“A Fresh Start”

December 4, 2011

Mark 1:1-8

The gospel of Mark brings a message of hope. It does not begin with Jesus' birth, but instead, begins with an announcement that this book is about the "beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God" – the key word here being ‘beginning.’ Advent for us too is a beginning – it is the traditional beginning of the church year.

Bill Cotton’s Memo for Preachers this week provides the framework for our message today. In it he writes, “I think Advent means a fresh start.” God was about to do a completely new thing. In the midst of a humdrum world, where there was very little hope for the people and time was either something to be feared (end of the world stuff), or something that one must somehow wait out, (if I can just make it to tomorrow). 

Mark begins his book by echoing the past. He cites Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way;” It’s important to Mark that his readers understand this ‘beginning’ of the good news comes as the fulfillment of prophecy made in the past when things were just as bad, or even worse – God’s promised possibilities. The story of Jesus' life, death and resurrection is there for us wherever we find ourselves –in a modern day Babylon or captive Jerusalem – and always offers us ‘a fresh start.’

Reverend Cotton went on to say, “One thing I know: we do not have to be the way we are.” We do not have to continue living a humdrum life. The way we are” is the result of years of living in this creation we call “life on earth,” experiencing it, thinking about it, creating beliefs about what it all means - beliefs about ourselves and others, beliefs about what we can do (or not). We do not have to continue being what we have become. There can be a ‘fresh start.’

Mark reminds us that Isaiah came along to cry comfort to the people, release and forgiveness, the promise of restoration and a great homecoming. "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,'" It is a surprising, unexpected word of hope, rooted in the faithfulness of God. There will be a ‘fresh start.’

Some folks misunderstand the God of the Old Testament as a God of fear and threat, while the God of the New Testament is all about love and tenderness. Isaiah paints a fuller portrait of God. Yes, "the God who comes" is mighty and glorious and powerful, but the God of Israel is also a gentle shepherd, feeding his flock, gathering lambs in his arms and carrying them close to his heart.

The people Isaiah is speaking to are urged to make way for this good news in their lives, a transformation of their situation. The powers that be, Babylon, have been overturned. The mighty have fallen, and the "little" people can dance with joy. Mark shares this same word of hope to the people of his day, and to us as well. God wants for us a ‘fresh start.’

We forget that hope is within us, one thought away. We knew it as children. Remember. No matter how long we’ve lived with cynicism or despair, we can choose hope in an instant.

Where, in the communities where we live, does time need to be redeemed from insignificance? W.H. Auden, in his Christmas play, suggests the Christ story forces us to look and change the (nasty) habits of the heart.  He speaks through shepherds who follow the same boring routine day in and day out, hoping for some good news for a change. Angels announce the birth of a Christ child and ‘their’ time is ‘traded in’ – hope is born! That would be good news for our time too! 

The apostle Paul believed that the Christ event gave time a whole new meaning. The word he uses is Kairos, or special time, or pregnant moment. Whatever else the Christ Event means, we know that hope was created, and as W.H. Auden tells us, the time being was redeemed from insignificance.

The birth of Jesus offers each of us an opportunity to change and be changed. It offers a ‘fresh start.’ Advent isn't about mangers, shepherds and Magi from the east – but rather about the promised in-breaking of God's reign into the powers of this world and the fulfillment of that promise begun in God's incarnation in Jesus.

John the Baptizer, found in Mark today, represents this ‘fresh start.’ He is different. His life is not ‘ordinary’ by any means. What he chose to eat and wear were a statement that the "ways of his world" were not the "ways God provided." He rejected the robes of fine cloth the priests and scribes wore for a camel hair robe. He turned down the food available in town for the bugs and honey he could collect in the wilderness, by the Jordan.

He offered a baptism of water as a sign of repentance of the people’s participation in the ways ‘of the world.’ Yet he preached that ‘One more powerful than he’ was coming who would baptize with more than water. He said, “So get ready!” Get ready for a new you and a fresh start.

However this fresh start can be scary because what Mark says is that Jesus’ coming into your life will destroy everything important to you in this world, it will free us from controls us, and change everything. There will be no hanging on or going back. Things will be new – and there will be even more new things to come.

Advent calls us as a church to get ready for Jesus’ coming, the end of what is and a fresh start, a new beginning of what will be.

So, “Where is the edge of our wilderness, our desert; where do we find ourselves to be?” And whose voice is it we hear "crying out?” Is it us?”

“From an Abundance or Not”

November 13, 2011

Matthew 25:14-30

¹⁴“For (the kingdom of God) is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them;

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²⁹For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.

In the parables of Jesus’, improperly dressed guests are thrown out of the king’s party. Unprepared bridesmaids turn up late to the wedding and find the doors closed to them. And the fearful servant, unwilling to take a risk, loses what has been given him.

Parables like these are intended to teach us about God’s kingdom life and God’s love. They are often described as “earthly stories with a heavenly meaning”. They point us up while bringing us down to earth.

Robert F. Capon's suggests today’s parable includes three common themes of Jesus’ teachings: 1) the great joy the Lord takes in spreading his abundance around, 2) the needlessness of ever having to dread God, and 3) judgment rendered on faith-in-action, not on the results of that faith. “God,” he says, “isn't trying to hurt anyone; he's not even mad at anyone.” In fact he says, “There are no lengths to which God won't go to prove there are no restrictions on the joy he wants to share with us.”

A kingdom life is one of abundance and choice instead of limitations and scarcity.

Ours can be a life of unlimited options. Unlimited choices. Abundance. Uniqueness. Creativity. That’s where Jesus wants us to live. That’s what Jesus wants us to experience.

In today’s Scripture lesson, Jesus tells the story of a man who goes on a journey, and before leaving on his trip he distributes his property among his servants. To one he gives — say—$1,000,000, to another, $400,000, and to a third, a mere $200,000. So, what happens? The first two invest the money given them and it doubles in value. The third however, the one given $200,000, digs a hole in the back yard, stashes the cash in a coffee can, and waits.

The third guy is so afraid he’ll lose the cash, and the consequences of losing it and what his master’s reaction will be if he does that he does nothing, except hang on to what he’s got. And by doing so, he has limited his options. He has limited the possibilities. He doesn’t see the abundance, the choices, and the creativity that are available to him.

On the other hand, the first two servants look around and see a world of abundance and opportunity and choices. They see they can multiply what they have if only there are willing to risk what they have.

As a church, where would you say we should be living? — Are we living in that world of abundant potential where we choose to invest our spiritual capital in opportunities for new ministry? Or is it a ‘coffee can’ world of limitations and scarcity? Might today’s parable be teaching us as a church to embrace God’s abundance, to see the possibilities for ministry out there, and to creatively invest and spend the capital God has given us?

Embracing God’s abundance and all the possibilities for us means trusting God enough to make use of the gifts and abilities we have been given, whether our particular passion is for teaching children or cooking meals or doing yard work or repairing homes or whatever. We don’t have to do what other churches do, because God wants us to be the unique individuals we’ve been created to be, and who we are helps us to understand what we should be as a church.

What are the things, because of our talent and ability, we take great pride in doing?  What lasting impact can we make on the world around us by our willingness to invest the talents we’ve been given?

In today’s parable Jesus teaches it’s important for the church, the body of Christ, to be like the servant who goes out and aggressively invests his resources. There is a great storehouse of talents within our community of faith, and God calls us all to live in a world, not of scarcity, but of abundance by taking risks and being generous.

This means our being willing to try new things. It means looking outside ourselves to a world in need, and do what we can to feed hungry children, house homeless adults, and welcome the strangers in our midst. God doesn’t want us to conserve what we have; instead, he wants us to invest it in ways that will multiply our effectiveness at making disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world.

Jesus couldn’t be any clearer than in today’s lesson. He says that when the master returns, those servants who have invested their talents are “good” and “faithful,” and are given more. But the servant who had buried his single talent is not only negligent - he is “lazy” and “worthless”. Jesus obviously wants us to embrace God’s world of abundance, and to live by investing our peculiar talents in the work of the kingdom.

The challenge for us is to live by faith, and to trust that God will give us what we need for an abundant life. The temptation is to be cautious, afraid of losing what we have. Every one of us has an opportunity to hear Christ’s message, and, as a church, respond faithfully by investing the gifts we have been given.

James Bryant Conant is credited as saying, “Behold the turtle. It moves forward only by sticking its neck out.” And this quote of Henry Drummond, “Unless a man undertakes more than he possibly can do, he will never do all he can do.”

Of course, some will respond, and some will not. Some will be like the servant with five talents, and some will be like the servant with one talent. Some will take risks and be generous, and some will remain cautious and close-fisted. Some will accept the idea of abundance, and some will hold to the myth of scarcity.

The only question that matters this morning is: What will we do?

“You Can Be Happy”

November 6, 2011

Matthew 5:1-12

Today’s scripture lesson comes from Matthew 5:1-12, teachings of Jesus known as the Beatitudes. You have heard them before. You know what they mean, many of you, right? For some they may even serve as sort of a model or guide for being a Christian. There are nine, and each begin Blessed are:

‘the poor …those who mourn, …the meek, …those seeking righteousness, … the merciful, … the pure in heart, …the peacemakers, …those who have sacrificed, and …those who have been victimized because they were Christians’.

You are blessed having been those things. It’s a good thing to have been poor, or to have mourned, or to have been meek, and all the others. Then Jesus will say to us: “Well done, good and faithful servant. Come over here.” It is a blessing received because of what we have been – it’s a present/past sort of thing.

Now that’s all well and good. It may even be true, that we are blessed by our circumstances, but it doesn’t really seem like it at the time. What is the blessing of being poor; or losing a loved one; or being put down all the time; or failing; or being alone; or giving your life away to what may seem to be a ‘lost cause’; what good ever comes from that? It is hard finding ‘silver linings’ in every dark cloud. 

But maybe there is a different way of looking at the Beatitudes. So, today, let’s look at them from a different angle or from a different perspective. Let’s look at them from a present/future viewpoint, perhaps in the way they were originally taught. If you are ‘this’ (and because you are), then ‘that’ can happen (which is fortunate for you, as well as being a happy thing). You don’t have to be this, but if you are, then it opens up the possibility of a good thing happening – your being closer to God. In all cases, I think, what happens is the blessing of kingdom life – of living the life God would have us live, a life in which we find ourselves ever closer to God. Maybe the only way we can really ‘see’ the meaning behind these words is through the lens of the kingdom of God. Through such a lens we’re able to understand what it means when someone says “God works for good in all things.”

We are told the word ‘beatitudes’ comes from the Latin adjective beatus – meaning “fortunate” – a word appearing at the beginning of verses 3-11 in the early Vulgate. “Fortunate are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” And so on. This was translated from the Greek word, makarioV – best translated “happy” – “Happy is the one who mourns, for they will be comforted.” These are not petitions that God bless us because of some deed or quality, but rather praising God for being present with us at such times.  

When biblical scholar Rabbi Steven Schwarzchild was asked, “How would you translate blessing?” he replied, “There is no one word that will do. It is something like ‘on the right path,’ ‘on the way the Creator wants us to go.’ It is the opposite of the word for sin, which means ‘losing your way.’”

When Jesus told his listeners they were “blessed,” he was not saying they should be “happy” being poor but they could be happy because in ‘poverty’ comes a holy thing, a complete reliance on God for life. That is the ‘more’ Jesus proclaims. We are blessed and fortunate by God’s action in our life. When we come to the realization we can rely on God, we can be happy, we are fortunate, we are blessed. And in that, comes a sense of peace and well-being – and a real sense of God’s kingdom.

Stated this way, it’s clear that the blessing of the Beatitudes is not about us, or about how we feel. Instead, it’s all about what God has done and will do for us. We are blessed and fortunate and happy when there is room for the kingdom of God in our lives.

And we are blessed when engaged in the process of discovering that their lives are being reshaped by this new reality. No longer will the meaning of life be defined by the culture around us, or people’s expectations of us, or what we accomplish – but rather, from now on, the dominant reality of our life, as individuals and as a church, will be the kingdom of God.

So, what does it mean for us to make a place for the kingdom in our lives today? What kind of blessing will we experience if we allow ourselves to be transformed by the radical new reality that Jesus offers us? What kind of renewal will come our way if we take seriously the invitation to open our hearts and minds to the arrival of God’s kingdom in which we are reliant upon God? God invites each of us to play a part by doing what we can to live by the values of Christ’s kingdom. If we do, we’ll be given a sense of comfort we never dreamed possible. We’ll find ourselves blessed, not cursed.

Our hope today, and the good news that is ours, is that God’s blessing comes to all who make a place for God’s kingdom in their lives and call out Gods name.

 [Blended from 'The Message' by Eugene Peterson and 'You've Got a Friend' by Carol King

Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his followers. This is what he said:

"You're blessed

When you're down

when you're at the end of your rope.

and troubled

With less of you
And you need some loving care

there is more of God and his rule.”

And nothin',

"You're blessed

nothin' is goin' right

when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you.
Close your eyes and think of me
And soon I will be there

Only then can you be embraced by the One

To brighten up

most dear to you.

even your darkest night.

"You're blessed

You just call

when you're content

out my name

with just who you are—no more, no less.
And you know

That's the moment

wherever I am

you find yourselves
I'll come runnin'

proud owners

to see you again

of everything that can't be bought.

Winter, spring, summer or fall
"You're blessed when you've worked up

All you have to do is call
a good appetite for God.

And I'll be there
He's food and drink

You've got a friend
in the best meal you'll ever eat.

If the sky

"You're blessed when you care.

above you

At the moment of being 'care-full,'
Grows dark and full of clouds

you find yourselves cared for.

And that old

"You're blessed

north wind

when you get your inside world

begins to blow

—your mind and heart—put right.

Keep your head together

Then you can see God in the outside world.

And call

"You're blessed

my name out loud

when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight.

Soon

That's when you discover

you'll hear me knockin'

who you really are,

at your door

and your place in God's family.

You just call

"You're blessed

out my name

when your commitment
And you know

to God

wherever I am

provokes persecution.

I'll come runnin', runnin, yeah, yeah,
The persecution drives

to see you again
you even deeper into God's kingdom.

Winter, spring, summer or fall
"Not only that— count yourselves blessed

All you have to do is call
every time people put you down or throw you out

And I'll be there,

or speak lies

yes I will

about you to discredit me.

Now ain't it good to know
What it means is that the truth

that you've got a friend

is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable.

When people can be so cold

You can be glad

They'll hurt you,

when that happens

yes, and desert you

—give a cheer, even!

And take your soul if you let them

—for though they don't like it, I do!

Oh, but don't you let them.

And all heaven applauds.

You just call out my name

And know that you are in good company.

And you know wherever I am
My prophets and witnesses

I'll come runnin, runnin', yeah, yeah, yeah

to see you again

have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you have to do is call

And I'll be there, yes I will
You've got a friend,
you've got a friend,
ain't it good to know,
you've got a friend,
ain't it good to know,
ain't it good to know,
ain't it good to know,
you've got a friend,
oh yeah now, you've got a friend,
yeah baby, you've got a friend,
oh yeah, you've got a friend.

This is a blessed thing; a fortunate thing; a happy thing.

Ain’t it good to know – winter, spring, summer, or fall – you’ve got a friend. We are fortunate, because all we’ve got to do is call!

“Live the Life Given Us”

September 19, 2011

Philippians 1:21-30; Matthew 20:1-16

Paul is speaking to the church at Philippi and says, “live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ… standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind… in no way intimidated by your opponents.” That, he says, will be proof of your salvation, which by the way, he says, is God’s doing, not yours. “For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well.” (29) What we have has been given to us.

Paul has expressed what today’s gospel lesson also instructs the church and those who call themselves Christians about salvation and about God: ‘it is God’s doing, not ours.’

In Jesus’ story of the landowner and the day laborers, we find out something about God. We learn that God gives as God chooses, and God chooses to be generous. We hear the landowner say, “I choose to give… am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?” (14) From this parable, we also learn something about God’s ‘kingdom’ life. It is a life where “the last will be first, and the first will be last." (16) The bottom line is: God is gracious and chooses to gift us with a ‘kingdom life.’

This frees us then from the crippling expectation of just deserts and fair pay – the idea that makes us think there is something we do that ‘earns’ us eternal life – that there is something we must do before it given to us; something to be done before it can be ours. Having been freed from this way of thinking, we can now begin to, “Live the life given us”

Yet, like the young rich man, we sometimes find ourselves still asking, “What good deed must I do to have eternal life?” (19:16) What is it we must do? The question almost implies that there is something we must do to get this gift given to us; something, perhaps a list of things, that needs to be done before it can become ours.

However, be aware that in Jesus’ teaching is the sense that eternal life is here all the time. “If you wish to enter into life....”answers Jesus. It’s given. It’s here ‘waiting for us.’ Will we accept it? Will we respond? Will we enter into it? But to enter, we must leave this life of the world behind. Having done so, we can then, “Live the life given us”

“If you wish to enter into life,” answers Jesus, “keep the commandments… and sell your possessions, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come follow me.” The economy of the world is that we earn what we have. We get what we deserve. But Jesus says, “That’s not how it works.” “…follow me… those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” (Matt. 16:25) He said, “If you want to enter into life, and be complete, embrace it, as I have, and live the life God has given you.

People have always thought God rewards those who are good with a better life, maybe even riches. We know how things should work! Those who have been around the longest or who have invested more should get a bigger reward or have more say in things, right? After all, according to the economy of the world, that’s how things work. A person should get paid according to the work they do; seniority should mean something; loyalty matters; or following the rules deserves being rewarded. That’s fair, isn’t it?

But Jesus turned that kind of thinking on its head when he taught about kingdom life and God’s grace, “those who are first will be last and the last will be first.” (Matt. 20:16) The kingdom life is not about getting just what we deserve… it is about getting more. Jesus says with God, that’s not how it works. The kingdom life given you is more than any of us deserve; more than a reward for the good things you have done. It is instead a generous, unrestrained gift from the very heart of God. We are to “Live the life given us.”

The Kingdom of heaven is a life we can all enjoy, a life where those of us who should be last will be first; where those who only work for an hour are paid as much as those who work the whole day; where those who gathered up a little will end up with the same amount as those who gather up a lot.

And that’s good because the kingdom life is one where everyone has enough – those who are strong and hard working as well as those who are weak and unable to survive on their own. All will trust in the Lord and the guiding Word of God and will not take anything for granted. The pay is the same for everyone and the reward given to all.

But doesn’t that all seem a bit unfair? Shouldn’t the workers who started work early on get more than those who only worked at the end? Shouldn’t they have received more, perhaps double or triple what the ones who came so much later?

Not in the Kingdom of God. God gives in equal measure; God gives generously to whoever comes to work for Him. There is no distinction. It make no difference if we are late or slow or not very good at working in the vineyard we all get as much as everyone else… because what we get is a gift, it hasn’t been earned at all. The Kingdom of God is like… well, it’s like God’s amazing grace, all so that we can “Live the life given us.”

Yet as wonderful this gift of the ‘kingdom life’ is, to “Live the Life Given Us” is not easy, it takes a lot of hard work and personal spiritual growth to get anywhere near living the life it requires of us: where we always expect the miraculous, and letting go of our surplus, we completely trust in God’s great generosity for what we need while never taking it for granted. Receiving the life is easy, living the kingdom life is hard… but it is possible. It is after all the ‘perfection’ John Wesley said all baptized in Christ should be moving toward.

The gospel is about God’s great love for us, and a justice that makes little sense to any of us – where the last will be first and the first will be last. The good news for us today is that all this frees us to live the kingdom life – to “live the life given us.”

"Don't Stop"

September 11, 2011

Matthew 18:21-35; Romans 14:1-12

Today’s lesson is about what ‘the kingdom thing to do’ would be when someone attacks and hurts us deeply. We are to forgive. Yet, United Methodist Bishop William Willimon writes: "The human animal is not supposed to be good at forgiveness. Forgiveness is not (a)… natural human emotion. Vengeance, retribution, violence, these are natural human qualities. It is natural for the human animal to …bite back when bitten. Forgiveness is not natural. It is not a universal human virtue." But it is the kingdom thing to do.

[Play narration of affect of 9.11 event, Rev Bedke]

 [Play Intro to “Don’t Stop” by Fleetwood Mac]

Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, if someone sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?"

Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow,

Don’t stop it’ll soon be here

It’ll be here better than before

Yesterday’s gone… yesterday’s gone.

Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.

Why not think about times to come?

And not about the things that you've done

If your life was bad to you

Just think what tomorrow will do

Don't stop thinking about tomorrow

Don't stop, it'll soon be here

It'll be here. Better than before.

Yesterday’s gone… yesterday’s gone.

Peter, as we do, wanted to know when it’s okay to stop forgiving someone? And Jesus’ said, “Don’t stop!” Don’t stop thinking about the tomorrow forgiveness brings. He knew it was a kingdom thing – to stop thinking about the past hurt and heartache, the sin against you, and to live as though yesterday’s gone. “Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.”

The Rev. Myrna Bethke made a decision to rise above her personal grief and anger when losing her brother on September 11, and to do the “unnatural thing” – to forgive. She refused to dwell on the events of that infamous day and instead looked to the kingdom thing to do – to turn what had happened into something good.

Yet, September 11 can represent more than a day ten years ago. Thom Shuman says, “We all will at some point experience a 9/11 in our lives – that moment we’re given ‘the-world-will-never-be-the-same-again kick in the gut.’ It’s then we will either be consumed or we will forgive. He goes on to say, “It’s easy to focus so much on September 11th, that we forget September 12th, the day that thousands of folks showed up in NYC, at the Pentagon, in Pennsylvania, to help with the searches, the clean-up, the recovery.  We forget September 12th, when parents got their kids up once again, and sent them to school, where teachers helped their students to grieve, to begin to understand, to get on with life.  We forget September 12th, when churches were open for prayer, but also to serve the hungry, to shelter the homeless, to clothe the naked, and to box up bibles to send to the prisons. Before forgiveness, we must go on. Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow. Don't stop, it'll soon be here. Better than before. Yesterday’s gone… yesterday’s gone

In today’s gospel lesson, Jesus teaches a big kingdom lesson – he tells us ‘what it is like with God’ when he starts his story by saying, "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to…” He goes on to tell about the ‘forgiving master and unforgiving servant,’ and concludes the parable by saying, “So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you,” what you have done (when it comes to forgiving your sisters and brothers).

Today’s lesson is about forgiveness and leaving judgment to God. And yet, we find ourselves judging others because we cannot forgive them for what they have done. Neither can we forget. So we dwell on the memory of what happened to the point it adversely affects our attitudes and actions. We become angry and bitter. They should get what they deserve. So we condemn them to hell for what they’ve done. Yet Paul says in Romans, “Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? …we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.”

The human thing, that comes naturally, is to judge and condemn; the kingdom thing, taught in today’s parable, is to forgive. What if we were to choose the more difficult thing?  What if we could graciously forgive in a way that means ‘I forgive you and I will never again allow it to cloud my thinking, because I won’t think about it any more?’ It’s hard, but what if we could  – ‘think about tomorrow’ rather than the ‘yesterday that’s gone’?

There are 93 references for forgiveness in the Bible, many centered on the nation of Israel that God forgave over and over again for their inability to keep their covenant with God by doing what they had promised.  Yet God forgave them and kept God’s promise. Likewise, God forgives us over and over when we return after having also turned our backs on God. If God forgives us, how can we do any less than forgive others?

This is just a thought, but what if forgiveness means ‘giving to God the person(s) who has hurt you before or in order that you might then give yourself to God? Giving the other to God is a precondition to giving one’s self to God. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

The Apostle Paul told the church at Ephesus, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).  If we are to be holy as God is holy (Leviticus 19:2), then shouldn’t we follow God’s example of forgiveness? Psalm 103:12 says, “when we seek God’s forgiveness, God takes our sin and disposes of it as far as the east is from the west.” It is removed from us at a distance so great that not even God remembers the sin.  We can start over again. Isn’t that what forgiveness is all about? ‘Yesterday’s gone’ and we can ‘start thinking about tomorrow’.

"All You Need Is Love"

September 4, 2011

Romans 13:8-14

In previous weeks, the apostle Paul has shared who we are as part of the church – one in Christ and in one another, yet unique in our differing gifts according to the grace given us. What we hold in common, he says, is God’s great love for us and that we are to love God and one another as God loves us. Paul also said, “Let your love be genuine.” For him, love was to be central to our understanding of God and who we are to be as Christians… “They’ll know you are Christians by your love.”

But the apostle Paul wasn’t the only one who taught those of my generation the importance of love for our neighbor. In the 1960’s, I attended high school and college. During that time, I listened to a lot of music on the radio, as I think most of us did then. Looking back, one of my favorite groups had to have been the Beatles. I still find it amazing that over a span of fifty years or two generations, they’re also a favorite of my grandchildren. At any rate, their later songs sometimes had good messages, best I think when touching on truths akin to the teachings of Jesus and as explained by the apostle Paul in his letters.

Play the Beatles song, “All You Need Is Love”

[at beginning of first half, read #1 below from Romans 13:8-10 then #2 the second half]

1. “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

2. “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. Let us live honorably (and) … put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”

John Wesley, in Notes On the Bible, wrote Paul was talking about the general duties of a Christian. And that includes us as well. Paul says. “Owe no one anything, except to love one another;” To love one another, Wesley suggested is a debt we always have, one we will never be free of; and yet if we love as we should, it dismisses all the rest. “…for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” It isn’t a matter then of law, it is a matter of ‘love.’

Yet maybe Paul is not talking about debt in the same way we may think of it – something to be repaid. Perhaps it is more an obligation – it comes with the territory. As Christians, it is our duty to love our neighbor. Some writers even suggest Paul is talking about allegiance, rather than material indebtedness. Russell Rathbun believes, “He is calling the church in Rome out of the system of the empire and pointing to citizenship in the Kingdom of God where love is the law.” Owe no one, Paul says, no system or party your allegiance, rather owe all according to the rule of love.

The Beatles sang, “All you need is love, love is all you need.” When searching for personal meaning or purpose, nothing else was needed.

There's nothing you can make that can't be made.

No one you can save, that can't be saved.

Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time – It's easy.

For the Beatles, it was easy. The answer for Paul was simple. There was only one thing. It came down to the great commandment: to love God and love your neighbor as your self.

Wesley would later suggest, “this same love that keeps us from all evil, incites us to all good.” What an idea! The love that saves us also transforms us. Love makes us holy. It is our love of God and of our neighbor that brings us closer to God and motivates us to good.

Paul said, “You know what time it is.” Listen to me. It is time to wake up. The Son is coming!

That too reminds me of another Beatles song, “Here Comes the Sun,” a song I think the apostle Paul would also have liked because it uses his imagery of dawn and a new day awakening with the rising of the sun – transforming darkness into light. Maybe you remember the words?

Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since (he’s) been here
Here comes the (Son), here comes the (Son)
and I say --- it's al-right.

The time for all of us IS NOW – like the dawn, a time full of grace but quickly passing. It’s time to awake from our sleep, to leave behind the darkness of the night, and to welcome the dawn of a new day. It is time to love – to love God and to love our neighbor. It’s all we need.

“Made To Need God”

August 7, 2011

Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32

The Hebrew Testament, the only part of our Bible that would have existed in Jesus’ day and for years after his resurrection, is a library of books, or scrolls really – each one a chronicle of God’s people and their struggles. It was these stories, first shared in the oral tradition and then recorded and passed down to each generation, that formed the identity of the Hebrew or Israelite people as ‘God’s people.’ It was the ‘genealogy’ of the Jewish people, of whom Jesus, his disciples, and early followers were all a part.

In Hebrew Scripture can be found the stories of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Ruth, Esther, the prophets, and others. Sometimes in these stories the people were very close to God, often times, for whatever reason, they were not. Yet, always in these stories, God was faithful. God never forgot the promise made to Abraham. Always, God kept the covenant – even when Abraham’s descendants did not. Always, God was merciful and received his people back. And always the people, who believed themselves chosen, were welcomed back and forgiven. No matter what they had done, they remained in the Father’s eyes his children, the ‘chosen ones,’ God’s people.

But the Gospel accounts of the role these ‘favorites’ of God played in the events leading up to Jesus’ death on the cross would change all that, right? What they did had changed every-thing. Anyway that’s what those new followers of Christ who were Gentiles must have been thinking. For these early Christians, it was the very people God wanted to save who turned against God’s Son, who rejected his teaching and called for his death on a cross. It was God’s ‘chosen ones’ who turned their backs on Jesus and shouted, “Crucify him!” It was the Jews who were clearly the bad guys in the gospel story. They had shown their true color. Their fall from grace was deserved. It was the last straw. No way should God forgive them for this. How could they still be considered ‘his people’ after what they have done to Jesus?

They plotted against him; they demanded his crucifixion even though a few days earlier they had welcomed him and received him as the messiah; they betrayed and denied him; and by some accounts, they were responsible for his death. When all was said and done, they rejected God revealed in Jesus Christ.

But why, why did they reject him? Was it because of their preconceived ideas of who Jesus should have been? Was it their closed minds? Was it their not understanding what he was trying to teach them? Were his ways too hard? Was he asking too much? Or was it their refusal to give up their set ways and ideas of how things should be? Was it their wanting to be safe at all cost, their not wanting their boat to be rocked? Was it their not wanting to give up control? Or put others first, and giving up their status? Was it their not wanting to change what they were doing? Or replace ‘their’ rules with God’s way? Or change traditions and the way things were always done? Or step outside their comfort zones? Or be transformed? Or was it a combination all these things and more that caused them to reject Jesus and what God was calling them to become through him?

So, the apostle Paul asks in today’s reading from Romans, a question we may have asked at one time or another, yet maybe differently. If his people have rejected him, Paul says, “I ask then, has God rejected his people?” In light of all that seems to be going on, and with all that is happening, has the Father turned his back on those who were once favored?

You’ve been favored, haven’t you, (special or set apart from everyone else) or at least felt you were, at one time or another? I have. I can remember as a kid thinking of my family and I as being somehow special – because things then always seemed to work out, and for God’s people things work out. It seemed to make sense at the time. Yet, it’s funny how a big head can so easily be deflated with a good dose of reality. Because there were times, later on, when things didn’t work out and it seemed like God had ‘left the house,’ the future was not so bright, and I very much felt alone. I don’t like that feeling. But even then, there is hope. As Paul has pointed out these last several weeks, “God uses all things for good.” The point of today’s text follows that same theme.

“Has God rejected his people?” Paul quickly, and without hesitation, answers his own question, by saying quite matter-of-factly, (No)… “God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.” He then cites Hebrew scripture that tells about Elijah pleading with God to do something terrible to the Israelites because they have “killed his prophets.” And what does God say? Essentially God says, “They’re not all bad. I have kept a remnant – a few – who will carry on by my grace.” 

Paul speaks of the Jews poor judgment, and their action of rejecting Jesus, as stumbling but not falling. In fact, God uses their stumbling, Paul says, to bring salvation – and the Good News – to the Gentiles. That is a good thing. And according to Paul then, after all the Gentiles have been brought in, then the Jews will receive the salvation they have been promised. That’s a good thing as well.

‘Out of Zion will come the Deliverer; he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.’
‘And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins.’

God has not and will not reject his people. Paul says that’s not what God is all about.

In verse thirty-two, Paul writes, “For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.” Stumbling is part of who we are as human beings, its how we were made, it’s what we do – Paul lays it out there for all to see. Yet he says, in our disobedience, there is hope for all of us because God is merciful to all. We are made to need God.

A person might think, “That really doesn’t make a lot of sense. Why didn’t God create us to be obedient, after all isn’t that what God wants us to be?” Paul must have asked that same question of himself because he came to the conclusion that he would never, in this world, understand God’s ways. It was beyond his understanding or ours. So he wrote:

‘For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?’
‘Or who has given a gift to him, to receive a gift in return?’

For from him and through him and to him are all things.

To him be the glory for ever. Amen.

Are we any different from Paul? Do we know more than Paul? I don’t think so. We don’t know the mind of God either. But Paul knew people – and he came to the conclusion that ‘being favored’ was never the point but rather that all of us, every one of us, ‘were made to need God.’ And that I think is the point in our reading from Romans today. We were made to need God. We all stumble, but we do not fall. God’s grace covers everyone. It is for all of us – for the chosen, as for the outsiders alike. ‘‘We were made to need God.’

So in everything we do as a church and as the people of God may we place our trust in God’s grace that we too will be used for good.