I AM

Scripture Lessons: Exodus 3: 1-14 and John 18: 1-11 Sermon Title: I AM Preached on July 25, 2021 Most days when it’s nice out, and even sometimes when it’s not as nice, I ride my bike here to the church. When I get here, I park it in the bike rack right outside that Mike Clotfelter installed about four years ago now. Just having the option of riding a bike to work is a benefit of living close by that I’m grateful for, and this blessing only comes with a couple challenges: 1. how will I get home if it’s raining? 2. how do I survive ridding over the Harris Hines Bridge? One Monday morning I was riding here. I got to that bridge. You know the one I’m talking about. It’s the bridge right behind the church that takes Kennesaw over the 120 Loop. Going over that bridge is the part of the ride that scares me the most because the road narrows, people speed up to get over the railroad tracks, so I almost always illegally ride on the sidewalk. Well, that Monday there were two people walking on the sidewalk already. I first came up behind Ginny Brogan, a member here, who tolerated me as I squeezed past her on the narrow sidewalk. Up ahead was the other, a man I didn’t know. As I passed by him on my bike he said, just loud enough for me to hear, “You know it’s illegal to ride a bike on the sidewalk.” I didn’t know this man, and his words struck me, so I thought about stopping to apologize or explain myself, only then the thought occurred to me, “what if he asks who I am and where I’m going”? How is it going to look to this man I’ve never met before, how is it going to reflect on this church, if I so blatantly disregard the standards of public safety on my way here? What if he said, “Well, I was thinking of going to visit First Presbyterian Church, but now that the preacher nearly pushed me off the sidewalk and into oncoming traffic, I think I’d rather not”? For that reason, I just kept ridding, but I still think about it. I still think about almost running this man off the sidewalk on my bicycle, because, while maybe it’s not as bad as cutting off someone’s ear, still, it is another instance where I must wonder how well the Gospel is being preached through the actions of those who call themselves Christians. Think about the slave Malchus. The Bible takes the time to give us his name, which is a sign of how important he is to remember. We just read: “Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus,” and he was doing nothing more than minding his own business, obeying his master’s wishes, so what did he think about the Prince of Peace when his right-hand man, Simon Peter, comes at him with a sword? How was the Gospel proclaimed in that moment? How was the Kingdom advanced? On whom has Christ built His church? Do you know that line? The first time Peter fully recognized Jesus for who he was he said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Excited, Jesus then said to him, “You are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” When Jesus makes this declaration it’s a spirit filled moment recorded in Scripture, and there’s even more to it if you can read Greek, the language the account was originally written in. In Greek the word for rock is Petros, or Peter. The name Peter just means rock, which is why Jesus names the man formally known as Simon “Peter.” His name says it all: “He is the Rock” Christ’s Church is built upon, but the rock cut off a man’s ear. What do you make of that? Another important play on words which I believe helps explain an important point is an easy one to miss in our Second Scripture Lesson, because this one hinges on our ability to read Hebrew. When the detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief priest and the Pharisees were led by Judas with lanterns and torches and weapons, Jesus asked, “Whom are you looking for?” They said, “Jesus of Nazareth,” and Jesus said, “I AM.” That’s not what we read in English because a literal translation of the ancient language doesn’t make much sense, so just a moment ago we read Jesus’ response as, “I am he.” That’s not an exact translation. What I want you to know is that in our First Scripture Lesson, when Moses asks God, “Whom shall I say sent me,” and God says, “Tell them I AM sent you,” in our Second Scripture Lesson Jesus is quoting God because that’s who he is. As he’s being arrested he’s letting them know that he is the God of Abraham and Sarah, Miriam and Moses, Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego. He’s the power behind the burning bush and the pillar of flames that led the people through the wilderness. Incarnate in human flesh, he is the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the one who created this world, who still sustains it, and who works through human history to redeem it again and again and again. Bible scholars will tell you that here Jesus invokes the divine name, which explains why the intimidating band of armed men who had come to arrest him “stepped back and fell to the ground” before a collection of threadbare disciples led by the prince of peace. These soldiers and police officers kneel before him because they know that they are not God, but he just said he is. “I AM,” he said. So now I go back to Peter, who is the rock that Christ’s church is built upon. Did he really cut off a man’s ear? Yes, he did. Can you really build a church on Peter? Of course, you can, so long as Peter and everyone listening to him remembers that he’s not God. “I AM,” says Jesus. “I AM.” This is the final Sunday of an eight-week sermon series focused on the “I am,” statements of Jesus. Week after week we’ve focused on these phrases which Jesus uses to describe himself. This summer we’ve thought about how Jesus says, “I AM the bread of life. I AM the light of the world. I AM the gate, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the way and the truth and the life,” and last Sunday, “I AM the vine.” Now we reach the 8th and final statement, which is just plain, “I AM.” To think about this one is a little bit harder. You have to reach a little bit further to understand what he means. Even scholars typically only deal with the first seven of these statements, but Rev. Cassie Waits who came up with this series and the idea for the ribbons added this eighth one, because saying, “I AM” also goes so far in Jesus’ effort to describe himself to us, and this description goes a long way in helping us understand who we are. With this statement Jesus is explicitly saying, “I am the same God who spoke to Moses out of the burning bush and led the Hebrew people out of slavery” though what I want to focus on this Sunday is what’s implicit in this statement because it’s also as though Jesus is saying, “I am God, and you are not.” Do you know anyone who gets confused about that? Some people do. And so, I have a message for those members of a neighboring church who find themselves in the news week after week. I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know when I say that Mount Bethel United Methodist Church is in the headlines. Some are disappointed in the pastor who is refusing to do what the bishop says. Others are disappointed in the bishop for making this move for reasons of church politics rather than for the wellbeing of the congregation. Both factions make a fair point, only here’s what’s most important for any frustrated church members to remember: neither the bishop nor the pastor is God. “I AM,” Jesus said. We must remember that. If we don’t we’ll stand to be disappointed again and again, for no human being can stand up to divine standards. We’re not perfect. “I AM,” Jesus said. We’re not always selfless, but “I AM” Jesus says. We’re not free from ambition, ego, narcissism, pride, or human error, though Jesus says, “I AM”. Plus, to quote the pastor who did our premarital counseling, “If you go looking for flaws in your partner you’re going to find them,” and that goes for your pastor, your doctor, your kids, yourself, your politicians, the CDC, the World Health Organization, CNN, the School Board, the Rotary Club, or anything else run by human beings. Some might ask, “Then who should we be listening to? Is it just eny, meany, miney, mo?” No. It’s “and he is it.” We aren’t perfect, but “I AM” he said. “I AM.” What do with that? I’ll tell you. Don’t confuse preachers and Jesus. Don’t confuse politicians and the Savior. Don’t confuse doctors and God. Don’t think that you’re more powerful than you are. You just aren’t that powerful, and neither is anybody else. Amazing things happen through you. That’s true. Still, we try too hard. We hold too tightly. We can’t let go. We deny our shortcomings. This week you were given a blue ribbon. Blue is the color of Mary, the mother of Jesus. I think about her and all she knew about her baby. How she knew that she wasn’t the one to put the world right. No, she wasn’t. “I AM,” Jesus said. That’s what I want you to write about this Sunday on your ribbon. What do you need his help with? There’s that country song, “Jesus take the wheel.” That’s not very good advice when it comes to driving a car, but there are so many moments where that’s the best advice in the world. Why? Because sometimes, with us, it’s impossible, while nothing will be impossible with the one who said, “I AM.” When you get down to it, who is he to you? Or who do you long that he would be? What is the thing you know you can’t do and long that he would help you with? What is the shortcoming that you have that you need his grace to fill? There’s been a million pages written to get down to this one essential theological reality that any child here could sing: We are weak, but he is strong. Give to the Lord your weakness. Being a Christian isn’t about perfection. If you want to be a Christian in your heart than kneel before him. Surrender. There comes a moment when we must stop thinking, “If I could just be the right person, if I could just get the right answer, if Id would just try harder or be better…” for Christ has built his Church on the rock of imperfect Peter, on the reality of our weakness, for our weakness points to his strength. Where are you weak? How can he help you? Moses said, “You can’t send me. I can’t speak,” yet what did God do through him? Write down your weakness on your ribbon, and just as Christ gave Malchus back his ear, so may his grace heal the wounds inflicted on the world by imperfect people just like us. Give to him your weakness. Write it down on your ribbon, and ay it become a foundation for his strength at work in your life. Amen.

I AM the Vine

Scripture Lessons: Isaiah 5: 1-7 and John 15: 1-8 Sermon Title: I AM the Vine Preached on July 18, 2021 Have you ever heard of Cecil Collins? I learned about him last Tuesday from a Marietta Daily Journal article about Evander Holyfield. Evander Holyfield, world heavyweight champion boxer and Atlanta resident, mentioned him when talking with Cobb Chamber of Commerce Chair John Loud last Monday. Apparently, Cecil Collins is a white boy who Evander Holyfield just couldn’t beat. Holyfield was 10 or 11 the first time Cecil Collins beat him, and after the fight he went home crying ready to never box again. He said, “My mamma let me cry for about two minutes. After that, she asked, “What happened?” “I lost, and I quit,” he answered. Every kid goes through something like this, so every parent has been through this with their kids. Maybe what the kids don’t know is that at least some of the time we’d like to let you quit so we don’t have to drive you to practice, but we can’t let you do that, so Mrs. Holyfield made him go back to boxing. However, then Collins beat him again. This time it was his coach who talked him out of quitting. I guess Holyfield now knew better than to go straight to his mom, so he went to his coach instead. His coach said, “[Why are you quitting? You haven’t lost.] You lose when you stop. [You lose when] you don’t do it [any] more. Setback paves the way for comeback.” That’s good advice. Obviously Hollifield listened, and what I want to point out thinking of Cecil Collins, is that Holyfield grew up to beat not just Cecil Collins but 44 out of the 57 he faced as a professional boxer. He is today the only professional fighter to win the heavyweight championship four times surpassing the record set by Muhammad Ali, making him one of the greatest boxers of all time, and yet he also got pruned. Expect to be pruned. That’s one important point that this passage from the Gospel of John makes. Expect to be pruned and don’t mistake being pruned from being cut from the vine. “I AM the vine,” he said. This is the seventh sermon in a series of eight focusing on what Bible scholars call the “I AM” statements of Jesus. This is the seventh statement that Jesus uses to describe himself: “I AM the vine,” he said, “and you are the branches.” Even the branches that bear fruit must be pruned so that they can bear more fruit, and how important it becomes that we be able to tell the difference between being pruned and being cut off from the vine. Do you know anyone who has trouble telling the difference? If you know me than you know someone. How many times have I hit a bump in the road professionally and been ready to quit? How many times have I made a mistake and been too embarrassed to apologize, so I wanted to just quit on a person? How many times have I suffered and wondered if God had quit on me? We parents all make fun of our kids who sometimes act like it’s the end of the world when they’re disappointed. They don’t make the team and they act like their life is over. Someone breaks their heart, and they can’t leave their bedroom. They act like this because that’s how it feels, and it feels that way to their parents too, but enough bad things have happened to their parents for them to realize that bad things are normal. All the time bad things are happening to us. Day after day we must let go and move on. It’s not all tragic for every branch that bears fruit must be pruned to bear even more, and just because some parts of us are dying that doesn’t mean we are dying. That doesn’t mean we have to quit. That doesn’t mean it’s all over. A book I love is Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It was rejected by publishers 121 times and has since sold 5 million copies worldwide, and this is just one of many books that was famously rejected to go on to huge success. Author of Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling, who has sold 450 million books was rejected by her first 12 publishers. Stephen King threw his first book in the garbage, rejecting it himself. It was then rejected 30 times before being picked up by Doubleday Press and selling over 1 million copies. Then there’s Michael Jordan. Some say he’s the greatest basketball player who ever lived, but did you know that Michael Jordan didn’t make the high school varsity basketball team the first time he tried out? Now he says, “[That’s when it all started.] It all started when coach Pop Herring cut me [from the team].” After not making the team Jordan went home to cry, but years later, now a superstar on Jay Leno in 1997 he said, “Everybody goes through disappointments, it’s how you overcome those disappointments. I just wasn’t good enough. [Today I know that was] the best thing that could have happened to me: to get cut, because [getting cut] made me go back and get caught up with my skill level.” Now, I’m not the Michael Jordan of preaching, but I assure you, I’ve gotten better too, and so much of my improvement is a result of my failure. I was in a club for aspiring preachers in college and the club sponsor took me to the local retirement home to preach one Sunday morning. On the way back to campus the only good thing he could think to say was “you preached for 17 minutes. That was about the right amount of time.” I’ve been doing it like that ever since. Did you know that it’s OK to fail? That it’s good to be pruned? That you weren’t born perfect and so you must get better every day and every hour. Some of us go through life so afraid of criticism that we let it break us. Others of us go through life so hungry for praise that we avoid ever taking a risk. The parable makes this much plain: getting pruned is a part of life. Getting pruned helps us bear more fruit. Getting pruned doesn’t mean we’re cut off from the vine. “I AM the vine” he said. And do you know what else he said? “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” “I will be with you, even until the end of the age.” And according to the Apostle Paul: “Nothing will separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Now that doesn’t mean you’re perfect. That doesn’t mean you don’t have more to learn. That doesn’t mean you should keep your car keys forever. That doesn’t mean you don’t have anything to apologize for. You do. I do. But we can apologize because doing something bad doesn’t mean we’re bad. Making a mistake doesn’t mean I’m a mistake. Failing a test doesn’t make me a failure. A rejection doesn’t disqualify me. It certainly doesn’t disqualify me from being loved. Who reminds you of that? Good parents remind kids of that all the time. Evander Holyfield’s mom wouldn’t let him quit. He got beat twice by Cecil Collins. After their third fight when Holyfield one, his mama gave him permission to quit boxing if he wanted to, but he kept going. Who has helped you keep going? Today you have a purple ribbon. Grapes are purple and we’re blessed with people who help us produce more of them. When we are pruned, we produce more. When we remember that we’re connected to the vine we produce more. Who has helped you remember that you’re still connected to the vine? I’d like for you to write their name on your purple ribbon, because it’s a miraculous thing they’ve done for us, isn’t it? Of course, there’s a time to quit. Some people in my life have helped me quit certain things. I was never going to be a heavy weight boxing champion. I was never going to make the Atlanta Braves. But I once tried to quit basketball in the middle of a game. I was 10 or 11 and I couldn’t make a shot. My Dad pulled me over to the side and said, “Did you know that the best players in the NBA miss half their shots?” That’s true. Did you know that while Babe Ruth hit 714 home runs, he struck out over 13,000 times? Did you know that the first time Abraham Lincoln ran for political office he came in 8th? I’ve wanted to quit being a preacher a time or two and I’m very thankful to those people who wouldn’t let me. I told you already that I once preached a sermon where the only good thing about it was that it was brief. If you can’t be good, be brief, my preaching professor once said. I also once preached a good sermon and a mentor of mine said that she thought it had made God smile. That compliment makes me tear up just thinking of it, and had I quit I never would have heard it. Had I not been pruned I never would have heard it either. “I AM the vine,” he said, and being pruned once or twice does not cut us off from him. Who has reminded you of that? The whole nation of Israel was reminded of that by the Psalms and the Prophets. We read about it from our First Scripture Lesson: a vine who yielded wild grapes. This vine represents a people who failed. They failed to measure up, they turned away from who they were created to be. God expected justice from them but saw bloodshed instead. God expected righteousness, but instead heard the cry of the innocent suffering at the hands of the powerful. What the prophet is saying here is that the people deserved to be cut off. Not just pruned, but torn down, pulled up, and tilled under. What vineyard owner preserves a vine who produces wild grapes? Who sows bloodshed and abuses the weak? But our faith is not about what we deserve. Our faith is about a grace greater than all our sin. Who has reminded you of that? Who has remined you that by being pruned, you might still bear good fruit? That through hardship we might find a better way to be. That while he had reason to, Christ has not given up on His people yet, and by his grace we are invited to try and try and try again. Who has helped you remember that his love for you is as resilient as that vine in the yard that just won’t die and keeps coming back? Write their name down on your purple ribbon and give thanks to God for them. Amen.

I AM the way and the truth and the life

Scripture Lessons: Exodus 13: 17-22 and John 14: 1-7 Sermon Title: I AM the Way and the Truth and the Life Preached on July 11, 2021 Do you hate to ask for directions? Does your husband? I hate to, so sometimes I just won’t do it, even if I’m lost. Last week I was in Montreat, North Carolina with several members of our staff for a Music and Worship Conference. For years our church went there every winter for an annual retreat and sent the youth group to a conference there every summer. I’ve been there so many times that last week during the conference I was sure I knew where I was going. I was so sure that I couldn’t ask for directions. It was a matter of pride. What’s true about me is that sometimes I feel like I should know the way. That’s pride or ego talking, but “I AM the way,” he said to his disciples. This is the fifth sermon in a series of eight focused on what some call the “I AM” statements of Jesus. He describes himself in several different ways, and today we come to this significant statement, “I AM the way, and the truth, and the life.” The Scripture Lesson I just read where he describes himself this way comes from the Gospel of John. I’ve read it many times. At 90% of weddings, I’ve read 1st Corinthians 13 and at 90% of funerals I’ve read this passage from the Gospel of John. Why? Maybe because it’s only when we’re faced with death that we’re OK asking for directions. Only when confronted with that great journey into the unknown are we ready to confess that we don’t already know the way, but my friends, today let me say it clearly. Whether it is from death to life, from lost to found, from uneducated to wise, on all great journeys we must be prepared to ask for directions. Let Thomas be our example of how it’s done. Jesus says, “In my father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” That phrase at the end makes an assumption: “And you know the way to the place where I am going, right?” It’s like he’s saying, “You’ve been paying attention, going to Sunday School, reading your Bible, singing your hymns, being a good girl or boy, and loving your neighbor, so you ought to know.” Be careful here, for that phrase, “You ought to know,” comes from a little voice inside all our heads and not from the lips of Jesus. “You ought to know” is ego talking, and ego can’t get us to the Promised Land. It just sends us down a spiral of shame. To get to the Promised Land we must be ready to ask the Savior for directions. So, think about what Thomas does here. He’s the one willing to say, “Lord, we do not know the way.” That can be an embarrassing thing to say out loud. Many people go through life very self-conscious about what they don’t know or don’t believe, so they don’t broadcast it. I remember a story a friend told me. His son was getting married to a Roman Catholic woman. In order for the priest to do the wedding, he had to convert. That was fine with him. He was in love, so he was glad to, but he was getting lost in all these classes. He was hearing about all these saints and was getting confused. As he had been born Presbyterian, he wasn’t used to any of it. Finally, he asked the priest who was teaching the class, “Just how much of this stuff do I actually have to believe?” During the journey of faith, we all reach this point sooner or later. The thing to remember when we reach this point is that the opposite of faith isn’t doubt, the opposite of faith is certainty. Those are the words of Christian writer Ann Lamont. Do you know what she means by that? What she means is that there is a difference between knowing the way or thinking you know the way and following the One who is the way. There is a difference, maybe a slight one, between knowing the Bible inside out and taking a step out into the unknown alongside the One who can walk on water. There is a difference between thinking you have it all straight in your head and trusting the Savior with all your questions. Thomas gets that. In his unknowing he shows us what being in a relationship with Jesus looks like. With a certain kind of boldness – let’s call it faith – he bravely asks the question that everyone else was too scared to ask: “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Do you hear that? Do you hear what he’s asking? Do you see what’s faithful about asking a question like that? This is how it’s done. Thomas has it right. Do you know how I know he has it right? It’s because Jesus doesn’t push him away for his question. Jesus never shames Thomas for what he doesn’t know. Instead, he just answers: “I AM the way,” he said. That’s important for us to remember today, because in this world today, the social fabric is falling apart and I believe it falls to the Church to show the world how to knit it back together, only right now plenty of our brothers and sisters are all caught up in having the right answers, as though having the right answers were a substitute for being in right relationship. What I mean by that is that I’m back in school and I’m having a hard time with some of what’s required of me. I’m working towards my doctorate, and lately, all my classes have been on Zoom, which requires a certain level of computer literacy that I don’t have, but not only that, I haven’t been in class in a while and a lot has changed since I was in seminary. I joined this class and I’d try to participate but it seemed like I kept on putting my foot in my mouth. Without thinking, I offended a classmate. Not knowing what I had done, just reading her face, and seeing hurt there, I worried that I had slammed the door on a friendship before it even began. I contacted her and I asked her, “Did I offend you? I didn’t mean to. How can I make it right?” This story might sound like the end of a friendship, but it wasn’t. In asking those questions, a friendship began, because it doesn’t matter whether you have all the right answers. Relationships can be built by having the courage to ask the right questions. Have I offended you? Why are you so upset? Can you show me the way? “I AM the way,” he said. “I AM the way.” This statement reminds me of a certain kind of knowledge that’s far more important than a grasp on facts or figures. A knowledge that sometimes we forget about. At the beginning of the pandemic, I was honored to talk with Meri Kate Marcum. Meri Kate is an elder on the session, so she’s one of our church’s elected leaders. She’s also a seminary student, so she’s training to be a pastor, and she’s the director of the preschool over at the Methodist Church. At the beginning of the pandemic, she called me, and we were talking about preschools, and who was doing what and what should be done. Meri Kate had already been talking with Betsy Sherwood, our preschool director, and the two of them were on the same page. They were both feeling like there wasn’t much of a point to having virtual preschool, even though it was technically possible to do it, just as the elementary, middle, high schools, and colleges had. Unlike those schools, “virtual preschool doesn’t make any sense,” they said, “because the main thing you need to learn in preschool is how to get along with your classmates and you can’t do that virtually.” Now you can learn some important things virtually, but: You can’t learn how to share. You can’t learn to keep your hands to yourself. You can’t learn to apologize. You can’t learn how to make friends. “I AM the way,” he said. What does he mean? He means, don’t worry so much about what you know or don’t know. Worry more about asking the right questions that build up the right relationships, because we’re all heading towards the father’s house with many rooms, and if we can’t learn how to live together now, sharing that great big house is going to get difficult. Have you ever lived in a house with a know it all? One of my favorite proverbs from Scripture is Proverbs 21: 9: It is better to live on the roof of a house than in it with a contentious wife. Had a woman written that proverb it might have said, “It’s better to live locked in the bathroom than with a man who thinks he’s never wrong.” How dangerous it is to go through life with certainty. How foolish it is to rush to conclusions. Have you ever thought about how much damage false assumptions do to the world around us, and yet, people walk around thinking that they’ve got it already, certain that they know the way while the road to a better future is paved by those who are willing to ask the Savior the right question: “Lord, we do not know the way.” Clearly, we don’t. We don’t know the way to equality, and what we think we know about people who look different than we do is keeping us from getting there. We don’t know the way to peace, and what we think we know about our enemies is keeping us from getting there. We don’t know the way to heaven, and what we think we know about heaven and who is going there is keeping us from it. Let us be bold then, to ask the Savior for directions. Today you’ve been given another ribbon. This one is supposed to be orange. You might be looking at the color ribbon you received thinking, “Whoever called this ribbon orange doesn’t know his colors. Maybe he should go back to preschool.” Gold looked like orange when I picked it out, I’m sorry. What I want you to do with your whatever colored ribbon is this: write down a question you’d like to ask Jesus. Did you know that you can do that? Of course you can, because your questions, your needs, your secrets, your shames, your fears, they won’t keep you from having a relationship with our God. Voicing them to Him is the way to start one. “I AM the way, and the truth, and the life,” which means you don’t have to be. You don’t have to have it all together to be worthy of his love. You don’t have to know it all to be precious in his sight. Take security in his boundless love and ask. Write your question, and find that in trusting Him with it, you’ll receive from the Lord far more than an answer. Amen.