"Obedience of Faith"

December 19, 2010
Romans 1: 1-7, Matthew 1: 18-25

In Matthew 1: 24, Joseph demonstrates his obedience to God even when faced with a wife-to-be who is "with child" that is not his. And in Romans 1: 5, Paul calls us to show our devotion to God through an obedience of faith – that same kind of faith in God Joseph had. Joseph was willing to risk everything as he responded faithfully to God's call. For it is in risking "what has been... for what may be," that faith is formed and enriched... transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary and allowing miracles to happen. Unfortunately, many of us aren’t quite there in our faith, and so are reluctant to risk what we have and who we are in submitting to the will of God... even though God's faithfulness is certain. Trust is hard at times... even in God, isn't it?

However Joseph, following a dream, was willing to risk everything for the miracle of Christmas to happen. So, today’s lesson about Joseph… is also about us. May I suggest that we are all called to let go, to have faith in a higher power, and to say YES to what God will do in us… and in His church. Regardless of what it may be, God is counting on it. Just as God was counting on Joseph to say YES to being the earthly father of Jesus, God is counting on our YES.

In Matthew, Joseph's "Yes" to God is crucial in establishing "the genealogy of Jesus (the Messiah), the son of David, and the son of Abraham." Without Joseph’s "Yes," Jesus does not have Joseph for a father... and a line of descent as the "son of David." Without our YES, our obedience of faith... whatever thing God is counting on doing in us and through us... whatever miracle... does not happen?

Obedience of faith is what we do when we follow Jesus’ way, close to God. The church and our connection to one another as the body of Christ helps to strengthen our bond with God. It’s this journey together that increases and grows one’s faith. That is why during the baptismal covenant, we promise to "surround the person with a community of love and forgiveness that they may grow in their trust of God." It is why a child’s parents promise to "nurture their child in Christ's holy church that by their teaching and example, the child may be guided to accept God's grace for them self, to profess their faith openly, and to lead a Christian life." Obedience of faith is not grown in isolation, but in communion with others who know God.

Matthew suggests that the birth of the messiah hinges on what Joseph chooses to do. It depends on Joseph's trust in God's involvement in everything that is going on. Joseph’s obedience of faith is an example of trust in God for all of us to follow. In those times of uncertainty, when life can be turned upside down or we wonder how we are going to deal with everything that is going on – to simply trust God IS enough.

Without Joseph’s trust, what happens? Does he send Mary away? Is the child, destined to save humankind, born? It is all up to him. By Jewish law the child is his if he says so... whether he's the biological father or not. By publicly naming the child, Joseph would establish that he is legally the child's father. According to Matthew, Joseph's choice is every bit as crucial as Mary's choice to give the child life. The Holy Spirit makes the child the Son of God who "will save his people from their sins." But Joseph's YES is needed to give the child a name: Jesus, son of David, from whose house the Messiah is to come. Joseph must trust God and he does. Joseph is open to the presence of God, he trusts, and he says, "Yes." Joseph shows his devotion to God through obedience that comes from faith. He takes [Mary] as his wife, a son is born; and he names him Jesus." Joseph's "Yes" mattered. So, too, does our willingness to say "Yes" to God's calling.

Some have said that Joseph is the person in the Christmas story most like us. He is presented with circumstances beyond his control, faced with a life far different from what he might have planned for himself. He has every reason to throw in the towel and divorce himself from the situation. But even as God trusts him, Joseph trusts God's presence in the muddled up mess of his life. He says, "Yes!" to God."

An obedience of faith leads us to where God would have us be. An obedience of faith leads to our doing what God would have us do. Placing our trust in God involves knowing God is right here, working through us. For Joseph, this meant being the father of Jesus. For us... well... it means being whoever God would have us be (as opposed to what we would be). Joseph, more like us than we can imagine, is our example. Joseph is able to trust God completely. For him, the soon to be born Jesus becomes a priority over everything else in his life. He does not fear the future at all. Someone once said faith is like "the bird that feels the light and sings to greet the dawn while it is still dark." That was Joseph’s faith… and is to be ours as well.

May the same obedience of faith be ours this Christmas season and for years to come.

“Even Now”

December 5, 2010
Isaiah 11:1-10; Matthew 3:1-12

It’s really hard, sometimes, for me to relate to Matthew’s wild-eyed prophet-of-doom, John the Baptist, and the whole wilderness and wild honey thing? Maybe it’s his unsettling message of "the wrath to come" and his image of a judgmental God, waiting to send us into an "unquenchable fire," that is so hard for me to accept? Yet on the other hand, Isaiah’s image of God’s reign of peace when the lion and the lamb will lie down together provides a much more comforting scenario. Maybe it’s because the peace it depicts is something we all long for in a life full of conflict?

Isaiah promises a time when the world will be ruled by justice and righteousness, and the poor and the meek of the earth will get their due; in fact, all of life will be transformed so that peace will reign and there will be no more pain and destruction throughout all of God's creation. Not only will the lion and the lamb lie down together, a baby, the most helpless among us, will play happily over a den of snakes. Imagine that!

For Isaiah's people, this hope of peace rests in a ruler who will be a complete surprise, "a shoot from the stump of Jesse." What a great image that is! How can a stump of a chopped-down tree produce the life and hope, the promise and power Isaiah speaks of? He said, “God chops down the tallest trees of Lebanon (representing the rulers of all the mighty kingdoms surrounding Judah and Jerusalem)

Isaiah addresses the people’s situation, offering a poetic promise of a shoot – new life – yet to come forth from the lifeless stump of their “chopped-down” nation, Israel. Jesse was the father of David, who represented the glory days of Israel, its time of greatest power and prestige, the time people always talked about, and how they loved to think of themselves. It was their hope to live the glory days again. But it had been ‘cut down,’ taken away, when the Assyrians destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and marched to the gates of Jerusalem. The people of Judah knew the bitterness of conquest and exile, violence, and the constant threat of war. Life seemed unfair, and they wondered if God had left them.

Although Isaiah considered Assyria an instrument of God to punish the unfaithful, he still offered the people words of hope. “No,” he said, “God has not forgotten you.” As bad as it may get, things will change: one will come, like David, who will be anointed with the Lord’s powerful Spirit of understanding and wisdom that will allow him to judge and rule in a way that will transform all of creation. Isaiah promises, “One is coming who will bring justice, deliverance and peace. So, hold on to your dream of a better day.”

Years later another prophet came along talking about the nearness of God's kingdom and the One who is coming. On first hearing, his message seems very much one of fear and judgment, where no one is safe from "the wrath that is to come." It doesn’t matter who you are, only what you do (and soon) that counts. “Even now,” he says, “the ax is lying at the root of the tree; (and) every tree …that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. It’s all a bit scary, isn’t it?

Yet think about what John says at the beginning of today’s text. Referring to himself, he quotes a different part of Isaiah: “…O comfort my people,' says your God. 'Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, …she has served her term… 'In the wilderness, a voice cries out: prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.'"

John the Baptist is the one Isaiah said would bring the good news, the one who tells us to prepare the way of the Lord. Someone is coming, John says, so do something, now – repent. Get rid of anything blocking the way of the One who is coming – greed, selfishness, hostility, resentment, doubt and despair. Reshape your lives so that the poor and the marginalized are brought back into the life of the community. Strive for peace and justice. Because, what you do matters!

This is the season of Advent, a season for waiting – not just waiting to celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus, but for the coming of the one who fulfills Isaiah’s beautiful dream of peace as well. And what we do as we wait matters. We can either participate in God's dream of peace for us… or not. We can turn toward God and away from everything that keeps us from the peace and wisdom and righteousness of God… or not. We can radically re-orient our lives, clear a path, and prepare the way of the Lord… or not. We can transform our lives and the life of this community and the world, as we reach out beyond these walls, speaking and living words of peace… or not.

Each one of us stands in need of repentance every day, not to make God love us, but so we can come closer to experiencing the enormity of God's love for us and God's amazing grace at work in our lives. What we do matters, yet God’s grace trumps all.

The good news for us today is the same as it was for Isaiah’s people. Regardless of what your life has become, God has not forgotten or abandoned you. After all these years, the dream of peace is for you, as well. Henri Nouwen spoke of this hope when he wrote, “We are not loved by God because we are precious; we are precious because God loves us.” So, underneath the call to repent is a call to return home to the God who loves us and longs for that dream of peace to become our lived reality.

But that can be a scary thing as well, because it means our transformation into what God wants us to be. It means every one who comes through these doors seeking to be healed, reconciled, and welcomed home will be. And it means the ministry of this church will be a blessing in this community, as we proclaim and attempt to live the Good News to those who have no church home, who think they never want to be part of a church again, or who have never attended a church. Imagine, God working through us!

You see, we are messengers, too. When we live our lives – in peace, in justice, in caring for one another and for God's good creation – we are living the good news. It is important people still hear God’s message. Prepare the way. Even now.

When Will We See Jesus?

Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24: 36-44

“Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”

As we begin the Advent season, we are reminded once again that in our expectation of the coming messiah – our savior, we are to stay awake and be ready. Yet staying awake, as some of us can verify, can be difficult at times. Think this past Thursday, or in past years, after the traditional Thanksgiving dinner when you’ve settled in on the couch or easy chair or sprawled out on the floor to watch a little football before dessert, and somewhere in the second quarter… it becomes harder and harder to pay attention to the game. It’s second and nine for the Patriots on the Lion’s thirty-five yard line …your eyes close … then the Lion’s are kicking the ball off after just scoring a touchdown. After watching a few more plays, with the score tied, your eyes close again and the next thing you know the game is over and everyone but you have had dessert.

It’s times like that, when your stomach is full, you’re relaxed, and everything is as it should be, that it is hard to not fall asleep. Rev. Carol E. Myers, Iowa Falls First United Methodist Church, says the same can be true for life in general and that of the church. We are in risk going to sleep. She says, “To be asleep is to have our eyes closed, to not notice, … to not pay attention … to go through the motions of life, unaware (of what’s really going on). Meyers goes on to say, “All too often we sleepwalk, (even) in this season of Advent, …immersing ourselves in the busyness of Christmas preparation, oblivious to what God is doing in and all around us.” Let me add that in doing so, we run the risk of missing out on dessert.

The apostle Paul perfectly describes in Romans 13, the challenge for this season when he writes: “…make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!” Our day-to-day obligations often increase as Christmas gets closer and closer and we think about all the things that have to be done for a perfect Christmas. These are the things that get in the way of our seeing God at work in our lives and in the world. Yet the hope of the gospel is; relief is near! Dawn is about to break! God intercedes in human affairs, bringing life to us. God’s incredible love is dwelling among us, a love that is be reflected by us.

But, for this to be a life-giving Christmas, our drawing closer to God needs to take priority over any material desire on this year’s Christmas list. Our focus needs to be on seeking God first; on living into eternal hope, carrying that hope for others, knowing that no matter what we go through, we are never alone. God is here, right now, if we would only open our eyes.

In Matthew today, we are told, Wake up! Open your eyes! See the Light!
Look! In the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God’s vision for creation has already come and breaks into our today in surprising ways. Look! Christ is here, right now, in the ordinary events of life. Unexpectedly, the Son of Man can be found in the faces of the hungry, the sick, the thirsty, the poor and the imprisoned (Matthew 25:31-46). God is at work here and now, bringing new life, resurrection life, if only we have eyes to see. When we see clearly, we see hope. We see urgency. We see that we are being asked to live as if God’s kingdom has already come, agents of God’s peace and justice and compassion in the world.

The text today reminds us we are either part of God’s kingdom, part of the faith community, or we are not. To live as though God’s kingdom has already come is to be saved, literally “to be healed,” right here and now, today.

In your mind’s eye, look ahead to Christmas Eve. Imagine someone in town watching this church from across the street as all of you gather for worship. In the darkness, there is a soft glow of candle light through the stained glass windows. Prayers are prayed, songs are sung, Holy Communion is celebrated. Then the light from the Christ candle begins to spread from one person to the next. Slowly but remarkably, the windows of the church begin to blaze with light and color. That light and color is reflected on the cold snow outside. This is God’s kingdom come! As people stream forth through the doors, carrying that Light back to their homes and into their community, the Light of Christ is made visible for all to see.

The question of this first Sunday of Advent is not about when Jesus is coming or when will we see him, but rather have we been ‘asleep’ to him in all the things that occupy our time. “Do we recognize Jesus when we see him in others and in ourselves?” Where have we seen God at work in the world? When has God gotten us through something that seemed hopeless at the time? Think about it.

Now ask yourself, “How might others experience that same hope of God’s presence through a card or caring act by me? How can I help them know the possibilities for healing and restoration that are only found in God? Paul says, “Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!” That’s good advice for people like us, isn’t it? May we and others be blessed by its hearing and its doing.

November 14,2010

Luke 21:5-19

Jesus and his followers are walking by the Temple in Jerusalem... a very impressive building indeed... even by today's standards... built from stones as large as 37-1/2 feet long by 12 feet high by 18 feet wide. His disciples are amazed by this architectural wonder made of countless stones placed precisely one upon the other. This is where God's lives... this man-made mountain of pure white stone… glistening in the sun. It is easy to think that this Temple, a symbol of God’s Presence among the Chosen, will last forever. Jesus’ disciples talk about how beautiful it all is... this monument to God. We can imagine their "Ooohs!" and "Aaahs!" as they walk along side its massive walls... bumping into one another and stumbling over their own feet... with eyes uplifted and fixed on this symbol of permanence. It was a good time for a lesson.

Jesus says: "Remember well what you see today... for it will not last." This is the first lesson... OUR MONUMENTS - the things which mean so much to us... around which we center our lives- will not last forever. For they, too, will come tumbling down. The things important to us today... which seem so permanent – family and friends, jobs, homes, even church buildings - are not! Situations change. The things our life are focused on now, both the good and the bad – the monuments we have constructed - no matter how well, do not last forever.
Lesson #1 is: Something better is coming. What you see today will someday be no more.

Of course this led to Jesus’ followers asking, “When?” and “How will we know?” Thus, an opportunity for a second lesson: We will not know… no one will know… when and how it will happen. People will always claim they know... but they don't. Terrible things will happen in the world as they always have. Those who follow Jesus will always to be at risk. And life, as we know it, will change.

Whether we are Jesus' disciples or the church of today, we want to know what’s around the corner. We want resolution. We want a simple answer. So, sometimes we embrace those who seem to know. But Jesus says, "Don't be fooled. None of them know." English poet and author, Rudyard Kipling once wrote, "…keep your head while all around you are losing theirs." We are encouraged not to ‘lose our head’ during the chaos of changing times. We would like there to be peace in the world... and everyone to get along with one another... and bad things not to happen to good people... but that's not the world we live in. Bad things are going to happen.
Lesson #2 is: Something better is coming, even in the midst of the bad things in this world.

This leads to the third and most important lesson... "Not a hair of your head will perish." By standing firm you will gain life. Knowing how things turned out, we could ask, "What do these words really mean?" - Jesus is crucified. Paul is beheaded. Peter is crucified upside down. Stephen is stoned. James is pierced. They all stood firm... and they all died. There must be a difference between "dying" and "perishing?" Does one perish by "playing it safe?" Are we saved by risking to stand firm? 'Not a hair of your head will perish' evidently refers to something beyond physical death. It speaks of an eternal relationship with the one God who "knows every hair of our head" and as such, includes us in God's building the new heaven and new earth. God's caring for us. . . God's love for us... God's desire to include us... will never perish.
Lesson #3 is: Something better is coming, and you will be part of it.

"Not a hair of your head will perish" is a clear statement of hope... everything we experience is temporary... only for awhile... and yet, all that we are is forever safe in God's hands. Don't worry. Bad things will happen to good people. And you are good people. But, don't be afraid. No matter what happens in our life... we are God's own, God is for us, and God is with us. God's caring for us... God's love for us... God's desire to include us... will never perish.

Our good news today is although the things of this world will parish, those of God will not.

November 7, 2010

Luke 20:27-38
“Alive”

Tough Questions

Over the last few weeks, Jesus has faced some tough questions. And each time, by his responses, he has hit home runs – not by answering the question, but by using each one as a ‘teaching moment’ to reveal the very nature of God.

He has been asked these difficult questions, some say, for the sole purpose of trying to get him to mess up, to say something that will turn the people against him. He’s made no claims, but others who have come to hear him are suggesting he’s the messiah. The religious leaders, those who benefit most from the status quo, see him as a threat, a troublemaker – doing things that will bring their house down.

Before it was the Pharisees asking the questions. This time it is the Sadducees.
“Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question,”

Their question was a complicated one. It was about resurrection (which they didn’t believe in because it wasn’t mentioned in the first five books of Hebrew Scripture) and the Law of Moses concerning marriage, marital identity, spousal obligation, and family heritage in the age to come. If it wasn’t in their Bible, it didn’t or wasn’t going to happen.
‘Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second; then the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.’

We believe in the resurrection after we die, don’t we? So, how would you have answered their question? After the woman died, whose wife would she have been in the life to come? In Jesus’ answer, neither marriage nor death is a primary concern in the resurrection or the life to come in God’s presence. For us, as well as this woman, participating in the communion of God’s love is what matters.

It’s not the conventions or the obligations of this world – those things we have got to do – that matters. Rather, it is God’s relationship to us. And that is, ‘God is present.’ Remember Jesus answer to the Sadducees? It’s there in verse 38,
“Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”
Earlier in his response, he said those who have died, being “children of the resurrection,” are “children of God.” He pointed out that Moses himself confirmed that the dead are raised in his story of the burning bush, where he speaks of the Lord “I am” as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Come to think of it, Moses at the burning bush was not given answers to his questions or solutions to his problems, yet barefoot “stood in the presence of God.”
And that is exactly what Jesus reveals concerning the true nature of God. God is present, in this life and the life to come. He is God of the living and in him all are alive.
“Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”

Several weeks ago, a long time friend gave me a couple of movies to watch and I finally got around to watching them later this week. One was titled Joshua and fits right in with our lesson for today. It tells the story of a stranger whose supernatural powers inspire an entire town. It too, speaks of ‘standing in the presence of God’ (in this case, Jesus) and ‘resurrected’ lives. [When Joshua moves to the outskirts of Auburn, he awakens the curiosity of this sleepy town. His wisdom and compassion place him at the center of the town’s attention. Some are suspicious of him and wonder what he’s up too. But in the end, lives are changed, transformed, resurrected. Sound familiar?
“Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”

Yesterday morning at Men’s Breakfast, Don Logan shared a chapter from this book [hold book up] The Practice of the Presence of God by brother Lawrence.
[Read chapter from book, First Letter, pages 29-32]
“Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”

Julian Hartt writes, “We have a great and desperate need for the gospel. The power of that word is not in utterance, but in concrete life.” The church has above all else [the things we do] a life of love to share, and a message of God’s free sharing of God’s self in Jesus Christ.

God is always present. May we live in that presence, always.

October 24, 2010

Luke 18:9-14
“Above Average”


Today, Jesus shares another parable – this time, the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector, with all those “who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt.” (Luke 18:9)

Often, when I read one of these stories, I think: which one of the people in the story does Jesus want me to be like; which one is doing the right thing and which one needs to change? And always, the unsettling part about his parables is that more often than not I am there, in the story. So today, my mind rewinds once again and I hear myself saying, “Boy, I’m sure glad I’m not that guy over there. His life’s a mess!”

It’s parables like this that easily make me uncomfortable and make me squirm because in them I see myself. Perhaps you do, too. Regardless though, there is a lesson here for all of us, even when we would rather not hear it. After all, who wants to be the one Jesus is talking about? And yet, we are.

We are average people who tend to see ourselves as better than average. Studies have shown that it is common for 90% of those in certain professions to rate themselves superior to their colleagues. Professor of psychology David Myers, found that most drivers — even those who have been hospitalized after accidents — believe themselves to be safer and more skilled than the average driver? “The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, or anything else,” notes humorist Dave Barry, “is that deep down inside, we all believe that we are above average drivers.” We do all live in Lake Wobegon, where all the children are above average. - Garrison Keillor)

Two people went to the temple to pray. One a pious, devout, religious person prayed, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people — thieves, murderers, adulterers — or like this tax collector. I fast, I pray, I tithe all I have.

The tax collector could hardly even pray. He beat upon his chest crying, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Two people were in church on Sunday morning. One, a lifetime member of the church, the teacher of a Sunday school class, and member of the Church Council, prayed, “God, I thank you that I am not like a lot of other people; my parents always brought me to church, made sure I was in Sunday School when I was young, and taught me right from wrong. I give the church as much as I can, I volunteer my time at the food pantry, I help tutor children at the elementary school when I can, and I hardly ever miss church.”

The other, there for the first time and seated clear in the back, muttered in an almost inaudible voice, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Both went home after church, one justified, the other not. One experienced God’s grace that day, one did not – not because one was bad and the other good or that they got what they deserved. In this story, what both received was "in spite of," not "because of."

There is a lesson here for all of us. If you see yourself somewhere in this story and as a result change your ways so you might become closer to God, that’s a good thing – but know that’s not the real lesson because the parable is not about us – it is about God. It is a picture of how God behaves, of what God does and who God is. God’s grace is given us in despite of who we are rather than because of who we are.

Two people were in church, wanting to be close to God, to be set right with God. But rather than focus on these two people and their actions, we should focus instead on the actions of God. It is not a matter of our acting more like one than the other. Instead, it is a matter of God’s always acting (at the worst time in our life) to bring us close to God.

Two people prayed in church. God came close to one and not the other. The one is justified, made right with God. The other goes home empty. Why? I don’t know, it’s a story about God, not us. But I suspect it has something to do with our reliance on our selves to do things, even become close to God. It’s been said, “When you trust God, you get God. But when you trust only yourself, you get … only yourself.” Perhaps God can only help those who cannot help themselves. Why? I don’t know. Maybe there is lesson in that as well.

The message is not “Okay, people, be humble.” The tax collector wasn’t being humble. He just did not know what to pray. He was down, his life was a mess, he was separated from God and he didn’t know what to do about it. Imagine being in his shoes. You come, not knowing whether or not you ought to be here. You have done things you shouldn’t have. Everyone around you looks so righteous, so close to God, so near to getting it right. But you feel far and distant from God. When it comes time for prayer, you don’t know what words to use. You’ve made mistakes. You’re down. You don’t know what to pray. But more than anything else, you want to be close to God.

The good news is, that’s when God meets us, justifies us, and blesses us.

Jesus said, “I’ve come to find the lost, and lift up the lonely. I’ve come to save the sinner.” Thank God, because when is that not us?!

October 17, 2010

Luke 17:20-21, 18:1-8; 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
“Like… Persistent Hope”

widow God
(c) 2010 Thom M. Shuman

like the hardheaded
mother
who thinks that
every child
on every team
should get to play
in every game,
you stand up for us;

like a
squirrel who races around
the yard,
diving into each
pile of leaves,
knowing another acorn
will be found,
you are tenacious
in finding that kernel
of goodness in each of us;

like the
4th grade girl
who faces down
the schoolyard bullies
trying to extort money
for smokes from
the 1st graders
on the playground,
you take our side
no matter what the odds;

like the
father
who pushes the drama coach
to envision his
wheelchair-riding daughter
as the perfect
Eliza Doolittle,
you are unwavering
in pushing us to
think outside the box;

like the
golden retriever
who starts out
with a wet nose
against the hand
hanging at the side of the bed
and ends up pulling the cover
off its owner
to start the morning walk,
you doggedly push
us down paths
we would rather
not take.

you' re a persistent cuss,
aren't you?

This poem tells us about God in the persistence of a mother, an older schoolmate, a father, and a dog. Likewise, so do today’s readings from the Bible. Both readings today were written probably within twenty years of one another, 2 Timothy in about 67 A.D. and Luke sometime between 60-90 A.D.. It is important for us to understand that at the time they were written, people were starting to feel discouraged. They had expected Jesus’ return soon. That was their greatest hope but it hadn’t happened. They were tired of waiting. They were tired of being persecuted as a small minority group in a great big empire. They were tired of their suffering. And they were tired of feeling anxious about when (or even if) their hope would be realized.

Today's passage from Luke is about not being discouraged in that waiting. Somehow, we've often read the story of the widow and the judge as a lesson to "nag" God with our repeated requests, or being persistent in offering up prayers so God will eventually give in and give us what we want. But that is not it at all. Rather, it is about not losing heart and instead, being persistent in our hope that is found in Jesus Christ.

Paul, in 2 Timothy (A.D. 67), writes, “continue in what you have learned (3:14)… in view of his appearing and his kingdom… be persistent in your belief… and patient in your teaching.” Paul, too, advises the church (and us) to be persistent in our hope for the future.

I think there is good news in Jesus' words. When the Pharisees asked, “When is the kingdom of God coming?” Jesus gives a rather mysterious answer that suggests the kingdom is both present and yet to be revealed. Jensen, in his Preaching Luke’s Gospel, says we should not be discouraged or lose heart as we live out this paradox. Rather we should look to the example of the woman in this story who did not lose heart.” Her persistence evoked a response even from an unrighteous judge. God IS righteous and WILL grant justice. Be persistent and stand firm in a faith that is strengthened through prayer! (Jensen)

I wonder if Jesus is saying, “Be like the widow.” Be persistent. Keep on looking for God’s kingdom of justice. It will happen. Keep on doing the right thing for its own sake. It is what we should do. Keep on living right, EVEN though justice doesn’t appear to be happening yet. It will. Being persistent worked for the widow; it will work for you.

The Reverend Andrew Prior writes, “To live like this is to live in faith. To live like this is to live righteously; it is doing what is right for no other reason than it is right. This is the paradox.” But what are we to do when our doing good and living right does not seem to make a difference in the world or our community or even our own family? What if it seems nothing has changed and God’s kingdom and justice are as far off as far can be? What then? Nothing is better than before. And yet... Jesus says, “be persistent; the kingdom WILL come. And, it IS here.”

There will be a time when we realize as we struggle and pray and choose to do the right thing - that something is touching us or lifting us or somehow holding us in this place. We are a part of more than our surroundings. It is then, at those times, we can actually sense the kingdom is right here, now, and we are a part of it.

Our prayer life can sustain us even in the worst of times, and keep us close to God: "You are going to trust the process," Barbara Brown Taylor writes, "regardless of what comes of it, because the process itself gives you life. The process keeps you engaged with what matters most to you, so you do not lose heart." Hold fast in your faith no matter what, and through everything, trust in God. Be persistent… as Taylor says, “not to get what you want, but rath

October 3, 2010

Luke 17: 5-10
"Doing What We Ought To Do"

Jesus has just warned his followers about stumbling blocks. He tells them to encourage the young ones among them... to rebuke those who do wrong... and to forgive those who do wrong and who say they are sorry... over and over and over again. And so, what is the apostles’ reaction? They say, "Increase our faith!" Not a bad response, is it? We probably would say the same thing if it were us being asked to forgive those who have hurt us… over and over and over again. A little extra faith might just be what we need.

But to this Jesus responded, "It isn't a matter of more... for the very little the apostles have is enough. It's more a matter of doing what is expected... doing what they are more than capable of... doing what they ought to do." In a real sense... it is a matter of "being"… of being exactly who they are… his followers.

You see, being a follower of Jesus is not easy. The apostles were finding that out. And many of us have found that out as well. Forgiving someone who has hurt me... no way! Turning the other cheek to someone who has already hit me once... you got to be kidding! Giving a new coat to someone who has already taken my best jacket... right! It would take a lot of something... perhaps something like faith... to be able do all of that. And some days it would take even more. But Jesus says his followers don't need more of anything. They have enough of what it takes. They have enough faith and everything else… because why? - Because they have received God’s own gift of faith to nourish and use. If God works through us, which I believe God does, it makes sense God would provide us with enough faith in the first place. God can do a lot with what we might see as only a little bit of faith. We should never underestimate what God and us can do.

If I had faith as small as a mustard seed, I might say, "Well, I have a little bit of faith. I can try a little thing." And so little things are done, like a smile or helping hand on the playground… or putting together a food basket for the shut in at Christmas time... or helping with a widow's higher than normal heating bill… or listening to someone who is hurting and just being there for them. What seems small is real1y quite large. Our "being" there for others is enough... doing what is already here, inside us... flowing from who we are in response to the needs of others. For in the end, isn't what matters being able to say, "We have done only what we ought to have done."

There is a difference between what we believe in and the act of believing. The act of believing requires trust... trust in God. Our being followers of Jesus the Christ enables God's doing through us. As followers of Jesus, living is a matter of "doing what we ought to do." It seems to me that Jesus is telling all his followers: "Forget the excuses... you don't need more faith... get on with doing what ought to be done. Be my disciples."

Likewise, Paul encourages Timothy... and us… "Re-kindle the gift of faith of God that is within you" (2 Timothy 1:6) and "live all of your lives seeing your cup as overflowing." That is the ‘kingdom living’ Paul has modeled, putting his feet and hands where his mouth is. Paul walked his talk. To have faith... to be faithful... means to live our life in accordance with our beliefs.

That’s hard for followers and leaders alike. We fall short… I fall short… because we are no different than everyone else. We strive, all of us, to be the best at what we do – whether it’s being a student, a pastor, a teacher, a farmer, a worker, a professional, a parent, or anything else. I want the church to be active and strong, its people growing spiritually, caring for one another and getting along, reaching out to others, becoming disciples of Jesus Christ… and when it’s not, I feel as a pastor, I have let God down. Yet Paul, like Jesus, gives those like me hope. He says, “Re-kindle the gift of faith God has given you,” which goes right along with Jesus’ words to his disciples to be who they were, because God had provided them with what was needed for the work to be done.

In a few moments, we will celebrate our faith. We will symbolically gather around the table where Jesus is host. Worldwide Communion Sunday is an affirmation of our faith. As you receive the gifts of the Lord’s table, as you affirm your faith today, I invite you to rededicate yourself as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Rededicate yourself to live your life in accordance with those beliefs and the grace you have received. A mustard seed's worth of faith is all we need for "doing what we ought to do."

September 19, 2010

Jeremiah 8:18-9:1
My Joy

“My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick.” (Jer. 8:18) “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt, I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored? (Jer. 8:20-22)

We know what Jeremiah is feeling, don’t we? There have been times we too have experienced grief or loss of joy; times we have been hurt or heartsick, days we have gone through disappointment or deep mourning. We know his pain even if when we hate to admit it.

The challenge of embracing Jeremiah is that his grief and sorrow runs counter to what we are to do when things go wrong. Ours is a culture of optimism – look on the bright side, accentuate the positive and search for the silver lining.

Instead of being optimistic, the prophet Jeremiah says, “Is there no balm in Gilead? There’s no bright side in his words. His message is a hard one to hear. It is a message God’s justice and great love for God’s people.

God grieves with Jeremiah. His grief is God’s grief, and his tears as well. God wants to be in relationship with us, and invites us to return to his way. “Is there no balm in Gilead?” asks the Lord — is there no healing to be found?

Fortunately, God reaches out to us in love, and promises never to let us go.

September 12, 2010

Luke 15:1-10
“Meant To Be Together”

Kevin Evers, Communications Director of the Iowa Annual Conference, challenges us in this week’s Thursday Memo, with the question, “Who will teach the children?” and reminds us that Proverbs 9:8-12 instructs us of our responsibility to the children in the Church (and even those outside its walls).

Imagine your own life had not others took that responsibility seriously? Perhaps your connection with church would have been very different, or even nonexistent. This past Wednesday the new confirmation class began. These young people will learn about God and the church during their time of study and connecting with one another. Today, church school starts up again, and both young people and adults will learn new lessons. There will also be opportunities for group studies during the week. All ages will learn and grow – and that is good.

Several modern proverbs by Marian Wright Edelman, of the Children’s Defense Fund, help to remind us what we risk should we neglect ‘teaching the children.’ She says.

If we are not supporting a our children with attention, time, love, discipline, money and the teaching of values...
If we are spending more time worrying about our children’s clothes than about their character...
If we are spending more time on our children’s recreation than reading, or their dance steps than their discipline...
If we think it’s someone else’s responsibility to teach our children values, respect, good manners, work and health habits...
…then we are part of the problem rather than the solution.

Encourage all who teach this year…
The Pharisees and scribes were not encouraging at all when they grumbled about Jesus’ teaching, saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:2) They couldn’t see the good his teaching others about God was – only that he was teaching the ‘wrong’ students. What business did Jesus have teaching THEM.

And he taught through parables. What’s with that! He told stories for God’s sake – stories about people like his listeners yet really God. And he told stories to anyone who would listen. He even told the children stories. His way of teaching was different, because the stories themselves became the teacher.

…and even take the time to teach someone yourself.
That is what Jesus did – seizing the opportunity to teach yet another lesson about God, he said: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” (Luke 15:4-6)

For those standing there, scratching their heads, Jesus told a second story much like the first – only this time it was a coin that was lost and then found. Yet in both stories, the ‘finding’ – the wholeness of community – was celebrated with friends and neighbors.

So, what is the lesson to be learned? Might it be that the community of God – made whole – should be important to us? If so, then it seems critical we participate in the building up of that community through our concern for one another, our listening to the needs of others, and teaching one another what we have learned about God.

The writer of Hebrews says, “And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another ... ” (Hebrews 10:24-25).

A new thing is about to begin. It is going to happen at the end of this service. We are going to take Sunday school outside the box – and we want you to be part of it!

[Give people directions as to what they are to do following the service.]

September 5, 2010

Jeremiah 18:1-11; Luke 14:25-33
“Making Pottery”

God talks to Jeremiah and ‘reveals’ something that all of us should know about how God works. This revelation doesn’t come during a vision or a dream or some test of Jeremiah’s faith – as is often the case in the Bible. It comes instead from an ordinary, everyday kind of thing. God nudges Jeremiah a bit and lets him know he needs to go to the local pottery shop for this ‘revelation.’ So Jeremiah goes and spends the better part of the day watching closely how the potter makes his pottery. While he is there at the pottery, God ‘reveals’ or ‘shows him’ that this is how God works to shape and create the lives of God’s people – in much the same way the potter creates a pot.

The Message (Peterson’s paraphrase of the Bible) says that standing there, Jeremiah observed that: 4 Whenever the pot the potter was working on turned out badly (when it became spoiled – NRSV; or marred – NIV), as happens when working with clay, the potter would simply start over (the potter reworked it – NRSV; formed and shaping it – NIV) using the same clay to make another pot. [Now and then there would be something wrong with the pot he was molding from the clay with his hands. So he would rework the clay into another kind of pot as he saw fit. – NET]

In the next verses, Jeremiah goes on to say, “Then God's Message came to me: "Can't I do just as this potter does, people of Israel?" God's Decree! "Watch this potter. In the same way that this potter works his clay, I work on you, people of Israel. [‘O nation of Israel, can I not deal with you as this potter deals with the clay? In my hands, you, O nation of Israel, are just like the clay in this potter’s hand.’ – NET]


Jeremiah observes that the potter reworked flawed vessels into other vessels, “as seemed good to him” (v. 4), which was the lesson about God he was to draw from the potter. Just as the chosen people of Israel and Judah were originally fashioned into a nation by the Lord’s gracious shaping, so now, flawed by their own unrighteousness, they remain under the divine will to be reshaped, as seems good to the Lord, into another vessel.

The main part of this ‘revelation’ is concerned with the flexibility of the divine will. The God of the OT – and the God of today – is highly interactive with history, taking the initiative in human affairs as well as responding to human actions.

When the potter creates pottery on the wheel, the clay must first be kneaded and wedged to push out little pockets of air trapped in the clay before it is usable for throwing. Water is applied and the clay is centered on the wheel. Sometimes if off-center or with an air pocket present, the pot will wobble and eventually collapse. A potter, noticing a flaw in the piece, might modify or alter the form during the throwing process, or might even stop and start over again from the beginning. Sometimes in doing so, an even more beautiful or useful pot is made.

John Hanneman, in “Shaped By An Artist,”writes:
“God, the master craftsman, …has a vision of what he wants us to become, a purpose for our lives that is unique and significant for each of us. He has designed us to be his holy people. We are vessels that house something very special — the Spirit of God. We may be ordinary clay pots, but God is molding and shaping us for his use — and he uses everything in our lives to accomplish his purposes. God is the potter; we are the clay.

Being like a shapeless lump of clay in the potter's hand doesn't mean we are wholly at the mercy of the artist's hand. Any artist will tell you that despite their preconceived plans, most times the material they work with refuses to cooperate causing a change of plan or two along the way. And that is when the creative juices flow. I can remember an art professor telling me in the sculpture studio that the large chunk of limestone setting on the floor before me would reveal what it was to become. I should first get to know it from the outside to discover its potential and begin making plans. However I had to allow the material to determine the final and ‘true’ form of the sculpture inside the stone I was carving.

God is flexible, and like an artist and potter, always creating. God does not give up on us if we are found to be flawed or imperfect or make mistakes. Instead God takes our shortcomings and works to make us better all the time. Like the potter, God takes us in his hands and molds us into the very best people we can be. God wants to reshape us, not reject us. Isn’t it exciting what we might become in God’s hands!

A Blessing To Others

August 29, 2010
Luke 14:1, 7-14

Jesus, observing the maneuvering going on for the places of honor at a dinner he’s attending, shares with the other guests the wisdom of ‘being humble.’ He says, “when the host comes he may very well say, 'Friend, come up to the front.' That will give the dinner guests something to talk about! What I'm saying is, if you walk around with your nose in the air, you're going to end up flat on your face. But if you're content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself." Still, the guests went for the best seats because position influenced what others thought of them. The same jostling for position and attitude was true in the synagogues – and perhaps that was the point.

Some would say that today, we are the Pharisees. We are the faithful and active church members who are trying to live virtuous lives. We are the insiders who anxiously shift in our seats when outsiders come into the dinner party we know as church. Yet, who are the ones Jesus holds up as worthy of inviting? Those on the margins, right. So, let’s imagine they came, those on the margin. Where might they sit if they were here today?

Someone once said that as human beings we are by nature a bit tribal. And as such, we are most comfortable with people who are like us. Joining a group of which we are not naturally a part or having them join us is difficult and takes effort on our part. That is how it was in Jesus' day as well. There were all sorts of groups, and groups within groups, that tended to congregate only with “their own.” People of different groups did not normally eat together. And the poor and homeless were often absent altogether.

Jesus instructs his host, as well as the church, by saying: when making up the guest lists and deciding how to share the blessings that has been received, don't be strategic. Don't think about what you might get in return. Be extravagantly generous. Invite the most unlikely, most unexpected guests into the life of your “church” and share that most necessary, most enjoyable experience of eating together. "You will be blessed,"

Who is missing from the table here? Who is excluded? Who would Jesus have us invite? The Reverend Kate Huey suggests the common problem of many churches is that, “We have domesticated hospitality, …that keeps (us welcoming only) our "own kind" of people, or at least those we can feel comfortable around. Our generosity toward strangers and all those we might consider "strange" is often offered from a distance, without personal contact.” However, Jesus' challenge calls us to be more aware of those “on the margins” and to follow him in including them at our tables. It is then we catch a glimpse of the way things will be in the reign of God, when those “beneath” us are not only welcomed but also become honored guests. “For Luke, the kingdom is not present where some eat and some do not.” (Fred Craddock)

In Hebrews 14, Paul writes how Christians ought to express faith through how they live their lives. He says be hospitable to strangers; be faithful to your spouse; be content with what you have; be empathetic to the suffering of others; and be mindful of the those imprisoned or without hope. The first Methodists — brothers John and Charles Wesley and the small group they gathered with at Oxford University in England — had the same idea. Along with their regular meetings for prayer, Bible study, and the reading of spiritual classics they held one another accountable to living out their faith, which included feeding the hungry, comforting people in grief and visiting those in prison.

Were John Wesley here today, he would probably put us all on the spot by asking, “Have you ever had one of those moments when you realize you have missed something by not being able to be present for others? Have you this last week not just counted your blessings but have actually hungered to be a blessing to others? Have you ”

Emilie Townes has written a beautiful reflection on today’s passage from Luke that includes just such an awareness: "Being a blessing is not easy, but trying to jump-start it by scurrying into places we think will shower us with blessings or display the blessings we have received is much easier. In all these cases, the deep theological meaning of blessing is lost…." She then challenges us to "mine (or dig) for how we seek blessings,” – be a blessing by putting others ahead of yourself. And move up to a higher place.

An article by Frank Rich appeared in the New York Times earlier this month about the recent death of a wealthy, prominent woman, Judith Dunnington Peabody, who enjoyed the highest place at the tables she graced. She could have chose to remain in her own circle of privilege and comfort, but she didn’t. Several accounts of her life reveals a woman who understood deeply what it means to be a blessing, and what it means to love the strangers in our lives, not from afar, but sitting right down, next to them. Besides the traditional fundraising (among her "own"), Judith Peabody worked with and for those in need, those whom most folks would have avoided, including a Hispanic youth gang in East Harlem that she invited to her apartment for dinner – all of them. During the 1980's she became a caregiver for gay men with HIV/AIDS, consoling and holding their hands. What made her so unusual one person said was: "She was always going into areas where polite society didn't go… friends would tell her: 'I can't believe you're doing that. We don't know people like that.'"

In this week's Gospel, Jesus tells us to surprise everyone, even ourselves, by a guest list that comes from the margins – turning position on its head. Become a blessing – give and you will receive. The good news is we can be a blessing. May it be so!

Sabbath Lesson

August 22, 2010
Luke 13:10-17

The woman in Luke’s story has been unable to stand up straight, seeing only the ground around her feet, for many years. She has dealt with it for a long time. There is no reason for Jesus to have done something ‘right away.’ He could have waited until the Sabbath was over to heal her, and everyone would have been happy – but, he didn’t. Instead, he makes a statement. It isn't the only time Jesus has healed on the Sabbath, or healed while teaching in the synagogue (or both) or the first time he's provoked the religious leaders. For him, it was a teaching moment and another lesson about God.

So, what was Jesus trying to say? Was it something about his power to heal, something about the hypocritical Pharisees, or was it something else? Maybe the fact he mentions the word ‘Sabbath’ five times provides a clue. Maybe the point he is trying to make is about how Sabbath is observed – or why we do the things we do in ‘honoring’ God.

Looking back on my life growing up, an important part was my grandparents who lived right across the lane. Their house being only a short distance away, we spent a lot of time over their, playing in the yard (and in the barn), climbing mulberry trees north of the house, or listening to the record player. Sundays were a special day. Always after going to church (which grandpa and grandma never attended), was dinner at their house and an afternoon that began by reading the Sunday comics. Often relatives or friends would drop by and spend a good part of the afternoon visiting. For Grandpa and Grandma, it was a day away from ceaseless housework and the never-ending work of the farm. It was a day of rest; a day involving people, a day of connecting and a day for caring. This was their Sabbath. If only they had gone to church like they were suppose to.

Both Jesus and the leader of this synagogue took Law and Scripture seriously. Where they differed was in their understanding of God. For the leader of the synagogue, and for the Pharisees, God (and God’s law) was there to be obeyed. The law was to be followed – to the letter, no exceptions. God expected it. The key to his reality was: “Keep God happy, and everything will work out right.

But Jesus saw it differently. "The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath." (Mark 2:22) William Loader points out that "[Jesus’] basic teaching is that God's will is always... focused on people's well being. God's chief concern is not to be obeyed... God's chief concern is love and care for the people and creation." The key to Jesus’ reality was: “Look after God’s people and creation, and everything will work out right.” This is ‘the Sabbath lesson.’

Looking back, to an earlier time growing up, the Sabbath meant something. It was important. Stores were closed on Sunday and things you could do the rest of the week you couldn’t do on Sunday. In rural Iowa, breaking the Sabbath was frowned upon, it was something a person didn’t do. Keeping the Sabbath was a serious and sometimes costly badge of one's faith and faithfulness to God. Things were a lot different back then. There were more families in church, Sunday school classes were full, and everyone went to church on Sunday morning. People followed what the Bible said; they knew what they should do on the Sabbath to make God happy and they did it.

Or did they? Luke makes his point very clear in today’s gospel reading. It is Jesus, he says, who heals the woman. But it is the Lord who answers the leader of the synagogue and calls him a hypocrite. Imagine what that must have felt like, to be rebuked by Jesus because what you thought you had figured out was completely wrong and when it came to your own reality of God, you were exactly the opposite of what you wanted to be. Perhaps Luke’s story of Sabbath healing is intended to help us face our own reality of God and how we too sometimes get things twisted around. This is ‘the Sabbath lesson.’

I don’t know if it was clear or not, that my grandparents did not go to church on Sunday mornings. You see, church was not part of their Sabbath. At one time that concerned me a lot. However, today I realize they honored God every Sunday in ways every church could learn from – by making it a day of rest, a day to connect with family around the table and with distant relatives and friends who would ‘drop by’ for a visit. It was a day of hospitality and healing, a day of caring and connecting. As I look back on their reality now, it seems a lot closer to Jesus’ lesson of what Sabbath should actually be - ‘looking after Gods people and creation’ rather than just keeping God happy.

Sunday for my grandparents was a day of promise, a day they looked forward to, a day they truly welcomed. It was for them a sample of God’s dominion to come; it was a good thing, a gift from God. It was a day of hope in the midst of difficult times. The Reverend Barbara Brown Taylor writes of knowing “people who can do five things at once who are incapable of doing nothing.” Included in my grandparent’s day of rest was, by today’s standards, a lot of “doing nothing” yet in it everything that mattered.

Sabbath is not about keeping God happy. Know that God loves you and wants good for you... it isn’t a matter of doing the right thing... or God won't love you? God's chief concern has always been the love of God’s people and creation… not in our keeping laws. This is ‘the Sabbath lesson.’ As the bent-over woman's gaze was "lifted up," may our perspective, too, be raised to new and deeper faithfulness and praise of God.

“Defined By A Prayer”

July 25, 2010
Luke 11:1-13

According to Luke’s account, Jesus and his disciples are on the road to Jerusalem, and on the way, he’s teaching them about discipleship. Discipleship requires traveling light when on a mission trip and trusting that everything needed, even the bread we eat, will be provided. Discipleship requires centering one’s life on love – love for God and neighbor, even those we would rather not call neighbor. Discipleship requires both listening to and doing the Word of God. This is what it means, Jesus says, to follow him. And this is what disciples do – they follow, and model themselves on their teacher.

For many of us our first teachers were our parents. In some homes, ‘grace’ was said at every meal – “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for this food…” – or there was a prayer at bedtime, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.” Then as we grew older and went to our friends for the day or ‘stayed over’ for the night, we noticed their prayers were different – because their parents and teachers were different. We model ourselves after those we follow.

An important part of what defined Jesus as a person was prayer. That is why the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray – something they themselves probably knew how to do on their own. However it would be by the ‘common’ way they prayed to God, a way distinct to their teacher, that others would know whose disciples they were. They had seen how central prayer was to Jesus life and they wanted him to show them how to that as well because they wanted the same strength and peace as their teacher in their lives.

So, Jesus told them, ‘When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.’ This is then the prayer that marks us, identifies, and unifies us as his disciples, followers of Jesus the Christ.

Although we come from different places, from varied backgrounds, and have followed different spiritual paths to this church, the prayer that Jesus teaches his disciples in this reading of Luke is something familiar, something we share in common. It is the one prayer that we most likely know by heart (although it may not always be the one printed in the bulletin). It is a prayer most of us are able to join others in saying.

For Jesus prayer was an intimate conversation with God. I would like to think that when engaged in prayer, he listened just as much as he spoke. He believed we should talk with God as we would to a loving Father, a loving parent, a parent who listens to us, cares for us, forgives us, provides for us, protects us. This, to him, is the reality of God's love, a love that is infinitely greater and more generous than ours.

In Matthew's account of this same event, Jesus teaches his disciples that God will give "good things" to those who ask. But here, Luke says that God will give "the Holy Spirit" to those who ask. For me, it was a revelation, an ‘aha moment.’ I had not ‘really’ heard that before although I had many times. To me the words meant my asking God to provide the things I needed for each day. But that wasn’t it at all! God gives us the Holy Spirit when we ask – each and every day. “Give us this day our daily bread.”

It was like driving in a downpour as a gazillion raindrops take turns making splats on the windshield as two mechanical squeegees dance back and forth, back and forth, back and forth in rhythm. Outside, everything is the same shade of gray. And suddenly, ahead, a small bright spot appears in the gray sky and begins to define the cumulus clouds around it. And the gray cloud opens up revealing a blue sky ahead, filled with much smaller, less saturated clouds. God gives us the Holy Spirit when we ask – each and every day. “Give us this day our daily bread.”

At first, that revelation may seem a bit disappointing. We want the "good things." We want to be healthy, and happy, and safe. We want a little success and a little comfort – don’t we? Like Matthew, we prefer asking God for ‘good things.’ But in Luke, Jesus says, “God will give the ‘Holy Spirit’ to those who ask.”

This promise of the Holy Spirit is the key to understanding the passage as a whole, because the promise of the Holy Spirit and our sense of call as a disciple of Christ go together. The Lord’s Prayer is not just a comforting, private little prayer to get us through our tough times. Think about this – we don’t pray, “Give me…” but rather “Give US today… (all of us) what will sustain and nourish us, the strength and peace of God that comes only from the Holy Spirit.

The Lord’s Prayer was, and continues to be, the prayer of Jesus’ disciples, followers of the Way, a community promised the Holy Spirit, which later was to become "the church." We, too, are called to live in radical dependence on, and trusting in, the God who made us, who listens to our prayers, and who forms us into a community defined by a prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread."

Of course, it is easier said than done. Because the truth is: for most things, we are more likely to depend on ourselves than God. There's a great story about Mother Teresa and a man who came to work at her home of the dying in Calcutta. The man was looking for a clear answer about how to live the rest of his life. He asked Mother Teresa to pray for him. She said, "What do you want me to pray for?" And he said, "Pray that I have what I want most – clarity (of purpose), like you." To which Mother Teresa laughed and said, "I can’t. I have never had clarity; what I have always had is trust. So I will pray that you trust God."

Because this prayer is the prayer of our community, and not just a private one, it reminds and challenges us not only to form this prayer with our lips but, to be formed by it ourselves, shaped into a community of compassion and justice that makes sure that all of God's children have "their daily bread" by experiencing the abundant strength and peace that comes from the presence of the Holy Spirit in their living. It also calls us to join in the building of God's kingdom not up in heaven, but here, on earth, a reign of justice, healing, mercy, and love.

There is comfort knowing there are other Christians in other places, praying the same prayer, forming it in their hearts and on their lips, and that together, we are all formed by it. In this prayer, we pray for one another and for what we need – forgiveness and to forgive, mercy and to show mercy, love and to love, and most of all to trust that Psalm 138 is true: "God will fulfill God's purpose for me; your steadfast love, O God, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands."

Father, when we ask, “Give us each day our daily bread,” give to all of us Your Holy Spirit, that we might be strengthened in our discipleship and know your peace.

“Sit For Awhile”

July 18, 2010
Luke 10:38-42

We’ve heard this story about Martha and Mary before, haven’t we, perhaps a number of times? And every time we hear it, it challenges us to think about our own relationship to Christ, and where we find ourselves today. Are we busy in the kitchen with Martha? Or are we listening to Jesus at his feet with Mary? Where is the right place to be?

Many commentaries point out the importance of "hearing and doing" in the Gospel of Luke. This story, and the one before it about the Good Samaritan, illustrates that it is both hearing and doing that matters – not one or the other. "Word and Work” are both important. Both are central to the life of faith. When Jesus was asked what it means to be faithful, he first tells a story about love in action and then follows it up with a story that teaches us sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening carefully is important, too.

It's important to be warm and friendly. Abraham’s hospitality to strangers in the book of Genesis led to all sorts of blessings. We, too, are blessed by our hospitality. However, in today’s Gospel lesson, Martha's task-oriented approach to hospitality distracts her from the very person she is welcoming. Instead of Jesus, she’s thinking about her sister, who has not helped her at all. She’s upset and because of it she’s been distracted from really connecting to Jesus.

Jesus cares about our relationships – both with God, and with one another. Both are at the heart of what it means to live faithful lives. In the story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus teaches what it means to love our neighbor. And in today’s story of Martha and Mary, he teaches us what it means to love God.

Think about it – is there really anything we can do for God? We can do things for one another, and should. We can do things for the church, and should. And we can do things for others. Our doing is important and things like church dinners and garage sales and church potlucks and ice cream socials and gathering food items for the food pantry to feed the world wouldn’t get done without the Marthas among us. But the church should never confuse our doing with God’s doing. Our God is an awesome God, praise God!

Listening to Jesus is not opposed to serving him, but rather given priority so that the service may be fruitful. Jesus does not tell Martha she is doing the wrong thing. He says Mary has chosen the more needful thing at this point. But they will need to eat, as well! It is both-and, Mary and Martha, not either-or – which is true in our churches as well.

Jesus says that all our efforts and deeds are to be balanced and even nourished by times of doing absolutely nothing but sitting and being with God.

I imagine Martha was shocked to hear that. It is probably just as shocking for us, living in a world that seems to equate busyness with importance. Our days are packed, one after another, with so many things to do, and our minds are full and overflowing, worried and distracted, like Martha, by many things. Yet Henri Nouwen once wrote that our lives, while full, are often unfulfilled. "Our occupations and preoccupations," he said, "fill our external and internal lives to the brim. They prevent the Spirit of God from breathing freely in us and thus renewing our lives."

Can you imagine what your life would be like, even for a short time, without all of the things that keep you busy? Think about having time to yourself without any distractions, or to-do lists – time for just you and God, connected, listening to the quiet still voice of God speaking to you, deep within your heart? Such times are precious “like a jewel buried in a field” – something to give everything that is yours for. What if that time were now – making room for the Spirit of God to breathe freely in you, to renew your spirit, and refresh your life before you leave here today. [1-2 minutes of silence]

Maybe, for the time being, we just need to sit and listen, like Mary at the feet of Jesus. Or to join Martha, who has responded to Jesus invitation to leave the busy-ness of the kitchen for a while to join her sister in listening to what he has to say: "O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor are my eyes fixed on things beyond me; in the quiet, I have stilled my soul like a child at rest on its mother's knee; I have stilled my soul within me. So Israel, come and hope in your Lord; do not set your eyes on things far beyond you; just come to the quiet. Come and still your soul like a child at rest on its daddy's knee; come and still your soul completely." (Psalm 131)

The point of these stories is: it's not hearing OR doing, but it's hearing AND doing the Word of God that makes us faithful disciples. If we are so busy with our "doing" that we can't stop long enough to listen for God, our lives, as Henri Nouwen says, will remain full, but unfulfilled – which is the exact opposite of "inheriting eternal life."

Jesus taught that the fulfillment of God’s promises – God’s kingdom – has already begun, and we can experience those promises in our own lives. Eternal life extends beyond heaven. Barbara Brown Taylor says: "To hear Jesus talk about it, eternal life also means hitting the jackpot now; eternal life means enjoying a depth and breadth and sweetness of life that is available right this minute and not only after we have breathed our last.... Let the summer showers of God's love soak the seeds of your right answers so that they blossom into right actions and watch the landscape… change. Just do it, and find out that when you do, you do live, and live abundantly, just like the man said."

Life abundant: full of word and work, hearing and doing, and resting in the presence of God. That is to be the life of a disciple – both your life and mine. Although the Gospel of Luke doesn’t quite say it, I would like to think Martha, after Jesus’ invitation, sat down beside her sister and listened intently to what Jesus said, and when he was through, they all got up, went to the kitchen, and prepared lunch - together.

“Free For What?”

June 27, 2010
Galatians 5:1-25; Luke 9:51-62

Paul has been talking about freedom now for the last three weeks. Actually it’s all one letter to the Galatians that we have been reading in parts. The common thread running through this letter has been the freedom that comes from believing in Jesus Christ. Paul’s words are important. “For freedom Christ has set us free.” (5) “…the only thing that counts is faith working through love.” (6) Paul says in Christ we are free – but free for what? He then says, “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.” (13) We have been freed to become slaves to God’s law and the direction of the Holy Spirit. “For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (14) “Live by the Spirit.” (16) And, “…be guided by the Spirit.” (25) We have been freed that God might live through us.

Someone once said, “Nothing advocates for our faith more than the lives that model it.” That makes sense; our lives do speak volumes. We should live out our faith, every day. But sometimes that is a very hard thing to do. Sometimes this whole religion thing is just too much. If our belief frees us, then free for what?

Jewish Rabbi David Wolpe, in his book Why Faith Matters, suggests that religion gives to society several important things, including: an interdependent community, a sense of social responsibility, a commitment to charity, believing in something larger than oneself, promoting healthy personal boundaries and submitting to a “higher power.”

“In essence,” he says, “This is how God’s self is demonstrated through God’s followers – in our participation in things like: community, social responsibility, charity, etc. The key in all this is “God demonstrating God’s self THROUGH God’s followers.” It really is about God and not about us.

Wolpe tells a story about something that happened early in his ministry that is true of so many clergy. He said he was called to the hospital bedside of an elderly woman to offer final prayers for the dying. Holding her comatose hand, he felt like a fraud – thinking who was he to shepherd a soul to the edge of the next world? But he prayed the familiar words anyway, letting their power carry him. Sharing this later with his wife, her response was, “You’re right. You are unworthy. Anyone would be unworthy doing such a thing. That’s okay, though. It’s not you doing it. It’s being done through you.”

Wolpe writes, “That was a pivotal moment for me. Suddenly it became clear to me that we bring light into this world not as a source but as a prism — it comes through us.” God’s Spirit moves through human beings, like you and I, to touch others in crucial moments. Wolpe concluded, “As soon as I stepped out of my own way, the prayer felt real. Its blessing did not depend on me.”

Novelist Edith Wharton put it this way: “There are two ways of spreading light, to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it” Christ is the candle. We are the mirrors.

Christ has set us free (v. 1), and ultimately he is the light of the world that we reflect. Changed by God — and led by the Spirit to be fruitful — we reflect Christ’s light in the same way that a mirror does candlelight. This is the most powerful argument for Christianity – the changed lives of its believers and their love of neighbors. We aren’t the source of light, but the prism. Not the candle, but the mirror.

Belonging to Christ (v. 24) as a slave belongs to a master is the means of our liberation in Christ (v. 1). “Freedom” is ultimately found not in our independence but in our loving relationship with God, through which the Spirit leads us to loving acts toward others.

“The depths of our spirituality does not depend upon changing the things we do, but in doing for God what we ordinarily do for ourselves.” —Brother Lawrence.

“Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion. It is a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ.” —Billy Graham.

“Few things are more infectious than a godly lifestyle. The people you rub shoulders with every day need that kind of challenge. Not prudish. Not preachy. Just honest to goodness, bone-deep, non-hypocritical integrity. “ —Charles Swindoll.

The Gospel lesson today gives us a good idea of what we are to mirror – it’s what we have been freed for, and what we are to be committed to.

Andrew Prior, Scotts Church – Adelaide, Australia helps us understand the commitment we are called to. If the phrase “Son of Man” is translated as “the human one,” it can be referring to all humans. Take the verse: Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the human one has nowhere to lay their head. To be really human means to be committed to more than a place, more than a home, or a job, or a family. Even to more than a church. We are committed to MORE… to the Kingdom of God. We are committed to a way of living where God’s very self, sets the agenda and tone of life.” This is the light passing through us, the light reflected – the light of God’s Kingdom.

The Kingdom of God calls us to compassion. It means we will feed our family. We will honor our parents. We will support them in their old age. But the Kingdom of God goes further and asks more of us. But how do we do what we are asked without making excuses. How do we answer the call to God’s radical compassion so it might be reflected in us?

The gospel reading today is about committing to the kingdom. It’s about setting our face towards something, and not looking back. It is about our seeking: 1) the kingdom of God before security, 2) the kingdom of God before family, and 3) the kingdom of God for the long haul, with no going back.

But there is something more. Today in Luke, when Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem what happened first? Did he talk about foxes and the son of man? About the dead burying the dead? About putting your hand to the plough and not looking back? Did he talk about commitment or was it something else?

Before commitment, Jesus talked to his followers about compassion. Before calling them to commitment, he showed them how to be mercy-full to the ‘Samaritans’ who had rejected him. The kingdom of God does not punish people – and neither should we. Only after this truth does Jesus talk about commitment to a kingdom that will result in him losing his life. Only then does he call us to a kingdom without prejudice, where there can be no commitment without compassion.

This is what we have been freed for. To be a prism and mirror of Christ’s light and love.

“Christ’s Family”

June 20, 2010
Galatians 23: 23-29

Today we hear what Paul has to say to the Galatians, again. It is the third part of his letter to a church struggling to remain true to the gospel message. And by the tone of what Paul writes we can imagine what he is thinking, “These Galatians are so inconsistent.” Earlier he had reminded them he was the one who had first shared the message of Christ with them, and with others. Their “recognizing and worshiping God” resulted from what he had said. Then, as we read last week, Paul made sure they heard once again what was most important for their salvation. He wanted them never to forget that their real freedom from sin was a grace thing – a God thing, coming from a faith in Jesus Christ, rather than from their having to do certain things.

Now today we hear Paul say, “By God’s grace you have arrived. There is nothing more. Your faith is enough. And because of your faith you live in a close relationship with God, don’t you? Your life is a Kingdom life, isn’t it?” Paul goes on to say, “Your baptism has meant living a new life, ‘Christ’s life,’ hasn’t it?” And then, Paul moves right to ‘the closure,” when he says, “You are part of the family - Christ’s family.”

In 1968 Sly and the Family Stone had a hit song titled “Everyday People” which speaks, I think, to the gospel message Paul shared with the Galatians and others – as what it means to be Christ’s family. That song starts out:
Sometimes I'm right and I can be wrong
My own beliefs are in my song
The butcher, the banker, the drummer and then
Makes no difference what group I'm in
I am everyday people, yeah …everyday people.

Christ’s family is a family of everyday people; it includes everyone. The song speaks of our being a blue one… a green one… a fat one… a skinny one… and so on and so on… and a Scooby dooby doo one – (then the punch line): “we got to live together.” Like the words of the song, as individuals we can’t always accept the green one, or be like the skinny one, and so on and so on. And yet, as a family, we have to live together, knowing we are no better, but the same whatever we do… we are everyday people (who have got to live together as Christ’s family).

Paul says in Christ’s family there is no division, no distinction, and all are equal when it comes to the relationship we are to have with Jesus Christ. “That is,” Paul says, “we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ… and since you are Christ's family, then you are… heirs according to the covenant promises.”

Paul talked about a freedom – coming not by birth, or works, or by anything other than a faith in God’s great mercy and love for us – revealed in Jesus the Christ. This is what justifies all of us – Jew and Gentile, alike.

But what does our freedom – our justification – in Christ, mean? Earlier Paul said, “I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” (Galatians 2: 19-20) It’s a ‘grace thing,” Paul says, “and that’s good.” Paul refers elsewhere in his letter to being made new and becoming a new person. God was now using the life Paul had thrown away.

Paul grew up believing he would be made right with God by doing what was right according to the laws of the Bible. But he discovered God was creating a whole new ballgame. To become ‘right with God,’ his focus now needed to be on something different. It wasn’t a matter of doing things right, but rather a matter of doing the right things – loving God and loving neighbor. This would be living life well. It might also be a family thing, something that our being part of Christ’s family, we would all have in common.

It is a grace thing that ‘justifies’ Paul – and frees all of us – making us worthy to live eternally with God, all so that, “Christ can live in us.” Paul says, “Your baptism in Christ was not just washing you up for a fresh start. It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe—Christ's life.” (Galatians 3:26-27)

Paul discovered that works didn’t get the job done. Being good wasn’t enough. Faith in Jesus Christ is what frees us and makes us right with God. And that is when Christ ‘lives’ … truly lives in us. Having been changed, we can now put our complete trust in Christ. Transformed, as Paul says, no longer living a life of this world, we are filled with the power and presence of God’s self. What’s important to us and how we go about living our lives are changed. Love and self-giving characterize our lives. And living now by Jesus’ faith: we reach out to the poor, we welcome the needy, we show hospitality to the stranger, and we respond to the troubled in our communities.

Paul says we have arrived. Justified by the cross of Christ and welcomed into Christ’s family, it is time Christ lives in everything we do and every day be seen as our Father’s day. May we truly love and give ourselves for others as our Lord has for us.

“Most Important”

June 13, 2010
Galatians 2: 15-21; Luke 7: 36-8:3

In his letter, Paul reminds the Galatians what is most important: that one’s salvation – one’s real deliverance and freedom – comes from a faith in Jesus Christ.

We are fortunate to live where we do, in a country where we enjoy our freedom and benefit from the many rights that accompany our citizenship. When you think of the millions throughout the world who have never known such freedom, we are lucky beyond all measure. Some might even say blessed, because we have done absolutely nothing to deserve it other than being born here. It’s this country’s constitution and laws, written by its founding fathers and legislators over the years and defended by brave men and women ‘in uniform’ (and out), that have given us that freedom. Tomorrow, on Flag Day, the ‘stars and stripes’ will serve to remind us of that freedom.

Paul though talks about a different kind of freedom – coming not by birth, or works, or by anything other than a faith in God’s great mercy and love for us – revealed in Jesus the Christ. This is what justifies us all – Jew and Gentile, alike.

But what does our justification – our freedom – in Christ, mean? Paul said, “I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” (Galatians 2: 19-20) It’s a ‘grace thing,” Paul says, “and that’s good.” Paul refers elsewhere in his letter to being made new and becoming a new person. Using today’s words, we can hear Paul say he was being “repurposed.” God was now using the life Paul had thrown away. But Paul isn’t alone in throwing things away.

It is estimated Americans throw away twenty-one billion pounds of clothing each year. Fortunately, it does not all end up in the dump. About 10% of it winds up in resale shops such as Goodwill and Stuff Etc. and what once was called second-hand clothing is now called “vintage.” And sales are booming.

And vintage clothing isn’t all that is being ‘repurposed.’ Used tires are shredded to become playground cover and athletic tracks. And even a favorite snack has been repurposed. During the potato chip-making process, bits of the potato once discarded because of their size are turned into dehydrated potato flakes, which are formed into dough, rolled and cut into the chips, then baked, packaged and sold in a Pringles can.

God has been repurposing for years. Paul grew up believing that he would be — made right with God — by doing what was right according to the laws of the Bible. But Paul discovered God was creating a whole new ballgame. To become ‘right with God,’ he needed to focus on something entirely different. It wasn’t a matter of doing things right, but rather a matter of doing the right things. For us, it’s no longer a matter of living a good and successful life, but of living life successfully and well. So often our jobs, our stuff, and our lifestyles get in the way of our relationship with God – and that is sinful.

It isn’t just the bad things that can cause problems, getting between God and us – it can be the good things as well. Sometimes because they are so good they become counterfeit gods, around which our lives revolve. And God takes second place. That is when we have it all wrong and need to be freed.

It is a grace thing that ‘justifies’ Paul – and frees all of us – making us worthy to live eternally with God, all so that, “Christ can live in us.” In Luke 7:50, Jesus tells the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’ Keep in mind though that the story doesn’t end there, it doesn’t end with the woman being saved and freed from the things that has separated her from God. Luke writes that afterwards, Jesus’ followers, men and women alike – and no doubt this woman as well – “went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God.” They “went on.”

They were ‘repurposed’ and made new for a reason – to “go on through” town and country “proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God.” And so have we. Paul discovered that works didn’t get the job done. Being good wasn’t enough.

Faith in Jesus Christ is what frees us and makes us right with God. It is then Christ ‘lives’ in us. Having been changed, we can put our complete trust in Christ. Transformed, as Paul says, no longer living a life of this world, we are filled with the power and presence of Jesus himself. What’s important to us and how we go about living our lives are repurposed. Love and self-giving characterize our lives. And living now by Jesus’ faith: we reach out to the poor, we welcome the needy, we show hospitality to the stranger, and we counsel the troubled in our communities.

Repurposed by the cross of Christ, may we truly love and give ourselves for others as our Lord has done.

“It Don’t Come Easy”

May 30, 2010
Romans 5: 1 – 8; John 16: 12-15

As Christians, we believe as Paul did that Jesus, saved us from sin, death, and the power of evil. His death on the cross and resurrection on the third day is proof positive.

Because of everything Jesus has done for us, we can be thankful to God each day by the way we live our lives. But even though we are safe from evil it still exists in this world, and bad things sometimes happen.

Yet, even at the worst of times, we know that Jesus stands beside us, and that God always wants us to pray.

Paul will continue, beyond today’s reading, to tell us that the life of faith is not easy, but those who have found the faith of Jesus the Christ, which is the faith of Abraham, will win.

Many Christians have suffered gladly for Christ throughout the years because they knew God was with them in both bad times and good.

This sureness of the presence and grace of God makes us stronger and often causes things to go better. We know that God cares about us, and that we are not alone in our troubles.

As Christians, we believe that because of Jesus, we live at peace with God.
Some would read Paul and say, “Suffering is necessary, even good. Suffering helps us to endure; endurance builds character; character gives us hope.” And so it becomes a ‘prized,’ identifying mark or ingredient of our ‘Christianhood.’

But is that really the case? Others would point out that hardship can produce endurance - and often does. After all, most of the good and important things in life, you have to work hard for. And character can be shaped by endurance and by withstanding the ordeals of life with ‘grace’ and our ‘head held high.’ After all, movements for social change in this country have been built on the shoulders of people who have modeled such endurance. But there is also something called fortuitous (or unexpected) grace – like an unexpected kiss or hug. The capacity to be surprised by a God, who loves lavishly even though we've done nothing to warrant it, also results in the very same hope. It's not a pay back for anything – suffering, endurance or character. It's a free gift! And it, too, is real.

Paul then goes on to say we should even boast about our suffering for Christ. Does anyone besides me have a problem with that? We accept the idea that suffering can produce endurance, and endurance can produce character, and character can produce hope. But is it suffering that is good or God working to use it for good that is important for us to believe? And what about boasting, is that a good thing?

Remember, when we were growing up, what our parents told us about bragging? So when Paul says suffering is a good thing and that we should brag about it – I have a hard time getting my mind around it – even if it is true. Perhaps Paul is trying to say, “Take pride in your suffering for Christ, own it, it’s yours, because you know, your life as a follower of Christ is not going to be an easy thing.”

So, yes, it is hard when it doesn't come easy. But it's also a good thing when it does. Because, I believe as the Rev. Edward Beck writes, “God is like that. Kissing us unexpectedly. Hugging us warmly in ways we don't always anticipate.”

In the words of Richard Starkey, better known as Ringo Starr of the Beatles, “You know it don't come easy.” Ringo, in a song by the same name, commented on life to be lived, offering an alternative to the apostle Paul’s bragging when he wrote:

“(You) “Got to pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues,
And you know it don't come easy.
You don't have to shout or leap about,
You can even play them easy.”

And when you listen to the words of the rest of the song, it is really quite a spiritual song – a song of love and grace sung by God to God’s people.

Forget about the past and all your sorrows,
The future won't last,
It will soon be over tomorrow.

I don't ask for much, I only want your trust,
And you know it don't come easy.
And this love of mine keeps growing all the time,
And you know it just ain't easy.

Open up your heart, let's come together,
Use a little love
And we will make it work out better.

Got to pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues,
And you know it don't come easy.
You don't have to shout or leap about,
You can even play them easy.

Peace, remember peace is how we make it,
Here within your reach
If you're big enough to take it.

I don't ask for much, i only want your trust,
And you know it don't come easy.
And this love of mine keeps growing all the time,
And you know it don't come easy.

Jesus promises his disciples that, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; … he will declare to you the things that are yet to come. He will glorify me.” Jesus has provided the Holy Spirit to stand by us in our suffering and time of loss, to strengthen us when we are tired and our energy is spent; to empower us for all the work that needs to be done; to dream dreams remembering the past and those saints who have served before us; and to envision a future when all we do will glorify God.

Pentecost

May 23, 2010
Romans 8: 14-17; John 14: 8-17

The first disciples gathered in a room to worship together on the morning of Pentecost. Perhaps, in the back of their minds, they were thinking about the Spirit Jesus had promised – about when would it come and what would it be like? They were given no time line for when, so they really had no idea. It was all very vague, so all they could do was to go about their lives as faithful followers of their Lord until then. Today their lives called them to worship.

They were celebrating the Jewish festival of Pentecost, also called Shauvot, the third of three major festivals. It is a celebration of the harvest and the giving of the first fruits to God. It’s significance in Acts is its connection to Jesus declaration that “the harvest is plenty but the labors are few” (John 10:2) and to Joel’s prophecy that “the threshing floors shall be full of grain.”

It is Pentecost, where the first fruit of the community proclaims a renewed covenant and commitment for all people. Those in the room were faithful Jews looking for a Jewish messiah, and John tells us when the Spirit came, they all became representatives of a more universal experience of God and what it was to be a follower of Jesus. The first Pentecost, brought about a rebirth – not a new covenant, but a renewed covenant – that would change the hearts and minds of those present and renew the face of the earth.

This is good news for us today because the same Spirit of God that warmed the hearts of those first disciples in Jerusalem is looking to inspire a rebirth within us. The same Spirit that led Isaiah to envision the holy mountain for all people, and John of Patmos to witness a city with no walls and no temple, is breaking into our small circles and sending us out as agents of a renewed earth.

In her book, The Great Emergence, Phyllis Tickle (a founding editor of the Religion Department of the PUBLISHERS WEEKLY) reflects on what she sees as the regular "garage sale" that the church experiences every 500 years or so. Looking at the church today, she and others see the possibility we may be in the middle of one of those cosmic inspired, rummage sales - when we can refocus our hearts and minds on what the good news means today, while honoring the contributions of those who have gone before us. For her and others, this can be a time of great renewal for the church and an opportunity for a re-examination of fundamental questions and a re-commitment to a renewed living of our faith. They see this as a time for us "to dream dreams and to see visions," and for an outpouring of the Spirit that calls us to set aside our preconceived notions and neat perceptions in favor of an expansive and inclusive reign of God?

Our reading from Acts says such a “day had come.” The time was fulfilled; it was actually lived out for the early disciples who were gathered together in that room. A sound, like a violent wind, filled the house. The wind saturated everything, the house and everyone in it. The entire house and all the people inside were “filled by the Spirit.” This Spirit “rested on each of them.” No one was left out. Imagine the Spirit doing that here, today. What an overwhelming impact on the people who would be inside.

It was so overwhelming that it spilled out into the streets. People outside had noticed something was going in the house and they began to gather close by. It was a crowd of people of all nationalities – Parthians, Medes, and Elamites just to mention a few – formed outside.

When the Spirit came upon those first disciples, they started speaking, but the language they spoke wasn’t Roman or Greek or Hebrew, nor were they speaking in tongues that only their fellow disciples could understand. They spoke in the native languages of all the people in the crowd outside so that they could hear the good news of rebirth and renewal spoken in their own native language – a language they could really understand. Thus the Holy Spirit makes possible the sharing of the gospel to all people, everywhere. Thus on Pentecost the driving force and mission of the church are spelled out.

Even in an age of mass communication, the Internet and social networking, we are not in any less danger of acting more like the Roman Empire than the renewed Community of God. In our lives and in our churches we can experience a kind of hardening that comes from a faith that is stuck in time. It is just as hard for us to find a way to be faithful to a covenantal relationship we first entered into, while inviting and seeking a new experience of Spirit that would save us from our having put on a pedestal the thought and expression we have become accustomed so to. The Spirit breathes new life to the community. Tongues touched by the Spirit can now be heard in a language people understand. We can rejoice that God has chosen to speak to us in the deep and many languages of our hearts, and not the monologue of a world marching in lock-step?

For us, then, what might a Pentecost moment look like? Would it include our “hearing” God in a way we would understand? And would that message go viral as each of us shared it in ever widening circles. After all, we are not unlike those who were gathered on that Pentecost day. The Spirit can enter into these church walls blowing among us and settling upon us and unsettling our thinking, empowering us to be renewed and bringing renewal for the world – just like she did in John’s account. We believe that, don’t we?

19th Century theologian Friedrich Nietzsche wrote concerning a life lived in the Spirit: “A sedentary life is the real sin against the Holy Spirit. Only those thoughts that come by walking have any value.” Perhaps, if we have been sitting for too long, it is time to now get up and start walking.

On this day of Pentecost, may all of us within these walls find our hearts singing with the Spirit of God, our ears humming with the Spirit’s voice reaching deep into our souls, and wisdom dawning in our minds to set us free. May this community and this church experience the coming of God's Spirit, now. And may we welcome it with joy and hope, give in to it with love, so that when the day is over, the entire world will know the love of God because of us!