You are witnesses to these things

Luke 24: 36b-48, NT page 91 Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. 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 much 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 of these things.” Sermon Our second scripture lesson ends with the declaration, “You are witnesses of these things,” and this is a strong statement for Jesus to make to his disciples, because what we have witnessed shapes who we are, how we think, and the way that we view the world around us. Tony Sowell, the man who runs Oakes and Nichols Funeral Home, has witnessed a lot. He’s been around Columbia long enough to witness more than his fair share of Mule Days, so about two weeks ago Tony commented on the sculpture on the other side of our block facing the library. “Those big tree trunks you have up over there are pretty neat,” he says, “but there’s no way they’ll make it through Mule Day.” Trusting Tony and his experience, I fully expected for some team of mules to be hitched up to one of those substantial tree trunks, ordered by their owner to pull until our temporary art exhibit were toppled onto the street – after all, I’ve witnessed a few Mule Days myself, so not much is out of the question. I’ve caught a little grief for those sculptures. Maybe you have too. A friend, the pastor at Grace Nazarene Church over towards Hatcher Lane knows enough about our denomination to expect our theology to tolerate far more than his, but when he saw those trees he thought we were really starting to push the limit. He stopped me in the street to say, “I knew you Presbyterians were pretty liberal, but now you’ve gone so far as to erect Stonehenge on your property. Have you become druids now?” Of course there’s another way to look at our temporary art exhibit. Sometimes all we can see is what we expect to see. We learn to base our expectation on what we’ve witnessed in the past, so while I’ve stood on the sidewalk, witnessing the city dig up High Street until every inch foot has had to be patched over, waited in traffic at the intersection of Trotwood and James Campbell while the city changed that major intersection for what seemed like far too long, today we are witnesses to what good our city can do especially when smart and talented people get involved through the Maury County Arts Council. A portion of our property scared with the ruins of the Randall Hotel is now one of our community’s greatest artistic assets – and we are all witnesses. In a world where we witness so much that’s bad, I am very thankful to be a witness to something so good, for in order to believe, to have hope, to look out on our world with joyful expectation, we must first witness something more than what our eyes see in a typical week. To have our eyes on the world is to witness some of the same tragedies that the disciples witnessed. In the days before the Resurrected Jesus appeared to the disciples they witnessed an instance of betrayal when Judas sold their savior for a bag of gold coins. Then they witnessed their savior’s unjust arrest, they watched as he was beaten, tried in a court without representation, jeered by the crowds, insulted and slandered as his life slipped away on a cross – high enough that his followers could witness it all. When your eyes see such things, when you know fully the evil that our world contains, it’s not hard to give up. I don’t know how the people who report the news don’t turn into complete basket cases, and maybe they are, as even the Today Show can report enough bad news to ruin my day if I watch for too long. Kenyans persecuted for their faith. Enough video footage of police officers shooting unarmed African American men to fear for your life when pulled over for a speeding ticket. ISIS rises, politicians blame, and we get to witness it all, so it makes perfect sense that while the disciples were filled with joy to see the risen Lord, still “they were disbelieving and still wondering.” That makes a lot of sense doesn’t it? Tragedy throws our reality into new perspective, so the soldiers who have gone off to witness untold violence in service to this country struggle even in the safety of their own homes. The nurses who witness the worst of childhood disease can’t stop worrying about their own children at the slightest sniffle. Witness a car accident and feel your hands shake holding the steering wheel; what happens before our eyes has its own power. Even the violence of movies creeps into our dreams, for what we witness shapes our mind. In the disciple’s disbelief and wonderment he asked them for something to eat, and after eating a piece of broiled fish “he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.” Now if you have been looking for a reason to get your kids to Sunday School this is it. In a storm of sadness and doubt Christ reminded them of what they already knew, what had been passed down to them for generations, for the stories that we’ve learned come in handy when all around us is sadness and tragedy. I think about the child who faces the lion’s den of Middle School. When I first started Marietta Middle School I weighed 70 pounds. Went in the restroom for the first time and asked a friend why there weren’t any doors on the bathroom stalls. He told me that one of the 8th graders had ripped them all off in a fit of rage, “so watch your back,” he says. It’s in a time like that when you need to have the 23rd Psalm memorized. “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” And it’s in a time like that when you need to know the story of Daniel, who spends the night among the lions but lived to see another day. Persevere says the scripture, and do not be afraid. When you witness the things that inspire fear – there is scripture to inspire courage – for we all stand at the water’s edge, the Pharaoh’s chariots close on our heels. The world is glad to tell you to give up and hang your head – but do not forget the Lord who makes a way out of no way – who leads the people through the sea as though it were dry land. Now maybe that’s sounds too optimistic. Too supernatural. I’m not trying to be Pollyanna. I don’t believe in fairy tales. I’m just telling you that while the pessimists will tell you that they’re just being realistic the optimist preaching to you is just seeing the world as a Christian and know that scripture tells the story of hardship yes, but also of the God who leads the people through hardship and suffering to new life. What should you do as you face the walls of poverty that keep some from the basic human rights that we all should enjoy? What should you do when the friends you care about turn their backs like a wall of rejection? What should you do when what you want is on the other side but you fear that the walls will forever keep you out? You should sing, “Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, and the walls came tumbling down.” Scripture testifies to the God who will not let you go, so while there is plenty that you’ve already witnessed to inspire your despair – the truth of the Gospel is fulfilled in the words of Jesus when he says: “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day” so when he stands among us now we should not be surprised. “You are witnesses of these things,” and faith, even faith the size of a mustard seed will move the mountains that stand in your way. Sure the Wellness Center is closing. Cancer assaults the ones we love. Death keeps knocking at the door – “but we have this treasure in clay jars,” so while “we are afflicted in every way – we are not crushed.” We may be perplexed, but not driven to despair. Persecuted, but no forsaken. Struck down but not destroyed. For while we are always carrying in the body the death of Jesus – the life of Jesus may also be made visible in your body. Do not lose heart – for whatever affliction you are bearing now – it prepares you for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure. Amen.

A colt tied near a door

Mark 11: 1-11, NT page 47 When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, “Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. Sermon It matters sometimes who is watching. Take prayer for example. Some people pray before meals, which is good to do, but when the preacher comes over to eat – everyone prays – so a friend of mine, a preacher, was invited over to dinner. The father sat down at the table like he does every night, picked up his knife and fork ready to dig in, but the mother gave him a particular kind of look that made him freeze in his tracks, so he asked his five year old daughter if she’d like to say the blessing. “Let’s bow our heads,” she said, “I pledge allegiance, to the flag, of the United States of America…” The difference between this being hilarious and this being embarrassing is in the “who’s watching.” There are plenty of things that seem OK, but whether or not you want to do them depends on who will be watching, and that’s really true when it comes to prayer. I know plenty of good Christians who pray, but don’t want to be caught in prayer. They’d hate for you to walk into their office while they’re in prayer, would hate even for their children to walk into their bedroom while they’re in prayer, because prayer is good to do, but you might not be comfortable doing it if there’s a chance you might have to explain what it is that you’re doing. The same is true for me when it comes to exercising. I’ve been exercising a lot lately. My cholesterol is higher than Dr. Power’s wants it to be, so I go running and sometimes I get tired of running so I walk, which is fine. Its fine to walk, but walking is something I’ll only do on the side roads – because I’d hate to get caught walking when there’s a chance someone I know might drive by. There are a lot of things that seem good to do, but you might feel uncomfortable doing them depending on whether or not there’s a chance you’ll get caught at it. So a fourteen year old girl invites a fourteen year old boy she likes over to her house to watch a movie, which is good to do. He likes her as well, so while they’re watching the movie in the living room he scoots right up next to her on the couch. After a few minutes pass he pretends that he’s yawning and puts his arm around her, which is a fine and good thing to do – only now he’s not watching the movie anymore. He’s watching the door, which opens to the kitchen and he’s ready to move that arm the second her mother walks back into the living room. Jesus told his disciples to go get him a colt. You can tell they didn’t feel entirely comfortable with the request, because rather than just obediently charge off to get it he has to explain to them what they should do if someone asks them what they’re doing. “If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately,’” which probably sounded good enough while they were standing there, but as they walked farther on these two must have wondered who would ever accept such an explanation. “I’m just going to borrow this colt” – now who would buy that? If Jews can be executed under Roman rule for speaking out against the Emperor, what will happen to a horse thief? Despite their anxiety they go on – and “found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street.” If I were them I would have preferred the colt to be out in a deserted field, or one among a herd of a hundred so that its absence wouldn’t be noticed immediately, but this colt is tied up right next to a door which is significant, because isn’t it one thing to obey the Lord’s command when you know no one is watching and quite another to obey the Lord’s command right near a door that could open at any minute? In high school I was member of a religious group called the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which was fine. We met early on Friday mornings in the gym. No one saw us go in, no one noticed us go out, but every once in a while the speaker would inspire us to do something during the school day. There was the “true love waits campaign”, which was a good idea – but it’s one thing to talk about something in the safety of a gym before school even starts and it’s another thing to walk around the cafeteria talking to people about that same thing when you know are going to talk about you as soon as you turn to walk away. Jesus sends these two disciples to fetch him a colt, and it just so happens that the colt is tied up next to a door that could open any minute – which leads me to reflect on the idea that we don’t truly understand what it means to follow Jesus until we’re compelled to do or say something that pushes us beyond what’s comfortable. As they approach Jerusalem, these disciples who have already left behind mothers and fathers, family businesses and traditional expectations, surely they had already known that this path they chose disappointed some and concerned the respectable, but is not this the call of all Christians? To step beyond what feels comfortable and towards what feels true? Every step that Christ takes towards that temple brings him closer to the Cross. This parade of palms and cloaks, every step that the borrowed colt takes leads him closer to the very heart of the establishment which his way of life challenges, and his way is no different now. If we follow where he leads, we will join our brothers and sisters in worship tomorrow at 12:05 for a Holy Week service at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. No doubt many of you will be there, but if I were you, working at a bank or a high school, I can tell you exactly how it would be for me. At about a quarter till I’d slip out without telling anyone where I was going. If there was a group going to O’Charly’s I’d simply decline by telling them that I had an appointment that I had to get to – why? Because we Presbyterians were born and bred to keep our faith a private matter. But the classic joke goes like this – what do you get when you mix a Jehovah’s Witness with a Presbyterian? Someone who knocks at your door but doesn’t know what to say. Now there are some who were raised in the Baptist Church here this morning who might not get the joke because they were raised to talk about their faith, but I assure you of this, the decline in the mainline denominations has more to do with Presbyterians like me who refuse to step out beyond our comfort zones than anything else. We’ve forgotten that following Jesus demands something of us – it demands that we take one step beyond caution to live our faith out in the open. Maybe we pray – but are we more concerned with making a mistake, being caught in the act, or being faithful? We hear discrimination and bullying – but are we brave enough to speak out against it? There is a truth within us – but do we speak it or do we keep silent? The colt is tied there, and Christ has asked you to go and get it, but the colt is tied near a door. Find the courage to get it anyway. Amen.

Now I will be glorified

John 12: 20-33, NT pages 106-107 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Phillip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say – ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. Sermon I have a confession to make. Bill Haslam he has been named the grand marshal of the Mule Day parade, and I am consumed with jealousy. You may or may not be feeling the same way, but I can tell you that as for me, ever since my first Mule Day parade I’ve looked at the grand marshal with a sinful degree of envy. That first Mule Day I was standing next to Nick Reed, who was then serving our church as interim associate pastor, and Nick pointed up to the grand marshal as he rode by – that year it was Guy Penrod of the Gaither Brothers – and Nick jokingly elbowed me, “that could be you one day Joe.” I laughed along with him, while secretly thinking, “That could be me one day.” We can all dream, and I imagine that all of you have your own aspirations – dreams yet to be fulfilled to compliment the goal’s you’ve achieved already. When you look back on life there are certain milestones that make getting older easier, as a friend once told me that birthdays are celebrations so long as you’ve achieved what you wanted to achieve. Turning 30 is only hard if by the age of 30 you’d made it a goal to be a college graduate, but on your 30th birthday you still have yet to take the first class. Turning 40 hurts only if you thought you might have climbed the corporate ladder higher than you have. 50 – How are the children and can you pay for their education? If they’re fine you’ll celebrate. If they aren’t you’ll mourn. 60 – Will you be ready to retire? 70, 80, 90 – all birthdays don’t have to be hard, but they often are because each one takes us farther away from our youth and the days when everything was possible and closer to our death when we’ve run out of time. What will the obituary say? When a civilization approaches her death, the obituary’s not called an obituary but a history book, and the history of the Greeks was being written even in the time of Jesus. Greek military power had faded as the Roman legions took control of the once dominate nation, but still the Greeks were admired for all for their advances in mathematics, medicine, philosophy, government, architecture, and literature. I began seminary by learning to read Greek, not just so I could read Homer’s Iliad, but because even our New Testament was written in Greek – the global language of the ancient world. I remember our professor beginning the course by telling us that learning to read Greek would not only enable us to read the words of Jesus in the original language they were written in, but reading Greek would enable us to read the greatest works of literature ever written, for in her opinion, even after more than 2,000 years, human civilization had yet to beat the Ancient Greeks. Tourists still travel to the Acropolis, the highest point in Athens where the ruins of the Parthenon stand. It took the Greeks 9 years to complete the structure. It took the people of Nashville between 6 and 10 years to compete theirs, but the difference is that we had the advantages of cement and cranes while the Greeks built theirs of stone lifted by humans. We are still amazed by the Ancient Greeks, so a question worth asking is – what did they want with Jesus? “Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”” But why? They had religion, more gods than could be counted on two hands. They didn’t need him to heal them from blindness or leprosy – Greek doctors following the traditions of Hypocrites could have treated them for either. And they might have been curious about Jesus’ reputation as a teacher – but what self-respecting Greek would have gone to Galilee when the students of Socrates and Plato were so close? Why did they want to see Jesus? Possibly for the same reason that we all do, when finally we reach the conclusion that even our best efforts, our greatest accomplishments, our finest achievements, are susceptible to the same decay that afflicts our frail human bodies. The funeral liturgy says it well: “All flesh is as grass; and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades.” Even the Parthenon crumbles to ruin. And knowing this – knowing the frailty, even though our greatest civilizations have all worked hard to deny the truth that all human accomplishments will fade from reality and into history to eventually be forgotten – Jesus gives the Greeks something that only he could give. He offers them eternity: “Very truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” There are some who embody this teaching better than others. I’ve confessed to you already, of my aspiration to one day be grand marshal of the Mule Day Parade, but I’m thankful for the example of heroes of the faith who have made greater strides to concur vain human glory. Not long ago the great preacher, Dr. Fred Craddock died. He preached here, and so many of you remember his sermons well, despite the fact that he preached those sermons more than 10 years ago. He served a church here in Columbia, where the Center for Autism is located now, and when he did several members of our church worshiped with him, our own Bronston Boone serving as the equivalent of Clerk of Session during Dr. Craddock’s pastorate. The Boones remained friends of the Craddock’s, and in my first or second year here, Bronston offered to drive me all the way to Ellijay, Georgia, to Dr. Craddock’s home, to have lunch. Now this was the most incredible honor for me. Dr. Craddock was already one of my heroes, and the chance to speak with him was a gesture of kindness that I’ll never forget. We drove the three or four hours down there – ate a lunch of curried chicken salad – and as Bronston got caught up with Mrs. Craddock, Dr. Craddock took me aside, giving me the chance to ask him any questions I wanted to. Now the unfortunate thing is that I was too nervous to think very clearly, and I’ve since thought of a million questions that I’ll now never have the chance to ask – but one quote that has stayed in my mind, and may well stay in my mind forever, is that Dr. Craddock told me, “there was a time when all I wanted to do was become a preacher. Then once I became a preacher I aspired to become a great preacher. Only now I’ve changed again, for there is no greater goal than to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.” Oh how I’d love to be the grand marshal of the Mule Day Parade. How I’d love to be a great preacher. But all accolades, all our greatest accomplishments – none of them offers us greater glory than the gift that Christ brings in his death. “Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” Certainly there will still be some who will go to the Lord with a list of people they’ve known, awards they’ve received, carrying trophies in a wheelbarrow for entry into the gates of heaven – but I pray that none of us will be so foolish, for even the Greeks approached Jesus in need. Even the Greeks were but beggars at his feet. It reminds me of a story I’ve only just now heard about a former pastor here of 22 years – Dr. Bill Williamson. Bill was a preacher, so was his brother, as was his uncle or maybe it was his father or both – but the example of faithfulness as the story goes was Bill’s grandmother who was once pulled over for speeding. She went to court for the first time in her life, where the judge asked if she’d had any prior convictions. “Indeed I do,” she said, “It is my conviction that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.” So often it seems that the goal of life is to be great. To do great things and to achieve great goals. Instead this day, come to a greater understanding of who he is, what he has done, and what his death has done for you. Through his death, his life was lifted up, to draw all people to himself. Therefore it is not what you have done that matters. Come to terms instead with what he has done for you. Amen.

The Son of Man must be lifted up

John 3: 14-21, NT 94 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God. Sermon I love to eat out at restaurants. It really is one of my favorite things to do in the world, and I can remember clearly enough the first time my parents took me out to eat. They had taken me to McDonald’s before, but the first time they took me to a real restaurant it was different and I knew it. There was a white table cloth on the table. A waitress came to the table to take our drink order and my mother insisted that I have milk, which the waitress poured from a little milk carton into a real glass. To eat I ordered fried fish from the kid’s menu, and it was presented in the shape of a rectangle complimented by Cole slaw and French fries, but the most incredible thing in the world to me at the time was the sprig of parsley that adorned my plate. I didn’t know what it was or why it was there. It looked too bright and green nestled up next to my fried fish, and for some reason I asked my mom whether or not I should eat it, “it looks like it might be poisonous,” I remember telling her. “Poisonous?” she asked. “Well, it might be. Why don’t you try it and find out.” So, that first time I ever ate at a restaurant, I didn’t just eat, I risked my life, and it felt like an adventure. But ever since then, not only have I noticed the food on the plate, I pay particular attention to what compliments the food on the plate. The way carrots and cucumbers would be cut into shapes at the Chinese restaurant. The pats of butter shaped like Mikey Mouse at Disney World. My sister and I would fight over that little white table they used to put in the middle of your delivery pizza to keep the lid of the box from getting stuck in the melted cheese, but the best is the contrast that something like fresh parsley makes when it sits right next to greasy fried fish, the way something so different as black eyed peas cooked all day in pork fat and Ms. Sue Dunnebacke’s sweet relish go perfectly together because the salty of the peas tastes even better when complimented by the sweet of the relish. Food often works this way. To really taste something sometimes you pair it with what is totally different, and in a similar way, the Gospel of John, again and again speaks of light and darkness because the only way to know one is to know the other. The Gospel begins, “The light shines in the darkness,” and seeing the light requires the backdrop of shadow. In the same way we come to the most familiar verse in the Gospel of John, the most famous verse in the entire Bible, “For God so loved the world,” and to truly grasp the depth of this love you must understand “the world” that such love is paired with. Fried fish and parsley. Black eyed peas and relish. Light and darkness. The love of God and the world. They might not be exact opposites, but certainly the world as our God has known it has not returned the love she has received. This juxtaposition is ancient, so our second Scripture lesson with a reference to the book of Numbers: “just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,” when the Israelites spoke against God and against Moses saying, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.” Here is the story of humanity. Saved by the love of God, but unable to respond with anything more than ingratitude. How many mothers can understand? After working a full day, rushing home to put food on the table, only to be met with ingratitude and complaint, how many would love to do as God did in the book of Numbers and release poisonous serpents among the family at the dinner table? Not only had the Lord freed them from Egyptian slavery with a mighty hand, led them through the waters of the sea on dry land like a flock while the clouds poured out water and the skies thundered, turned biter water sweet, and provided manna for a hungry and desperate people, but the Lord even made them his own, promising blessing if only they would trust and follow. For centuries this one small request has proved too much to ask. For generations disobedience has been our reaction to the love of God. So who is this world that God so loved? To understand one we must understand the other, and to understand the world there was a time when we needed the likes of Flannery O’Connor to tell us about the world that we were too proud to see, but today, thanks to phones and video cameras capturing our every move, we know the truth about college football players and politicians, we know the difference between what celebrities say and how they live, we don’t need to wonder about the validity of rumors, because so much has been recorded live on video. Ours is not the world that Norman Rockwell painted and we know it, but we know it, not just because we’ve been told, not because we’ve seen it on the news, also because we are a part of it. Who is this world that God so loved? It’s as disobedient, as broken, as flawed and duplicitous as any of us who inhabit it - so how can it be that God loves us still we ask – but I tell you – think of such depravity and be struck by abundant love. God’s love is wondrous, because the recipient of this love is the world in which we live, and the one who is loved is not the person who you pretend to be, the ego that you put out to the world, the version of yourself on the days when you hold your head up high and live your life in a way that would make your mother proud – no – the recipient of the love of God is the you who you truly are. In this passage from the Gospel of John we come to know ourselves as a child who refuses to eat the dinner that’s been prepared, who clenches his mouth closed in protest of the tooth brush, who pouts through a few stories, then refuses to sleep, declaring, “I’m not tired – and get out of my room” as he kicks the covers onto the floor – only we wake up in the morning warm, with a blanket tucked under our chin and pinched under our sides – why? Because God so loved the world. Just as the Lord provided Moses a bronze serpent in the wilderness to heal the Israelites who had rejected him, so God gave his own son to be lifted up on the cross. Crucified as the great sign that while the world might reject the love of God, God will love the world relentlessly. Therein lies the great challenge of Christianity. On the one hand is human depravity. On the other is the love of God. To understand one you must understand the other – but can you understand such love? Can you earn it? No. Can you deserve it? Surely not. But is it there nonetheless? Yes. It is there, if only you will accept it. Amen.

Setting your mind

Mark 8: 31-38, NT page 44 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Sermon The man who makes sure that our church is clean and ready for worship, who picks up the bulletins that some of you leave behind in the pews, restocks the paper towels in the bathroom, and changes the light bulbs way up there in the sanctuary ceiling – his name is James Marshall, and he probably greeted you as you walked in the door if you come into the church using the side entrance on High Street. He is usually here on Sunday mornings, but he has a church of his own in the Sandy Hook Community, and after joining that church some years ago, his brother Earl, who plays the drums, encouraged James to learn to play the guitar so that with a couple other church members, they might start a praise band who would lead the singing. James had always wanted to learn a musical instrument, so he bought a guitar and practiced at home, and he thought he was sounding pretty good, even though every time he took out the guitar his wife Tina would say that she needed to go to the grocery store. After grocery shopping for a while she’d call home and ask, “Are you finished practicing James?” “Not just yet,” James would answer. “Then I think I’ll go visit my mother for a little while,” Tina would respond. After weeks of practicing this way, always with Tina at the grocery store or her mother’s house, for some reason James was still pretty sure he was mastering the guitar, so he went to his church in Sandy Hook to play with his brother Earl and the rest of the band. The rehearsal started and James started playing, though he noticed that the bass player kept looking at him kind of funny. The Deacon in charge of the music, Deacon Armstrong, asked the band to stop and he called James aside: “Now James, what made you want to start playing the guitar?” James told him, “The Lord put it on my heart Deacon Armstrong.” “No he didn’t,” Deacon Armstrong responded. Now you need to remember this story. After James told it at our staff meeting last Monday I asked him if I could tell it to you because it illustrates an important point - no one, not even James Marshall, is allowed to be good at everything. But when you reach that limitation and you fall short, you can’t let the one thing that you can’t seem to do keep you from seeing all the things that you can. Deacon Armstrong took James aside to talk about his calling as a guitar player, and Deacon Armstrong knows the rest of the story. I’m sure you do as well. He probably knows how many people James helps to their car on a Sunday morning, not because anyone asked him to, just because it seemed like the right thing to do. He probably knows how many Saturdays James spends up here at the church, and I bet he even knows the story of the car accident on West 7th Street, when a van flipped over with a mother and her child inside. James Marshall was the one who ran across the street to pull them both from the vehicle before the police or anyone else arrived, not hesitating, not even thinking, just reacting out of pure kindness and love for his fellow man. Deacon Armstrong probably does know all that, or if not all, at least most of it, which is important because the point here is, not being able to play the guitar is nothing, though sometimes it’s the one thing that we can’t do that prevents us from seeing all the things that we can – the failed expectations of ourselves and our neighbors too often preventing us from appreciating the people who we are - just as the teaching that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed; this aspect of who Christ is prevents Peter from understanding and appreciating the truth about his friend Jesus. When Peter realizes that Jesus is not the savior that he wanted or expected, he’s too disappointed to appreciate the kind of savior that he is. Our 2nd Scripture Lesson begins: “Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.” And he rebuked him because he was disappointed. Do you know what it’s like when someone is disappointed in you? Not disappointed by what you’ve done, but disappointed in who you have turned out to be? A few years ago I was asked to lead a parenting class – the fact that I didn’t have any children and didn’t know anything about being a parent hardly mattered to the committee who asked me to lead the class. I was ill-equipped, and having no idea what to do, I researched curriculum and came up with an exercise featuring a sheet of paper with a simple figure of a child drawn on it. The exercise was for parents to write the qualities that their child had on the drawing, the qualities that they had hoped their child would have or might have some day outside the drawing. The point of the lesson was illustrated in the difference between the two lists – does your child embody any of the qualities that you value, and do you value the qualities that the child actually embodies? One father who ended up with two very different lists – his son didn’t embody any of the qualities that he valued – and upon realizing this he interrupted the lesson to make sure that I knew how ridiculous he thought it was that someone without any children would be leading a parenting class, which was a valid argument, but doesn’t take away the hard truth of what can happen when the people we love fail to meet our expectations. Peter is disappointed that Jesus is not the savior he had hoped for, and we get a taste of the problem that this kind of disappointment can cause whenever we fail to meet our expectations of ourselves or others. You know how hard it is to reconcile the difference between the people that we are and the people that others think we are supposed to be, but how much harder it is to reconcile the Jesus you thought you knew, the Jesus you’ve been imagining, with the reality of him. “He began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.” Now this kind of thing happens all the time of course. Teachers compare themselves to each other, and in recognizing the kind of teacher that they aren’t, they fail to appreciate the kind of teacher who they are. Choirs sing without recognizing the beauty of their voices – mindful only of the kind of choir that they used to be, straining towards being the kind of choir they think they are expected to be – failing to appreciate who they are naturally, without even trying. And there are many who are like Peter – who hear this news of Jesus and the suffering that he faces willingly – and cannot accept the savior as he is. We learn about a Jesus, who like a guardian angel shields us from disease or hardship, healing all infirmity, protecting from all inconvenience, and providing for every need. We expect him in the hospital when cancer knocks on the door and death creeps ever near, we expect him to cast the cancer out. They also say that Jesus is like a friend, a best friend even – but do his words not hurt at times, is his truth not a little too honest? We see him smile in the paintings, embrace the children, save the lost sheep – so who is this Lord who is unwilling to save himself? Walking to his death willingly. Submitting to a trial that could be avoided? Who is this – Peter asks – and if you are anything like me you want an answer to the same question. Remember this then – Jesus is not who you want him to be, but he is who you need him to be. You may want a savior who will save you from today’s hardship. Know instead that you have a Christ who faces such hardship beside you, only to triumph over it. Indeed he is a Savior far greater than any savior I had hoped he would be. But our minds are too often set only on what is human, so Father Abraham, 99 years old, stood before the Lord and the Lord promised him an everlasting covenant, promised his wife Sarah that her barrenness would give rise to nations; “kings of peoples shall come from her.” But Abraham fell on his face and laughed, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah who is ninety years old, bear a child?” I cannot imagine it. Be warned today as the faithful of every generation have been warned – do not set your mind on the God of your own imagination, but on the God who raised a nation out of the barrenness of Abraham and Sarah, a God who rises from the dead. Amen.

Sermon for Ash Wednesday

Matthew 6: 1-6 and 16-21, NT pages 5 and 6 “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Sermon I am thankful to be a preacher. I believe I’ve told you that before, but I want you to know today that I am thankful that my vocation deals mainly with reading Scripture, though on days like today and weeks like this week I am reminded that while I often think it is my duty to read and come to understand the Bible, truly it is the Bible that is reading and understanding me. Studying Matthew’s Gospel means that I know some about Jesus and the Disciples as they are uniquely presented here, but today I am more impressed by how well this passage of Scripture understands me and my temptations, my struggles; I thought it might be the other way around but it’s not. I know that to be the case because here in the Gospel of Matthew is presented a very real human predicament. The Theologians will call it Idolatry, putting something or someone who is not God in the place of God, but to put it more simply is just to say this: Scripture knows your motivation, Scripture understands why you do what you do, understanding you quite possibly better than you understand yourself. We think simply about our actions, our piety, our religious practice – but here Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew is urging all of us to better examine our motivations, and our motivations are worth dealing with, because it’s not just what we do that matters, but also why we do what we do. Alms giving, prayer, and fasting – these are the three practices we should all dedicate ourselves to for the 40 Days of Lent – but it’s not enough to dedicate yourself to these practices. Be wary of why you are dedicated and who you are seeking to impress, for if we act out of obedience to impress someone besides God than have we not put someone else in God’s place? Christ warns us against such idolatry: “Whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others.” “Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others.” And, “When you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father” in heaven. Beware of devoting your time, your energy, your attention to “the others.” Now that is a good word for this preacher and I don’t mind telling you why. Every time I stand behind this pulpit I am wary of how I am being perceived. I haven’t changed much from when I was 7 years old, afraid to wear shorts even in the summer because of a brown birthmark on my knee – what will they think? What will people say? But who does the preacher preach for? Who does the choir sing for? For whom does the organist play? If we wait for applause we have violated the purpose of our assembly, because there are many here tonight in the congregation, but in the words of the great Danish Philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, there is only one in the audience – we are all here that our worship might be pleasing to God. We muddle this up however, and when we do we make a mockery out of something sacred. If we give to be congratulated for our kindness, if we pray so that people will see us and admire us, if we fast to be impressive, what have we done? We have shown God that we care most of all about what other people think. Now that’s not so strange in 21st Century America. If anything, that’s as normal as it gets. Everyone I know worries about what people are thinking, how many people like the picture they put up on Instagram and how many friends they have on Facebook. Bullying is a problem in schools because all students want the approval of their peers and to withhold approval can prove tragic – but the Gospel of Matthew is preaching a new word to all of us: be careful about whose opinion matters to you, for when you worry most of all about what the others think, have you not put them in the place of God? It’s time we all did a little rearranging. So think about school. There the teacher gives the test, and though the students test her patience, is it not that we are all the students and life is the only test that matters? It was Shakespeare who said that all the world’s a stage And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lined, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slippered pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side; His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. And maybe he is right – there are seven acts and some of you are in the early part of this play, others of you further along. This sentiment is not so far from Ash Wednesday when we are all marked with the cross and charged to “remember that we are dust and to dust we shall return,” for we are all moving towards the final scene “that ends this strange eventful history,” but if all the world’s a stage, who is watching? Whose applause are you working for? If it is your neighbor’s be careful, because once you have something impressive know that he’ll soon enough have something better. If it is your boss be even more careful, because the only thing she can give you is more money – and how much is that next raise worth and how much is it going to cost you? If it is your boyfriend be worried about a relationship that always takes and never gives – if it is a friend whose approval you are always working for than question if it’s really friendship at all. And if it doesn’t matter who, if you are one of those people who suffer from the same illness that I suffer from – if it doesn’t matter who it is at all, you still want their approval and find yourself working for it – then you above all are to be pitied because the others are a fickle people. They won’t ever stop asking for more – they’ll just take as long as you’re willing to give. They’ll love you one day and hate you the next. They’ll applaud you one second then boo you off the stage, so be careful, and above all, stop trying so hard, because they are not your Father in Heaven, they are not worthy of your devotion, and the more you seek their approval the farther you slip towards Idolatry. Where there is Idolatry there is death – but to all who worship the true God, there is abundant life. “When you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Seek his reward, seek his approval, and you will find the keys to everlasting life. Amen.

Let us go on

Mark 1: 29-39, NT page 35 As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons. Sermon Some say that Simon’s mother-in-law is the first deacon, the first known officer in Christ’s church, because here in the Gospel of Mark after the fever left her, “she began to serve” the congregation assembled in her house. That is what church officer’s do. Our church has deacons and elders. Their names are listed in your bulletin on the back. The deacons are charged with caring for those members of our church who aren’t able to get here on Sunday mornings, and on days like today when we celebrate communion together, the deacons arrange that communion be brought to them. Elders do the same. And in this sanctuary it is the elders who serve you the communion bread and bring you the cup. Tomorrow night they’ll meet to discuss issues that face our congregation. They’ll vote tomorrow night on whether or not to pursue a new youth director, they also ensure that the grass gets cut and the budget makes sense, and I’ll bet that few of them knew how involved their work was going to be at the church when they were first asked to serve on the Session. I knew a Presbyterian Elder once, who told me that on the night he received a phone call asking him to serve as a church officer, he was so honored he couldn’t help but say yes. Then at the church service when he was installed he was moved to tears when all the past elders laid hands on him in front of the whole congregation, but then when he stood up and wiped his eyes a man handed him a toilet brush and said, “Congratulations. Now get to work.” “[Jesus] came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.” Can you believe that? It’s hard to believe, but what we expect to happen in the Gospel of Mark isn’t usually what happens. The woman raised from the dead immediately gets sent to the kitchen – and not only that, in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus isn’t the person we expect him to be either. He cured many who were sick after healing Simon’s mother-in-law. Cast out many demons, but “in the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.” It might not sound strange to hear that Jesus prayed. Of course he prayed. We could go into the nursery right now and every child there would be able to tell you that Jesus prayed – but here’s where our passage gets strange. While he was off praying “Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.”” Maybe you can imagine this happening. You didn’t know everyone was looking for you, but they were, and you didn’t know you were supposed to be someplace, but they were all expecting you to be, not off praying by yourself but healing their infirmities. Isn’t that what Jesus is supposed to do? Most people think so, and most people who busy themselves trying to be like Jesus listen out for people who need them and go rush right over to help. In my first year of ministry that’s what I did because that’s what I thought I was supposed to do. People would ask me to do things and I would do my best. Folks would invite me to go places and I would. And it’s probably true to say that everyone expects something just a little bit different out of their preacher, so not knowing what kind of preacher I was I’d just do my best to be the kind of preacher that each person expected me to be. After a few months of this my side started to itch. Then this rash developed and it didn’t go away so I went to see the doctor who looked it over and right away told me that I had a case of hives, and no question it was caused by stress. “Now you’re a preacher aren’t you Joe,” the doctor asked. “Yes I am I responded.” “Well, you need to do something to calm yourself down. Have you ever heard of prayer?” Now you ought to pray. You know that already I’m sure, because people have been telling you to do it your whole life, but how many will abandon that little time of prayer when the phone rings or the baby cries or someone else needs you? Here’s the thing about Jesus. He taught his disciples how to pray but he also showed them how – go off by yourself, and don’t wait until everything else is finished because it never will be. Don’t wait until all the poor people are provided for because you’ll always have the poor with you. If you wait until everyone who needs you is satisfied you’ll never be satisfied yourself – so go and pray. But the crowd is asking the disciples where he is, and that’s the thing about a crowd – our culture is telling you to draw a crowd, then satisfy them, but Jesus is always trying to escape. I told you he was different. He heals Simon Peter’s mother-in-law then asks her for something to eat. He draws a crowd, heals a few, then escapes off by himself. And when the disciples finally find him to heal the ones who remain unhealed he answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” Here’s the thing about Jesus. He healed a lot of people, but there were so many more who were left waiting. He made a lot of people happy, but there were a whole lot more who wanted to kill him. And he was wholly God, the incarnate one who could walk on water, but he didn’t come here to teach us how to play a harp and float in the clouds with the angels – he came here to teach us how to be human. Some of you have been trying to do everything and have done none of it well. Maybe others have been trying to avoid everything and haven’t really lived. Then there are some who have been busy doing so many things, but none of those things are really very important in the grand scheme of things – so pay attention to what Jesus has to teach us here this morning – he saved Simon’s mother-in-law for the same reason he saved you – so you could get busy living. He disappointed his disciples to teach you that you’re never going to be able to make everyone happy, so take care to wait on the Lord. Christ had a voice and a message. It was his purpose to proclaim that message to as many people as he could, and in order to accomplish this purpose he had to prioritize his life. Do not lose direction. Do not be swayed by the crowd. Do not surrender to the anxiety of the ones who hunt for you, because you were born, not to be busy, but to mount up with wings like eagles, to run and not grow weary, to walk and not faint. Amen.