripture lessons, but I can’t preach that exact sermon because the church I addressed then isn’t the church I address now.
If you listened to my sermon this morning on the radio or read or listened to it on the Day 1 website then you know I began my sermon with this introduction, “In this passage Jesus is having a problem that I would love to have – that when I preach on Sunday morning the crowds would be so great that I would have to sit out on a boat to avoid being consumed by the growing congregation on the shore.”
I can’t say that we have this problem exactly, but unlike so many in our denomination, we are growing, and we do struggle with space – where to put all our Sunday School classes, where we should put our youth group so that they’ll have room to grow, what can we change in our building to meet the needs of our growing congregation. What changes should we make so that we can continue to grow?
We want to do things, to make changes to ensure that we will nurture the families that we have while attracting new ones. We want to build things that will attract more people, offer programs that people of all ages will be interested in; we want things that we can do to assure that we’ll continue to be a relevant and vital part of this community.
But Jesus doesn’t really help us in that regard, because his advice doesn’t have all that much to do with those things that we can control.
In this parable we hear about a sower who has gone out to sow seed. The sower seems careless, sowing seed along the path where birds would eat it up, on rocky places where the plants would sprout quickly, but with shallow roots that the sun would scorch, other seed scattered among thorns that would out grow the plants and choke them out – seed going all these places besides its intended destination, among the good soil.
This parable describes a farmer, but surely not a farmer who knows what he’s doing. There is no mention of plowing the field, irrigating or fertilizing it. The farmer carelessly sows seed without thinking much about the maximum yield of his field, depending on a miracle for any kind of harvest at all.
Now I thought that this farmer was a whole lot different from modern farmers, but then I talked to Campbell Ridley.
I thought that modern farmers didn’t depend on miracles. And while they do plan ahead, plowing, irrigating, fertilizing, and sowing seed with expensive equipment rather than throwing it out haphazardly, according to Campbell Ridley, a good crop costs just as much as a bad one, and your crop at the end of the year, whether it makes you look like a good farmer or a great farmer fully depends not on what you can do, but on the weather which is out of your control.
Jesus admires the farmer who makes this truth so easy to see. The farmer in the parable doesn’t try to control much of anything, and he interprets his parable far away from the crowds so that only the disciples hear; the disciples, who, in a way, are like sowers, sowing the Good News of the Kingdom of God.
To them, those who would soon be entrusted with spreading the Gospel to all the earth, Jesus offers a parable about a farmer who sows seed and so obviously leaves the rest up to God.
This is the thing about churches: when you get right down to it, a whole lot depends not on who has the best building, the best programs, and which has the best preacher. Churches grow because of a whole bunch of factors that are out of our control.
The church I grew up in grew dramatically, and a bunch of people, myself included, contributed all that growth to our dynamic preacher. He took me out to lunch not long after I graduated seminary and he told a different story – one where the church that he served grew because the city the church served grew, and though he and the church did their job of casting out seed, the harvest was plentiful because of many factors that were completely out of their control saying something like: “Marietta was growing Joe. All I had to do was to keep the doors open and not screw up.”
We Christians today do our best to control everything that we can. We want to maximize the soil’s fertility, adding in Miracle Grow, watering on a schedule, doing our best not to leave too much of the process up to chance or up to God.
When we seem to be successful, the temptation is to take the credit for a job well done; and when we seem to struggle, we assume we have done something wrong, we haven’t planned enough. We want to maximize our yields, minimize our waste, and with the opportunity to control more and more, to know more and more, we run the risk of forgetting that ours is a vital, but ultimately small part of the great miracle God has been doing in our world since the dawn of creation.
We are the sowers of the seed, but we are not the Lord of the Harvest. Our seed must be sown or there will never be a crop, but by no means is the harvest all up to us. We must sow the seeds, but we must also trust that what will grow will grow, and what doesn’t is out of our control.
And here is the message to you - our world is changing, and I, like many of you, would like some plan for what to do about it.
I worry about the world we are living in – what according to too many Christians is a culture of drugs and greed, filling young men and women with apathy, cynicism – eating up seeds of hope and truth like birds to seeds sown along the path.
I worry about the soil – that too many in our communities are unresponsive to the Gospel, as hardened to church as the rocky places that have no use for seeds of faith.
I worry about the shallow faith of others who have not left the Church but have left the churches they grew up in to attend churches with less structure and more casual preaching offering moral lessons at best and a gospel of prosperity at worst. I worry about what will come of, what seems to me, a shallow faith or the lonely faith of those who are spiritual but not religious who assume they don’t need the church at all. When the sun comes up will their belief be scorched and wither into nothing?
I worry about the thorns of our world – knowing what forces will take over to strangle humanity should the faithful fade away. A world left to ambition, the reckless pursuit of wealth with no regard for the common good – surely without the Church too many would be left to the thorns that grow up and choke, first the poor, the oppressed, then us all.
But Jesus doesn’t call our attention to the seed that is lost.
“As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
Jesus entrusted 12 people with the future of the church, 12 people who launched a campaign that changed the whole world and while we are the exception to the typical mainline church, growing, flourishing, witnessing to the truth in what we say and what we do – there will be no crop without casting seed, and no one will experience the gift that this church is if you don’t invite them here.
More and more, either having experienced rejection or just fearing it, we are reluctant to reach out to people in love though we so desperately want to – as though our hands are cold despite our warm hearts. We are reluctant to reach out in love, to cast seeds of hope, to invite friends to take part in the gift that we all receive because of this community of faith.
We are reluctant, as though we already knew how our offer would be received – though the only thing that guarantees the rejection of what we have to offer is keeping the seed in our hand, never casting it out into the world.
The parable of the sower demands that you sow seed.
Don’t complicate matters any more than that – just sow seeds of love – and leave the rest up to God.
Amen.

I do not do what I want

2011-07-03T12:55:00.001-07:00

Romans 7: 15-25a, page 157
I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Sermon
What could be better than welcoming a new baby girl into the world; a little girl who will have the chance to be a part of this church, grow up in this town, be surrounded by kind and loving people who will help my wife and me raise her to make wise decisions, knowing who she is and how special she is in the eyes of God.
But at the same time, the thought of raising a baby girl in our world is terrifying. Life in our world today means steering clear of so much that’s negative, so much pressure, so much stress, so much that’s violent – and it’s not clear whether society will help us keep our children safe or put them in harm’s way.
This week it has seemed as though the world we live in is governed by a combination of self-determination and litigation from on high, or, as the Apostle Paul would put it, we have freedom on one hand and the law on the other.
On Monday the Supreme Court “struck down California’s ban on the sale of violent video games to minors,” putting an end to restrictions that have kept children from playing video games that involve shooting people, and has called forth a storm of concerned parents who defended the law first signed by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Then Tuesday came and the government attempted to protect children by approving tough new federal rules on baby crib safety that effectively bans the sale of used cribs.
It’s a mixed bag – while in one instance our society gave children freedom to decide what games to play ruling in favor of self-determination, the next day new legislation was enacted to protect children and at retail outlets, online sites, including eBay and Craigslist, even yard sales in the US, those who would try to sell a used crib to new parents face fines up to $100,000.
This past week, the week of my new baby girl’s birth, has been a mixture of legislation or law that attempts to protect on the one hand, and on the other values her freedom of speech over protecting her from violent video games.
Now parents and not the law stand in the way of kids and their violent video games, and the law and not parents will protect children from dangerous cribs.
Here is the struggle, then, for parents and every other resident of our society – we must, in some instances, decide for ourselves because we have been given the freedom to choose between what is safe and what is not, what is good and what is bad, we must depend on ourselves to keep sin at bay with the freedom to choose for ourselves – while at the same time abiding by laws that attempt to do those very things for us, deciding for us what is safe and what is not, what is good and what is bad, keeping sin at bay by outlawing those things that would do us harm.
I worry, then, about our moral compass. Certainly the moral compass that seems to be at work in the two instances I have mentioned has little to do with right and wrong or protecting our children and much to do with commerce, removing restrictions that would limit purchasing while adding restrictions that would increase the need for purchasing. Therein we see the limit of the law – the purpose of Government is not always to protect us, we cannot depend upon the law to always keep us from hurting ourselves or doing wrong, and so often we find ourselves left to our own devices.
Some would say that’s exactly how it should be. Why should the government decide for us, making decisions that we can make ourselves? But I believe we give ourselves more credit than we should in this regard, and here in our scripture lesson the Apostle Paul issues a warning, not at all confident that he can win over temptation by virtue of his own merit: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”
Freedom, for the Apostle Paul, is on the one hand, exactly what he wants. It is freedom from the Law that Christ brings – freedom to live according to the standards of the Golden Rule over the standards written down by Moses and his descendants. But freedom brings with it the opportunity to choose poorly, because freedom leaves decisions up to his own flesh and when left up to his own flesh too often, he does the very thing that he hates.
Here Paul takes seriously sin, its ability to control what we do, and the precarious position we all find ourselves in every day by living in a society where morality is not legislated, unless your heart desires a used crib at a neighborhood yard sale.
We must be wary of the Law, according to Paul, who says that only “if I do what I do not want, would I agree that the law is good.” Believing that abiding by rules can save us is a delusion, but at the same time we must be wary of this world when law or societal pressure does little to keep us in line lest we set loose that part of ourselves that drives us to sin.
Paul writes that “I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members,” and so he worries over freedom, for freedom may well set loose that part of ourselves that needs the limit of the law.
Without standards of Sabbath that tell us to rest, we find ourselves pressured to do more than we have time in the day to do, a way of living that leads to seeing a traffic accident as an inconvenience and not a tragedy.
Likewise, there are parts of ourselves that push away Biblical mandates for head coverings and restrictions on what we can wear, and so defining the limits of fashion is left up to magazines, standards of beauty set to standards unattainable, and we are left looking in the mirror for flaws and not wonder at God’s good creation.
And rather than have our income limited by tithing, knowing that it is not the Law but Christ who brings salvation, that part of ourselves that is constantly stimulated by the brainwashing of a consumer culture is set free to spend, though this part of ourselves always wants more and refuses to be satisfied.
We must be careful then. Because “sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.”
The Apostle Paul finds himself caught between the need for freedom and the need to limit our capacity for sin through the law, and with no way to choose between the two – freedom on the one hand and the law on the other, Paul calls us to a third option: the Cross.
There are plenty who believe that Paul simply replaces the Old Law with the New. And they live out their religion in the freedom of eating shrimp in the face of Old Testament prohibitions, while refusing women’s right to leadership, saying that Christ came and replaced the Old Law and brought a new one.
But that’s not what Paul is saying here. The Law, while it serves a purpose in limiting our actions, cannot be the means of our salvation because it isn’t enough. Nor does it honor the message of the Cross, because laws shape human behavior according to fear – fear of punishment, of the denial of attention, of removing favor. Under the law, God loves those who follow the commandments, but in the cross we see that God simply loves, even when that love means laying down God’s very life for you.
Without the law to help you make the right decisions, without the law to keep you from hurting yourself, without the law to protect your children, you may well worry about human behavior and the horrors that are sure ensue from such freedom.
But the greatest acts of humanity are not motivated by the fear of punishment or retribution; our greatest acts are motivated by love.
In Christ we know that those often-quoted words are true, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son.”
And so we know that it is because a mother so loved her children, not because there was a law against it, that she kept violent video games out of the house.
It is because a father so loved his daughter, not because the Federal Government told him to, that he made sure the crib she goes to sleep in is safe.
And it is because love, the love of God found in Christ Jesus, made a difference in Paul’s life that he came to change his ways, turn from persecuting Christians to live a life as a great champion of the church. Not because the law of the land or the law of scripture told him to. It was because of love. It was love who rescued you from your body of death, because of love.
Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Amen.

The Command to Sacrifice Isaac

2011-06-26T20:19:00.001-07:00

Genesis 22: 1-14, page 17
After these things God tested Abraham. God said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
God said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.”
So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him.
On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you,”
Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
Abraham said, “God will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.”
So the two of them walked on together.
When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son.
But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said “Abraham, Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
The Lord said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
Sermon
This week anyone who watches the news has witnessed the Casey Anthony trial has wondered: how it could happen, if she did it? Could it even be possible? Interesting that this passage should come up in the lectionary, and all the more troubling that while we don’t know Anthony’s motivation, nor do we know if she is guilty of the crime she’s accused of, we not only know that Abraham bound his son and raised the knife, we know Abraham’s motivation – God was testing him.
It’s no consolation that the ram was provided in the end. The ram doesn’t clear things up as though they never happened, doesn’t keep us from wondering how God could put someone in such a position – how God, our God, could even fathom such an idea much less say the words, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.”
For three days they walked together – who can even imagine the thoughts, the dread, that went through Abraham’s mind, each step brining him closer to the place he never wanted to reach?
When the two began the last leg of the journey together Isaac must have noticed that something was wrong, his father brooding and weighed down by something, but thinks that the problem is that they have forgotten the most important part of the sacrifice, “Father!” he says to Abraham, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
Abraham said, “God will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.”
In the mind of Abraham, God had already provided the lamb to him and his wife who had long passed the age of childbearing. His wife Sarah named him Isaac, which means laughter, and said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who heard will laugh with me. Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
Laughter must have seemed so far away when Abraham looked up and saw the place, dismissed the servants, and loaded down his son with the wood that was to be used to burn his body, a sacrifice to the Lord.
God will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.
That’s exactly what he believed and the only way I can understand it, the only way I can come to terms with such belief, is in imagining Abraham’s only alternative. Abraham’s choice is between faith, faith in the God who has provided, and doubt. More than any other that I can think of, this scripture lesson puts us squarely in the contest between faith and doubt, and for me and most of you I assume, doubt on the surface appears to be the more attractive option.
I know what I would say to myself if I heard the voice of God telling me to do such a thing. I would explain it away, chalk it up to indigestion, and doubt what I had heard.
But not Abraham.
I have already lived my life doubting, born into a culture of doubt where doubt, questioning, and caution are fundamental tenants of belief.
In pursuit of the best possible option high school seniors make innumerable college visits, college students labor over declaring a major, college graduates date and date and date in an attempt to find the best companion available, and society would never call us to do anything different – that would be like accepting the first bid from a plumber without getting any other estimates. It is wise to use apprehension, it is wise to be cautious, it is wise to question.
But Abraham goes against all of this.
For apprehension is a value when walking across shaky bridges, caution is admirable when it comes to two teenagers sitting in the backseat of a car, asking questions is exactly what we should all do when handed a bid for a new transmission. But all three are hindrances to faith because faith is the only place where we must be free from the hindrance of our own reason to submit to divine authority.
How horrible that sounds, considering Abraham and Isaac, and how difficult that sounds while each and every day we teach our children to question authority, trust their instincts, and doubt intentions in the hope of keeping them safe from those who would take advantage of their trust.
But at some point all caution must give way to action – and it is faith and not doubt that makes such a transformation possible.
Without faith, Abraham never would have left the country of his ancestors, never would have taken the first step towards that great nation he would become.
Without faith, Abraham would never have known Isaac at all, never would have believed that God would grant him a son in his old age.
Without faith, Abraham would have been nothing.
So while it was with faith that Abraham walked up that mountain to sacrifice his own son we must wonder how we will get anywhere without it.
We question the news, and so the authority that CBS or NBC once had is long gone. But has the advent of FOX news stopped our questioning or made the truth any easier to identify?
We question the Church, knowing that clergy are not all who they saw they are, that church-goers are not as humble as self-righteous most often, and Scripture not infallible but disputed. And is all this questioning leading us where we want to go, furthering our mission and ministry, granting us peace or hope?
We question God as well, wondering if God’s authority is deserved, doubting that God has anything to do with us, not sure there is really anything out there guiding the course of human history, watching over us, ensuring that our tomorrow is better than our today.
The issue is not, “are our questions, our doubts, our caution” founded, but if they never stop will we have anything worth holding onto?
One who looks for something wrong, a justification to doubt authority is not nearly as impressive to me today as one who believes in something. So how could we not want to believe too – to believe something rather than be all covered up in the fear of being wrong. To have faith that inspires action rather than doubt that only inspires more doubt. To put all our trust in God, not because it always makes sense, but because there is nothing else worth doing.
Yes, Abraham is troublesome, yes it is disturbing, but what about this man who believes in something. Isn’t there a part of that that you want?
To believe rather than doubt, to believe and act - breaking free from ambivalence. To believe in something and hold onto it so tightly that life seems impossible without it.
Do not doubt, but believe, for life without convictions, without faith, is hardly worth living.
Amen.

Now What?

2011-06-19T07:22:00.001-07:00

Matthew 28: 16-20, page 34
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Sermon
Our scripture lesson, in verse 17, tells us that “when they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.” The gospel of John tells us the same thing but uses Thomas to do it. We know that some doubted because the disciple Thomas is brave enough to say it out loud. But Matthew skips that story and just tells us that some doubted, as though knowing what they’re thinking were so simple a thing.
In reality, this is a challenging thing, to know what someone is thinking, to know that the disciples doubted even though they were right there looking at their risen Lord face to face. To even guess at someone’s thoughts you have to know where to look, and still sometimes you’re wrong. I stand up here and try to read your faces to gage whether or not what I’m saying makes any sense, but in reality, how can I be so bold to assume it’s what I’m saying that inspires that thoughtful look on your face? Knowing someone’s thoughts is easier said than done, because a lot of the time people aren’t comfortable speaking their mind.
They are, however, in one section of our paper. Sam Kennedy, newspaper man and long-time church member, told me one time that he tells all local politicians that the most important part of the Daily Herald for them is Sound Off – where readers call in to give anonymous comments on anything they want. It’s a rare gift to a politician, to peer into the minds of his or her constituents. I imagine, though, that it’s hard for them to believe that it’s what goes on there, not what goes on in Washington that matters most.
It can be easier to believe that what matters – what’s important – is what comes down from on high. The information that you have to be someone special to hear, the knowledge that you need a graduate degree to understand.
We live in a culture obsessed with climbing the ladder. Not only do we want to know what’s happening on the upper echelons of society, we want to get up there ourselves, and even we religious people are tempted to use big words to express ourselves even if we don’t fully understand what they mean.
Which leads me to the matter at hand. Today is Trinity Sunday, and if ever there were a day celebrating something you need a graduate degree to understand, this is it.
The leaders in the Restoration Movement that swept the country and resulted in the Church of Christ believed that most problems in the Church stemmed from such highbrow theology, and in an effort to bring religion back down to the level of the people, called Christians back to scripture and claimed that if all Christians would just read their Bible they would come to the same basic conclusions and there would be no need for fancy theological doctrine that only the professors in their ivy league towers could understand.
But what do you do, then, with the Trinity?
You can’t expect anyone to just read the Bible and come up with it. Certainly Church History has not been the story of people reading their Bibles and coming to the same basic conclusion on the matter – the first great division, that between the Western, or Roman Catholic Church based in Rome and the Eastern, or Orthodox Church based in Constantinople, was founded in a debate over Trinitarian Doctrine.
But today, rather than fight about it, convicted on the righteousness of our own assumptions, we are more likely to wonder: why does it matter?
While it may have been fodder for discussion, then debate, and finally division more than 1,000 years ago, today 21st Century Christians may wonder what the big deal was – as though a doctrine of the Trinity were a relic of another age relegated to that shelf that film for cameras, phones with land lines, and print newspapers are on their way to. Last week I read that between the year 2000 and 2010 print newspapers saw a revenue decline of 35.9 percent, and I didn’t need to wonder why as I read this report on thefiscaltimes.com
The paper matters here in Columbia however. Tuesday’s paper reported on people who matter to us – no not President Obama, resignations from the House, or any of the Republican Presidential hopefuls. Tuesday’s paper reported on Elijah Hedrick, Tucker Scott, Jillian Baxter, and the other young members of our church who made their school’s honor roles. Might not be news to USA Today or even the Tennessean, but it’s certainly news to us – and here’s the point.
Our world today is not so different than it was when all that fighting over the Trinity was going on. There were still people who seemed to matter and people who didn’t. When it came to power, knowledge, and business it was what happened at the top that mattered most. Our society operates under the same model – ascend into heaven ourselves, build up a Tower of Babel built on celebrity, beauty, and fame – as though worth were distributed through camera flashes.
But once those flashes stop, they leave empty shells where once there were people. So we call out to God. Because where human attempts at climbing the corporate ladder into the highest heaven leave us empty, we are filled by the God who came down to us.
In the Trinity is the truth, that to know God, to be deemed worthy, we need not ascend to the highest heavens – the realm of people who matter. Because God, still being God and not a prophet or a messenger or an angel, was born to a mother just as you were, was raised as a child just as you were, stumbled through adolescence just as you will, are right now, or already did, and struggled to learn what it means to be a faithful adult just as you have or will. That was God then, learning to walk. That was God, falling, and then calling for his mother. That was God, looking up to his father. That was God, learning what it means to be you by becoming just like you.
In the Trinity we see and know that God is known three ways – known in the way that all great religions know their God, as the heavenly being who created all that we know and gave us the holy breath of life. But also as the Son, the one who took human form and gave his life for us that we might know just how deep God’s love for us is. And we also know God now as the sustaining Spirit who dwells in us all, not just filling us with life, but making our life holy. God with us even to the end of the age.
You can’t expect that the disciples had really thought all that through, however. The debate over what the Trinity means and even the word Trinity itself was not used until long after they had all died. Still Christ sends them out unto the world, to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Some had doubts our lesson reads, but still Christ sent them out.
And maybe you have doubts too – not knowing enough, not understanding enough, not feeling as though you can adequately articulate the meaning of your faith.
Sometimes that’s life. Don Piggens told me the other day about his training in water purification through Living Waters for the World – a ministry of the Presbyterian Church that provides clean drinking water to people in places like Haiti, Ghana, El Salvador, and Guatemala. “How am I going to remember all this stuff?” Don asked his trainer. It’s a good question – a lot can go wrong with those things. There are filters, finding electricity to power them, all kinds of things can go bad – but, “Don’t” the trainer said, “Don’t worry, you’ll figure it out.”
I imagine Don felt like one of those disciples, imagining everything that could go wrong, wanting to stay a little longer before being sent out and actually having to get to the work of ministry, not believing that he would be able to figure it out or that he was ready.
I imagine that those disciples knew they had more to learn and had no idea just how much power was in their own simple story – I was a fisherman, and my sense of worth was tied up in how many fish I brought to shore at the end of the day. I was tired at the end of a long day of casting my nets, and ready to quit when he walked up and challenged me to throw my nets one last time – the nets came in so full they nearly burst. To think that God cares for the hopeless fisherman.
There’s more power in this story than they know, just as there’s more power in your story than you know. You have all come to the water and been claimed by our God, three in one and one in three, baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Every time I say those words my heart fills up with the power in that claim – that you, you are not who you are in the eyes of the world. The Creator of the Heavens and Earth has called you by name, the Son laid down his very life that you might live, and the Spirit is here still, filling your lungs with the breath of life. How could you ever doubt, how could you ever doubt your worth, knowing that God is with you always, even to the end of the age?
Amen.

What Does this Mean?

2011-06-12T07:39:00.000-07:00

Acts 2: 1-21, page 119
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs – in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”
All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”
But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
Sermon
It was wonderful being at NaCoMe last Sunday. For those who were not able to be there I’m sorry you missed spending the day at this Presbyterian camp and conference center, a place this church and many in our congregation have long been a part of.
Even the drive out there was nice, and on our way there two church signs caught my attention.
One, not far past the YMCA, was using the heat to scare motorists into conversion: “You think its hot now” the sign read.
It’s an interesting message to send to the world. I probably thought way too much about it, but I saw it on the beginning of my drive and we were in the car for a while so I had some time on my hands and was wondering how welcoming that message sounds to those not on their way to church but their way to the river or the Y, whether or not it inspired them to change their plans of not going to church to attend worship, if anyone read to themselves, “You think it’s hot now” and thought “huh… this church sounds like a nice place to visit.”
More likely it sounds judgmental – you are going to hell but we aren’t. It’s hot where you are but we have air conditioning. More likely this kind of sign didn’t bring anyone into the church’s sanctuary, where I assume there is both relief from the heat and the promise of eternal comfort.
That’s what the church does sometimes. We try to be welcoming, but our attempts at evangelism are so off-putting that most Presbyterians are scared to even say the word. But without new people the church doesn’t grow, so many congregations end up not growing, not welcoming anyone, their backs turned to the outside world in a room that no one new ever ventures into.
That’s not too different a place from where the disciples and the other members of the fledgling church found themselves. “When the day of Pentecost came,” our scripture lesson reads, “they were all together in one place.”
We may assume that they were all together in the same room that Jesus had left them in. They just stayed right in that room, and the gospel stayed right there in that room with them.
It’s not that they really should have been outside. Remembering our 2nd scripture lesson from last Sunday we know that Jesus told them to stay there and so they did.
And when you think about it, staying inside was probably the safest thing. Considering Christ’s crucifixion, they were smart to stay indoors knowing that there were people looking for them. Peter had already been identified as one who was with him, so for preservation if nothing else the Church stayed right there in that room – not growing, not expanding, just trying to survive.
This same sort of thing is mirrored throughout Church history. The Church does certain things when it is focused on survival rather than growth.
The 12th Century was one of the great periods of evangelism with the Church expanding as far East as Japan, and so the Pope and authorities in Rome became concerned with theological integrity. They met for the Fourth Lateran Council and, among other things set in stone, the official Latin Mass and the meaning of the Mass using for the first time the word “transubstantiation” to ensure that all Christians, even those as far away from Rome as India, celebrate the mass the same way and believe the same thing. And so a great period of expansion was reined in by a great meeting for legislation. The focus shifted to maintaining the Church rather than expanding, ensuring the survival of a pure church while putting an end to regional interpretations and dissimilarities.
This year the Presbyterian Church and other mainline denominations have experienced something not so different. Not because of great expansion, but because of changes in society our church has been meeting and voting in the hopes of ensuring theological integrity. The issue of homosexual ordination has dominated our church’s mission and ministry, has been a primary point of disunity and debate, and any news on television or newspaper concerning our denomination has focused solely on this issue, leading many, even many Presbyterians, to believe that too much tolerance may destroy the church as it is and steps must be taken to ensure survival.
We Presbyterians have been voting a lot over this issue, so we can relate when one day, we don’t know how long they had been in that room, but one day Peter says, as it goes in chapter 1, “Why don’t we elect a new disciple to replace Judas?”
And so it is with the church – at certain times we vote, we need to vote. We would never call it a waste of time – after all, it says in Psalms that there should be twelve disciples, so another had to be selected.
In the same way, it seems important to decide what to do with the Book of Order, to set guidelines for who can be ordained and who can’t, to vote on how we should best confess our faith and what standards we should use. We need to spend some of our time in meetings and things, but must be careful should we start to believe that our decisions, our votes, are what determine the Church’s survival.
The vote didn’t actually have anything to do with it, as there they were busy taking care of the day to day proceedings, cleaning up after all that voting, when a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole area where they were sitting. The disciples saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them and all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit.
The disciples and the other men and women there then went out from that room declaring the wonders of God to all those visiting Jerusalem – yes – some thought they were just drunk – but those who heard the gospel went back to their homes across the seas changed.
Today we are bold to celebrate that same blowing wind. We are bold to proclaim that the same blowing wind is here - among us – and today we are bold to acknowledge that we Presbyterians, to ourselves and to the outside world - can look a lot like a room full of busy-bodied disciples giving all their attention to voting and less and less attention to the Holy Work God calls them to do.
So we cry out for the holy wind that the Church needs, that rather than taunt non-believers by asking, “You think it’s hot now,” we be shaped more by the other church sign I remember from last Sunday: “Have you hugged anybody lately?”
It’s a little cheesy I know, and I won’t be hugging stranger on the street so I won’t ask you to either, but doesn’t it send a different message?
Today we cry out for the holy wind that the Church needs, that we might show our neighborhood that we are awake to the cruel realities of the world that cannot wait for a committee. That there is passion here for more than voting and lobbying and arguing over who is holy and who is not, who is going to hell and who isn’t; that we might show the world our true purpose – that Christ does not call us to vote on who to love – Christ calls us to love.
The early church kept itself busy with an election there in that room for a while, but the Spirit called them out just as it calls you out.
Like the disciples who moved from their room to preach to the crowd, you have been given the gift of speech – maybe not to prophesy from the rooftops, but certainly to speak to the world outside this room.
Those who stay at home this morning don’t know what they’re missing here, and they never will as long as your mouth is shut, too fearful to issue an invitation. Reclaim your tongue of fire, for you have been given the truth – that in Christ Jesus you have become a new creation – and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.

He Has Done It

2011-06-05T17:46:00.000-07:00

Luke 24: 44-53
Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you – that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses to these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.
Sermon
Sometimes it’s a simple act that starts a world-changing movement: the American Revolution is said to have started with the firing of a single farmer’s rifle. Martin Luther didn’t do too much to start the Protestant Reformation, he just nailed his 95 Thesis on the door of a church, but that one nail split the Church and gave birth to all the denominations that we now know. And you might say Rosa Parks did even less, all she did was sat down, but this spark of defiance ignited the Civil Rights movement.
You would think, then, that if a small thing can start a great movement, a supernatural thing would start an even greater movement. That if a small thing over time can change the world then a miraculous thing would change the world immediately. And if a small act of defiance can inspire millions of others to march, chant, and organize as one, then Christ’s great act of defiance, an act that defied the power of death, would surely inspire disciples to take up their cross and follow him.
Christ ascending into heaven – it’s hard to imagine anything greater, it’s the kind of thing that drives sculptors to art of a monumental nature, composers to write songs for choirs of angels to sing – it’s the kind of thing that inspires weeping, shouting to the mountain tops, telling everyone that he has done it.
Whatever you can imagine doing if you were an eye witness to this event, I’m confident it would have felt more natural than doing what Jesus told the disciples they should do once he ascended into heaven: “I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here.”
He had such a hard time getting them to do what he wanted, getting them to follow his instructions, helping them to see, urging them to have faith – and here, in this moment, they must have actually wanted to do something substantial and Jesus tells them to stay.
This kind of doing nothing makes me nervous. It’s seems unfaithful, it seems un-American, it seems bad for business.
We don’t like to wait, but that’s exactly what I was asked to do when I went to get my hair cut last Wednesday. A chair finally opened up and I stand, getting ready to sit down finally and what does the barber say, “I haven’t had lunch yet, would you mind waiting for me to eat something.”
I’m not sure this hair cut was worth waiting for, certainly not worth waiting as long as I ended up waiting, but the more I think about it the more I realize I don’t want a guy who hasn’t eaten anything working on my hair, especial getting close to my ears with a straight razor.
There are times when taking a moment to get what you need is the best thing you can do for yourself and those around you. Just listening rather than talking should always be the foundation of prayer, and even though it’s uncomfortable, waiting may be what gets us closer to understanding who Christ is and what it is that he has done.
As he walks with the disciples, he is once again surprised that they didn’t understand the significance of his death: “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you” he said, “that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.”
But it’s hard to understand if your mind is stifled by fear, all creativity postponed, all thought focused solely on hiding from the Romans and the religious leaders who just crucified your leader and are looking to get rid of you next.
A mentor of mine told me that as Christ calls out from the cross, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me,” he’s not just crying out in pain – he quotes the psalm that we just read – a psalm that begins with suffering but ends with victory, as a message to his followers. He gives them the first line hoping they’ll remember the rest: yes I suffer now, but this suffering is a part of my great triumph. After all of this, even those yet unborn will say “he has done it.”
They might have understood. They might have understood that his death wasn’t just a death, had they thought about his last words that way. But they didn’t, they couldn’t. Their minds were focused solely on survival and not listening to the voice of God that could have given them comfort in their time of trial.
Maybe you can relate – there are plenty of times when my mind is too distracted by hunger to really listen; more often I’m too distracted by eating to listen to my stomach say it’s full.
Or maybe you’ve been focused so much on what you’re doing on the computer that you couldn’t hear your daughter when she asked you a question; too preoccupied with work to take part in life at home.
Or maybe you’ve been focused so completely on what all is wrong with your life that you can’t see what’s right about it, focused so fully on what you don’t have that you can’t see what you do, your mind so completely centered on what you want to happen that you’re blinded to how badly wrong it all might go if it happened.
Or maybe you know you can’t think straight, but you don’t know what to do about it, and before you act you know you need some time to think.
So Christ doesn’t tell the disciples to go out, he doesn’t tell them to get to work, he ascends into heaven telling them to stay.
Your mind may be clouded with worry and want, your life focused on gaining as much as you can while you can. Time may be in short supply, your attention spread too thin over more than you can possibly focus on. And while you set out each day ready to set the world on fire, I hope you will take this time, this day in the beautiful place, the gift that this day is, I hope you will take this time “to stay,” to think, to see, to hear, and to know that he has done it.
Amen.

Through Water

2011-05-29T08:01:00.000-07:00

1st Peter 3: 13-22, page 234
Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord.
Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil.
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.
And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you – not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.
Sermon
The author of 1st Peter addressed a fledgling group of Christians who lived among a society that didn’t understand why those Christians believed what they believed. The author’s advice: Be eager to do what is good, for when you do good, if people persecute you for doing what is good they will be the ones put to shame; still though, you may suffer, but remember that if you suffer for what you believe, if you suffer because of your faith then you become like Christ in your suffering. He was righteous, so be righteous as he was and become like him in your suffering, the righteous for the unrighteous.
There’s nothing in there about giving up – the author’s advice is all about how to go on believing even when it isn’t easy to believe.
We know about that. It’s sort of like stubbornness, and it’s that sort of strongly felt belief that has been fueling the debate at Duran Schultz’ Barber Shop by Kroger this past week over which fence post lasts the longest, cedar or locust. Tired of the constant arguing, everyone absolutely sure that they are right and not willing to budge on the issue, Duran, as the owner of the shop, got tired of it and hoped to end the argument with a decree: “It’s locust and that’s final.”
Someone getting his hair cut, we may hope he wasn’t sitting in Duran’s chair as Duran might have taken off his ear: “But how much longer does it last?”
“Maybe five minutes” Duran responded.
Men in barbershops know about stubbornness, but it’s not exactly stubbornness that the author of 1st Peter is writing about. The author is writing about holding tight to your belief in Christ, and if we can go on holding tight to our convictions over which tree makes the longer-lasting fence post how much tighter must we hold onto our convictions of the Spiritual Nature, convictions that matter beyond a difference of five minutes?
We see such faithful stubbornness in Harold Camping who still thinks he knows when the world is going to end, though his first two predictions have come and gone without rapture. My friend Brennan Breed, soon to be Columbia Theological Seminary’s newest Old Testament professor, wrote on facebook this past week: “The true mark of fundamentalism; when your assumptions don’t match up to reality, double down your assumptions.”
That’s what he’s done, he hasn’t recanted, he hasn’t stopped believing; instead he rescheduled his end of the world date again, now it’s October 21st.
He really does look foolish for holding so tight to this belief of his, and I’ve been enjoying making jokes about him as much as anybody, but I’m reminded why I shouldn’t when I feel what it’s like when someone tries to make me look foolish for believing what I do.
Last week Stephen Hawking, the famous British physicist was interviewed by The Guardian newspaper. When the greatest mind of our generation, one who’s capacity to understand the universe is known and respected by all, was asked about the existence of heaven he said, “I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people who are afraid of the dark.”
A few months ago I preached a sermon and quoted a preacher who doubted the existence of hell, but that’s different for me, I love to hear hell’s existence doubted. I don’t want to believe in hell. Heaven is entirely different – and I don’t like this belief that I care for deeply to be doubted by someone I know is a genius, and it’s this discomfort that opens the door to what the author of 1st Peter is really talking about. “Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence.”
But how?
Hawking does have plenty of detractors. There is a young man named Colton who disagrees with this great physicist; he’s written a book called Heaven is for Real. We could hold a debate between the two but Colton’s only four years old.
Another option is to discredit Hawking himself making his argument less credible by making Hawking himself less credible. It’s not too hard really. I heard a theoretical physicist say that people in his field are a lot like hot air balloon pilots – they depend on their own hot air so that they can enjoy their favorite past-time: looking down on people.
Making fun of the source doesn’t take away the strength of his words however, nor does making fun of the source honor the words of 1st Peter: “Do not fear what they fear,” the author says, “and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord.”
Those words honor the difference between stubbornness and faith, I think. When someone disagrees with us, whether it’s over fencepost or eternity, what we truly fear is being wrong, and I do fear being wrong about heaven. But faith isn’t about me and my capacity to be right or wrong.
Faith is about hope and trust, putting our hope in what we can’t or don’t understand ourselves – faith, then, is an appeal to God.
It’s important that the author of 1st Peter reminds us of Noah because Noah is the very definition of such an appeal, building himself a boat on mainland, miles from the ocean. Such an undertaking wasn’t rational, wasn’t self-imposed, but was the definition of trust in one who understood and knew more than Noah or anyone else.
I am sure there were some who called Noah stubborn, but Noah wasn’t building this ark because he believed he should. He didn’t go on building it to prove to everyone that he was right and they were wrong. This boat was based in trust because Noah’s ark wasn’t his idea – his ark was an appeal to God and by that ark he and seven others were saved.
Our baptism is no different. It isn’t about washing ourselves of our sins, our mistakes, so that we can start over, still depending on our own ability to save ourselves. It is an appeal to God, an appeal to the only one who can save us.
That’s pretty much what Grandpa thought. In Cold Sassy Tree Granny just died and Will asked his Grandpa if he would ever see her again.
“I think so son. If there is a heaven, she’s up there, I know that,” he said softly. Then he laughed and slapped his hand on Satan’s rump. “Ain’t but one way to find out if she is or isn’t though. And I’m not that curious.” He sighed, spat, and said, “Having faith means it’s all right either way, son. ‘The Lord is my shepherd’ means I trust him. Whatever happens in this life or the next, even if there isn’t a life after this one, God planned it. So why wouldn’t it be all right?”
Maybe physicists can fathom more than anyone else, but for those of you who can fathom the limits of your ability to know, understand, and control, appeal to the one who is beyond what you know and trust that this God who put the earth in motion, called forth the light of the solar system, and spoke all of creation into existence, this God in Christ laid down his very life for you. The righteous for the unrighteous, and he has gone into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, where all angels, authorities, and powers are subject to him.
No, do not fear what they fear. “Having faith means it’s all right either way. Whatever happens in this life or the next, even if there isn’t a life after this one, God planned it. So why wouldn’t it be all right?”
Amen.

Now you are God's people

2011-05-22T07:58:00.001-07:00

1st Peter 2: 2-10, page 233
Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation – if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
For it stands in scripture:
“See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner,”
And
“A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people;
Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Sermon
The Civil War is on a lot of minds this year, Time magazine recently issued a cover with President Lincoln’s profile, a solitary tear trickling down his cheek; the issue concerned itself with questions of why there continues to be resentment, why this war still matters.
This year the 150th Anniversary arrives, and it’s appropriate that our minds will also be on President Polk’s war, the Mexican American War, thanks to Tom Price and others at the Polk House, but the Civil War will get more attention, especially here in the South.
I think that’s because, in so many ways, the Civil War destroyed what the South was. The Civil War literally burnt down homes and up in smoke went the old way of doing things – up went the privilege, livelihood, and power of some and from the ashes came freedom for others.
The South came back of course; being from Atlanta I know well the Phoenix that rose from the ashes, but I know that while some vestiges of the Old South deserved to be burned to the ground, 150 years later, still there is resentment – a worthy cautionary that I wish could better inform our foreign policy.
At least Southern resentment does inspire high brow humor – in a skit on Hee Haw Grandpa announces that he’ll be moving up North. The family asks why, and grandpa replies, “I’m getting up in years and I figure it’s better to lose one of them than to lose one of us.”
I suppose this resentment is natural, as when your home is destroyed it can feel like everything is gone.
Though the earth has quit shaking, without a home you can’t imagine what to do next.
During the Haitian earthquakes many Haitians believed Haiti itself were dying, and when you consider the death-toll you have to wonder if they were right.
Something did rise up from the ashes here in the South however – a new house was built on the wreckage of the old, but often not all of what comes up out of the ashes is better than what was there before.
Our scripture lesson from 1st Peter calls Christ the cornerstone for the people of God, but to use a new cornerstone you have to start your structure over from nothing. Everything in a building is based around the cornerstone – it comes first and it must be perfectly square or the integrity of everything is threatened. So not all that is new is guaranteed to be better than the old. Built around a cornerstone that isn’t Christ – just using a different cornerstone than before doesn’t make things better necessarily, just different, or just bad in a new way.
Not long after our nation’s war for independence, the nation of Haiti fought and gained independence herself. This independence gained was largely thanks to the organization of slaves on the massive plantations there – the slave owning upper class of Haiti who managed Haitian affairs spewed into the United States, and while they appreciated the hospitality, what they brought their slave owning hosts was the idea that the same thing could happen in the slave owning South where slaves outnumbered their owners, sometimes more than 10 to 1.
President Washington worried over the possibility of such a slave revolt, and being a slave owner himself may have ensured that the new nation of Haiti did fail as a warning to any American slaves thinking along the same lines of their compatriots in Haiti. Many such conspiracy theories float around today, but just as likely is that without the slave owning bourgeois, there was no culture left to unify the country – there was a constitution, but no one could read it as not only were most Haitian kept illiterate, the new constitution was written in French, a language few slaves who came from regions throughout the continent of Africa, could even understand.
Those slaves then, able to organize enough to topple a slave owning minority, lacked the cohesion to organize a nation. They tore down the old but they couldn’t build up anything new. Slaves of various cultures brought from vast regions of Africa had no unifying culture to bring them together once their common enemy was gone.
And here we are today – the new South – made up of new inhabitants, not only auto-workers from up north but Spanish speaking immigrants from Mexico, Central and South America; our new south is made up of brothers and sisters from around the country and around the globe who speak different languages and eat different foods – and what will bring us together – what will make us one so that we can build up a new house together?
We can strive for a common language – and we follow common laws. Furthermore, there are restaurants here that are familiar to anyone from anywhere – Cracker Barrel has expanded so far west that someone coming to Columbia from Kansas may feel at home behind a Cracker Barrel menu.
I love that about it. When I’m traveling I can go in there and get good food that tastes familiar – but it just isn’t ours the way Stan’s is.
Your waitress doesn’t know who’s in that old photo on the wall because it isn’t of anyone who she has ever met – that thing probably came from a nick-knack warehouse in Taiwan.
And they don’t know who you are either… besides that you’re a customer.
That’s what you lose when the old house is torn down. If Kathy’s is replaced by a McDonalds some things might get better, but I wouldn’t trade anything for Kathy who calls me by name every time I go in.
Change is a part of life – change and constant change.
The old is torn down and up comes the new.
Up from the cane breaks came this city.
Up from the ashes of the Old South came the New.
And up from what was once farmland comes enough subdivisions to change the face of Maury County.
New homes are being built around new cornerstones – new restaurants have come as the old are torn down – and they may be cleaner, more convenient, and faster, but will anyone there call you by name?
In the newness of the New South this house will always be different.
As here you are more than the money in your pocket.
Here you are more than the job that you hold.
Here you are more than a body filling a pew.
As the cornerstone of this house is Jesus Christ, and to Christ you are something more – but not just more – to Christ you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people.
Not every house in this city, even those that have replaced the old, can say the same.
You know that many in our community and our world don’t know the truth of who they are, especially who they are to God. They see their value and their worth according to the standards of this present evil age – go believing that they are only as good as the brand names on their back and the cars that they drive because television has told them so. So many feel lost and alone, dying for community, dying for someone to call them by name, but they don’t know where to find it so they settle for cheap substitutes on the internet. And some are hungry, not just for real, home cooked food, but for something with substance, food that can fill the emptiness they feel in the pit of their soul.
So remember that you have been called out of darkness into his marvelous light, “in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you.”
Because he called you by name, go out and call the lost by name.
Because he made you a people, make the stranger your brother, your sister.
Because you received mercy, go and give mercy to those who have given up on themselves and have forgotten their worth in the eyes of the God who values them enough to give his very life that they might live. Amen.

What happened on the road

2011-05-08T07:55:00.000-07:00

Luke 24: 13-35, page 90
Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along.”
They stood still, looking sad.
Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?”
He asked them, “What things?”
They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him.
But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.”
Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?”
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.”
So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.
They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?”
That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Sermon
Chapter 17 of the Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is the scene of Tom, Joe, and Huck’s funeral. It’s an iconic scene, and while in the book Tom, Joe, and Huck walk into the church near the end of their own funeral, I remember a TV version where the three boys fall through the ceiling into the church full of mourners while the preacher is preaching their eulogy.
It’s not common for anyone to see how their families and friends react to their passing. In the case of Tom, Joe, and Huck, the three boys find that they are beloved and valued by the entire town. Christ on the other hand, raised from the dead but appearing to these two men while hiding his identity from them, finds that his death has so disillusioned his followers that they no longer believe he is who he said he was.
On the road, two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and on that road a stranger asks them what they are talking about as they walk along.
Like the congregation at the St. Petersburg church who doesn’t know that the boys they mourn are standing just outside the door, these two don’t know who it is they are walking alongside.
He was a “prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,” they say, “But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.”
The stranger is frustrated by their lack of faith, and while they still don’t know that this stranger they are talking with is in fact Jesus he responds, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?”
He seems to think that his death is the obvious sign that he is in fact the Christ, but here I wonder if because he has conquered death himself he has forgotten how deeply death effects the rest of us, as though, even for Christ, the way your death will affect the ones you love is not something you can predict.
Some who think that “they’ll all be happy when I’m gone” find that they were so very wrong; others who think that “they’ll all be sorry when I’m not here anymore” find instead that everyone is too devastated to be sorry; and Christ, who assumes that his faithful will continue on being faithful even after the death that he warned them all was inevitable are so shocked by his crucifixion that his disciples lock themselves behind a closed door while these two leave Jerusalem disillusioned, seemingly giving up on the whole thing completely.
I don’t know what Osama Bin Laden thought would happen after he was gone, I do know that some hoped they would find closure in his death. And I pray that they have found it, but I am sure his death is not the end of terrorism because the meaning of death, anyone’s death, seems to never be what we hope or think it will be.
Here it seems clear that Jesus had hoped that his followers would have figured it out, but they didn’t. Death has a way of speaking so loudly it filters out all logic, all knowledge, all rational thought - everything – silencing hope, preventing loved ones from moving on, not giving disciples a deeper faith, and not ensuring that the living will have a greater thirst for life.
In our first scripture lesson for today we heard the stories of Simeon and Anna, a man and a woman who had spent their whole lives waiting to see the Messiah. Simeon went into the temple where Mary and Joseph had brought the baby Jesus and took him in his arms and praised God saying, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory of your people Israel.”
That’s who they thought he was, they thought he was salvation. Simeon had been waiting his whole life to see him and when Christ died before salvation came we can be thankful that he wasn’t there to see it. His death comes as a complete surprise and to the tomb also go all their hopes for who he was and who he would be to them, sealed and buried, after being hung up on that cross, broken as his body was broken.
Two of them saw it happen – they thought they had found salvation – and instead they found death and the meaning of this death was not assurance that he was in fact the Christ but complete and utter disappointment.
So they left, towards Emmaus and back to life as it was before, though they knew that life would be just a little less sweet because they had hoped for something and seen that hope crucified.
That’s just what death does – it takes the sweetness out of things – and though we go on with our lives, things can’t be the same again because death crashed in and made everything different.
Life wouldn’t be the same for those two, and they knew it, but they had to go somewhere. So they started back towards Emmaus knowing that it wouldn’t ever be the same again, knowing that things would always be a little bit worse having hoped for something that didn’t come true.
That’s life, after all. You have to go on. Graduation still has to happen even though it can’t be quite as happy as it’s supposed to be because one who should be crossing the stage with everyone else will be painfully absent and no pomp and circumstance can replace her.
Death changes things. And maybe Christ realized how much it changed the faith of his believers as he walked on ahead of them as if he were going on, but for some reason they urged him strongly saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.”
It’s nothing really, just an invitation.
“Stay with us,” they said, but in those words was the beginning of something - a new faith, a stronger faith, the kind of faith that rises up out of the hopelessness of death.
The reality of things is that death, disappointment, failure, loss, are the inevitable hardships of life. As you high school seniors already know, even days as joyous as the last days of high school can be made somber; and as you already know, though you parents wish you didn’t, this isn’t the end of hardship either because living life means enduring loss from time to time.
But here is the truth – if you give up on things getting better, if you fail without picking yourself back up, if you lose hope so completely that your eyes are closed shut to the future and the chance that life does go on – then he will walk on because you will not have the words to stop him.
“Stay with us,” they said, and while he was at a table, not so different from this one, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.
We all walk the road to Emmaus, away from how we had hoped life would be and towards accepting it as it is, but on the way there he stopped them and opened their eyes – and they began to hope for something again.
Come to this table now, as like the kitchen counter where your mother has told you that everything is going to be alright more times than you care to remember. At this table you will gain the strength to endure all that life throws at you and still go on believing that we have a reason to believe that our future is full of hope.
The Lord has risen indeed.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.

But Thomas

2011-05-01T08:14:00.000-07:00

John 20: 19-31, page 115
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.””
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.”
Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Sermon
There’s a new book out, though I hesitate to call it new because there’s not much new in it, but it’s newly published and is causing a lot of controversy among good Bible-believing Christians all over the country. There was a big article on it in Time magazine, I’m grateful to Jim Ross who sent it to me because I tried to go to the store to buy it but it was too late.
The cover reads: “What if there’s no Hell?” A popular pastor’s best-selling book has stirred fierce debate about sin, salvation and judgment.
Rob Bell is the author of the book. He’s a pastor in his 40’s, and he’s the kind that has mastered the internet the way Martin Luther mastered the printing press. I’ve listened to his sermons several times on my iPod – they can be podcast just like ours can – but he preaches for a long time unlike your preacher – I’m talking 45 minutes compared to my 12, but he’s good, he’s very good. He talks more than he preaches, and people listen – his church’s attendance on any given Sunday can be over 7,000.
He’s doing something important, I think, in that he knows that he’s not saying anything new. While the sanctuary is modern, his preaching style is conversational, and the music his church offers is more guitar than organ, he’s presenting real, authentic, and time-tested theology, making him more St. Augustine than Billy Graham. He doubts hell’s existence, not because he just thought of it or because of our post-modern society, but because theologians have been wondering how hell can exist as a place where some are stuck for an eternity of damnation in the face of our God who is ever more ready to forgive than we are to confess.
He wrote this new book that’s become so controversial wondering about the existence of hell not long after an art exhibit at his church where an artist had included a quote from Gandhi and a visitor to the exhibit stuck a note next to the Gandhi quotation that said, “Reality check: He’s in hell.”
“Really?” Bell thought to himself. “Gandhi’s in hell? He is? We have confirmation of this? Somebody knows this? Without a doubt? And that somebody decided to take on the responsibility of letting the rest of us know?”
I think I'm with Bell here, as while I’m happy to leave Gandhi’s eternal resting place up to God, should I run into Gandhi in heaven I won’t be surprised or disappointed to see him – some people apparently will however.
I mentioned that you can podcast our sermons – if you go on our church’s website you can listen to any of the sermons from the past year, you can read many sermons older than that, and last Thursday I was just looking around and started reading one of Bill Williamson’s old sermons where he talks about how folks come out on one side of this debate or the other – some find the idea of hell incompatible with the love of God, but others claim that there is so a hell, and you’d better shape up or you’re going there. There are folks in our world who are enthusiastically in favor of hell and are eager to name a few folks who are on their way there. A poll of Americans a few years ago found that 80% believe they themselves will go to heaven, but that only 60% of their friends will be going there. What’s more, the poll found that one in four friends are definitely on their way to hell (Memphis, Commercial Appeal, December 10, 1986).
I think it’s important to be thinking about, either way – those who are convinced of God’s love shouldn’t be too quick to forget about God’s judgment, and those who are convinced of God’s judgment shouldn’t be too quick to go forgetting about God’s readiness to accept humanity’s repentance.
Some are convinced that no one really ever repentents, that people never really change, but Christians have to believe that they do, because we did. God has a way of both changing them and forgiving them, and not only should we be excited about that possibility, we should all be wondering if we are more interested in people being stuck in hell without hope of redemption than God is.
If that’s the case, we all need to be wondering why that is.
In our Gospel lesson for today Jesus enters a locked room – everyone is too afraid to venture out besides Thomas who isn’t there, and Jesus says, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
What Jesus says here reminded me of Jonah in our first lesson. This story of Jonah is important because he is the most effective prophet in the whole Bible – out of all the prophets who warn people, “You must repent,” Jonah is the only one who actually convinces the people to repent.
You would think he would be proud. You would think he would rejoice when the Ninevites – the residents of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, “whose brutality was renowned and was responsible for the annihilation of the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BCE” – actually repent. But he’s not – he resents them and he resents God because he didn’t really want Nineveh to change and be spared, he actually wanted it to be too late for them and for God to exercise fierce judgment on these people who for all Jonah’s life have been his sworn enemies. And when what he expected to happen didn’t happen, rather than embrace this change in destiny, coming to terms with God’s change of heart, he decides to stay put outside the city where he doesn’t have to embrace the idea that even Assyrians can change.
Jonah doesn’t want to go into the city and face the reality that it’s never too late for people to change. He’d rather “retain” their sin while God and every Ninevite have washed themselves of it whether it makes him miserable or not.
Thomas on the other hand is a different kind of person than Jonah. I think he may have more in common with the Ninevites. While he demands proof in order to believe that what he thought was going happen didn’t happen, that Christ was not dead but alive, he comes to terms with this new reality and is able to go from a place of profound doubt to profound faith making one of the strongest confessions of faith known to scripture, “My Lord and my God.” We readers on the other hand get caught up on his first reaction to the Good News that Christ has risen – his initial doubt – Christians for generations have labeled this man, not “strongest confession of faith known to scripture Thomas,” but Doubting Thomas.
Maybe it’s because we’re uncomfortable with doubt ourselves, so when others doubt, too, it stirs up uncomfortable questions. We need other people to believe so we can believe ourselves, but some people, particularly brave children with a mind of their own are too used to giving voice to their doubts and in the middle of Sunday School class say things like, “So he rose from the dead? That’s impossible!” These kinds of questions terrify grandmothers who don’t want their grandchildren to miss out on the faith that they hold dear. But like Thomas, these brave children can’t help it.
My best friend growing up, Matt, was one of those brave children. We started out in Confirmation Class together but Matt decided that he didn’t want to join the church so he dropped out. His mother was horrified, and when she asked him why he wouldn’t be joining the church he told her that the “visitor” parking spaces were much closer to the church than all the others and if he joined the church he wouldn’t be able to use them anymore. Not that he could drive or anything; I guess he was thinking ahead.
It matters to most parents that their children do the things they are supposed to do at the time they are supposed to do them – baptized as infants, confirmed in middle school, married by 25 with kids by 30 – But Jesus isn’t nearly so concerned with when conversion happens because Jesus doesn’t believe in “it’s too late” – “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Blessed, he says, not the first ones, but the ones who come to it later.
Order matters to us though, and some brag about their conversion as though it had anything to do with them – as though their salvation were some kind of personal accomplishment and not the merciful act of God – as though evading hell made you better than the one in four friends who is probably not going to heaven – as though being one of the 11 who was there the first time he came is more faithful than being the one who wasn’t – as though parking in a “members” parking spot made you more holy than parking in a “visitors” spot – yes, some people care – and have settled into smug self-satisfaction that it’s too late for some. Jonah certainly was doing that as he sat under that vine reminiscing of the days when he knew he was more holy than the Ninevites, regretting the day they all converted and became as forgiven as him – yes some people care about this kind of thing, but God doesn’t.
“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.”
That was the hope of the author of this Gospel of John, as it is the hope of all you believers who truly know that faith is not a first come first served issue, that when it comes to receiving forgiveness, now is just as good a time as any, and whether you met Jesus when you were 5, 12, or 94, it doesn’t matter – because it’s never too late – but people must be convinced of this so you must help others who are afraid it’s too late for them to see that it’s not – whether they’re here today, in prison, or standing at the gates of hell – it’s never too late.
You see, plenty in our world can relate to Thomas, feeling like Jesus came, but they missed the boat and now it’s too late.
Maybe it’s even you.
Maybe you’re that one friend in four and everyone’s pretty sure you’re headed in the wrong direction but no one’s doing anything about it because everyone has settled into the idea that for you it’s too late.
Maybe you don’t know your books of the Bible and it feels like everyone around you does, and coming to church is intimidating because you feel like you’re behind – that everyone else has already seen him and you’re hesitant to ask to see him too. If that’s you I want you to know that you’re not alone – I couldn’t find Jonah in this Bible last service and I was standing up here in front of everybody – I’ve been to school for this, I should know, but I don’t and it’s OK if you don’t too.
What I want you to know is that it’s not too late, even if the world feels like Jonah to you – sitting under a dead vine hoping you still might fail.
Jonah might be smug that way, plenty others might be too, but not Jesus.
Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are you, who have not seen, and yet have come to believe.
Blessed, Jesus said, are you.
Amen.

There they will see me

2011-04-24T07:46:00.000-07:00

First Scripture Lesson: Matthew 27: 62-66, page 33
The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember what the impostor said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’
Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘he has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception would be worse than the first.”
Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.”
So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.
Second Scripture Lesson: Matthew 28: 1-10, page 33
After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightening, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.”
So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
Sermon
Our first scripture lesson has helped me to see something I’ve never really thought of before – that the Pharisees gathered before Pilate worried that the disciples would go and steal the body, and then tell everyone that Christ had risen from the dead, bringing credibility to Jesus’ claims that “after three days I will rise again.”
It amazes me that the Pharisees were worried about that – as though convincing people that Jesus had risen from the dead were so simple.
Today is the most important day of the Christian Calendar as today we celebrate Christ’s victory over death, but today also brings with it one of the most challenging faith claims Christianity has to offer.
Any rational person can read through the Gospels and see that Christ was a wise teacher worthy of admiration, worthy even for so many of the great thinkers of human history to follow. Thomas Jefferson is known to have admired Christ and his teachings, and taking several copies of the Bible he cut out the teachings of Christ he most admired, threw out the parts of the story he couldn’t believe and made for himself what today is known as the Jefferson Bible – a version which of course leaves out the resurrection.
The Pharisees were worried though – worried that if people heard about an empty tomb that “the last deception would be worse than the first” so Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.” They were all worried that people would believe he had risen from the dead, but I’ve never been in a church where people were so easily convinced.
There are parts of the Apostle’s Creed that some just don’t say – some have trouble with the part about “I believe in the holy catholic church,” afraid that they are confessing faith in the Roman Catholic Church, which actually isn’t true – catholic here is just another world for universal; the other difficult part of the creed being, “he descended into hell, on the third day he rose again from the dead.”
If you can’t say it, you can’t say it. There’s integrity in that. But if you can’t say it, if you can’t believe it, I’m afraid you’re missing out on something that can change your life.
I know it’s hard to believe that good triumphs over evil – that Christ has won the ultimate victory over death – that the tomb is not the end but the beginning – the grave transformed to a womb of new life. We live in a world where it sometimes seems as though it just can’t be true.
I read the paper. I know what it’s like out there. A year later, oil still haunts the gulf. The families who lost a loved one when the Deepwater Horizon offshore platform exploded still have a hole in their hearts and not enough money in their pockets to pay the bills, while BP, Halliburton, Transocean, and Cameron International sue each other over who has the most blood on their hands.
A full 2/3rds of high school graduates can’t find a job, while only about 2/3rds of recent college graduates can – and as if this lack of jobs weren’t sad enough, young people out of work, I think we all know someone with plenty of experience, plenty of skill, who is without the opportunity to use the gifts that God has given them to support themselves and their family.
And here it is – just a couple days past Earth Day. Not that I did anything special, but how does Capitol Hill celebrate conservation, reducing waste, and recycling – they bring back Styrofoam to the cafeteria.
Maybe not as big a deal as the other two – but you can just substitute drone attacks, mounting national debt, reducing Medicare, three ongoing wars, struggling to escape Guantanamo Bay, – when it comes to Capitol Hill there’s something for everybody to be depressed about. Taking into account the world as it is – empty tomb or no empty tomb – it’s not hard to go through life believing that nothing is getting better, sin is winning, and the only thing to do is enjoy life as much as we can because the end is coming and there’s nothing we can do about it.
In a way, that’s what the women were thinking. He’s gone, but we can still pay our respect at least. We can still go to see the tomb.
But he wasn’t there, and on the way to tell the disciples who weren’t expecting him to really rise from the dead either – if the disciples did they weren’t doing anything about it – so on their way to tell the disciples that the tomb was empty the women saw him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. And then Jesus said, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
There they will see me, he said.
It was Thursday morning. Our daughter Lily’s teacher at the King’s Daughter’s school, our own Ellen Ludwig, invited us to the Easter Egg hunt. Lily was with me and wouldn’t let me put her down so she went the whole hunt with an empty basket. A tiny little girl named Angel noticed – took all the eggs from her basket and put them into Lily’s.
There they will see me, he said.
“Twelve steps weren’t nearly enough for Richard Remus, but maybe 10 million will do,” I read on the front page of the paper last week. “Remus, a former methamphetamine addict, wanted to show his friends who were addicted to meth how much he cared for them. So he started walking.” “If I can walk 5,000 miles in the hopes of helping one person, what can you do with a little hope?” Remus has scrawled on a yellow rain jacket draped over his backpack. He walked through our town just last Wednesday.
There they will see me, he said.
But what’s more is that last week, next week, and the week after that, in the old building our church owns across from the library there will be between 130 and 200 children who will receive afterschool care thanks to the Boys and Girls Club, and should the teachers there suspect that there won’t be any food on the table over the weekend then they’ll send food home in that child’s backpack.
And just last Friday at least a hundred people who might have gone without lunch if it weren’t for the members of our church who were willing to cook – because of them a whole crowd ate a good free meal at the People’s Table right across the street like they can every Tuesday night and every Friday at 11:30 absolutely free.
There they will see me, he said.
If you haven’t seen him – if you haven’t seen him alive and among us – still transforming this old world that so badly needs his healing grace – then open your eyes – don’t be afraid – come to the table and hear the words that will transform our world, our community, and your heart – take and eat – this is my body broken for you.
There they will see me, he said.
Thanks be to God, there they will see me.
Amen.

Who is This?

2011-04-17T07:20:00.001-07:00

Matthew 21: 1-11, page 23
When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, “The Lord needs them. And he will send them immediately.”
This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet saying,
“Tell the daughter of Zion,
Look, your king is coming to you,
Humble, and mounted on a donkey,
And on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Sermon
At different times in life, the same story can take on a different meaning.
Never before this point in my life have I read Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem according to Matthew with such clarity. I realize that Matthew is telling us not that Christ rides on two animals as verse 7 says: “they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.” Matthew is trying to tell us, not knowing the word, that Christ rides into the Holy City on the offspring of a donkey and a colt – he just didn’t know the Greek word for mule.
Wishful thinking - as here a colt is the foal of a donkey, so our gospel lesson has Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey and a young donkey – that he might fulfill to the very letter the prophesy: “Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Christ is so intent on letting the crowds know who he is and why he enters the city that he lives the prophet’s words exactly.
And it works – the crowds know who he is – “Save us” they cry, as they cushion his path with their coats and palm branches not wanting his steeds’ hooves to touch the ground.
The scene is so joyful and full of anticipation that the crowd’s reaction makes me think of Lily’s face when one of her grandmothers walks through the door.
I used to be that way with my grandmother too when I was Lily’s age. When I would spend the day with Mimi it would be a day of making bows and arrows, watching her paint, playing in creeks, and digging around in her basement.
As soon as I saw her face I knew to anticipate something wonderful.
But then, when I was 11 or 12 she had a stroke and her visits took work – struggling for conversation, not knowing what to say, helping her to stand, embarrassed for my friends to come over.
I look back now on the months that she lived with us with powerful regret, knowing I never valued our time together. I didn’t know what to do, and I was sad that she wasn’t who she was before the stroke.
Knowing that her visits, and eventually her coming to live with us, meant a change in my daily routine, I slowly started to resent her for the way she disrupted our lives I’m sorry to say – loading her in and out of the car, waiting for her to finish eating, not getting my parents’ full attention because she needed them more than I did.
I wasn’t in turmoil, but her presence in my life meant I had to change. I had to slow down, and I had to explain to my friends.
The jubilation that I greeted her with was gone – it didn’t last forever – because who she was to me changed.
Jubilation to turmoil.
Our lesson from Matthew begins with jubilation too – “Hosanna to the Son of David,” or “Save us Son of David, Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”
But our passage ends with the whole city in turmoil – and we know where the road leads from there – the crowd who celebrated him, who laid their very coats for his steeds to trample turn on him as who he is to them changes. He is no longer celebrated, no longer represents to them a liberator, as they call out to Pilate: “Crucify him!”
From jubilation to turmoil, from “Save us Son of David,” to “Crucify him.”
It’s amazing how things change so quickly – but when we see someone as a savior we react to them in one way and if we see them as a burden we react to them another way – and Christ may well be a Savior one day and a burden the next – it all depends on the day and the time.
When we need his forgiveness and we know we need it we greet him with jubilation.
But when he knows we need to change but we aren’t so ready he is a burden.
When he calls us to celebrate who we are we greet him with singing.
But when he calls us to confess our sins, to name them to ourselves and the ones we have hurt we would rather turn away.
When we know that he has come to save us we are more than ready to follow.
But when we see that the road to salvation leads to the cross we hear ourselves deny him.
When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?”
He is all these things and more, and that makes him not a simple savior.
He offers forgiveness, but you must be ready to change.
He sees you and loves you for who you are, but you must be ready to do the same.
And he does bring salvation to the world, but to walk this road to salvation you must be ready to face the cross.
The cost of discipleship is high, but he rides into the city for you – that you would know him and see him for who he is – God incarnate; the Holy one of Israel; the one who lays down his life that you might live.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.

Surely we are not blind, are we?

2011-04-03T19:26:00.001-07:00

John 9: 1-41, page 102
As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.
The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.”
He kept saying, “I am the man.” But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.”
They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”
They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.”
Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.”
But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”
The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, “Is this your son who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”
His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”
His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, “He is of age, ask him.”
So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”
Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”
The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.
Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.”
Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.”
He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.”
Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?”
Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘we see,’ your sin remains.
Sermon
I used to play second base and one game when I was in high school I was running back for a pop fly and collided with the right fielder. I woke up with my coach standing over me who said, “Are you hurt or are you injured,” a question which would have been confusing even had I not just been knocked unconscious. When I stood up someone else yelled, “Rub some dirt on it and keep playing.”
That’s something baseball players say, though I don’t believe it has any effective results to just rub dirt on something.
Some people do believe that dirt has medicinal qualities however. I heard a story once about a Gullah woman who saved her dog’s life by burying it in the pluff mud of the South Carolina Coast. The Gullah people are descendants of slaves and their communities did the best job of preserving African culture out of all the slave communities in our country, so maybe there is something to the healing affects of mud, but I’m not so sure, so it’s interesting that Jesus here uses mud to heal a blind man.
There are the numerous instances of Jesus healing the blind. In Matthew he heals two blind men by touching their eyes, and then in Mark he uses a little saliva, but not mud, causing us to wonder if that dirt is not necessary for the miracle to take effect.
But if the mud’s not for healing, if Jesus doesn’t need the mud to heal this man’s blindness – then Christ is using the mud for something else – to draw attention to the spiritual blindness that keeps all those who think they can see in the dark.
Christ in today’s passage, “spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes” not to heal the man, Christ doesn’t need mud to heal – he deliberately works, mixes dirt on the Sabbath to make a statement about working on the Sabbath.
He uses the mud to point to the human ability to unquestionably hold to traditions and ideas even after they have become wrongheaded and foolish.
Not that I don’t like mules, already I’ve found that I love them, but we all just saw yesterday how we can revere and celebrate an animal that few of us really need anymore – we do it because we always have and it’s fun, but beyond that we don’t know why and we don’t wonder why.
The same was true for the Pharisees, but they weren’t able to laugh at themselves about it because their fun parade had turned into the fool-proof dividing line between right and wrong saying, “this man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.” They were blinded to the foolishness of this – and they were blinded to the idea that it might be wrong to put more emphasis on doing nothing on the Sabbath than on doing right on the Sabbath.
They were so blinded to their own foolishness that they thought they would be able to tell God when God shows up based on observing the Sabbath, all the while God stood right there before them but they decided to keep on waiting.
But this isn’t as strange as it sounds.
We know what we don’t know, and we know that what we don’t know is a whole lot in comparison to what we do, so we have to hold tight to those things that we can be absolutely sure of because there simply aren’t that many to be absolutely sure of.
So even though Libya is a complicated issue, even though an air strike may do more harm than good and may even result in a third war to further stretch our troops and our resources, our President has to present as though he’s sure he’s done the right thing. He has to be sure of this one decision and hold onto that certainty tightly, unfailingly, as his opponents will chew him up and spit him out if he doubts himself now. Human life is being spent, and while I’m not very certain he’s gone and done the right thing, he has to be sure he’s absolutely right about this.
The best bet, the most secure bet sometimes is to do that, to hold tightly to those things that we are sure of, that we have to be sure of, rather than give in to the reality that we are completely blind – out of touch – misinformed and under informed, that we can never be quite sure about who we are, how God works, and how this world that we live in operates.
Many though are sure about one thing or another – the Creationists are sure they know how the world was created and won’t question their certainty, especially not around the Evolutionists who are sure that the Creationists don’t know a thing about it.
And the Pharisees don’t know when the Messiah will come, what he will look like, and what he will do, but they are sure of this one thing – that when he does come he certainly won’t be doing any work on the Sabbath – that they think they can know for sure.
But even in their knowing of this one little thing – even in their certainty about this one aspect of who God is and what God does, they have run the risk of putting God in a box and our God is abundantly reluctant to be placed in a box.
The Pharisees didn’t make an idol, they didn’t claim to know everything about God – they were smarter than that, they were certainly better Bible scholars than that. They knew that Moses met God and that the only description God would offer for Godself was, “I am who I am,” so they knew better to box God in – that’s idolatry after all – boxing God in and thinking we know who God is, what God does, who God loves, and who God doesn’t love.
We don’t want to be idolaters, and neither did the Pharisees, but we also don’t want to let go of those things that we are sure of – and for the Pharisees, they were sure that God would not do work on the Sabbath.
They couldn’t let go of that - seeing even a little is better to not being able to see at all, so we convince ourselves that maybe we are in the dark about most things, but I can see enough to get around – getting around is better than being blind so I can’t give up my little glimmer of light, my small certainty that I hold dear.
So we don’t claim to know what God looks like, but surely God wouldn’t work on the Sabbath.
We aren’t so bold to judge, but surely their life-style is wrong.
And I won’t claim to know the will of God – but this is right – it’s just right and that’s all there is to it.
The problem here is that if you can know, even a little thing for sure – you need faith that much less – if you can see, even a little bit – you start to think you don’t need to be healed from your blindness – but those who are sure they can’t see have a tremendous need to trust the one who is beyond their understanding.
Compared to the Pharisees this blind man didn’t know his Bible, maybe he had memorized a few hymns from hearing them sung so many times, but he didn’t know what the Pharisees knew.
In our lesson he offers us all the knowledge that he possessed: “One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”
When it comes to our God there isn’t a whole lot to know – so a blind man invites us to lay down those certainties that we have been carrying around for too long that we might really see. Lay down our certainty that we know who is right and who is wrong to make room for the chance that we might just be wrong about them – whoever they are; lay down our certainty about forgiveness – who can have it and who can’t to make room for the chance that forgiveness can even be given to him or her, even when he or she hurt us that deeply; lay down our certainty about knowing why or how to make room for the chance to learn that our God is even more bold, more ground breaking, more radical than we ever imagined.
When you get right down to it, God won’t be confined to our understanding, but build your faith on this – that God took human form – and when God saw a man blind from birth God gave him sight and when God saw a bunch of people who thought they were better than everyone else God made them look foolish.
This is the one in whom the blind man put all his trust.
If you want to see you will lay down your certainty and do the same.
Amen.

At the Well

2011-03-22T06:29:00.000-07:00

John 4: 5-42, page 94
So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?”
Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.”
The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!”
The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth.”
The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”
Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were on their way to him.
Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of he who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, ‘four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”
Sermon
There are circumstances where I love running into people I know. I love to run into people when I have on a freshly pressed shirt that Sara has helped me match to some clean slacks. I love to run into people out at restaurants downtown because there’s really something wonderful about our downtown. And I love to run into people when Lily, Sara, and I are walking home from church on Sunday afternoons because that is one of the happiest moments of my week – we are all happy to be walking together, the sermon I’ve been preparing for all week has been preached, and Lily is always doing the cutest things – stopping to touch flowers, giving Sara and me rocks, or trying to balance on the curb.
On the other hand, there are plenty of times when I would rather not run into anyone who I know. I don’t like to be seen when it’s 10 in the morning and I still haven’t changed out of my pajamas. I’d hate for someone to catch me in the drive-though at McDonalds. And there are plenty of times when Lily isn’t doing the world’s cutest things – when she is combing her hair with peanut butter, throwing her lunch on the floor, or crying hard and stretching out her legs so that she gives the impression she’s being kidnapped by me.
There are times when we are proud to be seen, when we are proud to be introduced to someone new, and for people to know who we are; and there are other times when we would rather not be seen, when we would rather hide.
That’s one reason I’m thankful Wal-Mart is open 24 hours a day – you don’t want to be checking out next to anyone you know when, “hoping to stop gas before it starts”, you’ve run out for a box of Beano melt-a-ways.
The unfortunate truth however, is that some live their whole lives that way. They would always rather not be seen, they would always rather not be known, and they would hate for you to ever see them with their family as their family is not something that they are proud of.
So they are thankful too that Wal-Mart is open 24 hours a day because they would rather not face the judgmental gaze of those of us who normally shop during daylight hours, they are thankful for the drive-through because it grants them anonymity when ordering more for lunch than most would find acceptable, and they keep to themselves mostly because they are afraid of what you might say if you met their mother, their father, their children, or their husband.
Wal-Mart is open 24 hours a day, which is nice for people who believe they have something to be ashamed of, who believe that they are different from most people, who believe that they will be judged.
We don’t know their whole story, but our scripture lesson for today tells one that isn’t so different. For fear of what they would say, for fear of how they would stare, for fear of their judgment, this woman goes to the well, not when the rest of her village goes, at the beginning of the day in the cool of morning, but when the rest of her village takes refuge from the heat, at midday.
She has good reason to go to the well at that time – for her, facing judgment from the other women wasn’t just a possibility, surely it was all but guaranteed. There may have been one or two kind if patronizing glances, but for a woman with five husbands there was the inevitable harshness of the majority’s gaze.
It’s sad to think about her. No one to talk with there at the well. No one to share her bucket and no one to share her load. She must have been so envious of the others – not only did they start their day with fresh water, but they started their day with laughter at whose husband snored the loudest, whose child grew the fastest, and whose mother-in-law meddled the most.
His voice must have shocked her. As his voice shocks us all.
Shocks us all with his request of us, as though we had something so worthy it deserved to touch his lips.
Shocks us all that he speaks to us as though we were equal, as though speaking to the King of Kings were something we did every day.
And shocks us all that, in a world where we have been afraid to be seen, too afraid to show up for fear of what they will say and how they will look, he has sought us out as though we were something worth searching for.
But this is just how he is.
Your gifts bring him such joy.
Your words always reach his ears as he is always listening, even when your prayers are but groans too deep for words.
And he does search for you, even when the whole world is telling you that you must earn your worth, you must gain their respect, you must fight to be seen – in a world of value and worth meted out on a unforgiving scale – he seeks you out because in his eyes you are like a coin lost in the dark of night – for you he lights his lamp, sweeps the house, and searches the floor until he finds it – in his eyes you are like a lost sheep, and for you he would leave 99 in open country to go after you until you are found – in his eyes, while the world around you looks down their nose, he sees you for who you truly are, worthy, beloved, child of God.
Once he found her, she left her water jar and went to tell the whole city.
What will you do?
Amen.

The Tempter Came

2011-03-14T15:57:00.000-07:00

Matthew 4: 1-11, page 3
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,
‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,
‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written,
‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”
Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
Sermon
Lent has begun, and those of us who have decided on something to give up join with Christ in 40 days and 40 nights of fasting. But after reading this lesson it’s clear that me giving up sweet tea hardly compares to what Jesus went through. Our lesson begins, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
This is the beginning of his ministry. Having just been baptized by John in the river his work has now begun, but maybe you are like me wondering why Jesus didn’t get to start with something easier.
Face to face with Satan is no easy start to a ministry, but with Jesus everything its relative. With Jesus, considering the cross and everything else he went through, maybe this was the easier thing to start with; at least it was clear, he seems to know that he was being tempted by Satan and not Satan in disguise.
I was looking through the Wednesday paper on my way to Robin Munger’s recipe for catfish stew when the headline on 7A stopped me in my tracks, “Columbia area zip codes turn up cash for residents.” I kept reading and as it turns out “Valuable uncut sheets of never circulated $2 bills are actually being released to the first 7,112 callers who find their zip code on the distribution list below and beat the 48 hour deadline to get Vault Sacks full of real money.” All I have to do is call and I could win Vault Sacks full of money! I thought to myself. Why wasn’t this on the front page? I scanned the page for the phone number I needed to call only to find the words, “Paid Advertisement” in small print at the very top – that was the only thing that gave it away.
If it would have looked like an advertisement I never would have paid any attention, but because it looked like news I was caught off guard.
I think that’s how it is with the devil, if he’s dressed in red with horns and a pointy tail you know to stay away, but if temptation comes from a friend it can catch you off guard.
It still doesn’t sound like a walk in the park, but it’s one thing for Jesus to fight the temptation to turn those rocks into bread with Satan tempting him to, but feeding himself pales in comparison to feeding crowds.
Crowds surrounded him and the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into villages and buy food for themselves” (Matt 14: 13-21). Whereas he could have sent them all away and provided for himself and his friends, instead, taking loaves and two fish he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves and the crowd was fed.
Then Christ faced a great temptation when the tempter took him to the pinnacle of the temple and called him to prove himself by showing that God would save him.
But the greater temptation to save himself must have come when Jesus told his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering and be killed. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it Lord! This must never happen to you” (Matt 16: 21-23).
If he couldn’t stand up to Satan how would he stand up to his friend Peter – they both wanted him to choose self-preservation, but Christ knew he had not come to save himself.
Again when the devil offered him power –when Satan took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me” – if Jesus had not possessed the power to say no then, he never would have been able to answer the disciples when they came to him and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 18: 1-5).
Jesus was tempted in the desert to commit idolatry – to give ultimate significance to what is passing – to give hunger the kind of authority that directs destiny, to give self-preservation importance above all else, and to make power the chief concern in his life when power doesn’t last forever.
He was faced with the temptation to fall right at the beginning of his ministry, and when temptation came again in the words of his own friends, he had the power to resist.
We are not Jesus and we don’t face the devil himself out there in the desert, but we will face temptation, and if we haven’t first learned to deal with temptation ourselves, if we haven’t first learned what temptations threaten to take us off course, when temptation doesn’t come from a pointy-tailed devil but from the mouth of the familiar, the friend, even the beloved, we may not have the power to resist.
Christ is given the opportunity to strengthen his ability to fight temptation there in the desert where the enemy is clear and so he is able to fight temptation when even Peter threatens to lead him off course.
When temptation comes to you, if you haven’t already prepared yourself, known yourself well enough to know what might cause you to stumble, where will you go, what will you do?
This time of Lent calls us all to awareness, to think before you do, to know yourself well enough to know what temptation waits so that like Christ, when the danger of temptation comes when you are least expecting it you will be able to hold onto faith until temptation passes.
Hold onto faith, temptation will pass; hold onto faith.
Amen.

It is good for us to be here

2011-03-07T09:40:00.001-08:00

Matthew 17: 1-9, page 18

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.
Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”
When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus alone.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
Sermon
Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.”
Peter made that statement just after seeing, what I’m going to assume was, up to this point in his life, the most incredible thing he had ever seen – and I say it is good for us to be here today as this is one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen.
It’s not every 30 year old preacher who gets to preach at a church’s 200th anniversary to a standing room only crowd – and to tell you the truth I think that I feel something like Collin Firth must have felt as he accepted the Oscar for best actor last Sunday saying, “I have a feeling my career just peaked.”
It is good to be here – it is good for us to be here – because not many churches make it this far. It’s something we’ve got to really soak in, enjoy, remember. And it’s not just the anniversary that is worth celebrating. In addition to having something worth celebrating, we’re surrounded by people worth celebrating – we’ve got relationships worth celebrating.
Here today are folks who haven’t been to church in a long time, folks we haven’t seen in a long time who have made a difference to us, who inspired us to believe, who strengthened us in the faith.
It’s days like today that we don’t want to ever end – so while it sounded funny coming out of Peter’s mouth, “Lord it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah,” on a day like today we can all understand why he wanted to build those dwellings up on the mount of transfiguration – he didn’t want the moment to end.
A poem published in the Herald this past week by Joyce Sutphen of Minnesota sums this feeling up well. “The Aunts,” inspired by her own aunts, I assume, are the kind of people who couldn’t let a visit with one another come to an end:

I like it when they get together
and talk in voices that sound
like apple trees and grape vines,

and some of them wear hats
and go to Arizona in the winter,
and they all like to play cards.

They will always be the ones
who say “It is time to go now,”
even as we linger at the door,

or stand by the waiting cars, they
remember someone—an uncle we
never knew—and sigh, all

of them together, like wind
in the oak trees behind the farm
where they grew up—a place

I remember—especially
the hen house and the soft
clucking that filled the sunlit yard.

This is a day worth savoring, the kind of day we don’t want to end so we will be prolonging our goodbyes, standing in doorways or waiting by cars.
David Lock, longtime member here, was telling me about another many of you may know well, Paul Fulton, who used to say, “The good Lord only made so many good days, and this must be one of them.”
We celebrate the past today – we celebrate the legacy of those who, through hard work, dedication, and faith in God gave us what we now enjoy – but we also look around realizing that many of them are no longer here with us.
And while we celebrate the past today we also look towards the future, not knowing what it might hold.
Our passage in Matthew begins with, “six days later.” It’s six days later from Christ foretelling his death – in chapter 16 we read that “from that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed.”
So Peter wants to build three dwellings up on the mount of transfiguration because he knows exactly what awaits them down in the valley, once they come down from the mountain.
Those of us who can identify with Peter and his fear hear in the words that decorate the face of our church, “Celebrating the past, embracing the future,” a statement of profound faith as embracing the future is no simple thing.
It’s an amazing thing, a day like today – we celebrate the faithful of the past – but for us to join their ranks we must learn to deal with the uncertainty of the future.
Bob Duncan told me about one such faithful person. I was given a great gift last week by Bob, our county’s own historian and member of this church – he took the time to give me a tour of the surrounding area, and during that tour he told me stories, some of which I am quite confident might just be true. One of our first stops was Lasting Hope Presbyterian Church. The church began not too long after ours with a woman named Nancy Lockridge who lived up that way and desperately prayed for a minister to come out to Carter’s Creek to reform the heathen who surrounded her. A minister did come, and knowing well the character of the people there he gathered up everybody, stood up on a stump with a gun holstered to his belt and a Bible in his hand, and announced, “I’m either here to preach or to fight, you pick.” He preached, and the more he preached the more people changed, and before anybody knew it Nancy Lockridge’s prayers, her hopes that things would get better, had turned into a fine country church that the people named Lasting Hope.
Bob pulled the truck up to the top of the hill and he said, “This is it.” This is where the church used to be. Today all that’s left is the cemetery.
Our world is changing, the future is uncertain, and as we celebrate the past, 200 years of worship, Sunday School, baptisms, music that lifts the soul, the breaking of bread and drinking of the cup, it is all too easy to be afraid for fear that this is as good as it’s going to get.
This fear is nothing new.
“When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.”
To be touched by Jesus is no simple thing. He touched the blind and they were given sight, the hemorrhaging woman reached out to just touch the hem of his garment and she was made well – and he touched the disciples as they came face to face with the future and found themselves petrified by it. But when he touched them, like a blind man, for the first time they could see, like a hemorrhaging woman, for the first time they had reason to hope, for beyond the valley is a mountain top far greater than any they could have ever imagined.
This is our hope, our lasting hope, that beyond this day, down through the valley whatever it holds, whether great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, even suffering unto death, on the third day he rose. And by this testimony I assure you that beyond this great day is one so great you may not even be able to imagine it – for he walked through the valley of the shadow of death that like him you might also rise.
It is so easy to give up, to look back without going forward, to assume that the best days are long gone – but our lasting hope is that there is no mountain top higher than that which is yet to come.
As people of such hope we cannot look out unto the future without embracing it – for whatever glory days we remember today we see an even brighter tomorrow.
While we remember Sunday school rooms full of kids, we hear the laughter of well over twenty children filling up our brand new nursery and we know that still greater days are to come.
We look back on days when this sanctuary was full of loved ones and today, by the testimony of this packed sanctuary, we may be bold enough to believe that by our 300th, our 400th, our 500th still there will be singing to fill this room, still there will be faithful gathered here.
Let us hear those words from Christ himself, “Get up and do not be afraid,” for there is work to be done, we have the gospel to proclaim, and we have a future to embrace.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.

Found

2011-02-28T11:13:00.001-08:00

1 Corinthians 4: 1-5
Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself.
I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.
Then each one will receive commendation from God.
Sermon
When you play hide and seek with a one and a half year old you’re really not playing hide and seek. Our daughter Lily doesn’t like to take her bath, so when I go into the bathroom to fill up the tub after supper, Lily pulls her mama into my closet to hide.
As the water fills the tub I go try to find her so I can give her her bath.
Last month I started this ritual by saying something out-loud like, “Where’s that Lily? It’s time for her bath, but I can’t seem to find her. Is she in her mama’s closet?”
“No” escapes from the undisclosed hiding place.
“Is she under the bed?”
“No” again comes from my closet.
The poor girl just doesn’t quite understand the game. Either that or she’s just as excited about being found as she is hiding.
I want to be sure to enjoy this while it lasts, because wanting to be found won’t last forever, especially once Lily has something or has done something that she wants to hide.
The third chapter of Genesis tells that story: “They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
It’s a silly question really – God knows where Adam is, but this question is just like the one I ask my daughter. I don’t ask it because I don’t know where Lily is, I ask it because I love to hear her want to be found. God knows that Adam is in the closet; Adam knows that Adam is in the closet, but for something good to come out of this situation Adam has to want to be found.
Wanting to be found doesn’t make that much sense to most teenagers and adults – if we wanted to be found we wouldn’t hide – so the words that we read in Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth understandably don’t sound like the Good News – “Therefore, do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.”
What could be good about that?
Uncovering the heart’s hidden purposes, selfishness shrouded in kindness, malice iced with benevolence, greed covered up with charity – no one wants to disclose the purposes of their heart and no one wants what they have hidden in darkness to come to light – what we do in the darkness is done there just so that it will not come to light – so no one will find out – so nothing has to change – so things can stay as they are and no one has to know.
Under the cover of darkness a crowd came to the jailhouse as Atticus Finch stood guard with only a book in one of my favorite movies, one of the only movies that do justice to the novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Mr. Finch is the kind of guy who seems to always be in control – in a Deep South courtroom full of people fanning themselves long before the dawn of air-conditioning he wears a three piece suit and never breaks a sweat. But in the dark of night as he is found by his daughter, son, and their cousin Dill a flash of plain fear goes out of his eyes.
A mob has come to the jailhouse, and a mob is one thing for a lawyer to deal with, it’s another for a father to deal with a mob while his children watch, but Scout, Jem, and Dill refuse to leave. Scout feels the tension of the situation, but she’s not old enough to understand it. She scans the crowd for a familiar face and notices Mr. Cunningham among the “sullen-looking, sleepy-eyed men.”
“Hey, Mr. Cunningham.”
The man did not hear me, it seemed.
“Hey, Mr. Cunningham. How’s your entailment getting along?”
Don’t you remember me, Mr. Cunningham? I’m Jean Louise Finch. You brought me some hickory nuts one time, remember?”
“I go to school with Walter,” I began again. “He’s your boy, ain’t he? Ain’t he, sir?”
Harper Lee, the author of this book, doesn’t explain why Mr. Cunningham ignores Scout, and she doesn’t need to.
“The Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
Not wanting to be found, not wanting to be known, for in being known by God we come to know ourselves, where we are, what we have done, who we truly are - The things now hidden in darkness, the unspoken purposes of the heart.
We would never choose to bring to light what we’ve left to the darkness, never choose to disclose what we’ve hidden.
Last week in the Daily Herald I read about Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker who was “duped into discussing his strategy to cripple public employee unions, promising never to give in and joking that he would use a baseball bat in his office to go after political opponents.” Walker believed he was on the phone with a conservative billionaire named David Koch, but was actually on the phone with a liberal blogger, and in the course of their phone call Walker described tactics he considered using to dishonestly discredit the protestors who stood in his way, and his conversation with Mr. Koch brought to light the governor’s fund raising sources, causing much speculation that Wisconsin policy is directed more by business interest than the wishes of voters.
Of course, this kind of peek into the true intentions of this governor won’t mean much to Union Leaders who figured as much or Wisconsin Republicans who won’t be surprised and may not be disappointed. This kind of peek into the governor’s heart won’t change how God feels about him either because God already knew. What matters here is that in such an instance one man is given the rare chance to take a look at himself, and to wonder if he likes what he sees.
This was the case with Paul, who before he was the great supporter of the church, the Apostle who wrote the letter that we read from today, writes of his life before his conversion: “You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it (Gal 1: 13). But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles…(Gal 1: 15). The way the author of Acts tells it, Paul was walking down the road, “still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord,” when suddenly, a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”
He was caught then, found out, but what comes is not punishment, disappointment, or condemnation, what comes to Paul along the road when he comes face to face with Christ, face to face with himself, is not judgment but commendation – not the end of life but the opportunity to truly live.
We read in our lesson for today that when we are found, when what we’ve hidden in darkness is brought to light and the purposes of the heart are disclosed – “then each one will receive commendation from God.”
The Church is quite a place – the pews in here aren’t much different than the pews of a courtroom. The difference is that when we come face to face with who we are and what we’ve become, when our motives and our actions come to light, God, who has every right to strike us down picks us up, calls us by name, and gives us the commendation that only God can give.
Why would anyone stay in the closet when God’s open arms wait on the other side – not calling us to deny who we are but accept ourselves as we are?
Why would we let our lies cover up our mistakes when the chance to do something different is an ever-present opportunity?
Why hide who you are, who you’ve been, and what you’ve done when the God who created you, who breathed life into you, who already knows what you have done and why you did it – doesn’t wish you harm, but calls you to the freedom of doing something different and the opportunity to be defined not by your past but by grace.
In a world where the internet won’t allow kids to escape who they were, know that according to God, what you’ve done is nothing compared to what you will do.
What is Christ, Christ who came to earth not to condemn but to save, if not but the sure sign that there is no reason to be afraid – forgiveness, acceptance, and love are yours.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.

God Gave the Growth

2011-02-14T07:37:00.001-08:00

1 Corinthians 3: 1-9, page 167
And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.
I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of the flesh.
For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human?
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.
Sermon
It’s wonderful to be a pastor, and one of the wonderful parts of being a pastor is being invited into people’s homes. A member of the last church I served invited us to her home for dinner, and over dessert we were talking about dreams.
The daughter, I guess she was 7, announces to the table – I have two dreams: to be Taylor Swift’s sister and to be in the snow naked.
There are a lot of directions this sermon could take after making that statement.
But what I want you to see is that one of these dreams makes this daughter a typical 7-year-old girl in my mind – the other makes this daughter a most unique 7-year-old girl – and I am willing to bet that if you asked me and if you asked her which dream, if it were to come true, would make her wholly unique and which would make her wholly typical – the 7-year-old girl and I would answer completely differently.
We believe that who we are identified with makes us special – even those of us who dream up the most unique thing to do in the snow ever dreamed of.
So Paul worries about the church in Corinth – people who worry about who they are identified with, some saying “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” but “what then is Apollos? What is Paul?” A good question – especially when you consider how Paul is the one writing the letter and asking the question, “What is Paul” as though he were wondering the same thing.
The human situation is one of constant change – and those who think that the heroes of their day, who believe that being associated with certain celebrities means something, often don’t realize that celebrity is an ever-revolving door.
I was honored to be invited to Kiwanis last week by Murray Miles. Over fried chicken our table was discussing the old theater, and Murray told a story about Gene Autry. Gene comes to town to perform at the old Princess Theater, but the p. a. system wasn’t working and a man named Mr. Orman was the only one in town who could fix it. The problem was that Mr. Orman was also the telegraph operator in town and he couldn’t leave his post at the telegraph machine to get down to the theater. However – it just so happened that Gene Autry himself was an old telegraph operator and he told Mr. Orman that he would man the machine if he’d go down and fix the p. a. system.
That’s how it happened, there are even pictures to prove it – but Mr. Ashley Brown who was sitting to Murray’s right pointed out the problem with the story – “It’s only a good story because we know who Gene Autry is – if you don’t know who Gene Autry was you don’t really care that this star was working on a telegraph machine.”
Some in the church were saying “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” but “what then is Apollos? What is Paul?”
“I planted,” the apostle says, “Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”
And isn’t that what matters. That in our ever-changing world – where the famous, the powerful, the elite few are an ever-changing cast of characters, isn’t the one who gave the growth the one that matters? Shouldn’t celebrities be worried less about retaining their place in society and more about the good work for the Kingdom that they can do during their time in the public eye? Shouldn’t we be worried less about our association with the powerful knowing that the powerful of today will almost certainly not be the powerful of tomorrow? Considering how short our time here on earth is – isn’t our relationship to the everlasting God the one that matters far more than our relationship with the rich and famous or their place in the public eye?
You wouldn’t think it were true by looking at television – seeing how low the likes of Meatloaf and Jose Canseco will sink on Celebrity Apprentice just to get back in that spotlight for however short a period of time – maybe they feel forgotten, their music and professional baseball careers long gone – but they certainly don’t gain back their value in our eyes by fighting other has-been celebrities to avoid being fired by Donald Trump.
And you wouldn’t think it were true by reading the paper – watching the former President of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak ever so reluctantly relinquish power only after nearly his entire country demanded his resignation through two weeks of protests.
Nor would you think it were true by listening to a 7-year-old girl who thinks being Taylor Swift’s sister would make her truly special when don’t you know that the God who gave her all the creativity in the world looks down from heaven marveling at what she has thought to do in the snow.
But Paul knows the human condition, and he knows that we have trouble believing we are valued for just being who God created us to be – that we want to believe that it’s who we are identified with that matters – and maybe Paul even knows the human condition so well that he knows himself – knows that he has been tempted to think that it’s all those eyes watching his every move, all those ears listening to his every word that make him somebody.
What is Paul, he asks – and maybe this is the question he asks himself, as though he could see into the future, imagine the towering cathedrals, universities, and popes who would take his name – picture the generations who would look back on his words for wisdom and enlightenment – that just maybe millions upon millions would aspire to be like him – and then, then Paul would be somebody.
What is Paul, he asks – what is Paul but the planter of a seed – and neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
All humans face this same problem – and I know it’s true because I face it myself.
I want to prove that I am somebody, but if I hear these words from Paul, that just being who God created me to be is enough, then I’ll know the truth and I’ll find the freedom to just be me that I seek.
It’s not my works that make me somebody – it’s the God who created me and claimed me in baptism who has made me somebody.
It’s not what people say about me that gives me my worth – it’s Christ who died on the cross for me that makes me worthy.
And I don’t need to stay up all night worrying about the words that these hands will type – as I only need to use these hands to point to the God who gives my work purpose and meaning.
For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building – and it is God who has called you great – it is God who has made you worthy – it is God who can give your life meaning.
You don’t need to be Taylor Swift’s sister to be somebody in the Kingdom of God – for God has already called you daughter – God has already called you son.
And it’s not that Taylor Swift is nothing – it’s just that in the eyes of God she’s nothing more than you.
Amen.

God Chose

2011-01-31T12:39:00.000-08:00

1st Corinthians 1: 18-31, page 166
For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe.
For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
Consider your own call, brothers and sisters; not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God.
God is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
Sermon
John Satterwhite and I were sitting in the den at Martha Matthews’ home talking about Columbia – how things have changed – what’s different – what’s still the same. Mrs. Matthews was thinking of the many parents she has known, like the many parents we all know, who spend a tremendous amount of time worrying about the right school for their children – the right college – hoping and praying that a good education will get them into the right job – but never give a thought to getting their children into the right church.
It’s true, to some it would seem it’s true now more than ever, that many people don’t give church a thought – they dismiss it – they don’t see the point.
But for some it’s a matter of work – the work week has changed so much and the Sabbath no longer has the protection it once did even here in Columbia, so some people end up working on Sunday mornings and don’t make it to church.
For others it’s a matter of time – they’ve been going like crazy all week – maybe they’ve worked a 60 hour week and they just need some time to rest.
Many in the Church have been fighting against these trends – worried that our society has become far too secular, afraid that if this secularization continues it will hurt the church even more.
Interestingly, the Apostle Paul isn’t so worried about what is happening in his society and how that will affect the members of the Church in Corinth in this regard. The Apostle Paul doesn’t address either of these areas in the lesson we just read, and we certainly won’t gain any sympathy from him regarding these complaints because the church in Corinth was a church in a non-Christian country where most people had never even heard of the Sabbath and everyone besides the lazy and the rich worked seven days a week. Surely some in his congregation had to work seven days a week 24 hours a day for no pay making their way as slaves in the ancient world.
Many in our world want society to change in the hopes that if society changes then people will return to church – but here was the church in Corinth making its way in a society that gave church no respect, gave its people no time off, and yet, people were there worshiping God and today we have to wonder why.
What we find in our lesson for today is the reason they were there and it’s the same as the reason that we are here: “Consider your own call, brothers and sisters; not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are”
The church in Corinth was made up, not of the wise, the powerful, or the well born mostly, but those whom society called foolish, weak, and low class. Outside the church these members heard words that told them who they were, kept them in their place - they were treated as less than most – so when they heard good news about a God who cared about them as much as God cared about everybody else, they found the time to go and listen.
To those who have been cast out of proper society, news about a God who cares is worth showing up for.
To those who have been put down by the wise, called foolish, illiterate, uneducated, news about a God whose foolishness is wiser than human wisdom is worth making the time for.
And to those who have been made weak by the powerful, news about a God who shames the strong needs to be heard.
But what has this news to do with us?
The straight “A” students, the doctors, the teachers – what we read today doesn’t necessarily sound like good news as you’ve worked too hard for those grades to hear that God will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the discernment of the discerning.
The bankers, the managers, the store owners, the wealthy – what we read today doesn’t necessarily sound like good news as you’ve spent too much time, too many years building up from where you were to hear that God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.
The well born, the descendants of land owners and businessmen – this doesn’t necessarily sound like good news as your parents, grand-parents, great-grandparents, they spent too much of their lives in the hopes that life would be better for you just to hear that God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are.
Maybe you can relate to those who aren’t here at church because the good news doesn’t always sound all that good – it certainly sounds like foolishness at times – certainly like foolishness in our world where people are judged by what they have worked for, what they have earned, what their last name is.
What we hear today from Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth is so different – the news that we hear in our lesson for today is about a God who comes to us – not because of what we’ve done, who we are, what we’ve earned – God simply claims us.
All the wisdom that the wise thought would bring them closer to God is rendered foolish – because getting closer to God isn’t the work of human hands.
The strong who thought their strength would elevate them in the world are shamed – because it’s not our strength that makes us worthy in the eyes of God.
And those who have grown used to their name meaning something are reduced to nothing – because it’s not who you are that matters to God – it’s who God is to you.
So many people take so much time worrying over where their kids will go to school – but where else will they hear the good news – that in a world where grades mean so much – God will be your God regardless of your place in the class.
That in a society where what you earn seems to mean the world – whether you’re retired, employed, or laid-off – God sees your worth and it is our God who has made you worthy.
That in a world where who you know matters just as much as what you know – who you are in God’s eyes is really all that matters – and this day I want you to hear the truth – who you are in God’s eyes is beloved.
Martha Matthews’ told me last week – “You can go to Harvard, but if you don’t have a church, something’s missing.” And she’s right – because if you don’t have a church you might go your whole life thinking that what you can do is all that matters in this world – but to those of you who are being saved – you’ll know – that regardless of what you know – you are a brilliant creation of the most high God – regardless of what you do – you are the beautiful work of God’s hand – and regardless of who you are – you are God’s. God chose, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.

Foolishness

2011-01-25T14:14:00.000-08:00

1st Corinthians 1: 10-18, page 155
Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.
For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. What I mean is that each of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.”
Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.)
For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.
For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Sermon
The Deacons here at the church have been kind enough to take me along on their visits, and last week, thanks to Bill Handy and Doreen Wohlfarth, I had the pleasure of meeting Jim and Lenora Parnell. About half-way through our visit Mrs. Parnell looked at me and said, “Well Joe, you’re from Atlanta. What do you think of us?”
It’s not really the kind of question I’m accustomed to answering, and only having been here for four weeks I’m not able to answer it with any kind of confidence. It takes a while to answer a question like that, “What do you think of us?” but that doesn’t always keep people from offering their assumptions.
The night before my last Sunday at Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church, the church I last served just outside Atlanta, the congregation gave a dinner and roast in honor of my family and me. The president of Good Shepherd’s senior group, a fine man by the name of Gus, stood up and presented me with a gift. “All the members of the senior group got together Joe and we raised a great deal of money,” he said. “We’ve come up with $5,000 as a sign of our appreciation, but the president on the bills is Jefferson Davis – we’re hoping they still use confederate money up where you and Sara are going.”
Of course, while it might be fun for folks from Atlanta to make jokes about folks from Tennessee, assumptions that we make about other people can sometimes not be so amusing. Everyone in Atlanta knows that people in Tennessee don’t use confederate currency; everyone in Atlanta probably knows that people in Tennessee do wear shoes; but it probably is true that people from Atlanta really do think they are better, more refined, than every other group of people living in the South, so assumptions that people make – even when they are joking can be dangerous – and I would go so far as to say that assumptions that we make about other people can sometimes take a nasty turn.
So Paul worries about the Christians in Corinth. How they are dividing themselves up into groups – saying “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ” as though Christ could be divided.
Paul worries because once folks divide themselves up into groups they get comfortable. The ones who belong to Paul don’t spend quite as much time with the ones who belong to Apollos as they used to – maybe they still worship together but on different sides – it’s just nice to spend time with your own kind. And before long the ones who belong to Paul have gotten away from the ones who belong to Apollos to such an extent that their opinion of each other is no longer based on experience but assumption. Paul’s people haven’t asked Apollos’ people why all the donuts are gone from Fellowship Time before they even get there – Paul’s people just assume that Apollos’ people are greedy. And Apollos’ people haven’t really talked with Paul’s about a good date for the church picnic; they just assume that Paul’s people won’t be able to make it.
It goes on like this OK until the two groups are so divided they don’t even sit together and they don’t even live on the same side of town.
This past Monday, on the other side of town, I had the pleasure of joining a group of a hundred or so people, several who are members of this church, gathered in front of one of Columbia’s African American churches. In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King we marched from there to the court house, but on the way we stopped at the sight of the 1946 Columbia race riot, a riot that, like so many race riots that followed World War 2, involved military veterans who were unwilling to accept segregation in the country they had put their lives on the line for – they were frustrated that store clerks, who seemed so in need of their service before they left, would not respect them enough upon returning to offer them the same decency they gave to white citizens.
So when James Stephenson felt that his mother was being disrespected by a local department store clerk when they went together to pick up her radio, something erupted. The store clerk may have assumed that Stephenson’s mother should be satisfied with the service she received, while Stephenson may have assumed that the store clerk was treating his mother badly based on the color of her skin. Then maybe the clerk assumed that Stephenson was another angry, black, veteran – the kind who would resort to violence - and so he defended himself accordingly – next thing you know the clerk winds up through a window and by nightfall the Mink Side was surrounded, shots were fired, four patrolmen were wounded, windows were broken, houses were raided, weapons were confiscated, and more than one hundred African American’s were arrested.
It all started with a store clerk and a customer – a simple exchange, nothing more than a broken radio – but because this simple exchange took place between two groups of people who had forgotten how to deal with each other things went in a different direction.
When people forget how to talk with each other – when assumptions guide our behavior rather than experience – things can take a nasty turn.
So Paul calls the congregation back together: Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.
This was a tall order for them as it is for us, as a world without divisions is hardly imaginable.
A world where people don’t see race or class.
A world where association with a particular church, a particular club, a particular strata of society doesn’t matter nearly so much as accepting ourselves and each other for who we are.
A world where people don’t assume they know how another group of people thinks or acts, but instead takes the time to learn.
It’s foolishness really – nothing more than a dream, because for whatever reason, it’s easier to go on believing that our assumptions are right than it is to put them to the test.
That some kinds of people are naturally hard workers;
While some are either happy being poor or aren’t willing to do anything to make their lives better.
That the way things are meets everyone’s needs so there’s no reason to change.
In this kind of world it becomes particularly important to remember that our salvation comes from the God who chose not to assume. That our God didn’t assume anything about life on earth – rather than assume, our God became one of us.
While Christ certainly could have stayed with the angels of heaven, he came down, and after living among fishers, adulterers, the lame and the blind, he was handed over to be crucified in-between two thieves.
It would have been easier to leave it to assumption, just as life is easier for us if we never put to the test the kind of assumptions about particular groups we have learned to believe.
The world is an easier place to live in if you go on believing that the way things are is the way they need to be. That people always get what they deserve, and if they really wanted to improve their lot in life they could.
The world is an easier place to live in if the poor are poor because they’re lazy, just as the Pharisees believed the sick were sick because of their sins.
The world becomes a strange place when you start to question these assumptions, and no one should be surprised - for the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Be foolish today – put the assumptions of the world to the test – living not confined to the group you are most comfortable with, but out among – working with, eating with - those you assume you know but you may not know at all.
This is the heart of the gospel – that when people the world has called different do something as bold as sitting around one table, breaking bread together and sharing wine – such a thing is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Amen.

You Were Called

2011-01-16T08:04:00.001-08:00

1st Corinthians 1: 1-9, page 155
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind – just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you – so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be as blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful; by God you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus our Lord.
Sermon
Discipline is a constant struggle – for parents, for teachers, for dog owners – for anyone entrusted with the care of another being whose behavior lies somewhat out of their control and is too often found to be lacking.
I know all about it – not only am I a father, but I’m also a dog owner – not just a dog owner actually; we have three dogs, two of whom are terribly badly behaved. And it’s not their fault, it’s mine. I’m the one who brought them into the house, so it falls on me to set the limits, but what can I say, I’m a push over. And when they bark at some kind person who has come to the house to say hello or drop off something nice, I can only hope that you can’t hear me threatening them over their barking.
Threats tend to be the last weapon in our arsenal – they’re our last resort – but while they feel effective coming out of our mouths I believe that they’re better for burning bridges then mending fences or getting bad dogs back on the road to obedience.
Maybe that’s why, in these first verses of Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, he doesn’t resort to threats but exhorts the church to remember who they are and who God is to them.
I don’t know that there’s another way to explain why he sounds so nice here – he’s not the kind to put on a polite face when he’s angry – and you can be sure of this – he is mad at the Corinthians. Not only have they divided themselves up into factions in the face of Christian unity, they have been guilty of graver debauchery than even the pagans of the time. Paul, having heard from Chloe’s people of the grave sins committed by some of the Corinthian congregation, is too far away to travel and lecture them to their face so he has no other resort than to write a letter.
But it’s not hate mail.
He doesn’t really begin by letting them have it, does he?
We are used to threats, because in our society, out of desperation maybe, people jump to threats so quickly.
When an article that offends us appears in the newspaper, we don’t write a letter to the editor that begins, “I give thanks to my God always for you” as Paul does, we threaten to cancel our subscription in the hopes that such a threat will get some attention.
When things aren’t going the way we like in some group which we hold membership, a team, a club, a church, we don’t write to the board or the pastor hoping that God “will also strengthen you to the end” as Paul does, we threaten to withdrawal membership, or worse, suspend our dues.
And when our government seems to have turned its back on us and our values, we don’t remind our representatives that they were called by God “into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus our Lord,” as Paul does, we threaten to kick them right out of office – while the worst of our society, upon hearing such threats, finds encouragement to commit the unspeakable.
Last week President Obama attempted to bring understanding to a cruel act of violence – a threatening act of violence towards all those who don’t think the way a young man thought they should. His violence that shocked Arizona and our entire country may motivate some to change the way they think and act, but I believe that any threat’s power falls short when compared to what people will do when they are inspired to act on behalf of one whom they love.
By President Obama, we’ve all been urged to live in a way that would make Christina Taylor Green, the 9 year old who was shot, proud.
I have no doubt that both Jared, the shooter, and Christina, one of his victims will leave their mark on our country, inspiring people to change the way they think and live – but those who change what they do and what they believe out of a fear of the likes of Jared will never be so powerfully alive as those who change what they do and what they believe in the hopes of making Christina proud.
In the same way, while the Russian army during World War II hurled themselves upon their enemy out of fear that they would be shot by their own countrymen upon retreat, it was the likes of one American, who upon seeing this sanctuary’s dome knew that he fought for something worth fighting for, fought to stop the Nazis in their tracks, defending his people and his country out of love.
Tomorrow, as we remember the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr., we bear in mind one who heard more threats than most. But rather than shudder, rather than be intimidated, rather than keep the truth of his message bottled up, he championed one of the greatest movements our country has ever seen proclaiming the truth that all are worthy of full acceptance in the Kingdom of God, that God loves us regardless of race – and this was a message too strong, too true, to be stifled by threats.
While surely those threats were strong – and surely they were real – but they were powerless in the face of King’s defiant message of love, a message whose source is God our creator.
While threats of damnation may have inspired the conversion of many of you as they inspired me, I pray that for you your life as a Christian is not motivated by that same fear, but today is marked by a love for the God who first loved you.
I must have responded to 5 alter calls before I really heard the good news – God doesn’t call us to turn away from our sin so that we can avoid some impending judgment – God calls us to turn away from our sin because it is only in fellowship with his Son that our deepest joy will be fulfilled.
For while so many have turned their lives around when threatened by damnation, those of us who know the love that God has for you – who know the depths of compassion that God has poured out on your behalf – who know the truth, that the creator of the ends of the earth, the one who gives us breath and life, and who laid down his very life that you might know how to live – will go on living this way until the day of our Lord Jesus.
Do not be afraid, even in the midst of your greatest sin, deepest insecurity, harshest criticism, for Paul offers you words of love from God who is faithful. Once you come to know this love you will be amazed by what you will do for the one who loved you first.
For our God has heard your cry – has drawn you up from the desolate pit – and has called you to new life.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.

Now It Begins

2011-01-09T20:04:00.001-08:00

Matthew 3: 13-17, page 3 of the New Testament
Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him.
John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”
Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
Sermon
It has been a wonderful week. I continue to be moved by your hospitality, and my family and I continue to be thankful to be settling in to such a wonderful place as Columbia, TN, such a wonderful church as 1st Presbyterian.
This was my first week in the office, but more importantly, this week also began our 200th anniversary celebration with dinner last Wednesday night where I learned more about this church in an hour than most would be lucky to learn in a year. I suppose Bob Duncan just has a way of getting secrets out of people, doesn’t he?
Last Wednesday evening gave me a lot to think about, and one thing in particular stands out – when Mrs. Doris Kibbons stood and told the group about memorizing the Shorter Catechism as a child, and so was rewarded with a leather bound copy of the New Testament from the Presbyterian Committee of Publications in Richmond Virginia.
I held in my hand a copy of such a New Testament, Frank Dale’s aunt Carolyn having earned the same honor – and I wondered to myself just how many know how impressive memorizing the Shorter Catechism is. All I know is that it’s name is relative – it’s only short in comparison to the Longer Westminster Catechism – but even I can’t tell you a whole lot more than that.
In so many ways things have changed – so many don’t come to Sunday School at all, much less come and dedicate themselves to such a degree that they can memorize the Shorter Catechism. Ours doesn’t seem to be a time of demanding more from members of our churches, of being challenged to deepen our faith, do homework, and take time out of busy schedules to memorize. Ours is a time when we just want people to come to church – have your child baptized – put a little money in the plate – and please come back next week.
For so many churches, sessions and ministers are just thankful to see too many families who only come on Christmas and Easter that we fear encouraging them to come more often; we don’t want to require too much in a class that introduces new folks to our church, we just want them to join before they sneak out the door; and we would never consider requiring anything of anyone who wanted to be baptized – though we know that for so many children, we promise to nurture them in the faith but never have the opportunity to do so.
We don’t want to ask too much, because we are thankful for what we’ve got.
But maybe were not so different from John. As Jesus approaches him for baptism he doesn’t require that Christ attend some kind of class, doesn’t ask for his credentials, he doesn’t look into Jesus’ sordid family history, wondering if the story about Mary’s virgin birth is for real. He is reluctant to baptize Jesus, not because Jesus hasn’t done enough, but because he’s already done too much: “I need to be baptized by you,” John says, “and do you come to me?”
John surely knew who Jesus was, having heard about the birth from his own mother, and so knew that he was standing before the one so many had been waiting for – the one who scripture said would “faithfully bring forth justice,” who “will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth.”
John knew then that Jesus was not the kind who would come and get baptized, fulfilling some obligation to his grandmother only never to be seen again. John must have known that this baptism was only the beginning of something much bigger.
That’s what all baptisms should be – the beginning of a life changed by the power of God – the beginning of a life lived to the glory of God’s Kingdom.
Christ’s baptism marks the beginning of his ministry – he is no longer the sweet baby lying in a manger who threatened Herod’s power theoretically – his baptism is the beginning of his ministry during which he will threaten those in power indefinitely by his defiant words and radical actions.
His baptism is also the end of anticipation, as there is no more waiting for him to grow up – he’s now grown; and there’s no more waiting to see if he’ll be who you were hoping for – he’s about to show you who he is.
Some will be disappointed, having hoped that he would be the kind of Messiah who would fulfill their own dreams, and they will turn away and go on waiting.
Some will be enraged, recognizing that he is one who will change what they don’t want changed and threaten what they hold dear. They will turn against him, siding with those who have the power to silence him with death.
But others will be healed, redeemed, empowered, and renewed, fully changed, finding in Christ their savior.
What we have in his baptism is the beginning of his ministry – the anticipation’s over – now he’ll start losing friends as he begins to say what he believes, doing what he knows he must do to redeem the world.
In so many ways I bet John stood there, reluctant to baptize Jesus not just because John knew who Jesus was, but I bet John stood there reluctant to baptize Jesus because John knew how hard Jesus’ life would be from this time on.
Being born in a manger seems like a walk in the park compared to being sent out to be tempted in the desert by Satan himself – and even being hunt down by Herod seems comparatively painless to having one of your own disciples turn against you. But this was his lot and maybe Jesus knew it had to be this way. There was no more running from it – “So let it be so now” he says to John, “for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”
There are parts of this reluctance that you can relate to I imagine – there are so many reasons to admire Christ’s courage as he comes to terms with his destiny there on the banks of the Jordan. One of the great preachers of our time, Peter J. Gomes, now on the staff of Harvard Divinity School, once wrote: “The great trick in our intellectual world is to think of something that we want to do and then imagine it to be so impossible as not to be able to do it, which relieves us of the responsibility of trying to do it.”
What prevents us from getting to the work we are called to is so often our own hesitation – our own fear – our own doubt.
Maybe college is over, the world is your oyster, and you dreamed wonderful dreams of using all your gifts to change things, travel the world, and get a great job, but now all you want to do is go back home to your old room. Or you wake up, and in the bed with you for the first time is the one who you’ve promised to spend the rest of your life with – maybe on that first morning you’re happy knowing that the life you dreamed of is coming true, or maybe you’re scared to death thinking of what you’ve just left behind.
Or, maybe, you’re the new pastor in town, amazed at how kind people are, awestruck by their well wishes, prayers for you and your family, taken up in all the hopes for what your ministry will bring, but somewhere in the back of your mind is a small voice saying, “of course they love you Joe, you haven’t done anything to make anyone mad yet.”
Christ stood there on the banks of the river, his baptism the point of no return, and I wonder if Christ was tempted to cut and run.
The reality of life, as our own Sam Kennedy has said it, is that you “shouldn’t get in the game unless you’re prepared to lose.” But losing is sometimes enough to prevent us from ever getting started.
Of course, there’s more to living than winning or losing. In our world that seems to be as divided as it ever has been, living and letting people know who you are, means sometimes losing friends – for as soon as you open up your mouth you are put into categories of Republican or Democrat, Liberal or Conservative, are you with me or are you with them – sometimes you wish you could be on every side, but the world just won’t have it.
Still God calls us to step out, to use our gifts, and while our words and actions may close just as many doors as they’ll open, to keep who we are and what we have to say to ourselves is hardly permissible considering where those gifts came from.
But we fear rejection, we fear failure, we fear not living up to all the hopes and dreams of our parents, our friends, and our God. So God calls you to the water to hear the words that will give you the courage to be the woman or man you were created to be.
Hear these words if you have been afraid to go after the life you always wanted but were reluctant to pay the cost.
Hear these words if you have ignored your calling, for fear of what friends and family would say.
Hear these words if you know what you have to do but need the courage to do it.
Hear these words if you’ve ever doubted your worth in the eyes of your maker.
Hear these words if you’ve ever doubted your worth in the eyes of yourself: “You are mine, the Beloved, whom whom I am well pleased.”
These are words from your creator to you.
Thanks be to God. Amen.

They Offered Him Gifts

2011-01-02T19:17:00.001-08:00

Matthew 2: 1-16 found on page 2 of the New Testament in your pew Bibles
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.”
When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are by no means the least among the rulers of Judah;
For from you shall come a ruler
Who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”
Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”
When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage.
Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.”
Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”
When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.
Sermon
There are many reasons I am excited to be living here in Columbia, rather than in Atlanta. The main reason is that I am here, with all of you, in this incredible church whose nearly 200 year history I am amazed to become a part of. But here, as you all already know, there isn’t any traffic, and in general I expect to spend much less time in the car than I did before.
The only part of spending so much time in the car that I’ll miss are reading the billboards - I haven’t noticed any here in Columbia, maybe they’re like the traffic - you have to go up to Nashville to get any. A few weeks ago I read about 50 billboards that have sprung up in Nashville announcing that we should all, “Save the date: Jesus is coming on May 21st, 2011.”
These billboards have been financed by Allison Warden of Raleigh-based WeCanKnow.com, and they proclaim the upcoming rapture and Christ’s imminent return, based on her analysis of scripture and biblical genealogy.
According to Warden, “All information in the Bible points to this date. God is going to be saving people right up until the last moment.”
While I’m not sure that Warden is right about her date, and while I’m not a proponent of her “End-Times Theology”, I am sure that many people will be influenced by her claim, and I doubt that all of it will be bad, but I’m sure that some of it will.
Because when people hear that Christ is coming they tend to do very strange things.
While many may turn back to the church, many others will worry. Some will invest in gold and canned goods, hole up in shelters bellow ground, amass automatic weapons and ammunition, all in preparation for the end of the world.
People do strange things when they hear about Christ coming.
Some of it is good, but some of it, founded in fear, can be gruesome.
We read in our scripture lesson that when King Herod heard of the birth of “the child who has been born king of the Jews” he was frightened, and all of Jerusalem with him.
Out of fear for what his coming will mean, assuming that his coming will be the end of his power and authority, he first tried to find this child by using the wise men, asking them to send word once they found him so that he could come and join them in worship.
But when Herod realized that the wise men had tricked him, that they left without leading him to the child, he flew into a rage and commanded the murder of every little boy two years old and under who lived in Bethlehem and its surrounding hills.
Herod’s act of terrorism founded in his fear that this child would threaten his power offers a stark contrast to the rest of our lesson for today – and you might say that terrorism and the fear terrorism inspires always offers a stark contrast to the Gospel – as how can you live out the gospel when all your actions are governed by fear?
There can be no doubt that the billboards proclaiming Christ’s imminent return will inspire many to fear in a world where too many are already afraid.
Afraid of not having enough, too many in our world have grown reluctant in giving, holding tight to what they have, generosity a luxury of former years.
Afraid of the influence of a changing world, too many have holed up in their homes or enclaves of like-minded souls, acceptance and tolerance diminishing.
While others, afraid of the future and quite certain that the future will be worse than the past, have grown indifferent, hope left to gather dust.
Afraid that his power would be threatened, Herod strikes out in violence seeking to hold onto what he can in light of an uncertain future.
But in the midst of all of this fear – three wise men offer a baby three precious gifts.
A few weeks ago in Bible study I mentioned that there have never been less appropriate baby shower gifts, but I have realized since that this is not the point at all.
In a world of terror the wise give gifts, while those who are governed by fear take all that they can get, push away those who are different, give up on the future, and kill those who threaten the way things are.
In a world of terror, the wise place their hope in a child while those who are governed by fear hold tight all the power they have left.
They open their doors while others lock themselves away.
In a world of terror the wise reach out in kindness with those who are governed by fear strike out in violence.
The point of terrorism is to break down community, to make people afraid of each other, as those who are afraid and alone are easy to control.
That was the point of Herod’s strike – to communicate his power and to strike fear into the hearts of his people.
But the Gospel calls us to follow another path.
Whereas the fearful would keep what they can get – the faithful give precious gifts to the king of kings.
Whereas the fearful strike out at those who are different, burning Mosques, striking out in hate – the faithful open their doors as this church opened your doors to the very people you have been taught to fear.
Whereas the fearful retreat into sanctuaries of safety – the faithful stay to serve the downcast, the oppressed, homeless, and the hungry as this church has committed to stay and serve those who may well be none other than Christ himself.
While the billboards say that Christ is coming in May – we are called to live knowing that Christ is with us now – like the wise men so long ago – we are called to give our gifts.
Then the King will say to those at his right hand:
For I was hungry and you gave me food
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
I was naked and you gave me clothing,
I was sick and you took care of me,
I was in prison and you visited me.
In a world of fear we are called to live as the one who gave his very body and blood to us lived – giving when too many are afraid to give.
In a world where terror’s shadow looms, let us live as people of the light – let us follow the light of Christ.
Amen.

The King of the Jews

2010-11-23T05:54:00.000-08:00

Luke 23: 33-43, page 748
When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals – one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”
The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
There was a written notice above him, which read: This is the King of the Jews.
One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
But the other criminal rebuked him, “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?” We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Sermon
It’s a strange lesson for someone’s last sermon I know, but the decision was made for me – today is a great day for the church calendar, before we begin preparing for Christ’s birth, we celebrate his Lordship on what is today, Christ the King Sunday.
On this Sunday then, in a world of uncertainty where we wonder who or what is in control, we come to terms with the truth – that Christ is King.
I say we live in a world of uncertainty and I think you know that I’m not just talking about how upside down the world seems to Georgia Tech basketball fans in the wake of their defeat to Kennesaw State or how there seems to be no justice in a world where Bristol Palin continues on to the finals in Dancing with the Stars – I’m talking about a nation’s too long season of unemployment where too many don’t know where their next paycheck will come from and wonder if it will come in time to pay the heating bill or the mortgage.
A world of injustice where too many go without water, and where oil has become so valuable we risk the wellbeing of our oceans to mine for more.
A world where the Nation of Haiti, besieged by earthquake is now ravaged by disease, people striking out against each other - rioting in the street.
I’m talking about a world where we wonder just who it is that’s in control.
That’s why Christ the King Sunday means something – we remember this day who is in control – but it’s also my last Sunday, which got me thinking.
During my time with you, we’ve been through difficult times. The economy has caused hardship in many of our lives and in the life of our church. We’ve also lost loved ones. We’ve faced personal struggles. We’ve asked hard questions, we’ve been given hard answers, but in all these things I’ve been amazed by you – for despite all the challenges of our time together, you have shown me what it means to be faithful – you made the choice, that in a world of uncertainty where so much lies out of your control, you have chosen to be faithful, you have chosen life.
To choose life in the midst of a victim’s situation is a bold choice, as in doing so you did not allow the most obvious interpretation of events to go unchallenged.
You have stood in storms of uncertainty, as people too often are, and while all arrows seemed to be pointing in one direction and you’ve acted as though the meaning of devastating events - cancer, loss, divorce, unemployment – events interpreted by so many in our world as hopeless - as though meaning were yet undetermined, as though you still had a choice in how to respond.
There’s a lesson here then for the world – in the midst of confusing news, tragedy that we don’t understand occurring in a world that we don’t seem to have any control over as though we were the victims of chance – we still have a choice in how we understand.
This is profoundly important because defining what the circumstances of our world mean and what we should do about them is a constant battle fought by those who know, as Rome knew, that not just events, but the meaning assigned to events, matters.
In our scripture lesson for today, they didn’t just kill Jesus, you see, they gave this event meaning.
They harassed and humiliated him. They hung him there for everyone to see, killing him slowly, painfully, so that in his dying his weakness would speak volumes to all those who considered him powerful, his helplessness would be proclaimed to any who thought him divine, and the severity of his execution would silence his disciples and any others who might think of following in his footsteps.
Rome didn’t just kill him – his death was a warning to any who might doubt Roman power.
Rome didn’t just kill him – they made sure that any faith in him was rendered pointless.
Rome didn’t just kill him – they called him the King of the Jews – mocking any threat to Roman authority, making sure that everyone knew any challenge to Caesar was nothing more than a joke.
He can’t even save himself they said – what kind of a king can’t even save himself?
As though saving yourself were a sign of power.
While they mocked him and doubted him, as Rome utilized his death to communicate their power, Christ makes two statements that must have seemed like a whisper compared to the media campaign of the Roman Empire: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And to the criminal, the only one who sees what this event truly means, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
In all of it, we see that true power is in choosing not to believe according to the scare tactics of this present evil age, where meaning is assigned by those who seek to control you.
True power is in choosing to forgive those who persecute you in our world of revenge and terror. True power lies with those who choose not to save themselves, but die to selfishness that paradise be attained together.
Our world of milestones, current events, and non-stop news cycles is one where meaning is assigned, power is managed, and death seems to have the final word.
There is no point in challenging it, they say.
There is no power greater than the one that seems to rule our world.
But just as Peter had, we still have a choice. The question, “who do they say I am?” is not nearly as important as “who do you say I am?”
The choice to see that there is no King besides the King of the Jews.
In following him we choose life over death.
In choosing to forgive rather than blame and rant, we model a different way that those in power too often seem to know nothing about.
And in serving our neighbors as Christ saved that criminal there on the cross, we defy cycles of selfishness that destroy communities, worlds, and leave individuals alone and afraid – just where Death wants us.
So my charge to you is this – just as you chose life, chose hope – go on choosing to believe that the God of hope will not disappoint you.
Just as you chose Christ over Rome before – go on holding him close though the world would pull you apart.
And just as you, by your actions, have defied the powers of sin and death, go on doubting their power in this world which defy God’s righteousness and love.
Choose to follow the King of the Jews – and I tell you the truth – paradise awaits.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.

The God of the Living

2010-11-07T05:24:00.001-08:00

Luke 20: 27-40, page 745
Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. The second and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children.
Finally the woman died too.
Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”
Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection. But in the account of the bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ Our God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to God all are alive.”
Some of the teachers of the law responded, “Well said, teacher!” And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Sermon
Our house is on the market now, so keeping things clean for prospective buyers has taken on particular importance. Our dogs, we have three dogs and if you take no other moral lesson from this sermon than a warning that three dogs is too many dogs I will have done my job well enough, our dogs have gotten into the habit of kidnapping Lily’s stuffed animals and tearing them apart in the back yard. Sara sent me into the backyard the other day to pick up the remnants of one of my poor daughter’s less fortunate stuffed animals.
It’s strange what happens sometimes in the midst of such a project. As I was picking up stuffed animal stuffing from the backyard I started noticing other projects that needed doing – that there were also bibs in the backyard that the dogs had taken outside, leaves on the patio chairs, pine straw that needed raking, and the gutters were clogged. Then I noticed parts of the house that could use a fresh coat of paint, fence rails that could stand to be replaced, and on and on and on until the whole house suddenly seemed to be in such disrepair that I came to the hopeless conclusion that no one would ever want to buy it.
It all started with my focus, and while most people don’t go from picking up stuffed animal stuffing to thinking that their perfectly fine house is a junk heap, what we focus on has a big impact on how we understand ourselves and the world – an eye for stuffed animal stuffing can snowball – we go from seeing a paint chip on the car and a perfectly fine automobile starts to look like a jalopy – the sight of a pimple turns the prom queen’s self image from beauty to the beast.
What we focus on matters, so while we don’t learn much about the Sadducees just by reading our scripture lesson for the day, we do learn their focus. Our lesson begins: “Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question.”
Luke doesn’t tell us much here, but I’m willing to bet that the author of Luke is telling us all he thinks we need to know, that the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question.
I’m sure that there was much more to the Sadducees than just that, but by Luke they are defined according to what they focused on, where they stood on the great debate of the day, whether or not there was a resurrection of the dead.
Luke doesn’t tell us more any more than that, but the Sadducees’ belief spanned many more issues than this one – they focused on the first five books of the Bible, the books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. In so many ways they were like the Pharisees, except the Pharisees broadened their focus beyond the first five books of the Bible into nearly the whole of what we now have as the Old Testament, and based on these additional books the Pharisees came to believe that there was scriptural evidence for life after death.
These two groups, similar in so many ways, defined themselves according to this small difference. For the Sadducees, in order to know who they were they had to know who they weren’t, and so they defined themselves according to how they were different from the Pharisees on the great divisive topic of the day.
Jesus steps into the room, and like so many of us who are on one side of a debate or another, the Sadducees wanted to know if Jesus was with us or them.
This is what we all do to some degree or another – we want to know, are you with us or are you with them. When I went up to Tennessee last week folks wanted to know whether I was a UT fan or a Vanderbilt fan.
My response was, “Vanderbilt has a football team?”
More important than which college football team I cheer for is where Jesus stands on the great issues of the day – so the Sadducees want to know what Jesus thinks, and like so many groups who have spent too much time focusing on one particular issue, the Sadducees have reached the point of asking hypothetical questions so ridiculous that they make people feel like they either have to be with them or must be an idiot.
Seven men married to one woman – whose wife will she be?
If there is a resurrection from the dead – how can this poor woman be married to seven men? See – there can’t be a resurrection from the dead. Think about how ridiculous that would be.
But it’s not so different from the ways certain groups portray each other today. Wouldn’t you stop a woman from murdering her child? Then how can you let her murder her fetus?
Don’t you believe that women have a right to decide for themselves what they do with their bodies, or would you have them wear burkas and get their husbands permission before they do anything?
We would like to know what Jesus would do, where he would stand regarding the great debates of our day – but in a way it’s like asking what James Madison would say about video games if you’ve been following the Supreme Court hearings this week – he’s a man of another time who responded to his generation’s hot topics and not ours.
But in another way, asking Jesus to side with you or with them is even more impossible because Jesus isn’t ever on one side or the other.
Yes, Jesus takes a stand, he isn’t wishy-washy or appealing to both groups at the same time, but what’s different about Jesus is that he takes a stand by bridging differences rather than deepening the divide between the two groups.
To the Sadducees who focused solely on the books of Moses Jesus says, “Even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ Our God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to God all are alive.”
Not only is this appeal to Moses important for the sake of Jesus beating the Sadducees at their own game claiming that even Moses believed in a resurrection of the dead, but this last phrase, for to God all are alive, speaks of unity in the midst of division. For to God, all are alive.
Jesus doesn’t stand in one camp and not the other – Pharisee or Sadducee, for to God, all are alive – not just opposite camps whose focus on difference convinces them that they are more different than they are alike, but the whole of creation, and even beyond it – from the living to the dead – all are alive to God.
Unlike us, Jesus’ focus is not on what divides, knowing that if our focus is on what makes us different we will forever be divided. Jesus focus is on what makes us one - and in the eyes of God, we are all alive.
Ours is a time of intense division. Battle lines are drawn and heightened attention has been drawn to them in these midterm elections, but if our focus as a nation is on how we are different, who is right and who is wrong, who is for freedom and who is not, then the terrorists have won – you haven’t heard it lately but it’s still true: united we stand or divided we fall.
The same is true for our church – if our focus is on what divides us, then we are just where Satan wants us to be: weak, fragmented, going nowhere because we can’t agree on where to go.
So we’ve got to remember Jesus words: For to God, all are alive – and in the eyes of God there is so much that makes us one.
Unfortunately, the Sadducees did eventually come together with the Pharisees. Unified they cried out to crucify the one who called them together.
May we not be so blind.
Open your eyes to the truth. Open your eyes to the reality, that you are surrounded by your brothers and sisters.
Thanks be to God, the God who makes us one.
Amen.

At a Distance

2010-10-24T09:39:00.000-07:00

Luke 18: 9-14, page 742
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like the others – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Sermon
Leaving one church and going to another is not easy at all.
As word has gotten out that I’m leaving Good Shepherd for 1st Presbyterian of Columbia, Tennessee, I’ve been honored by emails, phone calls, and face book messages – all of which make me wonder how on earth I’m ever going to be able to say goodbye to all of you.
But in addition to your kind words that I’ve been honored to receive, though some seem to me to be describing someone else entirely, I also have to go back through the examination process.
Just as when a lawyer goes from one state to another, or when a teacher goes from one district to another, a Presbyterian minister, going from one Presbytery to another, must once again go through the tedious process of examination on the floor of Presbytery, fielding questions from any of the 150-300 elders and ministers present who want to give me a hard time.
Last Wednesday I was driving up to Columbia TN, thinking about the examination to take place the next day in Nashville, and I was wondering to myself: should I be honest about who I am, or should I play the part and just get through my examination?
It’s a long drive up there, and in addition to worrying about how I would answer their questions, I was listening to the new George Washington biography that was published earlier this month, written by Ron Chernow.
This new biography portrays our first president in a revealing light – dispelling the myths that many of us grew up hearing. No, that episode with the cherry tree probably did not happen, as his father, who in this story rewards young Washington for refusing to tell a lie actually died long before his son would have ever been able to lift an ax. The other myth – that George Washington was able to throw a coin clear across that great, wide, river seems also to be a fabrication.
These stories, however, while they are almost certainly not factually true, do point to some truths of Washington’s character – he cherished honesty for the most part, and, standing at over six feet tall, Washington was probably taller and stronger than the vast majority of men of his generation.
His greatness aside, there is more to the story, as like all great biographies, this most recent concerning our 1st president works to dispel myths of character in the hopes of getting to the truth. So his biography tells the story of a young man, thrust into adulthood early by the death or his father and his older brothers, who drove himself up the ladder of Virginia aristocracy by inflating his military prowess to heroism, a military career that was in reality up until the Revolutionary War, scarred by mistakes and redeemed by luck. Though a champion of freedom, Washington one of the largest slave owners in the state of Virginia, though remembered as a great politician, his early political gains were bought through bribery by rum, and though generally thought of as a Christian man, was a steady attendee of the Anglican Church, and took leadership roles therein, he never took communion nor made any outright profession of faith.
Biographies have a way or undoing the images we place upon people – for in biographies you are invited to see people for who they truly are.
It’s good, then, that biographies are most often only written after their subject’s death, as only after death can our society’s heroes and villains stop being who we need them to be.
Our nation needed Washington to be a hero, to be larger than life, and so he was – but in death this newest biography offers him the freedom to be the person he always was, the person history has been reluctant to let him be – a human being – exactly what he always was before God.
Before God there is no reason to pretend to be larger than life – before God there is no reason to be anything other than yourself because God already knows exactly who are you.
It’s a shame then that none of Washington’s prayers survived to inform his newest biography – they may have shed light on who he was and what he truly thought of himself.
Prayers do survive though – two of them – one from a tax collector and another from a Pharisee make up important parts of our scripture lesson for today – and these prayers both certainly shed light on the character of these two men.
These two men are alike in so many ways. They are both Jews – we know that because they both are granted entrance into the temple. They are both religious Jews – wanting to go to the temple at all. And they are both important figures in ancient Palestinian society – one, a revered religious figure – the other, a despised tax collector.
We are given an intimate look into their person through their prayer – though – based on who they were characterized as by their world, I can’t say that we learn much of anything new.
The Pharisee is exactly who society needed him to be – he was supposed to be better than everyone else, and so, in his prayer, he thanks God that he is. His congregation needed him to be exemplary, and so, in his prayer, we learn that he really does fast twice a week and gives a tenth of all that he receives.
The tax collector is also exactly who society needed him to be – he was supposed to be worse than everyone else, a cheater, a thief, a bad person, taking more than was his while the Pharisee willingly sacrificed, greedily getting as much as he can while the Pharisee willingly gives a tenth of his income away.
While they are opposites in some ways, each taking their respective place on the ethical scale of their society, they are the same in that their society needed them to be who they were, and they both perform their parts perfectly.
Society needs people who are particularly holy, people who they can look up to, who they can believe are closer to God, and so the Pharisee in prayer confesses to be just that. In the same way, society needs villains, people to look down on, people who can populate the bottom of the barrel so that most folks can say, “well, I’m not that great, but at least I’m better than him.” We need our villains so that we can feel OK about who we are, and so the tax collector plays his part.
But where this parable goes far off track is when Jesus says, “I tell you, this man [meaning the tax collector] went home justified before God.”
Why? Why is he the one who went home justified?
In prayer they are both in line with their respective characterizations – the Pharisee is good, and thankful that he is so good – and the tax collector is bad, and ashamed that he is so bad.
They are both playing their parts, and societal expectations would surely say that the Pharisee went home justified.
But based on the words of Jesus, it would seem that before God, it is better to be repentant.
That in our world, where we favor heroism above villainy, holiness above sacrilege, benevolence above selfishness, in the mind of God there is only repentance – or dependence on God’s grace – and self-righteousness – or the idea that you are good enough on your own, and you don’t really need God for anything besides an ear to hear how holy you think you are.
Our society asks much of us – and we all have parts to play – but God only asks us to be who we are – sinners in need of God’s grace for our salvation.
When we go before God, what we learn from this parable is that it is always better to be repentant, because in being repentant we ask God to enable us to be something more than we can achieve on our own.
What matters is not whether you are good or bad in the eyes of yourself or this world – what matters in the eyes of God is whether or not you are on the road to being better. Our world divides us up into simplistic categories, but in the eyes of God, there is only the self-righteous and the repentant – those who are justified in their own eyes and those who are trying to be justified in God’s eyes. Those who are praying about their own holiness, and those who are praying the tax collector’s prayer: “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
No matter who you are or where you’ve been – what matters in the eyes of God is where you are going. Are you happy with where you are, who the world says you are, or are you appealing to God to have mercy, trusting that your weakness is the foundation for God’s strength?
God, have mercy on me, a sinner the tax collector prayed – if this is your prayer than you can be sure that in the eyes of God you are justified.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.

Will He Find Faith on the Earth?

2010-10-17T06:29:00.000-07:00

Luke 18: 1-8, page 742
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
He said: In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about people. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘grant me justice against my adversary.’
For some time he refused, but finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about people, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’
And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for the chosen ones, who cry out day and night? Will God keep putting them off? I tell you, God will see that they get justice and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?’
Sermon
I’ve told you before that I used to work lawn maintenance for a company downtown. That I had a college degree didn’t really mean anything, but that I could speak English and had a driver’s license did and I was on my way up the ladder as far as lawn maintenance was concerned. Unfortunately though, I still had to pay my dues, and that meant being trained by Loco Lee.
Loco Lee, that’s what the Hispanic guys called him behind his back, and he was just that. Like me, he could speak English, had a driver’s license, and even a college degree from the Citadel of all places, but unlike me, he was crazy.
He would get mad and fly off the handle over the smallest things. His leaf blower wouldn’t start, so he’d throw it into the street. The truck’s transmission fell out, so he walked around it kicking and cussing it for a solid 15 minutes while I tried to keep the customers from seeing.
That kind of behavior shocked me, and certainly shocked poor Jorge who couldn’t understand what Lee was saying but knew it was bad. But what really made me afraid of Lee was the stuff he’d say while he was perfectly calm.
He lived in one of those pay by the week hotels, just like the ones on the other side of 78 from us, and while he had a driver’s license he didn’t have a car. One day I was giving him a ride home and he said to me, out of no-where: “You shouldn’t brush your teeth Joe. It’s a losing battle.”
“What do you mean Lee?” I asked.
“Our life spans are now longer than our teeth were built to last. Your teeth will make it, 40, 50 years max. Then they’ll just fall out. I don’t see any reason to fight it. I’m just going to let them go. I’ll have to get them all replaced anyway, why not give up now?”
Lee taught me a lot of things about lawn maintenance, but you’ll be relieved to know I haven’t taken any of his advice on dental hygiene.
Some people think this way though – knowing what the end will be, resistance seems futile. Fighting against tooth decay will eventually end in tooth loss sooner or later – you can’t win so why not quit now.
But that’s like saying – I’m eventually going to die – why should I fight it.
And that’s true. We are, all of us, going to die eventually. But life is in the resistance to this truth – and I refuse to give up any earlier than I have to.
Our scripture lesson begins: “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” To make any sense out of this introduction we have to deal with what came before it – we have to know why it was that the disciples were even thinking of giving up.
In the verses leading up to our scripture lesson for today is a section titled by your pew Bibles as: “the coming of the kingdom of God.” Our lesson, verses 1 through 8 of chapter 18 may well end the section titled “the coming of the kingdom of God” considering verse 8: “However, when the son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Jesus had been talking to them about what the end – the end of all things – was going to be like. As anyone who believes that the end is imminent, they were tempted to hole up in a cave with as many gold bars and canned goods as they could find until whatever was going to happen happened.
This kind of knowledge, knowledge about the end, is dangerous then – because faith isn’t just about waiting and watching, sitting back while God does what God is going to do. While faith is certainly about trusting that at the end of all things God is there, for sure, but it’s also about what we do in the meantime.
So “Jesus told them a parable to show them that they should always pray and never give up.”
In this parable there is a widow with no help in the world. Her husband is gone, no children are mentioned, and she goes appealing to a faithless judge who might at least be shamed into feeling sorry for her, but this judge doesn’t even care what anyone thinks of him.
Just the same, she goes to this judge while he’s walking from the golf course to dinner. She hassles him as he walks from his house to his girlfriend’s house (I’m filing in between the lines a little bit). She finds him wherever he hides, she’s on the steps at his office waiting as he pulls up – there’s no escaping her so appeasing her becomes easier than trying to ignore her.
This is what faith looks like according to Christ. This widow is who we are to emulate.
While we know that the end is coming, while we know where we will be and what will happen when it does, we aren’t to sit back and wait, but are called to go on harassing the judges of this earth – demanding from them justice.
Justice will certainly come when the Son of Man returns – but the faithful will not be lazily waiting for his arrival. The faithful will be busy doing the work of the kingdom.
This parable is certainly an important one – not just because it assures us that the unjust judges of our world – the faithless hierarchies of power, the bureaucracies and systems that care nothing for you or I – they’re days are numbered.
But this parable is even more important, because in addition to letting us know how the great cosmic story will end – we are instructed on how we are to conduct ourselves until he comes.
Knowing that Christ is coming is no reason to stop pursuing justice, just as knowing that your teeth are eventually going to fall out is no reason to put off dental hygiene.
In this time in between right now and the end – we are called to go on praying, go on fighting for justice – as there is life to be lived between now and then.
Ours is the time of widows who demand justice – and like the wives, girlfriends, and children camped out on top of the mine in Chile – we have no excuse for packing up and heading home. They all could have so easily rushed to the end. How many must have considered them widows already, but they refused to give in to the end though they knew in whom those miner’s fates rested. Rather than give into death, like widows at the door of a faithless judge they were relentless in their pursuit for justice, relentless in their belief that those miners were worth saving.
So many would have let a collapsed mind end the story – and trusted those minors fates’ to God – but like a widow demanding justice those women persisted.
One of the greatest works of the Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas, was written for his dying father. I’ll share this poem with you now:
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
We Christians know how all of this is going to end – if our faith is sure than we are given the gift of easy sleep, trusting our destiny to the Son of Man, the one who was with us in the beginning and will be with us in the end. But such knowledge leaves us no excuse for not living today. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Amen.

Thank You

2010-10-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

Luke 17: 11-19, page 741
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.
As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him – and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
Sermon
I’ve been thinking about Bobby Cox a lot lately. I’m not just glad that the Braves made it to the play-offs in his last season as Head Coach, I’m thankful.
I don’t admire sports heroes as much as some, but I do Bobby because I remember what Braves baseball was like before he showed up.
Walking away from games with my head held low – embarrassed to wear a Braves hat outside the metro-Atlanta area – not just because it was baby blue either – because they were awful!
In reflecting on his career, some have said, “He should have coached the Braves to more World Series victories,” and it’s possible to say that – but only if you have no conception of where we were before Bobby Cox showed up.
Sure – Dale Murphy was great – but the Braves were bad. As folks think about Bobby Cox they need to remember that; you’ve got to remember where you were compared to where you are – if you don’t you might forget to say thank you to someone who deserves it.
Our lesson for today is hard to understand – you immediately wonder why only one came back to say “thank you.”
Maybe he was the only one raised right – but plenty of people are raised right and still, plenty of people don’t say thank you when they should.
I think about my tax dollars. A gift, if you will, to our banks. A safety net, a bail-out, a big, big gift from you and I to virtually every bank in this country to save them from their own bad management.
But I haven’t received a thank you note. Have you?
You could make the case it was a forced gift – but then my joke doesn’t work.
It surprises me how quickly people forget. Or maybe it’s not forgetfulness at all. Maybe it’s something else.
Maybe the nine who didn’t go back to thank Jesus were just too excited; maybe they were so excited they couldn’t wait to go to the priest, be approved as clean according to his judgment by the law, and then, finally allowed to return to his family after being forced to live on the outskirts for who knows how long, quarantined for the good of his own family and friends, couldn’t wait a single second to get home.
Or maybe there’s more to it than that.
It’s hard to admit that we need help. And it’s even harder to say thank you when we’ve received something we couldn’t provide for ourselves, something we are embarrassed that we couldn’t provide for ourselves.
Sometimes out of desperation we call out for help, and as soon as we receive the help we so desperately needed we forget how bad off we were before the help came.
There was a great storm one night, and John Newton was on a slave ship, not below decks as a slave, but a willing participant and beneficiary of the slave trade. The night was so dark and the storm so severe that though he had made it through storms before he was afraid, and though he had grown up with no particular religious convictions, he called out to God for help.
There’s nothing so unique about that.
I think we’ve all been there before, maybe not in the midst of a storm on the sea, but certainly a storm of the soul. I’ve certainly been afraid before, and in my fear have more than once called out to God for help much the way the lepers in our lesson do.
But upon deliverance, once the storm has subsided, something happens in remembering. The fear, once so severe doesn’t seem so bad anymore. Without the wind and the rain to remind us – life goes back to normal – the illusion that we are in control and can save ourselves re-establishes itself so quickly.
Maybe that’s just how our memories work – our successes get bigger and bigger like old fishing stories, but the terror of the dark nights when we need saving fades.
It’s important then to know that for John Newton, the dark night never escaped his memory, and that storm on the sea became the inspiration for one of our faith’s most beloved hymns, Amazing Grace.
Our temptation so often is to just get on with our lives, forget how bad it was, go on home and back to life as normal, leave the leprosy behind, not even taking the time to say “thank you” because in saying “thank you” I have to be reminded of how bad things were.
In this story from Luke’s Gospel Jesus represents salvation – salvation from a state that those 9 never wanted to be reminded of again.
They didn’t want to think about their leprosy.
They didn’t want to think about their days of living on the outskirts of town shunned by friends and family.
They didn’t want to go back into that shack where they were reduced to a community made up of those whom society could do without.
They didn’t want to acknowledge what they needed Christ to save them from, so they went on with their lives.
But for the one – for the one who remembered – Christ was more - Christ was savior.
When we come to terms with who we were – when we don’t forget what we needed – Christ becomes more – for those in radical need of saving find in Christ a radical savior.
To be truly thankful that you’ve been found – you’ve got to come to terms with the fact that you were lost.
You want to know the sweet sound of God’s Amazing Grace – you can’t forget that you were once a wretch who needed saving.
You want your fears relieved – you’ve got to know your fear.
You want to see – then admit that you were blind.
You want to be saved – then come to terms with the fact that you need saving and you can’t do it yourself.
There’s strength in that surrender.
And there’s no shame in it – because who you are – who you were – what came before – is the foundation for your salvation.
To have a savior – you’ve got to know you need one – thanks be to God, Christ is ours.
Amen.