Sermon: May 19 2013 Pentecost Sunday Reading: Acts 2:1-21
Reboot!
- Rebooting means restarting your computer to make a new beginning.
- Pentecost was the Spirit rebooting God’s people with a new way to reach the world.
- In this Pentecost season we are looking to reboot our hearts and our congregation.
Rebooting – making a fresh start – same computer, same programs – but it often is the easiest, most basic way to clean out glitches and bad data and improve performance and functioning. You don’t throw the computer out the window, you don’t take a sledgehammer to it – you turn it off, sometimes even unplug it, then let it make a new start.
That’s one way to see Pentecost – a spiritual rebooting of the people of God – of God’s desire and drive to connect to the world, to this hurting struggling planet. It’s the birthday of the universal church, and it really should be in our hearts and calendars just as much as Easter and Christmas is – in fact, its Pentecost that gives Christmas and Easter their meaning.
- The day when the Spirit came upon the apostles – the day when they began to understand what Jesus’ story had meant.
- Reflects common human experience: we get a job – and then in the weeks and months that follow we learn what it means to have this job. we get married – then in the weeks and years that follow we learn what being married to this person is going to mean. We have a baby – and again, in the time that follows we learn what it means to have this child.
So too with Jesus’ story, especially the Passion narrative. The apostles failed Jesus on Good Friday, he rose on Easter, but they didn’t know what to do with it. John 21: let’s go fishing. They didn’t know how to start a church, but they did know how to fish! They thought – although it turned out that day they didn’t even know that.
So Pentecost is a reboot for the apostles, and for the whole story of God’s people.
- Apostles same people – the Spirit did not hold their Passion failures against them, and start over with someone else.
- The Jews were not thrown out – for the first 10 chapters of Acts, ALL the Christians were all Jews as well!
So what WAS thrown out?
- The concept of one chosen race chosen by God above all other races.
- God’s law becoming an end in itself instead of a means to an end.
- A God strait-jacketed by rules, racism, and official intermediaries. The world could get to this God only through the Jews – and Jewish women and children could only access God through men, and even the Jewish men could get to God only through the priests, Pharisees, and other authorized powers.
The Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Pentecost together are God’s reboot of his people. The reset button has been hit, the machine’s been unplugged and is plugged back in – the old programs and glitches are let go, and new energy and a new beginning are given.
ANYONE can come to God – you know longer have to be Jewish. The law of Moses is put in it’s a proper place as A way to God, not THE way to God. The sacred Hebrew language is now just A language; God can speak in every language, not just Hebrew. “we hear them speaking this good news in our own tongues.”
The apostles didn’t know what to do with this new energy – it took them a while to understand it. First thought the church WAS going to stay just Jews. And they thought it meant that Jesus was coming back any minute, any hour. But they weren’t afraid to try new things, they weren’t afraid to learn. And it wasn’t going to be easy. They were persecuted; they were arrested, they had to work things out. They argued – much of the NT, certainly most of Paul’s letters, have to do with settling disputes and questions. They didn’t even agree on who Jesus was – was he mostly human, or mostly God? Was he the fulfillment of the Law of Moses, or had he destroyed that Law? Was this new faith for the few or for the many? And on and on…questions, discussions, arguments, discernments, and compromise.
Pentecost should be a day of great hope for every Christian congregation, and certainly for Good Shepherd. Because starting with our church planning retreat last March, this is exactly what we’ve been experiencing – the exhilaration and the exhaustion of opening ourselves to true church renewal. Renewal is not an easy smooth path – the easy smooth path is to keep drifting downhill, seeking to maintain the familiar status quo as long as possible. Renewal is indeed like rebooting: on one hand its easy; on the other hand files sometimes you lose your data. It’s something you tend NOT to do unless you have to.
Heather computer freeze-up story…
I don’t know if there was divine intervention going on with my neighbor’s computer, but I am certain that there absolutely is and was divine intervention on the day of Pentecost, and as we seek the renewal and reenergizing – and rebooting - of Good Shepherd’s ministry. In all 3 cases there’s a wind-down before the wind-UP begins.// Computer -lights and noise // Pentecost-days of prayer // GS- PS, 40 DITW, SS ending, youth leader and other leadership changes going on; SM and 2x3x4 and RTF harbingers of the major changes and renewal that are needed.
Season of Pentecost begins today and goes till Advent – in these next few months we look to be in a very good and different place than where we’ve been. On our own, not a chance; just like Peter didn’t have a chance on his own. But Peter was able to turn his incompetence and simplicity into a mighty asset. Knowing that his record so far had been one of falling THROUGH the water instead of walking on it; DENYing his Lord instead of claiming him, he and those gathered in the upper room genuinely opened themselves to the Spirit’s power and presence. And that power did NOT come with an owner’s manual, but it DID come with the assurance that Jesus and the Spirit would be with them to guide, empower, and encourage them. Let us here this morning have no less confidence than our spiritual ancestors had on that FIRST Pentecost morning, that God has work for us to do and new paths to be found and followed; in JN Amen.
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WORSHIP NOTES May 12 2013 Mother’s Day
CALL TO WORSHIP From Psalm 146
L: The Lord gives justice to those denied it, and liberty to the prisoners.
P: The Lord gives eyesight to the blind, and makes upright the lame.
L: The Lord protects and shelters the stranger,
P: And guards the orphan and the widow.
Please join me in the unison prayer: God of Creation, as we strive to see as you do, we see our own mothers and grandmothers, but we also see the women for whom being a parent, grandparent, or neighbor to children is a continual struggle. On this Mother’s Day, we are grateful for the women who have raised and nourished us, and we ask as well for your larger vision for justice and compassion; Amen.
8:30 hymns:
133 Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
141 Children of the Heavenly Father
695 O Lord May Church and Home Combine
10am songs:
I will call upon the Lord
You are my Hiding Place
We Are Marching in the Light of God
I’ll Fly away
Prayer focus: Our mothers, grandmothers, and all the women who have nourished and shaped us.
Reading: Deut. 24:17-21, James 1: 19-27
Sermon: 'Edgar Guest wrote: I'll lend you my child...' Ms. Sharon Schultz
Homeless Liaison, Grundy-Kendall Regional Office of Education
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Sharon Schultz serves the Grundy-Kendall Regional Office of Education as its Homeless Liaison. Under the criteria of the McKinney-Vento Act, the primary piece of federal legislation dealing with the education of children and youth experiencing homelessness, Ms. Schultz counsels with school districts on the law's implementation for the families they serve. As a wife, mother, grandmother and a great grandmother, Ms. Schultz is pleased to share this Mother's Day with the members of Good Shepherd's congregation.
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April 28 2013 Readings: Philippians 2:19-30
Sermon: 40 Days in the Word Session 4: How to Study a Bible Passage
Think of a book that meant something to you –inspired you – for me: Moby Dick - Autobiography of Malcolm X - On Liberty by JS Mill - Martin Luther by John Dillenberger. Esp the 95 Theses.
What makes a book enjoyable to us?
- It’s a genuine pleasure to read it.
- We often want to read it more than once.
- We can remember specific thoughts or even passages.
- We feel an interaction, a relationship, with the author.
- We recommend it to others, and may get to discuss it with others.
- Best of all, it genuinely affects our behavior and attitudes.
1. 95 Theses – Affirmed I had to take a different spiritual path.
Studying Scripture effectively is very similar to this. Let’s go through that list again -
- Pleasure - if its not, we might need a better translation.
1. – difference between translation and paraphrase
- More than once/ specific passages
- Interaction with the author – the Author and the author – which is perfectly valid.
1. My own favorite author is Paul the apostle –
- Recommend and discuss – that’s an important part of how I make a living!
- And application – as Rick Warren stresses in 40 days, that’s the main point – it’s the point that matters the most.
1. Moby Dick – little in the way of life applications, fine to just enjoy it as great literature, as taking my imagination to the sea, to the adventure and dangers of whaling, to contemplating the intricate psychology of Ahab, Starbuck and the other characters, without ever getting out of my chair. That’s fine.
2. But if we read the BIBLE and just stay in our chair, if it doesn’t change or challenge our actions and attitudes, then we’re not reading it right.
The 40 days suggested sermon theme for this week is How To Study a Bible Passage. And the passage that Rick uses to illustrate this is the one we heard, Philippians 2:19-30. Not that well-known, rarely studied. But as Rick says, when we come to Scripture willing to learn and expecting to learn, just about everything has something to teach us.
Glaring exception: – the rock upon which many a good intention of reading the whole Bible has foundered: the lists of names in numbers and 1st Chronicles. Just SCAN or even skip the lists of descendents, places they camped in the wilderness, names of the temple priests, the intricate details of temple sacrifices - don’t get stuck there.
Philippians 2 kind of reminds us of prayer time here at GS, as we talk about who’s sick and who’s getting better. (read).
Philippians 2 reminds us that the Gospel is primarily discovered and lived in the context of community.// Paul begins by talking about Timothy, and makes a distinct point of contrast: everyone looks out for their own interests, Timothy doesn’t. Instead, he puts the work and teachings of the Gospel out in front of everything else. But when Paul is with Timothy and Epaphroditis, they surely talked about other things in addition to theology. How’s the family, how was your trip. The meaning of Jesus was a primary topic and focus – but not the only one.
Griefshare, 40 days in the word, UMW circles, RB trip – but also brunch, volleyball, 2x3x4 Saturdays, Reel Christians –valid and necessary building up of our sense and experience of Christian community.
Also note: Timothy has genuine(not just polite) concern for Paul’s welfare, for the welfare of the Philippians. Reinforcing: study AND socializing AND service.
We’re familiar with Timothy’s name – has 2 letters named after him – less familiar with Epaphroditus. Paul calls him my brother, a soldier, my co-worker. However, he’s been ill and almost died – Paul says that TWICE. But God had mercy on him and also me, so that I was spared sorrow on top of sorrow.
I’m struck here by the humanity of this story.
- Apparently, even St Paul couldn’t do a miracle - and he says how much he needed Epaphroditus to live (usual: All I need is Christ – not this time, apparently; he also needed Epaphroditus).
- Like Timothy, Epaphroditus has completely spent himself in working for the Gospel – yet, he does not receive magic protection or perfect health – instead, he nearly died.
Application: New church leader offer to make jewelry as a fundraiser – 1st lesson: the member themselves not holding back. Lesson for me: I was distressed, then humbled – I have no right to try to curtail someone’s generosity, esp when its offered in service of the Gospel.
There’s some background tension here in the fact that 40 days in the Word intended to encourage individual Bible study – DVD strong on setting a time aside, a place aside, where YOU are going to read YOUR Bible and meet the Lord. //But it’s also true that it’s usually easier and more enjoyable to study scripture with others.//Dogwalks – no Jim, walks are much shorter and far less enjoyable.
Stress again: Bible study has many values. Calms our soul, centers us on ourselves and on God; deepens our faith, and in a group setting, builds caring bonds of Christian fellowship. But these don’t matter if we have missed the main point: affecting our attitudes and actions.
Seminary preaching classes: don’t do exegesis from the pulpit; focus on what the text means – the difference that it makes.
Think again of the books that have made a difference to you – if those have made a difference, surely reading the Word of God should make even more difference. Let’s read and study Scripture, by ourselves or with others, expecting that our reading and study will result in changed actions and attitudes and make a difference, for us and for others; Amen.
Philippians 2:19-30
19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. 20 I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. 21 For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. 23 I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. 24 And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon.
25 But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. 26 For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. 27 Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety. 29 So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him, 30 because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me.
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Sunday, April 21, 2013
Readings: Ephesians 1: 13-20, John 14: 15-26
Sermon: 40 Days in the Word Session 3: Seeing What God Wants Me To See.
v The Boston explosion underlines the need for Christian illumination.
v The Spirit is the primary way in which we know Jesus Christ, both as friend and teacher, and develop our spiritual eyesight.
v Christian illumination is a deep double journey, both inward and outward.
Dan’s story – Boston T, Neighborhood House Charter school – reporters. Close to home -
At this halfway point of the 40 days in the Word study, Rick Warren urges us to consider illumination as seeing what GOD wants me to see.
What did God see on Monday? The horror and obscenity of the Boston marathon explosion – but God also sees that that kind of senseless death and mutilation has been an everyday reality year after year in Afghanistan and other places far away from us.
Drone attacks – never kill just one person, but anyone near them. In their years of use, thousands of innocent people have been killed in the vicinity of targeted terrorists.
This does not excuse any of this, in Boston or in Afghanistan – but to see as God sees is to see the world, not just our nation and not just our community. // Oswego is safe, at least safer than Aurora – and so without Gospel illumination we are content to think that Aurora is not our problem. Hence the great value of Radius Camp and Triple Threat, giving our youth that larger illumination.
Human Illumination – a match, a small flashlight vs. God’s illumination: the lights come on in the stadium – everything is illuminated, not just a small circle around us.
Similar way: Apportionment – our congregation’s financial share in the ministry of the whole UMC – it’s not a bill presented from outside of us, its our bill to ourselves, just like paying our utilities or mortgage at home is our bill to ourselves/ God sees the whole UMC at work, not just our congregation – and the leadership and I need to do a better job to help all of us see that we are a proud part of the whole UMC.
To see as God sees isn’t abstract, it isn’t just a nice idea, its an integral part of our xtian calling. It isn’t enough to take what we would believe or think anyway and then paint a cross on top of it. To see as GOD sees is different from the way WE see as individuals, or as our culture or peer group sees – and sometimes it’s the same as what our upbringing taught us, but a lot of times it’s different.
To react to the Monday bombing with feelings of fear, and revenge, and anger is absolutely understandable. If my son Dan had gotten out of bed faster, and gone downtown faster, I might have spent this last week – and who knows how many days to come – dealing with his injuries. Dan will be dealing with the traumas of the students of the Neighborhood Charter school as they wonder why the Richards family was so devastated on Monday, and life is suddenly rendered so uncertain and so dangerous. And to toss a list of quotes or sayings or good intentions on top of their suffering hearts isn’t good enough – the Gospel MUST have something to say about all this; illumination must be sought, given, and received.
Illumination usually seen as inner enlightenment, inner peace – Eastern religion: images of detached individual meditation. But Christian illumination is absolutely both an inward and outward journey. We do spend time in Bible study, prayer and meditation; we do seek and find God in our hearts. (Namaste – my soul greets your soul) – But that inward journey strengthens and directs the outer journey of action, and ministry, and life attitudes.
That’s what we see going on in our Scriptures from John 14 and Ephesians 1.
John 14: Jesus’ monologue from the last supper.
- Stress not on the Bible, or even on prayer, but on the Spirit.
- The Spirit comes to those who obey Jesus’ command to love one another as I have loved you. And not just the Spirit, but “ The Father and I will make our home in them.”
o This replaces the usual end of the world thinking. The other Judas asks: you’re going to show yourself just to us, and not to the world? Right.
§ Which nurtures a more mature idea of the Messiah than we are used to. Someone else will come from outside of us and save us – GS: the new staff person will solve our problems; a new partner will make us happy. / Annie: Al Streyfeller: every American’s dream that a rich person will save them. /and not just Americans: African - IPUMC – drawing of a red car.
So the good and bad news is that the power is we decide whether to let God control our lives or not. and that key inner decision affects all the external ones.
//GfS: how much control does God have? As much as we decide to give. Illustration:
Luke 9: 51-56- not a bomb, but something unpleasant and clearly of human origin:// was the Samaritans’ rudeness God’s will? Of course not – God’s will is Jesus teaching the apostles that the Gospel is not going to force itself or punish non-believers.
The inner decision affecting the outer is even more underlined in Ephesians 1.
- Eyes of your heart, Gospel engaging emotion – the full person, not just intellect.
- The promise of eternity AND The “incomparably great” power of God that overcame death itself in the Resurrection, is ALSO available to work for us Spirit-filled believers right here and now.
As we contemplate church renewal, gun and bomb attacks, gun control legislation, continuing unemployment, and all the rest that occupies our minds, including our personal concerns, its easy to feel overwhelmed. Like Friar Fred with his collapsing bedroom ceiling – dive for cover and hope for the best.
But the commanding words from John 14 and Eph 1 give us courage and power: the promise that the same Spirit who filled Jesus’ heart, can fill ours as well; that the same God who beat back death itself in order to rescue his Son stands ready with that same power for us. To keep us safe? To make our lives easy or convenient? I don’t see that here. But to inspire and guide us as we seek to live the full Gospel – to strengthen us as we let God have his way with us, to use us for healing and help to each other and to the world – that promise I do see, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Ephesians 1:13-20
13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory.15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.
17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be illuminated in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength,20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.
John 14:15-26
15 Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.21Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?"23 Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.24He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.25 All this I have spoken while still with you.26But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
Luke 9:51-56
51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 Then he and his disciples went to another village.
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April 14 2013 Readings: Micah 6:1-15, Mark 3:1-6
Sermon: 40 Days in the Word Session Two: Picture It!
Four score and seven years ago…all men are created equal.
A noble sentence, which American can argue with it? BUT 87 years ago – 1776 – and men – including men of color. And in 1920, women too.//Gettysburg address changed the civil war from a dispute about the right of secession, to a struggle for human rights. There’s a wealth of meaning – and conflict – that is hidden in the lofty language.
Scripture can easily be taken the same way. Lots of noble language, that we prefer to leave abstract – because it sounds safer that way, less confrontational. But as 40 days in the Word tells us, we are supposed to be confronted and challenged by the Bible, and not simply comforted – we’re not supposed to just hear what we want to, when we want to.
Session two focuses on the techniques for effective Bible study, such as setting a particular time and place every day for reading Scripture. The lesson also focuses on the Picture It! technique of reading and appreciating the Bible. Rick Warren focuses primarily on the story we talked about some weeks ago, of the paralytic lowered through the roof so Jesus could forgive and then cure him. I’d like to focus on two other passages that are referred to in the DVD lesson: Micah 6:8 and Mark 3. The Mark 3 story, about the healing of a man with a shriveled hand, is relatively easy, as its filled with concrete images and dialogue. So let’s start with the harder one first: Micah 6:8: What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.
Like the Gettysburg address, a noble sounding passage – and like the GA, we start to appreciate the true challenge of these noble words when we set them in their context.
GA: context of the Civil war, had gone on for nearly 3 years by November 1863, and had a bloody year and a half to go.
Micah: double context: the situational and the literal.
Situational: Israel has fallen, Judah appears to be next – and people seem to think that God can be fooled, bought off, by ritual and liturgy.
Literal: words of condemnation and judgment for greedy self-interest, and for a religion based simply on rules and appearances.
Empty worship: thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil. Jim wallis, On God’s Side, refers to Romans 12: offer your bodies as living sacrifices, true and pleasing to God – this is your proper worship. Being in the pews, listening to and singing music must ENABLE that proper worship, NOT substitute for it – which is the problem Micah’s audience had, almost 3k years ago. Yahweh was so thick-headed and rule-restricted that as long as the temple sacrifices were offered, that was all God had a right to expect. Anything else – any act of kindness or charity – was gravy. Rick Warren says to picture ourselves in the Scripture: and we need to ask ourselves to what extent we’ve let Sunday worship attendance be our spiritual insurance policy. //regular insurance: pay a premium, have a problem, you’re covered. That IS the contract. But that’s NOT the contract God offers with Sunday worship – Sunday worship is PART of the package, not the whole package of xtian discipleship – far from it. //honest and healthy retreat goal: making disciples NOT get more people in the pews.
This context of empty, ritualized religion is the one in which these lofty cleansing words are spoken: what does the Lord require but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God. Humbly: not self-confidently, not arrogantly, but humbly.
Of course, justice, mercy, and walking with God are still abstract – Micah fleshes it out a little with the example of dishonest measures – (gas pumps – really have to dispense a gallon) - in other words, cheating and shortchanging the folks who can least afford it. But admittedly, Micah falls into the preacher’s trap of the negative example: This sinner is breaking his mama’s heart, spending his paycheck on the gambling boats and getting drunk at the bar – don’t do that!
But for a positive example of justice, mercy, and walking humbly with God, let’s look at our reading from Mark 3.
It’s early in Jesus’ ministry - but he can’t even start his work without getting into trouble.
Problem: Pharisees had defined “work” as including healing. You were not to work on the Sabbath, so anyone who performed a healing on the Sabbath was breaking God’s law. No two ways about it; the scholars and lawyers had debated and discussed these issues for centuries, and the verdict was in – LONG in.
Jesus, though, has no use for that kind of dead, formalized religion. As he sees this afflicted man, justice and mercy cry out to Jesus perform a healing right then and there, Sabbath rest or not. And note, Jesus is angry and distressed – but he is still humble. He doesn’t strike the Pharisees down, or cause their OWN hands to shrivel up; instead he heals this man in front of them, and the Pharisees respond – already, just in chapter THREE - by beginning to plot Jesus’ death.
Warren: place ourselves in these situations.
Man with shriveled hand – something disfiguring, public, something that makes us feel embarrassed or disgraced or self-conscious. “everybody knows, everyone must be looking at me…”
Pharisees: people of conviction are nearly always very sincere – take a good intention and end up way down the wrong path. Good intention: do what God wants, obey God’s will. The law of Moses their national God-given bulwark against Roman occupation. (Poles – Russians – Catholicism)
Jesus: upset and frustrated by people’s blindness and unintentional cruelty – the Pharisees would rather this man go unhealed than a rule be broken. And proceeding to do the work of healing all the same, knowing it will cost, knowing it will be misunderstood, knowing it will be contested.
A nice safe warm bed is comfortable – having the heat going in the car on a winter’s day, is comfortable. Sometimes Scripture is also most, most comfortable – but many times it is not. More often it’s like a workout, a brisk walk, like hearing the alarm go off in the morning. It has powerful and necessary lessons to teach us, and through us, the world – and picturing the words and stories we read helps Scripture to do its job, so we can do the tasks that God has in mind for us, in JN Amen.
Micah 6:1-15
1 Listen to what the LORD says: "Stand up, plead your case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say. 2 Hear, O mountains, the LORD's accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against his people; he is lodging a charge against Israel. 3 "My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me. 4 I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam.5 My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD." 6 With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
9 Listen! The LORD is calling to the city-- and to fear your name is wisdom-- "Heed the rod and the One who appointed it.10 Am I still to forget, O wicked house, your ill-gotten treasures and the short ephah, which is accursed?11 Shall I acquit a man with dishonest scales, with a bag of false weights?12 Her rich men are violent; her people are liars and their tongues speak deceitfully.13 Therefore, I have begun to destroy you, to ruin you because of your sins. 14 You will eat but not be satisfied; your stomach will still be empty. You will store up but save nothing, because what you save I will give to the sword. 15 You will plant but not harvest; you will press olives but not use the oil on yourselves, you will crush grapes but not drink the wine.”
Mark 3:1-6
1 Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Stand up in front of everyone."4 Then Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent. 5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.
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Easter 2013 Reading: Luke 24:1-12
Sermon: Setting the Compass
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On July 17 2012 630am 96 E Jackson St – the knock on the door at Mary Leifheit's.
Remarkably parallel to the original Easter story. Happened a definite day and time - Women as witnesses; believe it nor not, cannot prove it.
Something sets our compass/peer group, celebrity culture, greed, fear, love of family – something guides our decisions and actions – and the Easter story tells us to let the Gospel set our compass. But how do we do that?
Need tools – showing up in shipyard with just my hands/ here’s the tool box – but I need to know how to use the tools.
40 Days in the Word teaches us how to use the toolbox of Scripture.
We UMs preach and practice that it’s not enough to simply save ourselves – we believe in making disciples for the transformation of the world.
We know the hurt, pain, loneliness, of ourselves and of our world – unemployment, reduced expectations. There’s a lot of work to be done, a lot of healing that needs to be offered – and we want, invite, and beg you to be part of that with us. May the Easter story help you believe that the Gospel is something worth setting your compass by, for your own sake and for the world’s – and let the 40 days in the Word help show you how to do that, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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Maundy Thursday March 28 2013 7pm
Mark’s account of the last supper is pretty basic. Luke has a slightly longer account, and John has four chapters of monologue – a long, closing farewell address to the disciples.
Mark skips all that – like Matthew, he focuses on two things: the institution of the sacrament, and the betrayal. There’s a hint of the coming Messianic banquet, but only a hint.
We cannot know what Jesus had in mind when he said this is my body, this is my blood.
One of my few Catholic sem classes that didn’t transfer: the Real Presence in the Eucharist. All I remember about that class was that it was absolutely obtuse, abstract, and incomprehensible.
Apostles, usually so curious, this time are silent. When we could USE some questions – they don’t ask any. Were they stunned? Drunk? Or was it so obvious that questions weren’t necessary?
Since our salvation is gift, not something we can earn or deserve, I have to think that Jesus’ intent was gift – a gift that the church could always give and share, in almost every circumstance, for centuries and centuries to come.
Analogy: child giving dandelions - lover giving roses
Synoptics point out that Judas was present for this sacrament – so possibly the apostles really were still stunned, not in the mood to ask questions.
Deeply significant that the sacrament is given and shared in this context. Betrayal is one of the more difficult sins to deal with. Not incompetence, not negligence, not disagreement or opposition.
When I left Catholic seminary and joined the UMC – meant the immediate end of most of my friendships. I wasn’t just dropping out; I was joining the opposition.
So for Jesus to knowingly and deliberately begin and share this sacrament after announcing that he knows his betrayer is here,
- Broadens the umbrella under which it is given.
- Underlines that it is a gift, not deserved or earned.
And it also reminds us of Jesus own humanity: better that man had not been born.
Yet, Jesus does not – in the synoptics – single Judas out in any way; he allows him to receive the sacrament with his brothers. And that perhaps is indicative of Jesus’ hope that, even at this last minute, Judas would change his mind.
I’d like to hope that we receive this sacrament tonight with a strong appreciation for the gift and hope and forgiveness that it represents.
It is given to us not because we are strong, but because we are weak;
not because we have succeeded, but because we have failed;
and not because we don’t need God’s love and forgiveness, but because we do. But Jesus won’t give up on us – therefore let us not give up on him, or on each other, or on what God can yet accomplish for the Gospel, even though us; in JN Amen.
Mark 14:12-26
12 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”
13 So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. 14 Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15 He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”
16 The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
17 When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. 18 While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”
19 They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”
20 “It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. 21 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”
23 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
24 “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. 25 “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
26 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
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PALM SUNDAY - PROCESSION WITH THE PALMS AND READING OF:
THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST - Luke 22-23 New RSV
Narrator: Now the festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was near. The chief priests and the Scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus to death, for they were afraid of the people. Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve; he went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers of the temple police about how he might betray him to them. They were greatly pleased and agreed to give him money. So he consented and began to look for an opportunity to betray him to them when no crowd was present.
Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John saying:
Jesus: "Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it."
Peter: "Where do you want us to make preparations for it?"
Jesus: "Listen, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters and say to the owner of the house, ‘The teacher asks you, "Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’" He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there. "
Narrator: So they went and found everything as he had told them and they prepared the Passover meal.
When the hour came, Jesus took his place at table with the apostles. He said to them,
Jesus: "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I tell you, I shall not eat it again until the kingdom of God is fulfilled."
Narrator: Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and said,
Jesus: "Take this and share it among yourselves; for I tell you that from this time on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."
Narrator: Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying,
Jesus: "This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me."
Narrator: And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying,
Jesus: "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you. And yet behold, the hand of the one who is to betray me is with me on the table; for the Son of Man indeed goes as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed."
Narrator: And they began to debate among themselves who among them would do such a deed.
Then an argument broke out among them about which of them should be regarded as the greatest.
He said to them,
Jesus: "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them and those in authority over them are addressed as 'Benefactors'; but among you it shall not be so. Rather, let the greatest among you be as the youngest, and the leader as the servant. For who is greater: the one seated at table or the one who serves? Is it not the one seated at table? I am among you as the one who serves.It is you who have stood by me in my trials; and I confer a kingdom on you, just as my Father has conferred one on me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom; and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Narrator: And he continued:
Jesus: "Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers."
Narrator: He said to him,
Peter: "Lord, I am prepared to go to prison and to die with you."
Jesus: "I tell you, Peter, before the cock crows this day, you will deny three times that you know me."
Narrator: He said to them,
Jesus: "When I sent you forth without a money bag or a sack or sandals, were you in need of anything?"
Apostles: "No, nothing."
Jesus: "But now one who has a money bag should take it, and likewise a sack, and one who does not have a sword should sell his cloak and buy one. For I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in me, namely, 'He was counted among the wicked'; and indeed what is written about me is coming to fulfillment."
Apostles: "Lord, look, there are two swords here."
Narrator: But he replied,
Jesus: "It is enough!"
Narrator: Then going out he went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him.
When he arrived at the place he said to them,
Jesus: "Pray that you may not undergo the test."
Narrator: After withdrawing about a stone's throw from them and kneeling, he prayed, saying,
Jesus: "Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done."
Narrator: And to strengthen him an angel from heaven appeared to him. He was in such agony and he prayed so fervently that his sweat became like drops of blood falling on the ground.
When he rose from prayer and returned to his disciples, he found them sleeping from grief. He said to them,
Jesus: "Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not undergo the test."
Narrator: While he was still speaking, a crowd approached and in front was one of the Twelve, a man named Judas. He went up to Jesus to kiss him. Jesus said to him,
Jesus: "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?"
Narrator: His disciples realized what was about to happen, and they asked,
Apostles: "Lord, shall we strike with a sword?"
Narrator: And one of them struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said in reply,
Jesus: "Stop, no more of this!"
Narrator: Then he touched the servant's ear and healed him.
And Jesus said to the chief priests and temple guards and elders who had come for him,
Jesus: "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? Day after day I was with you in the temple area, and you did not seize me; but this is your hour, the time for the power of darkness."
Narrator: After arresting him they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest; Peter was following at a distance. They lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat around it, and Peter sat down with them. When a serving girl saw him seated in the light, she looked intently at him and said,
Serving Girl: "This man too was with him."
Narrator: But he denied it saying,
Peter: "Woman, I do not know him."
Narrator: A short while later someone else saw him and said,
Bystander:"You too are one of them";
Peter: "My friend, I am not."
Narrator: About an hour later, still another insisted,
Second bystander: "Assuredly, this man too was with him, for he also is a Galilean."
Peter: "My friend, I do not know what you are talking about."
Narrator: Just as he was saying this, the cock crowed, and the Lord turned and looked at Peter; and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, ‘Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and began to weep bitterly.
The men who held Jesus in custody were ridiculing and beating him. They blindfolded him and questioned him, saying,
Soldiers:"Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?"
Narrator: And they reviled him in saying many other things against him.
When day came the council of elders of the people met, both chief priests and scribes, and they brought him before their Sanhedrin. They said,
Sanhedrin: "If you are the Messiah, tell us,"
Jesus: "If I tell you, you will not believe, and if I question, you will not respond. But from this time on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God."
Narrator: They all asked,
Sanhedrin:"Are you then the Son of God?"
Jesus:"You say that I am."
Narrator: Then they said,
Sanhedrin: "What further need have we for testimony? We have heard it from his own mouth."
Narrator: Then the whole assembly of them arose and brought him before Pilate. They brought charges against him, saying,
Sanhedrin: "We found this man misleading our people; he opposes the payment of taxes to Caesar and maintains that he is the Messiah, a king."
Narrator: Pilate asked him,
Pilate: "Are you the king of the Jews?"
Jesus: "You say so.”
Narrator: Pilate then addressed the chief priests and the crowds,
Pilate: "I find this man not guilty."
Narrator: But they were adamant and said,
Sanhedrin: "He is inciting the people with his teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he began even to here."
Narrator: On hearing this Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean; and upon learning that he was under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod who was in Jerusalem at that time.
Herod was very glad to see Jesus; he had been wanting to see him for a long time, for he had
heard about him and had been hoping to see him perform some sign. He questioned him at length, but he gave him no answer. The chief priests and scribes, meanwhile, stood by accusing him harshly.Even Herod and his soldiers treated him contemptuously and mocked him, and after clothing him in resplendent garb, he sent him back to Pilate. Herod and Pilate became friends that very day, even though they had been enemies formerly.
Pilate then summoned the chief priests, the rulers, and the people and said to them,
Pilate: "You brought this man to me and accused him of inciting the people to revolt. I have conducted my investigation in your presence and have not found this man guilty of the charges you have brought against him, nor did Herod, for he sent him back to us. So no capital crime has been committed by him. Therefore I shall have him flogged and then release him."
Narrator:But all together they shouted out,
Crowd: "Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us."
Narrator: Now Barabbas had been imprisoned for a rebellion that had taken place in the city and for murder. So again Pilate addressed them, still wishing to release Jesus, but they continued their shouting,
Crowd: "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
Narrator: Pilate addressed them a third time,
Pilate: "Why, what evil has this man done? I found him guilty of no capital crime. Therefore I shall have him flogged and then release him."
Narrator: With loud shouts, however, they persisted in calling for his crucifixion, and their voices prevailed. And so the verdict of Pilate was that their demand should be granted. He released the man who had been imprisoned for rebellion and murder, for whom they asked, and he handed Jesus over to them to deal with as they wished.
As the soldiers led him away they took hold of a certain Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country; and after laying the cross on him, they made him carry it behind Jesus. A large crowd of people followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented him. Jesus turned to them and said,
Jesus: "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children, for indeed, the days are coming when people will say, 'Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.' At that time people will say to the mountains, 'Fall upon us!' and to the hills, 'Cover us!' for if these things are done when the wood is green what will happen when it is dry?"
Now two others, both criminals, were led away with him to be executed. When they came to the
place called the Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left. And Jesus said,
Jesus:"Father, forgive them, they know not what they do."
Narrator: They divided his garments by casting lots. The people stood by and watched; the rulers, meanwhile, sneered at him and said,
Leaders: "He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Messiah of God."
Narrator: Even the soldiers jeered at him. As they approached to offer him wine they called out,
Soldiers: "If you are King of the Jews, save yourself."
Narrator: Above him there was an inscription that read, "This is the King of the Jews."
Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying,
First thief: "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us."
Narrator: The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply,
Dismas: "Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal."
Narrator: Then he said,
Dismas: "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
Jesus: "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
Narrator: It was now about noon and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon because of an eclipse of the sun. Then the veil of the temple was torn down the middle. Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
Jesus: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit!”
Narrator: And when he had said this he breathed his last.
The centurion who witnessed what had happened glorified God and said,
Centurion: "This man was innocent beyond doubt."
Narrator: When all the people who had gathered for this spectacle saw what had happened, they returned home beating their breasts; but all his acquaintances stood at a distance, including the women who had followed him from Galilee and saw these events.
Now there was a virtuous and righteous man named Joseph who, though he was a member of the
council, had not consented to their plan of action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea and was awaiting the kingdom of God. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. After he had taken the body down, he wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid him in a rock-hewn tomb in which no one had yet been buried. It was the day of preparation, and the Sabbath was about to begin. The women who had come from Galilee with him followed behind, and when they had seen the tomb and the way in which his body was laid in it, they returned and prepared spices and perfumed oils. Then they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.
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March 17 2013 Readings: Acts 15:1-11, John 14:8-14
Sermon: Six Hours in Plainfield.
- Christians have often gathered together to discern the Spirit’s guidance.
- Our two overarching priorities are Community Outreach and Making Disciples of Children/Youth/Adults
- We must truly know and believe that God in Christ is at work in us through our shared ministry.
Last supper – Jesus facing the cross- right after Jesus says I am the way/truth life/no one comes to the Father except by me – Philip says show us the Father, and that will be enough. Show us the ultimate manifestation of Creation’s love and power, and we can settle for that. I hope so!
Jesus answers, Have I been with you all this time and you still don’t know me?! I am in the Father and the Father is in me – whoever sees me sees the Father!
And Jesus goes on to say: whoever believes in me will do GREATER things than I have done – so that the Father will be glorified in you. Ask what you want and I will do it for you.
if we see the March 2 retreat as just a goal-setting session, a six hour meeting instead of a 2 hour meeting, as a fight for each individual to have their own personal agenda adopted by the group, then it was a waste of time and money. We have GOT to see it, honest and truly, as a spiritual event – as a genuine opening of our members and our leadership to the guidance of the Spirit made known among us. And John 14 sets the tone for that perception.
- He who sees me sees the Father – and its NOT the transfiguration – no voice –
1. Same thing march 2
- Philip is challenged to realize that there is a greater reality here than he has been seeing.
1. Challenge to our participants on march 2, and now to us.
30 attendees – more than one out of 10 of our Sunday attendance – a good representation across our demographic.
- What is the UMC – what do we like about it (8 things)
- What about our local church – things that have happened in the last year or so. (25 items)
- Goals - 18 goals – four stickers each
The winners: Community outreach/image and making disciples of children/youth/adults
So – what does it mean?
Acts 15 reading: Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.
They agreed on the overall goal – that the Gospel needed to move out beyond the Jews and into the Gentile world. But they had honest disagreement over how to do that. 1) Don’t need any of the Jewish law at all. Jesus has done away with that – it was the Law that put him to death! 2) He is the Jewish Messiah – so if you want him to be your Messiah, you must be Jewish: kosher, circumcision, yom kippur, everything. // compromise: abstain from blood, sexual misconduct, and meat offered to idols.
This decision took discussion – came from the whole body, not one person’s dictate. Possibly James scored some points with the final recorded argument: 21 For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.” If people wanted to be Jews, they had had their chance for centuries. So too If people wanted to join GS the way it has been, it has been this way for a long time. And many HAVE joined – but many, many have not. Of 10 visitors, most of them don’t come back again. And those who do join, for too many/fred: drift in, drift out.
Having said that, I readily acknowledge we did NOT make more money and more members our goal. But I am confident that if we live up to the goals we DID set, of community outreach and of making disciples of children, youth, and adults, that we will grow – just as the fellowship of the 12 exploded in the months following Easter, as they became – not just members, but true disciples of Jesus Christ, committed to live and share his Gospel.
What’s different? /PADS, Steph min, Grace Meal – KC jail – as automatic as having Sunday worship/reception of BigLife very much in tune with this - // Veterans Sunday, GF service, 911 observance – need to keep building on that, get that kind of healthy two-way reputation in our community.// info table in parking lot, parade float again – NOT so we’ll get more members, b//ut to take our place as a visible part of Oswego/
Making Disciples of children/youth/adults – deliberately including youth and children/ future RB trips: scheduled so youth can go // making a priority of our education program: paid staff//willing to think of new ways, new possibilities.
Have to be willing to healthily humble ourselves and learn from others/ bigLife – why do they have 150? We have to learn from them // learn from Michael Slaughter this July 20, learn from the resources available to us// learned from Sherry Scates: new building, people did NOT just flock in – had to reinvent their ministry as well, invest in paid staff.
These goals and dreams will cost money – but if we have a dream and a goal worth investing in, we as a church have the money. We want to be active, we want to grow, we want to be even more faithful than we have been/PUMC parallel – staying downtown, expanding their building, and now expanding their ministry// easily avialble childcare, the young people create new ministries and groups all on their own. //vball, Reel Christians – just barely touching our possiblties.
So: how are we going to do this: 1) structurally, Task Force.
church components already self motivated: education, worship, MAP// Once the Spirit is freed, its hard to put it back! And I have heard and I know that the Spirit has been set free to work among us.
And that underlines the other major component in making this work: 2) Spiritually: prayer and worship as part of making this vision real. Remember john 14 again: whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
Somebody this week/how can you talk about these things? We had two months of lousy collections – how can you talk about replacing the organ, or upgrading the sanctuary, or hiring new staff? How can you be serious about this? Well, how about: You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. Do we believe that, or not?
We must genuinely be seeking these goals, and setting our priorities, so that the FATHER is glorified. Not so WE are glorified – not so we have the merely human satisfaction of getting our own way. But because God has something to offer this community, and this world, through us. And if we can truly shape our ministry so that its default settings are community outreach and making disciples of Christ, you know that’s got to be good!
Hard liners in acts 15 – must have been a hard swallow to see the law of moses barely honored. But they were able to put the mission of the church, and the honest preaching of the Gospel, above their own desires. And just as those gathered in Jerusalem had to trust the Spirit’s presence and guidance among them, and just as the apostles at the last supper had to trust Jesus, it’s now our turn to do likewise, even more than we have. And I know we will, in Jesus’ name, Amen!
Acts 15:1-11
15 Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. 3 The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.
5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.” 6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
John 14:8-14
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
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March 10 2013 Readings: Genesis 1:26-31, Luke 6:27-38
Sermon: Forgiveness IV: Forgiveness as a Spiritual Discipline.
- Spiritual disciplines include prayer, study, worship, and mercy.
- Forgiving others is a restorative step towards God’s good creation.
- We can forgive others whether or not they forgive us.
Diet – hunger pains – diets over! Get in shape – pushups – ouch. Learn to love my paunch.
Learning to forgive – to love our enemies, as it says in Luke 6 – is in the same ball park. Only spiritually and emotionally instead of physically. But if its something we’re out of practice in, then its something that takes some effort to get right – just like dieting or exercising.
And chances are this WILL take some effort – to forgive others, to love our enemies, is not our natural stance. // Most of the Gospel does come fairly naturally – do unto others as you’d have them do unto you – its hard to find a major religion that doesn’t have that same slogan in it – Buddhism, Islam, Confucianism, Judaism – fairly universal. There are few religions, if any, that make a consistent virtue out of doing harm to others, at least within your own tribe. As Jesus says, even pagans and atheists love those who love them – even pagans are generous with pagans, expecting the same in return. That all comes very natural to us. But what also comes natural is when someone wrongs us, or takes from us, or hurts us, we strike back.
I like to think of Children and animals as innocent. But when they get upset, there’s a problem. Ginger/take food out of her mouth at your peril. Child – if another child takes a toy away, get ready for fighting, biting, or at least some screaming.
And so most of the time the Gospel is right in line with what we feel anyway – be generous with those who are up against it –okay. Care for those who are sick – Hippocrates was a pagan Greek. 1 Thess 4: Mind your own business, earn your own living, live quietly and peacefully. But THIS stuff from Luke 6 does NOT line up with what we feel anyway. Re read:-----------
Someone who behaves like that we call/think of as a wuss, a wimp, a coward – an enabler. But Jesus seems pretty serious about this – and so does the NT. And of course, the primary example of this behavior is Jesus himself, now, during Lent, heading for the confrontation in Jerusalem. Not gathering an army, not gathering troops, like David in 2 Samuel; no, heading for his destiny and his death, intending to accept it and not resist it. And we are told repeatedly in the NT to take up our own cross, and do likewise. We try to dodge the ball – it means if something bad happens, deal with it – sometimes it means that – but it also means this.
So – how do we get to this place that we are not? How do we go to a place that our nature says we don’t even WANT to go to?
Jesus’ agenda is to push us through to a higher plane – one of those great paradoxes of our faith. Yes, Just As I am – but we are accepted for who we are, not so we can stay in that place, but so we can grow spiritually. /student – accepted as they are – but with the expectation that they will build on who they are, become more than they have been, live at a deeper level than they have. To this point we’ve focused on how much we DON’T want to do this – how unnatural it is for us to NOT grab the toy back when someone takes it from us – to NOT hit back when we’ve been hit. But lets reread those final vses: ------
The measure you use, it will be measured to you. Do we see that as a threat, or as a glorious promise? Where we are on that line gives us a barometer on how much growing we need to do here.
As we’ve been admitting, this kind of belief and practice does NOT come naturally – it needs to be consciously, deliberately sought after and practiced – like a diet, like a physical workout. Natural: eat everything in reach whenever we feel like it. natural: sit on the couch, let someone else walk the dog, do the pushups. //So: what do we do:
- Have to want it – I have decided to follow Jesus – including when inconvenient.
- Have to THINK about our responses to hurt and pain, not just go kneejerk.
- Have to understand this is a spiritual decision, not a behavioral one – not a matter of mere will power./ those of us who have failed in our numerous diets know how far sheer willpower is going to take us. Or even when it works, how LONG we are going to KEEP those pounds off.
o Resisting evil with love is a spiritual discipline, right up there with Bible study, prayer, worship, and meditation. It’s a call to do more than our culture, our TV, and our instincts tell us to do. And it’s a path we can take and stay on ONLY in company with other spiritual disciplines.
- Have to accept that the odds are strong we’ll be pretty much on our own – we’re
not going to get much support from friends or peer group.
o Again – Jesus’ Passion is the model/Peter WAS ready to fight – but not ready
to just surrender.
Too often: Jesus paid it all – so we don’t have to pay anything. No, Jesus paid it all – so that we can begin growing in a strong, determined love that CAN get hit in the face and not crumble, not strike back, but LOVE back. And why is it so important that we take this road?
Well, the self-destructive violent road the human race has been on seems improvable, to say the least. But more positively, The Gospel of Jesus Christ seeks to honor and restore God’s original intent for Creation. So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them…and God saw that it was good. And that’s where we really, honestly, want to put this question of forgiveness, retribution, and the rest of it. We tend to keep it self-focused – this hurt was done to me, how am I going to deal with this. But the Gospel knows that a small rock can make large ripples.
Invictus – /bodyguards/ if we’re going to have a new South Africa, it starts in this office.
It’s finally not our job how somebody else responds to the Gospel – it’s our job how we respond to it. And while none of us are the president of South Africa, we can have the same motto: I am the captain of my soul. Which actually, finally, is what this is about: not surrendering control, but taking control, of our actions and behavior.
Let’s resolve in these final weeks of Lent that we – not our culture, not our peer group, not our fears or anger – that we ourselves truly will be the captains of our souls, in Jesus’ name indeed – Amen.
Genesis 1:26-31
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” 29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Luke 6:27-38
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.
35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. 37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
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March 3 2013 Reading: Matthew 18:15 - 35
Sermon: Forgiveness III: Relationships and Forgiveness
- Being reconciled must be more important to us than being justified.
- Jesus shares his own authority with us - not to dominate, but to seek healed relationships.
- The Gospel thrusts us into relationship with others – we are indeed forgiven only as much as we are willing to forgive.
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Imagine me on a Sunday morning saying JUST before the collection: if you’re mad at someone, DON’T put your envelope in the plate – instead, go, make a phone call, or a visit, GET reconciled, and THEN put your offering in the plate. // In Mt 5 that’s exactly what Jesus does say about the temple offering – more remarkable, being reconciled to our sister or brother is more important than observing the rituals of the Law. Absolutely incredible/topsy-turvy to the Jewish tradition. Purpose of Law is to justify yourself – to give God no reason to be unhappy with you. But Jesus says no, the Jewish faith – the Xtian faith – is not to be about making God happy with ME, but about healing our relationships with God and with one another.
In Mt 18, Matthew’s Gospel fleshes out an actual procedure for how to go about such reconciliation.
- Personal conversation - committee meeting - adm council
- NOT ignore this, pretend it isn’t there – NOT go about telling everyone else about it.
Equally important: prime Agenda is to find a solution, common ground – NOT self-justification.
Do we do this all the time, for every trifling offense? No – in fact, sometimes counterproductive. Warren D – flea – hit it into my brain. No, something serious – something that has truly WOUNDED us, not just annoyed us. / Hamilton – backpack – stone – this is laid on the other person’s heart. And lot of times we don’t know it – have no idea.
Also note: the Gospel acknowledges that Christians WILL hurt each other.//Sometimes we write off our pain as invalid – if we were more Xtian we’d just accept this. And sometimes, yes we should just get over it – but many times our hurt and pain is fully valid./ Marriage encounter: feelings aren’t right or wrong, they just are.
If it’s not festering, then it probably is honestly healing. But if it IS festering – if whenever we hear or see or think of this person, we are ALWAYS thinking about this injury, then we may indeed need to say something – to speak the truth in love, as it says in Ephesians 4:15.
And we have a sacred duty to try to seek reconciliation, as we see in the middle verses: whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven… /exact parallel to mt.18:18 where Jesus says these words directly to Peter – proof text of papal authority. But here the same exact words are spoken to ALL the apostles – to ALL believers. And the authority we are given is not to dominate others, or dictate to others, but the authority to seek reconciliation wherever possible.
South Africa/ Mandela / Truth and Reconciliation Commission/. The commission was empowered to grant amnesty to those who committed abuses during the apartheid era, as long as the crimes were politically motivated, proportionate, and there was full disclosure by the person seeking amnesty.(wikipedia)
What about justice? And that’s often what comes between us and seeking reconciliation. You really did hurt me – you really did insult my family – you really did mistreat me – or my people, or my nation, or whatever.
Jesus concern is how his followers treat each other, and how we treat our neighbors – and frankly, he sees reconciliation as more important than justice. Because true justice, from a divine perspective, is an endless, endless list. Yes, our neighbor DID break my car window with his tree branch/ Mike Schneider threat/ but the native Americans didn’t get a fair price for this land, I just bought T-shirts at Walmart made by virtual slave labor in Asia – we really don’t want to get God started on justice! Fortunately we don’t have to – and Jesus underlines that with the parable about the Unforgiving servant, and its usually called.
-retell in broad stokes
We may be amazed at the servant’s self-blindness – but Jesus is telling us this is exactly how God sees us, and how God will treat us, if we can’t pass on the forgiveness we have each been given. This beautiful gift of a cleansed soul, a reborn heart, all turns to poison if we try to go back to that one-on-one relationship that God is okay with ME, so I can do whatever I want. //the servant’s mistake: he thought he’d fooled his master, he thought he was his master’s favorite, so his master’s forgiveness, instead of making the servant HUMBLE, made him ARROGANT.
We are indeed truly, completely forgiven – we can indeed make a completely new start, as if our mistakes and sins had never happened. But it IS conditional on sharing the wealth – like that pub clearing check we talked about last week. Let us indeed, as we are midway through this Lenten season, resolve that we will be grateful, humble servants, joyfully and gladly passing on to others the forgiveness that God has given us; in JN Amen.
Matthew 18:15-35
15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”Feb 24 2013 Readings: Hebrews 10:11-18, Mark 2:1-12
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Sermon: Forgiveness II: Self and Forgiveness
- A primary step in accepting Christ is accepting ourselves.
- We react to our faults and sins either by denying them, or by accepting God’s grace for us and for all.
- Our spiritual and physical health and attitude are tied together.
Robert Burns said in “To a Louse- on seeing one on a ladie’s bonnet in church”: o wad some Power the giftie gie us /to see ourselves as others see us!
- that’s a gift we might not want. Chances are we prefer to see ourselves as WE see us. Because even the best of us have a carload of shortcomings, if we want to look for them. One of the attractions of Celebrity culture: love knowing about all their relationships, and when they go broke, and when they put on weight. Love to see ‘em go up, love to see ‘em come down. Political figures: Churchill, JF Kennedy, ML King – and the original M Luther for that matter; John Wesley and pretty much all the others – if we look hard enough, and sometimes don’t have to look hard at all – we see shortcomings and worse.
And that’s true if we take a good hard look at ourselves. Most of us are decent and pleasant enough – but are we as generous as we could be? As fearless as we could be? As loving as could be? As devoted to the Gospel and to the service of others as we could be? Almost certainly, we are not. And I absolutely include myself in the list of those who are improvable, to put it mildly.
Last week we spoke about the forgiving nature of God, and in the weeks to come we’ll talk about forgiving others – but this week, we want to focus on forgiving ourselves.
My dog walking buddy: I’m not sure I can really forgive myself about that – fortunately, I have a very forgiving nature!
Many folks are able to stay fairly superficial – and our culture encourages that; just turn on your TV or go online – and buy this pill or that car or go on this vacation or lose 20 lbs, and happiness will be yours. But sometimes we know that our Creator has built, designed, and intended us for a deeper life. And sometimes sorrow or tragedy breaks through our superficiality, like a rock thrown through brittle ice, and we are forced to find that deeper level and we struggle to stay there without falling all the way through. I should have turned left, not right – I should have said my daughter could NOT have the car tonight – why didn’t I go to the dr when this first happened – and on and on.
Two classic ways we deal with this:
1) It’s somebody else’s fault –invisible force field – I’m the victim here, always.
Two problems with that: a) it’s dishonest and wearing – with rare exceptions, we are never always the victim; and we spend our energy explaining to ourselves and others WHY we are the victim. Life becomes an endless list of grievances against those who have wronged us./homer: list
b) It blocks us from knowing and receiving God’s grace. If we’ve done nothing wrong, then there’s nothing that needs forgiving.
2) It’s all my fault – I’m worthless, I’m useless, I deserve to die.
The Gospel approach builds on that second one – yes, we are sinful, yes we deserve to die – but God in Christ insists that is NOT the last word. Instead, we are forgiven anyway.
last week/paschal lamb, symbolic of God’s forgiving nature / Hebrews 10 builds on that.
The high priest has to offer sacrifice repeatedly – but Jesus the ultimate high priest offers himself as one sacrifice for all time, forgiving all sin.//fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy of a new covenant – a new agreement – based on this one sacrifice. “17 Then (the Spirit) adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” 18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.”
Hebrews wants to reassure its Jewish audience that the destruction of the Temple, and leaving Judaism behind, can be done without fear – because Calvary has taken the place of the sanctum sanctorum. For the rest of us, this means a life based not on ritual but on a relationship with God, so that we can forgive others as we have been forgiven. Not me keeping God’s rules so God is happy with me, but a new covenant of out-flowing grace. //how would we feel: publishers clearing house – you can keep what you need, but you have to share the rest of it. Would we rather not have the check at all? That’s kind of how God’s grace and forgiveness works. We receive it on condition that we share it.
Hopefully we would say yes – and that’s the power we see at work in our reading from Mark 2, the story of the paralytic lowered through the roof, so Jesus can heal him. Several points:
- We can’t always help ourselves.
- Friends’ motive may have been love OR frustration – but the right thing happened.
- All some people can do is criticize – the Pharisees would rather see the man stay paralyzed .
- The physical and spiritual healing are tied together –And what’s the spiritual healing? Not have a nice day, or you’re perfect just as you are, but: Your sins are forgiven!
The truth is, we can’t forgive ourselves. Making excuses for ourselves, always seeing ourselves as the victim, is self-denial, not self-forgiveness. But we can accept the forgiveness God offers us and all through Jesus Christ.
Biglife meeting – the good news, that we can live deeply, without fear and without denial – that a deep life has a sense of healthy community and service to others as a natural outpouring of the transformed heart – that’s the news that needs to get out there, through Good Shepherd, BigLife, and all the other parts of the body of Christ. And younger people, and families, are hungry for that news.
Consumerism is failing – I may not get to have lots of stuff – what’s the worth of my life? Here’s the Gospel of Jesus Christ with an answer.// Twinkies have failed – but we have bread to offer – and people are ready to eat bread. Let us offer it, joyfully and gladly; in JN amen.
Hebrews 10:11-18
11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 16 “This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” 18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.
Mark 2:1-12
2 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
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Feb 17 2013 First Sunday of Lent Readings: Ezekiel 33:10-20, John 19: 28-37
Sermon: Forgiveness I: God and Forgiveness.
- Forgiveness, not judgment, is the essence of God’s nature.
- Jesus is the paschal lamb who opens a new relationship to God.
- God aches not to punish us, but to see us repent – to be reborn.
Revenge is something that we are ordinarily loathe to acknowledge – but it’s undeniably a major part of our human makeup. Hunting down Osama bin Laden/ Simon Wisenthal, Nazi hunter/ capitol punishment/lawsuits/ popular culture: Independence Day, the Avengers, the Dark Knight, Star Trek, - revenge is a common, major theme. The main character – either the good one or the bad one – wants revenge against the other. Get even, make ‘em suffer, stab ‘em, kill ‘em – common, common theme.
Revenge – or bringing people to justice, if we want to call it that –permeates the Bible. The Jews watch the firstborn of Egypt die, then watch the Egyptian army drown in the Red Sea. The Babylonians level Jerusalem, the Pharisees watch and mock Jesus twisting and writhing on the cross – and ten thousand other victims suffer through the centuries. // Most of the time vengeance is dispensed by the powerful against the weaker, and especially by the one who WAS weaker, who is now on top. And so it makes sense that we assume God must be like this too – if when we humans have power, we have so often used it in this way, then of course the MOST powerful being must absolutely be cut from the same cloth.
But ANOTHER theme is in there too, and that’s the one we’ll be focusing on today and during this Lenten season: the theme of forgiveness over revenge; the belief that God would rather be forgiving than vengeful. There are many, many texts that illustrate this: Adam and Eve are expelled from the garden, but they are not annihilated. Cain is exiled, but not destroyed. Joseph is inspired not to take vengeance against his brothers, but to forgive them. Jeremiah 32 speaks of the Jews turning against God and incurring the destruction of their nation and their city – but the chapter ends with a promise of divine restoration. / Jonah: Nineveh will be destroyed – but Nineveh repents, and is saved.
Today we’re focusing on two particular passages that illustrate God’s overwhelming desire to forgive us and to forgive the world.
Ezech 32: written in connection with the Jewish exile in Babylon, about 400 years before Christ, Ezech 32 was a radical, radical message in its time, as it put forth a new doctrine of individual responsibility and possibility.
For a thousand years, the Jewish belief and Scriptures had taught that once you’d gotten on God’s bad side, you were going to stay there. And not just yourself, but the generations to follow after you. // theological but also arguably honest: eg ACOA - we are impressed when people are able to pull themselves out of abusive situations – and not that surprised when they don’t.
And not just your own family, but your community as well. // Jewish religious wars: slaughtering old people and children – a pagan community could not have innocent people in it.
So against this background, Ezechiel is truly, truly revolutionary.
1) Each is responsible for their own choices.
2) If we’ve made bad choices, and put them behind us, GOD puts them behind us too!
a. Unbelievable! Try to feel the power of this: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.”
Occasionally, I think I have someone all figured out – what they’ll do or won’t do. And then I learn that they’re volunteering for PADS, or otherwise not fitting into the pigeon hole I’ve created for them. Give myself this much credit: I nearly always think, well, guess I was wrong – and glad I am. And of course, all of us are urged and expected to be this way with all OUR relationships – to be looking for and expecting that new beginnings are possible – that, frankly, a leopard CAN change its spots.
Ezech 32 powerfully says, WE may hold our past against us – but God does not, not if we truly repent. //Jeffrey Dahmer – if he truly repented, that repentance was accepted. // and admitedly, Ezech 32 also says: if you’ve been doing good, and then turn to evil, the good will not save you. NOT like a bank account where you’ve saved money/mother Theresa hanging out at the tavern…
The other passage, from John 19, highlights God’s desire to forgive from the vantage point of the cross, and of Jesus as THE paschal lamb, a powerful symbol for the Jews. //Passover 1300 years old even in Jesus’ day – according to Exodus, the lamb was sacrificed to feed the family, and its blood spread on the doorpost to save those within from the angel of death. // familiar sight to every Jewish family, even today – and John portrays Jesus as THE paschal lamb – as THE sign of God’s innermost nature: the desire to forgive and to save. Hyssop – symbolic, not functional //not a bone shall be broken . and as an ordinary lamb saved its own family, Jesus, the Son of God, the ultimate paschal lamb of God, saves the entire human family.
A symbol – but symbols can have tremendous power: American flag// Mahatma Gandhi, non-violently defying the British empire / children and teachers of Newtown
Jesus as the paschal lamb is NOT a victim in the classic sense of someone with arms curled around their head, begging for their life. He is strong; he goes to the cross willingly – not eager to be tortured and killed, but accepting that this is how God’s power must be made known in our human affairs – not through thunderbolts and violence and destruction, but by putting himself fully at God’s disposal – and our own. And totally trusting to his Abba for the final outcome – for a resurrection that must have been impossible to see, as his clothes were stripped off and the nails went into his arms.
Jesus as the paschal lamb shows us a completely different path from our primal human nature: –a path that seeks and prefers forgiveness and reconciliation over revenge. But God himself is the model, and in this Lenten season we’ll be exploring and thinking about how this path applies to us: to our relationships, to ourselves, and to the world. Symbolic of that, this backpack will be here near the pulpit, reminding us of the burden we incur on ourselves when we can’t find that path to forgiveness. And let’s set out on this Lenten journey, determined to arrive at Easter with a backpack free of the weight of hate and resentment and ready to be thrown away, like a butterfly leaving its winter cocoon behind – in JN we pray, Amen.
Ezekiel 33:10-20
10 “Son of man, say to the Israelites, ‘This is what you are saying: “Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?”’ 11 Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’
12 “Therefore, son of man, say to your people, ‘If someone who is righteous disobeys, that person’s former righteousness will count for nothing. And if someone who is wicked repents, that person’s former wickedness will not bring condemnation. The righteous person who sins will not be allowed to live even though they were formerly righteous.’ 13 If I tell a righteous person that they will surely live, but then they trust in their righteousness and do evil, none of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered; they will die for the evil they have done. 14 And if I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ but they then turn away from their sin and do what is just and right— 15 if they give back what they took in pledge for a loan, return what they have stolen, follow the decrees that give life, and do no evil—that person will surely live; they will not die. 16 None of the sins that person has committed will be remembered against them. They have done what is just and right; they will surely live.
17 “Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But it is their way that is not just. 18 If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, they will die for it. 19 And if a wicked person turns away from their wickedness and does what is just and right, they will live by doing so. 20 Yet you Israelites say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But I will judge each of you according to your own ways.”
John 19:28-37
28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” 37 and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”
************************************************************************Please join us to start your Lenten Journey 2013 focusing on Forgiveness. Church of the Good Shepherd will continue with the message of Forgiveness in sermons and at Pastor Phil's class at 11:15 am in the Gathering Room we will be studying the Adam Hamilton DVD study, "Forgiveness."
*** DONT FORGET TO REGISTER FOR THE MARCH 2 PLANNING RETREAT - Forms will be in this Sunday's bulletins again. *********
******************************************************************************************Ash Wednesday 2013 Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
Sermon: Forgiving God. Pastor Phil Sheets
Ash Wed – repent of our sins – and for Lent this year both our congregations are focused on the theme of forgiveness. But Forgiveness sometimes has to start with forgiving God.
That’s a theme most of us here probably don’t have to deal with. We believe from our hearts that God is thoroughly trustworthy, and that any shortcomings in our life or in our happiness are due to ourselves, and not to a loving Father. Malcolm X: And if I can die having brought any light, having spread any meaningful truth, then all of the glory goes to Allah. Only the mistakes have been mine.
But sometimes we – or certainly some of those we know who aren’t here tonight - think that God has made a few mistakes too. And then, before we can forgive others, we first have to forgive God.
In a real way, that’s where John Wesley himself had to start: sinner/resented God
Now, some folks who can’t, don’t, won’t forgive God do so from an arguably childish attitude – they don’t have everything they want, life hasn’t gone the way they wanted it to, and they blame God – like a child on Xmas morning mad at Santa Claus. But I see a profound difference between those who have simply been inconvenienced or unfulfilled by life, and those who have suffered genuine tragedy. Holocaust/ paraplegics/ Newtown/ cancer, job loss, foreclosure – there’s plenty to be angry at God about, if that’s the path we choose to take – or feel forced on.
– The Hugs lost two adult children and blamed God’s representative: me.
If we are certain of God’s love toward us and the world, I’m fine with that, and have no interest or desire to talk anyone out of that. But if we’re not so certain about that, I want to offer some reassurance.
- 1) Negativity toward God IS very scriptural . To touch on just a few examples, Ecclesiastes is so negative and cynical about life and God, that it’s amazing it was included in the Bible – but it is. Psalm 22, My God, my God…. – it’s a powerful, honest prayer that veers back and forth between faith and doubt. And there’s other psalms that sound notes of despair such as Psalm 74 – look what your enemies have done to your sanctuary – where are you? Why have you deserted us? What is your problem?
Job is full of negativity – Job 19:5 is typical: 5 If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me
and use my humiliation against me,6 then know that God has wronged me and drawn his net around me. I’m the victim here!, says Job.2) can’t be afraid to be honest. Human relationships: intelligently, compassionately honest. Ephesians 4:15 Speak the truth in love – true for xtian community, personal relationships, and our relationship with God.
God can handle our honesty – besides, its silly to think we can hide our true feelings from God. Some people: Unless you say thee, thou, dost, God isn’t paying attention. Uh, not how it works…
The problem is not resenting or hating God – the problem is not talking, giving up on the relationship. NOW there’s a problem. But just Getting mad or angry or hurt – God can deal with that.
3) and determination to find the path to healing. Not magic; but a matter of choice, determination, conviction.
Woman with hemorrhage – if I but touch his garment, I’ll be healed.
Paul – betrayed, starved, beaten, jailed – but Romans 828
Holocaust – we must keep our faith – we must not hand Hitler a posthumous victory.
Newtown: working for the restoration of sanity to our gun laws, and to our sense of community.
Joan McGregor – her tragic accident strengthened her faith instead of shattering it.
For the cynic and skeptic, forgiving God is meaningless and worthless, like forgiving the Easter Bunny. But for a person wounded in their faith, who wants and hungers for that relationship with God, finding that forgiveness can make all the difference in the world, and not just for themselves.
John Wesley: Aldersgate: he was led there by others, who knew he needed this help.
And when his heart was strangely warmed, he knew he was forgiven – but also, he forgave God. And his transformed heart changed the world.
If we are already fully confident in our Abba’s love for us and for all, fine. If we have doubts or resentments, then we must admit them to ourselves and to God, who already knows our hearts better than we do ourselves. And in both cases, we will be ready to receive the ashes and the Lord’s supper tonight, and begin our Lenten journey.
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Ash Wednesday 2013 Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
Sermon: Forgiving God. Pastor Phil Sheets
Ash Wed – repent of our sins – and for Lent this year both our congregations are focused on the theme of forgiveness. But Forgiveness sometimes has to start with forgiving God.
That’s a theme most of us here probably don’t have to deal with. We believe from our hearts that God is thoroughly trustworthy, and that any shortcomings in our life or in our happiness are due to ourselves, and not to a loving Father. Malcolm X: And if I can die having brought any light, having spread any meaningful truth, then all of the glory goes to Allah. Only the mistakes have been mine.
But sometimes we – or certainly some of those we know who aren’t here tonight - think that God has made a few mistakes too. And then, before we can forgive others, we first have to forgive God.
In a real way, that’s where John Wesley himself had to start: sinner/resented God
Now, some folks who can’t, don’t, won’t forgive God do so from an arguably childish attitude – they don’t have everything they want, life hasn’t gone the way they wanted it to, and they blame God – like a child on Xmas morning mad at Santa Claus. But I see a profound difference between those who have simply been inconvenienced or unfulfilled by life, and those who have suffered genuine tragedy. Holocaust/ paraplegics/ Newtown/ cancer, job loss, foreclosure – there’s plenty to be angry at God about, if that’s the path we choose to take – or feel forced on.
– The Hugs lost two adult children and blamed God’s representative: me.
If we are certain of God’s love toward us and the world, I’m fine with that, and have no interest or desire to talk anyone out of that. But if we’re not so certain about that, I want to offer some reassurance.
- 1) Negativity toward God IS very scriptural . To touch on just a few examples, Ecclesiastes is so negative and cynical about life and God, that it’s amazing it was included in the Bible – but it is. Psalm 22, My God, my God…. – it’s a powerful, honest prayer that veers back and forth between faith and doubt. And there’s other psalms that sound notes of despair such as Psalm 74 – look what your enemies have done to your sanctuary – where are you? Why have you deserted us? What is your problem?
Job is full of negativity – Job 19:5 is typical: 5 If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me
and use my humiliation against me,6 then know that God has wronged me and drawn his net around me. I’m the victim here!, says Job.2) can’t be afraid to be honest. Human relationships: intelligently, compassionately honest. Ephesians 4:15 Speak the truth in love – true for xtian community, personal relationships, and our relationship with God.
God can handle our honesty – besides, its silly to think we can hide our true feelings from God. Some people: Unless you say thee, thou, dost, God isn’t paying attention. Uh, not how it works…
The problem is not resenting or hating God – the problem is not talking, giving up on the relationship. NOW there’s a problem. But just Getting mad or angry or hurt – God can deal with that.
3) and determination to find the path to healing. Not magic; but a matter of choice, determination, conviction.
Woman with hemorrhage – if I but touch his garment, I’ll be healed.
Paul – betrayed, starved, beaten, jailed – but Romans 828
Holocaust – we must keep our faith – we must not hand Hitler a posthumous victory.
Newtown: working for the restoration of sanity to our gun laws, and to our sense of community.
Joan McGregor – her tragic accident strengthened her faith instead of shattering it.
For the cynic and skeptic, forgiving God is meaningless and worthless, like forgiving the Easter Bunny. But for a person wounded in their faith, who wants and hungers for that relationship with God, finding that forgiveness can make all the difference in the world, and not just for themselves.
John Wesley: Aldersgate: he was led there by others, who knew he needed this help.
And when his heart was strangely warmed, he knew he was forgiven – but also, he forgave God. And his transformed heart changed the world.
If we are already fully confident in our Abba’s love for us and for all, fine. If we have doubts or resentments, then we must admit them to ourselves and to God, who already knows our hearts better than we do ourselves. And in both cases, we will be ready to receive the ashes and the Lord’s supper tonight, and begin our Lenten journey.
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
2 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand— 2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes,
such as never was in ancient times nor ever will be in ages to come.12 “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” 13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity. 14 Who knows? He may turn and relent
and leave behind a blessing— grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God.15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. 16 Gather the people,
consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber. 17 Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, weep between the portico and the altar. Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord.
Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”**************************************************************************
Transfiguration Sunday 2013: Readings: 2 Cor 3:12-18, Luke 9:28-36Sermon: With Unveiled Faces
- The transfiguration was also an internal experience, of mind and heart.
- Notice that the transfiguration takes place in a small group.
- We must expect to find deeper levels in ourselves and others.
Its hard now to remember jan 29, just a couple weeks ago – that was the day the temps got most of the way to 70 -/// it got COLD that night – how do we feel NOW about that experience? Resentful it didn’t last? Disbelieving that it DID happen? Or can we think back to that day as a promise of the spring that awaits us, a few months down the road.
Apostles must have felt a little of the same way at the transfiguration.
- Same story Told in 3 Gospels, nearly identical – which is actually highly UNUSUAL in the gospels. And The 3 Gospels all agree on the personages involved: Elijah and Moses, Jesus James John and Peter, and the voice of God. Story is alluded to more than once in the NT, esp in 2 Peter 1.
- Jesus is transfigured before the apostles – the dusty garments of the road, the need for a shower, the ordinary humanity of Jesus of Nazareth disappears and he becomes, for a brief time, the indisputable Son of God - bright and shining, clearly a being from a different dimension of existence, a friend of Moses and Elijah, talking with them about his exodus as Luke says - his coming journey to Jerusalem and whatever lies beyond - and the cloud of sacred presence – the shekinah - overshadowing and covering them all.
– here’s this wonderful experience and of COURSE the apostles wanted it to last – just as most of us did on Jan 29, when it was almost 70 degrees. Peter: let’s make three tents for you to stay here – it is good for us to be here. But it did NOT last. But just because it didn’t last doesn’t mean it wasn’t real – just like those temps in the 60s on the 29th didn’t belong here, in a Chicago winter, and they didn’t last – but they WERE real. We DID experience that.
The transfiguration is like the ascension – one of the feasts/observances that the church calendar puts before us every year; an event that is closer to heaven than to earth. And maybe because of that, we struggle to see its application and meaning to our everyday lives.
This year, I’d like to suggest that the transfiguration is a pointer to the deeper levels we ALL carry within us – the deeper levels of pain and of sorrow, and of joy and celebration – that we don’t know how to express, can’t even hardly find. But church is supposed to be a place where we discover that, and esp. in the context of healthy small groups.
- Temptation to throw himself down from the temple – so Jesus doesn’t do that. This spectacular manifestation of who he truly is is just for a small, small group. Not only not in front of everyone – not even in front of all 12 apostles. Jesus takes just 3 of the twelve with him. And interestingly, he who prays by himself is NOT content to have this experience just by himself. instead, Jesus deliberately wants these 3 – Peter the first believer, his brother James, and the beloved apostle John – to witness and share this event with him and with each other.
And that Jesus would share this experience just with his intimate intimates is a clue that it is an internal experience even more than an external one.
That’s hard to understand/ the Gospel stories set up the transfiguration as an over the top, extravagant Hollywood spectacular. Lights – Jesus appearance;
sound, voice of God action: jesus talking with moses and Elijah, Peter saying who brought the tents
But if it were just that, just the sound and the lights, then why not invite all of Jerusalem? Why not at LEAST invite ALL the 12? How about his mother? But no – it’s just these three.
Apologist – sleepy – write it all off as a dream. I’m not willing to go along with that, but I will agree that the internal experience is where the heart of the transfiguration lies - the willingness and ability to see the full revelation of the divine nature.
By poor analogy, Raising of the flag on Iwo Jima – when you see the film, you don’t see the flag raising – instead, photographer Joe Rosenthal just happened to hit the shutter at the precise right moment. No one present at the actual raising saw what the camera saw.
If the heart of the transfiguration experience is more internal than external, then we can more easily see how it applies to our everyday lives, and esp how it applies to our life as a church. When we do our sacred work as Christians correctly, this is exactly what happens – ordinary people are transformed; people pushed down and pushed to the edges, are brought front and center. The last are made first. As the apostles saw and affirmed something profound about their Master they had not seen before, so do we: something deep and profound in ourselves, in others, and especially in those disregarded by the world.
Again, a healthy church life is supposed to find and nourish those deeper levels. Everywhere else we have to protect and hide our feelings – everywhere – at work, when we’re shopping, even with family or friends - we find ourselves being aware and being careful what people think. Of course, too often the church has been a primary place for that – a place where appearance is valued over substance. But that’s not how its supposed to be.
In the final verse of our passage from 2 Cor 3, Paul writes 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
The Christians at first church Corinth weren’t going around like walking flashlights, with a light that just passer-by could see. But I can believe that they were glowing with an inner light, and those who encountered and interacted with them could perceive that there was indeed something different about this person – something different about these followers of Christ, as opposed to the cynical pagans who had given up on the gods, and who were trying just to survive and squeeze whatever enjoyment they could out of life.
2 Cor 3:18 is clearly telling us that the transfiguration isn’t just for Jesus – its for ALL of us – and not for our own benefit, but for the benefit of a hurting community, a hurting world, in need of the transforming power of Jesus Christ – the power which transforms him, and us, and those whom we serve and with whom we interact. Let’s indeed celebrate and claim this wondrous event, for our Lord and for us all; Amen.
2 Corinthians 3:12-18
12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Luke 9:28-36
28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. 31 They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. 32 Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 33 As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.)
34 While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” 36 When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.
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Feb 3 2013 Readings: Philippians 1: 12-19, John 1: 32-46
Sermon: Connections IV: It Takes All Kinds, Thank God.
- The existence of different churches is a joyful gift, not a threat.
- United Methodists claim to be a way, not the way.
- As in John 1, we favor an indirect evangelism that persuades by personal experience.
Travel book – why is it that I always have a seat next to a Bible beater who is compelled to save my soul?// because of a sincere belief that if the person next to them has NOT confessed Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior, they will spend eternity burning in hell. / also: James 5:20: whoever converts a sinner covers a multitude of sins.
Most of us tend to be more discrete and polite about our faith, and don’t care much for that kind of fervor, at EITHER end. But the if we’re more easy-going and less driven, we can also get loose and sloppy. True of anything: football game cheering – ah, don’t bother//Diet, exercise – we go easy on ourselves and end up as bad or worse than when we started. Therapy: painful but necessary. “Good hurt”
I don’t think we UMs have to be ashamed that we’re not harassing people – Bryson finally said he accepted Jesus as his savior so he’d get some peace, and since Romans 10:9 says confess with your lips, the earnest evangelist had some peace as well – although if he’d looked around he might’ve noticed there were still LOTS more people on the plane.
As we UMs connect our faith with the world, we do so in the company of many other Xtians of different stripes, many of whom more conservative than ourselves. Tuesday: Bob, Pete, Tom, Fr David, Tom Beatty. But that’s alright – in fact, it’s a GOOD thing. Over the years I have known different sincere Christians who need what UMs can’t offer – what I can’t offer. And that’s alright.
Linda Alanson – I want to go to church and be left alone. Beth Hawkins – I love the clothing, the incense, the liturgy. Motiwallas – we need sermons where every other sentence is a biblical reference.
And sometimes, a LOT of times, it works the other way – many of us are former Catholics, and were able to find in UMism something we could not find in the Catholic church. And there’s NOTHING wrong with that. Let’s look at the remarkable Phil 1 passage:
Paul the apostle was truly focused on Jesus Christ. Completely and absolutely – and he shows that nowhere better than he shows it here.
- In prison: NOT if there were a God he’d keep me out of here BUT everyone can see how genuine my devotion is.
- Some preach Christ to dig my grave deeper – if there were a just God he’d punish them! Instead, ALL that matters is that Christ is preached – the motive doesn’t matter.
1. Endowment fund meeting - allocation– it’s a win win; either we’ll make more money or you’ll be vindicated!
2. Paul feels the same way – his own feelings don’t matter; all that matters to him is that Christ is preached –
- And I know in the end that all will be well – that I will be delivered from these chains. Marigold Hotel: an Indian proverb: Everything will be all right in the end... if it's not all right then it's not yet the end.
So UMs gladly understand ourselves to be A way to Christ, not THE way.//apostles creed: (I believe in) the holy catholic church – catholic: universal – NOT papal authority – but I believe that Christ is able to change lives and reach the world through the whole church – RC, orthodox, mainline, fund and independent – remember, even John W WANTED Methodists to stay in the church of England.
Moreover, we UMs – like many mainliners, and unlike the brow-beating man who the writer ran into on the airplane – tend to favor an evangelism that is offered indirectly, and primarily through the witness of how we live our lives. That’s what we see going on in John 1.
- Jesus baptism is witnessed indirectly: John TALKS about it – and admits that at first he did not know who this was.
- He says to John and Andrew, NOT come follow me BUT come and see.
- To Philip alone: Follow me – maybe it’s a compliment, or maybe Jesus was concerned Philip wouldn’t catch on without a direct instruction.
- Then Philip repeats the call to John and Andrew: Come and see.
That’s how UMs prefer to evangelize. It’s seldom our style to stand on a street corner, blasting passers-by with a loudspeaker; we seldom berate people about how lost they are without the Gospel. Instead, most of the time, we say to the world, come and see – come and experience our worship, our ministry, our church family. Come and see what following Jesus can be like. Then make your own judgment about it – decide if you want to be part of this story, part of this family.
UMs know it’s important to have a life that is purposeful and meaningful; a life that has its compass set by the Gospel, by a relationship with God, and NOT set by greed or cruelty or power. Like Paul, we usually have a healthy sense of what’s important and what isn’t; what really matters and what does not.
Let’s confidently and consciously seek to live that way, by the Gospel compass, and it’s worth will be self-evident to us and to all – just as it was the day that Jesus met John and Andrew and said, Come and see.
Philippians 1:12-19
12 Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. 13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14 And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. 15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.
John 1:32-46
32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” 35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” 37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” 39 He replied, “Come and see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter). 43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.“Come and see,” said Philip.
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January 27 2013 Readings: Romans 15:22-33, Mark 9: 33-37
Sermon: Connections III: Joyfully Seeking an Enlarged Heart
o Knowing and feeling ourselves as part of the whole UMC is a spiritual exercise.
o Through apportionments, WE are at work in Africa, Latin America, and throughout the USA.
o A healthy grace-filled heart exults in being more connected to others.
For nearly 30 years, on Mondays the Methodist clergy were at Chicago temple. Assumed they would be in the temple on Monday just as surely as they had been in their pulpits the morning before.
As we think about re-strengthening our connections with the larger UMC, from the cluster level to the international, we need to do so in terms of family, spirituality, and caring. We’re NOT talking about reclaiming an organizational chart – we’re focusing on re-energizing an important part of our spiritual identity – a part we’ve let slip away.
This is a problem everywhere – it’s rare to find a UMC that DOES value that connection. That weekly Monday meeting passed away decades ago – by the time I got to IPUMC in 1981, it was already a legendary memory. And Methodists struggle with connection is an old story: Frances Asbury/ fierce about the American clergy connecting to him and respecting his authority, but he didn’t return the favor to John Wesley//old Daddy is upset again…
So why focus on our denominational connections? When our retreat planning met on Tuesday night I meant to bring it up, but then forgot – Sherry had us focus on what we liked and valued about GOOD SHEPHERD – although more than one participant said, I value that this congregation is a UM church.
One reason that connection is impt is As UMs we value the social Gospel along with the personal Gospel.
“A heart transformed can change the world” – BOTH parts of that equation are important to us.
1) Not an intellectual position but a movement of the heart – emotion, energy, devotion and commitment. We are committed to the person of Jesus Christ – the one who is fully worthy of that commitment, the one who won’t let us down, in this world or the next. “I already got a man –Jesus!”
2) The personal relationship between each of us and Jesus is precisely that – personal. But the change the world part – that’s where we get into organization and connection, and move out with and from that personal relationship with the Lord of creation, and of our hearts.
And that’s the wisdom, and power, and difference of a UM connection – and why it’s worth the trouble to nourish and grow in that. As is true with pretty much ANYthing: If we’re going to do something big, if we’re really going to change the world, we’re going to need help - we can’t do it by ourselves. Moreover, we WANT to be connected.
Ken – fish – early xtians, what excitement in finding another one. UMs should be able to feel the same way – here’s someone else who thinks the Gospel ties into the world of people who are up against it, who need hope and dignity – and who look to and expect their church to be responsive to those needs.// KC PADS – theres 7 churches – one cong, one Baptist, two Lutheran , and THREE UMCs. Not a coincidence! Not the biggest or richest churches in KC – but the ones who have Christian social responsibility as an integral part of our self-understanding – and SOCIAL means together – means bigger than individual. // Mark 9: The apostles are rightly ashamed and embarrassed about their arguing about who is greatest – parallels congregations having that same concern.
As UMs, We have two major built-in sources of connection: appointments and apportionments. // appointments: I’m here because Bishop Sally is content that I should be here – best aspect: we are here to bond to Jesus and to each other - not to me.
Apportionments: money we pay to the NIC, who in turn pays a portion of it to the larger UMC.
Usually: a bill and obligation, with no more soul to it than the electric bill or any other bill. If we’re even aware of the apportionment, we tend to see it NOT as our share in the whole ministry of the whole UMC, but as money taken from us. And the last 3 years, our apportionment has been about 30k – which aside from my salary is the largest single item in our budget – in other words, a lot of money to be indifferent or hostile about.
Some of us do feel positive about the apportionment – but we need that attitude to be the rule among us, and not the exception. // we take pride in the appearance of our church – in the ministries we lead and hear about: Stephen min, Genesis, Grace Meal, adult ed, PADS, our choirs, etc – so we are called to develop a larger vision, and eyes that see beyond these walls. // Romans 15 reading: the offering to Jerusalem as the tie that binds – and a clear Biblical precedent for the apportionment.
And connection DOES work both ways: three grants: Praise expo, Genesis Min, youth FPU. Genesis article in Reporter. Rt 34 connection –
Concrete actions:
Get on a district or conference committee – our thanks to those at GS who already do. – Bob L, jurisdictional involvement.
- Sign up for Lay Servant academy as per this week’s eblast.
- Not just pay the apportionment, but educate ourselves more on where the money is going, and how it is spent. The GBOM will drown us in resources if that’s what we want – fliers, info, DVDs. –the TV screen in the GR should ALWAYS be showing a DVD on Sunday mornings.
- finance decision: Mujila Falls tractor.
We are showing growth and striving in this direction: RB trip – at Retreat planning meeting: next step overseas mission. 100% increase in number of lay speakers.
Grinch – his heart grew three sizes that day.
Striving for and nourishing our UMC connections involves the same dynamic, both as cause and result: a larger heart drives us beyond ourselves and even beyond our congregation; and following that road, seeing the larger church and the larger world, in turn enlarges our hearts in a spiritual way. Let’s joyfully choose and take the road to loving healthy hearts, enlarged by John Wesley’s legacy and by the Spirit; in JN amen.
Romans 15:22-33
22 This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.
23 But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, 24 I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. 27 They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. 28 So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. 29 I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.
30 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. 31 Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people there, 32 so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed. 33 The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Mark 9:33-37
33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” 36 He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
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January 13 2013 Baptism of our Lord Reading: Acts 8:14-17, Luke 3:15-22.
Sermon: Connections I: Connecting to God.
- Being connected is healthy, good, and Christian.
- The Spirit doesn’t always come right on cue.
- The divine connection empowers and sends us to do more than we can on our own.
Big Fat Greek Wedding – cousins and connections all over the place. In such a setting, most people feel readily and naturally connected. //end of movie: a house next to her parents’ house.
Many people DON’T feel that naturally connected – more insular, more detatched. And sometimes people want to be that way, and sometimes they would prefer to be embraced and connected – but don’t know how to go about that.
What’s true for us as individuals is true for churches as well. Much of the time each Xtian congregation can feel as if it’s rowing its own boat. And sometimes people seem to want to feel that way/ DJ Johnson, resenting my telling Mayfair UMC that IPUMC needed prayers.
And it’s not just Methodists or Protestants: Bells of St Mary’s / St. Victors
But being connected is a GOOD thing, and very much a Christian thing. Beatitudes: blessed are the peacemakers – those who find a common path together. / 1 cor 12: the body of Christ isn’t just about a congregation, but about the larger church.
We know from our own health and physique how much we depend on our body to work together, and what a problem it is when our body parts start to go their own way. My body says, I’m gonna throw this ball! And my right arm says, the HECK you are.
In nearly all circumstances, a sense of being CONNECTED is good, healthy, and gives us strength we can’t have on our own. /preaching theme this next several weeks – connected as UMs; connected to the universal church, connected to our community and our world. But the first connection, that enables and infuses all the others, is being connected to God. And Even Jesus himself needed and exampled that connection, as we acknowledge today, as we celebrate his baptism.
This year the lectionary uses Luke’s unique account of Jesus’ baptism./mark and Matthew: the Spirit comes on Jesus as he is being baptized. But Luke puts a subtle wall between Jesus’ actual baptism and his receiving of the Spirit. /John is locked up in prison when the Spirit comes on Jesus – and the Spirit comes on him, NOT during the baptism, but afterwards, when he is praying. And there’s no indication of how much time had elapsed – maybe a few moments; maybe a few hours, days, or weeks – it doesn’t say.
Most likely reason: dispute between those who held that Jesus was the Messiah and those who felt John was, or at least a better candidate.// but there’s also a good lesson here in experience and psychology.
Tender mercies (1983) starring Rbt Duval: At the urging of Rosa Lee, Mac Sledge begins to attend church regularly and is eventually baptized for the first time, along with Sonny. ..After they are baptized, Sonny asks Mac whether he feels any different, to which Mac responds, "Not yet."
That could have happened to Jesus too. /he was curious about his cousin, and what all the fuss was about/ my own belief is that he expected to return to the village carpentry shop, and keep helping to support his mother. And Luke’s acct allows us to speculate that Jesus might have even done that – returned to Nazareth, back to the workbench. But something was at work within him now. Long ago he’d put the stories of the angels, the Magi, and the shepherds all behind him. And now all that was reawakened by his baptism – the conviction that God wanted more from him than shelves and doorframes. // the moment of baptism itself did not make the difference - but after he’d spent some time thinking and praying about it, THEN the Spirit came upon him, and the divine connection was made. Although even then, it didn’t happen instantly; the next thing Jesus did was go out into the desert for 40 days, and think and pray some more. And when he returned, his first preaching mirrored that of his jailed cousin – to repent and believe. It took him a while before he found his own feet and his own message.
A similar experience is found in our reading from Acts 8. There we hear of some believers who had been baptized in the name of Jesus only, without including the Holy Spirit. /theologians like to discuss and write books about how that could happen, but I’d like to simply take that as symbolic of those who have the form of faith only, devoid of Spirit. Not only is that possible, it’s all too common - Christians who are Christian in name only, but not in heart or attitude or action. And that’s where the Spirit comes in: enlivening and empowering our faith, truly connecting our hearts to God’s heart. And when that connection truly happens, then we hunger and long for the other connections to other Christians, to our community, and to the world.//Jesus himself was the model for that: 30 yrs in Nazareth, in the shop – then he gets baptized and there goes his job and his pension. And he doesn’t care!
So we see in these readings that divine connection doesn’t take place through a formula or an action – it takes a while to get there, just as most relationships do.
It requires prayer – it requires WANTING it to happen. Jesus’ baptism experience challenges us to wonder what do we spend OUR time thinking and praying about: football? A bigger house? A better salary? Fame and fortune? Our hobby, whatever that may be? Our next vacation? None of these are evil, but they don’t require the Gospel, they don’t require the Spirit, to draw all our attention. If we really dare to pray and ponder about what God needs and wants from us, and where the Spirit is pushing us, it might be a vacation or a bigger car – it might be – but chances are good it won’t be.
And what applies to us as individual Xtians applies to our church family as well/3-2 retreat
As we renew our own baptismal vows today, I hope that the water might renew and nourish our own divine connection, and that we might accept the challenge that Jesus’ own baptism gave him: to consider and pray about what direction God has in mind for us in this new year, and for our church.
Acts 8:14-17
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Luke 3:15-22
15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” 18 So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20 added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.
21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
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Jan 6 2013 Epiphany
The last Gift of Christmas: the Huge Umbrella of God’s love.
There really ARE 12 days of xmas. 1st day – xmas Jan 1 – circumscision – and today, the 12th day, Epiphany – the coming of the Magi to Bethlehem.
We don’t get drummers drumming and pipers piping and the rest of that happy song – but we DO get a huge umbrella – on the 12th day of xmas, our dear Lord gave to us: ONE huge umbrella. – an all-embracing hug for the family of man.
The 12 days of Xmas are bracketed by 2 main events that underline the universality of the coming of Jesus Christ: First, angels singing good will to men – peace to men of good will – not a xtian in sight.
Today: the magi coming to Bethlehem. True, they pay homage to Jesus – they honor and worship him – BUT they don’t become xtian; they don’t even become Jewish. – astrologers
Ordinarily: distrust fortune tellers, palm readers, dream interpretation – but the magi are astrologers – who are good at their job! - and Matthew 1 and 2 full of dreams – Joseph has four, the Magi have one.
Harold Christiansen – ancient religions, end of the world, UFOs, etc/the month and the YEAR!/ – he’s a nut! Vs. well, Harold always makes me feel that I live in a richer universe.
It’s hard for people to be evangelical without being arrogant – but I’d say it’s absolutely essential that we master that difficult equation.
Evangelism: 1) the good news that there is a loving God who LOVES the world. That love isn’t weak, or a fantasy, or a nice wish, but at the heart of the universe. Believing, sharing, and living that message – that’s evangelism. 2) the most perfect expression of that message is Jesus himself– his story, his resurrection, and having him alive within us.
But Jesus clearly isn’t the only way God reaches people. Of course, we know John 14:6: no one comes to the father… but I also know Matthew 7:16: by their fruits you will know them. And there’s Mark 9:40: whoever is not against us is for us. Not to mention Romans 1, where Paul says that evidence of God is everywhere in the world, if humans will only take the time to look.
Moreover, a humble attitude when considering different religions – or even those who have been so hurt that they have no use for ANY religion – is consistent with the heart of the spoken Gospel, the sermon on the mount: Blessed are the peacemakers – the gentle, the humble. This does NOT fit in with, blessed are the arrogant – the judgmental – those who see themselves, or their beliefs, as superior. I know SOME xtians DO see themselves that way, and find scriptural witness for doing so. I never have, and I admit, nor would I want to.
- Prayer at OCS – don’t mention Jesus – I’m just glad the door for prayer has opened up – and I don’t chafe at being accommodating; I’m happy to do it.
- Rob – KC jail – they don’t make it easy.
I think the Christmas story rightly give birth to a profound respect for the value of other faiths, and what we may have to learn from them.
Surely the newborn baby had other visitors – but the Scriptures don’t say that! Luke: God is here in person, and who shows up: not the clergy, not the scholars, not even friends or family; but the disreputable, sneaky, untrusted Shepherds –
Matthew: the scholars and clergy all stay back in Jerusalem – WHO shows up to worship the Lord? The Magi – these strangers, foreigners, these travelers. THEY’RE the ones who come, when all the Jews stayed home.
Thomas Merton – Buddhist monastic convention.
In a world where people are ready to attack each other, verbally or physically, I think this strong, wise, gentle witness to God’s love for the world is a fine end to the 12 days of xmas. And reaffirms our role as a catalyst of human AND divine connection in Oswego.
Grace meal/ KC jail min/ prayer at the OCS / communion at the Tillers tomorrow.
Crystal ball across the street – desperate people come there who won’t come here – at the very least, I want her to know we’re not going to show up at her door with torches.
John 3:16 – God so LOVED the world – that all who believed might have eternal life – we’ve gulped this into xtians go to heaven and all else go to hell/ no: that all who believe would share God’s life – and if we share God’s life, we share God’s love – the love that embraces the world; the love that became flesh, and thereby embodied the good news of that love to us and to all this Christmas season – in JN Amen.
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*****************************************************************************Xmas Eve 2012 - A Good Word for the Innkeeper
5PM Family style service with Birthday cake celebrating Christ's Birthday, 7PM Contemporary Service with ReBorn Praise Band, and 11 PM Traditional Service with Adult Choir)
SS pagent story – the little boy grabbed Mary and Joseph and made them come inside his cardboard wall.
We don’t know what to make of the innkeeper – maybe he was hard-hearted; told MJ they could go where the animals go – hoped they’d feel insulted enough to go someplace else altogether.
Maybe he told them to just GO, and Joseph waited till he wasn’t looking and then snuck into the stable, figured at least they’d be out of the open. Or, maybe there wasn’t really an innkeeper at all – the truth is that there probably WASN’T an inn in Bethlehem, there wasn’t enough reason or business to have one – and that anyone lodging there would have found space in a family’s home, not in a separate business. But for tonight, let’s stay with the traditional translations that say in vs. 7, there was no room for them in the inn.
And in that case, what I’d like to hope is that the innkeeper was actually being as compassionate as circumstances allowed.
- Other guests had arrived and had rooms – he couldn’t turn them out, for a number of reasons.
- He offered what he could offer – he would have willingly given them a room, but the few rooms he had were already taken.
- Is it even possible that the stable was a preferred place to give birth?
- - ritual uncleanliness of a woman giving birth
o A relative measure of privacy, compared to giving birth inside the inn.
o And we forget that most people in most human history have shared their living space with animals, to a greater or lesser degree.
The main point still holds: a powerful symbol of God’s identity with the power-LESS – that the Messiah is born here, and not in a wealthier or more prestigious town. And the first bed the Savior of the world is given, is an animal’s feeding trough – like Kayo in a drawer in Moon Mullin’s dresser.
But I think it’s very plausible that the innkeeper was a decent man, trying to do his best for a poor, struggling family, with little if any money.
Of course, There was NOT any kind of reservation system – the innkeeper owed this young couple nothing; he could have just said sorry, tough luck – get out of here. But I’d like to think he said, well, it’s not much – just a space out there by the horses – but if you want it, its yours.
Actually, Christians do this all the time: Jesus himself didn’t cure every sick person in Palestine. Mother Theresa – thousands of lepers not in her shelters - PADS - doesn’t serve all the homeless – Grace Meal – lots of people out there not taking advantage of this. But as Xtians we can NOT gulp this into: Because we can’t do everything for everybody, we will do nothing for nobody. Pagans have the right to do that – but not Christians.
On this Xmas night, and as we anticipate the year ahead, I find that I identify with the innkeeper more than I do with a baby or a virgin or a carpenter. All of us Christians have to deal with far more need than we can meet. the world – and our mailboxes and TV screens – are awash with legitimate good causes; our families and neighbors – let alone the larger communities in which we live – have lots and lots of people with valid, genuine need. //KC bd of health - did what we could till the budget ran out - and I know it’s the same for the Salvation Army, and Catholic charities, and any other charitable group.
So instead of looking down at the innkeeper, I look across at him. I see him with the earnest young Joseph in front of him, bereft of resources; I see the young teenage mother Mary, away from her own mother and family and about to face the uncertainty of childbirth for the first time, and probably experiencing the first contractions already; I see him trying to talk and deal with this couple while the paying guests, who have rooms, are tugging his sleeves and demanding his attention. But instead of telling Mary and Joseph to go away and leave him and his guests alone, he decides instead to do what he can. It’s not much, but its something, and someplace, and far better than just being left out on the street.
There’s no shame in not doing more than we can do, nor in not having more talent than we have. The only shame comes in pretending that we have no responsibility for anyone other than ourselves, that the world is not our problem – or our parish, as John Wesley said. In this coming new year let us resolve not to be overwhelmed by the needs of our world and our community, but to respond instead as best we can, and offer what we can to who we can; in JN Amen.
December 23 Join us for Worship with the Adult Choir Christmas Cantata at both the 8:30 and 10 AM services.
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Dec 16 2012 REVISED sermon Reading: Zeph 3:14-20, Luke 3:7-18
A Word of Hope in a Hard Time.
There have been repeated murders and shootings in the recent past, and heretofore we have been able to find excuses why it really didn’t have to do with us. Batman movie – violent movie//amish – amish are weird// shopping center in Portland – well, only 2 and all the way on the west coast// Columbine – well, the kids had been teased and driven to this obscenity.
Here at GS, Christina, Jenna, Leanne and others have sought to make us aware of the children in eastern Africa and the horrors of their existence / we are supportive and sympathetic, but let’s be honest: that’s in Africa, not here.
The shootings on Friday in Newton break through all those defenses. It’s almost too horrible to even speak: young children shot and killed in their classrooms, along with all the unarmed, fully innocent adult victims who’d committed no crime other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This has always been true in all these shootings, from Columbine, to the Batman killings, to the Portland shopping center: but to have twenty small children, ages 6 and 7, actually murdered in their classrooms brings the discussion into our full consciousness, and makes us aware that if it could happen in Newtown it could happen in Oswego, in Wilmette, in Kankakee – could happen absolutely anywhere. And we feel terribly, terribly unsafe and threatened.
When I sent out my email announcing this late Friday night, I had numerous responses, none of them negative and nearly all of them very positive. The feedback included suggestions that America needs to turn back to God, that we have let the net of social services wear too thin, and that we should hold people more accountable for any aid or help they receive. All of which are suggestions worthy of more play than we can give them here, but suggest the basis for a sermon series or an adult study. But for today, //focus on two major paths: more guns, or mend and recapture a true sense of community.
More guns: a path we’ve been on for some time, and show no signs of slowing down.
- Striking down of IL concealed weapons law - landoffice business in gun shops yesterday: fear of renewed gun control, fear for one’s family: get gma a gun for xmas.
- There are serious sincere advocates for this path: batman movie – if there’d been ANOTHER armed person there, things would have been different// Sandy Hook principal: gun in her desk, Adam Lanza would have been killed instead of her.
- Those who advocate this path always emphasize that all firearm owners need to be trained in the use of firearms. So if you give gma a gun, give her a cert for a firing range too.
This is undeniably one path; it is the path our society has been on, with growing emphasis in recent years//Even Mr. Obama on Friday night did NOT sound any call for renewed gun control.//I won’t ask how many people have a gun at home at all, and how many with the intent of home protection. I myself do not, I never have. Target shooting with a .22 in Boy scouts.
But is this a wise path to take? Does it really make our families safer? Does it have anything to do with Jesus Christ or his Gospel? And I don’t mean finding proof texts; I mean a path in clear accord with the Gospel of the Prince of Peace? Is it a path that a good atheist could take just as easily as a Christian?
Since we are Christians, let’s look at our lectionary texts for the third Sunday of Advent, from Zephaniah 3 and Luke 3. Zeph 3 is the end of his short book, and ends with a joyful song in praise of God’s love and power: the Father will dance, as on a day of festival – he will rejoice over you and renew you by his love. //and there’s a repeated theme of safety and security: The Lord has removed your enemies/the Lord is with you, there is no reason to be afraid/Do not be afraid, o city of Zion!// So God’s will for us is to feel safe and to be safe. Scripture is not against that. The question is, how do we get there? And for help on that, let’s look to Luke 3.
John B: had many fans because he gave practical advice. Two cloaks/tax collectors: only collect what is due you. Soldiers: Don’t extort, don’t intimidate. Do your job and be content with your pay.
- Soldiers would almost certainly have been Romans – or non-Jews in any case, to avoid conflict of interest.
John does NOT say – you uncircumscised pork eaters can’t BE saved. Nor: put down your sword and go back to Rome. No, he respects their office and their proper place in the social order, as policemen.
And Paul in Romans 13 explicitly takes the same position: a civil society depends on the civil use of authorized force, not every man for himself.
When you depend on your own gun instead of the civil authorities for your safety, anything can happen. You might have training, but in a genuine moment of real crisis, anything can happen, to pretty much anyone./civil war soldiers – jammed round on top of round/in a family crisis, or a break-in, You add a loaded gun to the mix, and things can go very wrong very fast – with no chance at a second chance.// basic Conundrum: you keep the gun unloaded and unlocked, you can’t get to it the moment you need it. keep the gun loaded, a family fight that meant broken crockery suddenly ends in bloodshed instead.
As I say, Jn B advocate of concrete advice. So I have two pieces of advice, one more concrete than the other: that what we MUST do to achieve Zephaniah’s promise, of a safe and secure life, is to 1) pull back from the path of loading ourselves up with guns, and to trust the police to do their job; and 2) focus on restoring and mending the social fabric rather than continuing to tear it apart.
I know police are not supermen; I know they are not infallible/ Crest Hill police in my childhood// But confidently relying on the proper authority when it comes to firearms and force, is absolutely our best hope for safety and security in our private lives. /Will the police always get there first before a tragedy takes place? No – humans can’t do that. But there’s never a surefire ironclad, solution to ANYTHING involving humans. But the odds are better if we can come back from this road to everyone for themselves – not’s NOT where safety lies. Because What makes us safe isn’t having a gun – what makes us safe is the social fabric:
Kendall County B H – no Columbine/ bill Johnson Min Crim Justice funding /bike lock
God wants us to be safe – God wants us to live in security, not in fear. The only question is: how do we get there; in JN amen.
The Official UMC position on Gun Violence ( http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=937 )
Violence and, more particularly, violence to children and youth is a primary concern for United Methodists. We recognize and deplore violence which kills and injures children and youth. In the name of Christ, who came so that persons might know abundant life, we call upon the church to affirm its faith through vigorous efforts to curb and eliminate gun violence.
Gun violence is killing America's children. Based on statistics from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, there are an estimated 223 million firearms in the United States. Approximately one out of every four households owns a handgun. The risk of handgun violence to children and youth is more prevalent in the United States today than in any previous generation. Our communities and schools are so exposed to large numbers of privately owned guns that no mere attempts at providing slightly better security can match the awful threat of guns finding their way through our well-intentioned safety systems.
A significant total reduction in the numbers of guns in our communities is our goal in ministry. We serve and our society's children go to school amidst passionately violent segments of current youth culture. No appeals to individual autonomy are sufficient to justify our church's ignorance of this threat. The need to prevent the incidence of firearm-related injury and death is an issue of increasing concern and a priority U.S. public health issue. The United Methodist Church is among those religious communions calling for social policies and personal lifestyles that bring an end to senseless gun violence.
Gun violence in America's schools has emerged as a growing and disturbing trend. The United Methodist Church supports ministries that address the issue of violence and crime prevention for children/youth in urban areas through the Communities of Shalom. Violence is no longer confined to the streets of urban areas but has occurred at an increasing rate in suburban communities. Over the past several years, high-profile cases of school shootings involving suburban youth killing and injuring teachers and peers alike have once again brought the issue of guns and youth to the forefront of national attention.
These acts of senseless violence should not be an acceptable occurrence in any community: suburban, urban, or rural. The church must continue to address these issues of violence and develop programs to enrich the lives of all children/youth.
In light of the increase of gun violence affecting the lives of children and youth, we call upon The United Methodist Church to:
(1) convene workshops of clergy and other mental health care professionals from communities (urban, rural, and suburban) in which gun violence has had a significant impact in order to discuss ways by which The United Methodist Church should respond to this growing tragedy, and to determine what role the church should take in facilitating dialogue to address the issue of gun violence in our schools and among our children;
(2) educate the United Methodist community (parents, children, and youth) on gun safety, violence prevention, adult responsibility around gun violence prevention, and the public health impact of gun violence;
(3) identify community-based, state, and national organizations working on the issue of gun violence and seek their assistance to design education and prevention workshops around the issue of gun violence and its effect on children and youth;
(4) develop advocacy groups within local congregations to advocate for the eventual reduction of the availability of guns in society with a particular emphasis upon handguns, handgun ammunition, assault weapons, automatic weapons, automatic weapon conversion kits, and guns that cannot be detected by traditionally used metal detection devices. These groups can be linked to community-based, state, and national organizations working on gun and violence issues;
(5) support federal legislation to regulate the importation, manufacturing, sale, and possession of guns and ammunition by the general public. Such legislation should include provisions for the registration and licensing of gun purchasers and owners, appropriate background investigation and waiting periods prior to gun purchase, and regulation of subsequent sale;
(6) call upon all governments of the world in which there is a United Methodist presence to establish national bans on ownership by the general public of handguns, assault weapons, automatic weapon conversion kits, and weapons that cannot be detected by traditionally used metal-detection devices;
(7) call upon the print, broadcasting, and electronic media, as well as the entertainment industry, to refrain from promoting gun usage to children;
(8) discourage the graphic depiction and glorification of violence by the entertainment industry, which greatly influences our society, and recommend that these issues be addressed through education and consciousness raising;
(9) call upon the federal and state governments to provide significant assistance to victims of gun violence and their families; and
(10) recommend that annual conferences make visible public witness to the sin of gun violence and to the hope of community healing.
ADOPTED 2000
See Social Principles, ¶ 164F.
From The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church — 2004. Copyright © 2004 by The United Methodist Publishing House. Used by permission.
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Dec 9 2012 2nd Sunday of Advent
Readings: Baruch 5:1-9 Luke 1:67-80
Sermon: Not Discarded, but Renewed.
- Baruch joyfully celebrates the renewal of God’s ancient people.
- Freed from his silence, old Zechariah sings of his son’s role in God’s plan.
- Renewal is God’s gift to us and God’s will for us.
Too often, at Xmas, our culture stresses the value of the NEW. Old toys are to be discarded in favor of NEW toys – old clothes are to be taken to Good Will to make room for NEW clothes. The old year exits stage left and disappears in favor of the NEW year baby. And even the baby Jesus himself comes to bring us a new relationship with God and a new faith.
We see this in church life too, where the stress in church growth programming is on NEW churches. A major theme in church growth literature is that an established congregation has a number of cliques, and interest groups, and other such dynamics that make a built-in barrier to accepting new people and to welcome new ways of thinking, doing, and living the Gospel.
But our lectionary today stresses the theme of renewal , which is also in the Christmas story. The readings from Baruch 5 and Luke 1 stress God’s ability to bring new purpose to what is already existing. And this is at least as important as the theme of welcoming the new.
I mean, how much of a trick is THAT, to welcome the new? An average healthy lady loves a new dress, new jewelry, new hairdo, new shoes. Or think of a new car off the assembly line – we are discontent with anything other than perfection – and considering what we spent on this car, that discontent is understandable. But the REAL trick is what the Aurora auto restorers do – find an old, neglected car, and bring it back to life.
Or a brand new house – again, everything is expected to be great, or else the builder will hear from us. But the trick is taking a run-down house, a grand old lady that has fallen on hard times – and bringing new life and beauty to that home.
The same is true of faith. Personal or institutional faith can admittedly become stiff and brittle, and concerned about things that don’t truly matter. Take our situation here at GS – all that truly matters is, are we reaching as many people as we can, with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As a downtown church in a historic building we have opportunities to reach people, and to minister, that a place like Harvest Baptist does not – just as they can reach a demographic that we probably will not. So as I think about my ministry, about OUR ministry, in the year ahead, its kind of like a golfer trying to break par – I’m not worried about competing against H Baptist or Wheatland Salem; I’m concerned that we compete effectively against complacency or resignation within ourselves. And I see our readings this 2nd Sunday of Advent assuring us that God WANTS us to succeed in that self-assessment and self-challenge – that God is not looking to push us aside and discard us in favor of the new, but to help us find the renewal that we need, as individual xtians and as a church.
We see this first in the reading from Baruch. /apocrypha, but it’s a great reading and I thought we’d use it.
Things can happen to us that make us wonder if we’ll ever be happy again. We lose a spouse, a job, our health; we get old, and feel let down by our bodies, by our children, by our culture, by life. We remember that when we were 20, people in their 50s – let alone their 70s! - looked and sounded OLD. And now, it’s our turn! //also interesting this week: 116 yr old woman – born the year this church was built.
Imagine how much harder and deeper those kinds of perceptions and feelings must have been for the people of Israel, when Baruch was written, about 500 BC. Their whole NATION had been down the tubes. The kings were dead, the temple was destroyed, the survivors were taken as slaves to Babylon. Talk about time to give up and face reality: Israel’s story was over and finished.
Any other ancient people would have done that – but not the Jews/instead, as the Jews return to rebuild Jerusalem, Baruch sounds a joyful song of renewal. /children gather from east and west- xmas travelling again.
The theme of renewal is a continual biblical theme. //used to new: behold I do a new thing/a new covenant -the new testament – new wineskins// but renewal is also very strong – the God takes what is old, or what at least FEELS old, and brings it renewed life and purpose.
That’s true in Baruch, and even truer in Luke 1, the story of Elizabeth and zechariah, the parents of John the Baptist.
- Story summation – one way path to death and extinction – but then God turns it around.
- Matt focuses on the virgin shall be with child. But for Luke, this is arguably the True sign of hope: that a woman who was childless her whole life, who is too old to be a mother, that she has this cultural shame removed, and gives birth to a son – that’s what gives hope to the rest of us.
That somebody newer or younger or smarter can do the same job better or faster than us – you don’t need to be a Xtian to figure that one out. But that someone who is older can be renewed – find new energy and purpose and meaning in life – THAT’S where God comes in. And what Zechariah sings of in our reading from the final verses of Luke 1.
Imagine truly being silent for 9 months – natural to be self-focused – but Zechariah’s silence has been good for him, good for his soul. Priest at the temple: top of the pyramid/but his silence hasforced him to depend on Elizabeth and on others - He went INTO that silence arguing with an angel – but he comes out of that silence with this glorious song, focused not on himself, but on his people Israel, on God’s promises, and on his newborn son: (Read)
As life gets more difficult, for whatever reason, it doesn’t take God’s help to switch over to the discard pile – but it DOES take God’s help to renew and revive us// The other Mary Leifheit story – keep a grip on it.
The
Christmas story is about God becoming one of us, not just to take us to
heaven, but to make life worth living here and now, for us and for all.
May this season and the new year be a time when we allow the newborn
Child not to push us aside and discard us, but to renew our hearts, our energy, and our purpose, as individuals and as a church; Amen.
Baruch 5:1-9
Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God. 2 Put on the robe of the righteousness that comes from God; put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting;3 for God will show your splendour everywhere under heaven.4 For God will give you evermore the name, ‘Righteous Peace, Godly Glory’.
5
Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height; look towards the east,and
see your children gathered from west and east at the word of the Holy
One, rejoicing that God has remembered them.6
For they went out from you on foot, led away by their enemies; but God
will bring them back to you, carried in glory, as on a royal throne.
7 For God has ordered that
every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made low
and the valleys filled up, to make level ground, so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God.8 The woods and every fragrant tree have shaded Israel at God’s command.9 For God will lead Israel with joy, in the light of his glory, with the mercy and righteousness that come from him.
Luke 1:67-80
67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
68 “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David 70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—
72 to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant,73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham:74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear
75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
79 to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.
Dec 2 2012 1st Sunday of Advent Readings: Jeremiah 33:14-16, 1 Thess. 3:9-13
Sermon: A Righteous Branch
- Righteousness and arrogance are not the same.
- We need to balance conviction and courtesy.
- This is to be a season when love overflows, not frustration or obligation.
When we describe someone as righteous, our popular culture tends to automatically gulp that into SELF- righteous, and pigeonholes such folks as arrogant, judgmental, and at least acting or sounding morally superior to the UN- righteous.
– one reason I was delighted to have the Legion here on veterans day is because the legion activities include smoking, drinking, and gambling. And I wanted them to know that when all is said and done, that doesn’t matter to us folks on THIS side of the alley. We still respect the vets as soldiers and as neighbors.
But there is such an animal as HEALTHY righteousness – putting ourselves out for, making ourselves available, for folks who are up against it – who look to us for the help they cannot procure for themselves. Healthy righteousness understands that taking GOD’S side in things is not a license to look down on others, but a call to be help – a call to advocate for what is best in the human family – to listen to the better angels of our nature.
- Salvation army bell ringing – share your blessings -
We may not think of righteous behavior as an advent theme, but our lectionary does, in the reading from Jer 33: In those days I will fulfill the promise I made to Israel…I will cause a righteous branch to spring up from David; he will execute justice and righteousness…and Jerusalem will be called The Lord is our righteousness.” ?????, 'tsedeq'
So this is part of the Christmas promise – not just that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem, or a virgin shall have a child, or the wealth of nations shall pour into Israel – but true righteousness will come to the fore.
The Incarnation – God becoming flesh in the birth of Jesus – is so wonderful and powerful that we might not think about what it MEANS – about the difference it should make. But here is ONE of the differences: that justice and true righteousness should prevail, in our lives and in our world.
It means standing up for people – it means not being afraid to be appropriately challenging and confrontational.
Bell ringing – we MIGHT feel we’re annoying people – esp as the weeks go on – we might feel cold, or annoyed, or foolish. Instead: we are saying, don’t forget there are people who have nothing, or almost nothing. Don’t let your xmas be a party that the poor and the troubled aren’t invited to! So we don’t ring the bell in people’s faces – but we DO keep ringing that bell.
Mat 5:20: unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven. Obviously NOT, be even more judgmental and arrogant! No – to be aware of and advocate for folks in trouble. THAT’S the call of Xmas – and our reading from 1 thess helps reinforce that context.
Earliest NT writing/Paul writes about the journey he will undertake to see the Thessalonians again, and we are reminded of all the trips that are taken during the holidays: 10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again… may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you.
We sometimes think that justice is to be pursued by people of extreme dedication and fortitude: Abraham Lincoln, Dorothy day, John Wesley – not us regular ordinary folks, who just want to make a living, keep a low profile, and get through life with as little trouble as possible. But look – here’s St Paul, who’s been knocked off his horse on Damascus road, confronted the Pharisees head to head in Jerusalem, been taken up to the third heaven, and been personally called by the Risen Jesus to be an apostle, and what does he want to do: he wants to see these Christian brothers and sisters in their house church in Thessalonika. He’s not praying to be rich and famous, or to have an easier time preaching the Gospel; in this passage, he’s saying I just want to see you again – I want to be with you. And again – we’re reminded how much we want to be with family and friends in the weeks ahead, whether we go to see them or they come to see us. And the context for this longing, is the love that comes from God: May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.
The popular xmas movies tend to focus on different cultural obsessions: the perfect/RIGHT toy for a child – decorating our house more than the neighbors house. The perfect Christmas dinner, the best Christmas party.
Our readings say this IS a time of year when convictions should come to the fore – but the convictions that are needed aren’t to impress people, but to immerse ourselves in true, healthy, righteousness – to reach out and care for those for whom life is hard; to be tolerant and generous with those who irritate us or who we have trouble understanding. To stand up for those who are pushed aside, at the risk of annoying others. And even, we dare say, to visualize a society where homelessness and hunger and despair are banished, as much as human effort can make it so.
And its important that WE do this – we ordinary regular people. Again, think of Paul – he doesn’t long to get to a holy shrine or to have another vision; instead, he longs to get back and be with his fellow Christians, his brothers and sisters, who share his faith and act upon their convictions. May we have similar hopes and healthy righteousness in this Xmas season and in the year to come; Amen.
Jeremiah 33:14-16
14 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring forth for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
9 How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? 10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.
11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. 12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. 13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.
Christ the King Sunday,
Nov. 25, 2012
Readings: 2 Samuel 23:1-5, John 18:33-37
Sermon: Clothed in Immense Power
- Jesus and Pilate, Dorothy Day and the police: who truly has the power.
- Lincoln: he is clothed in immense power – not because of the army, but because he represents the American people.
- Do we give Christ the power in our lives?
David’s last words in 2 Samuel 23 emphasized that God had promised David an eternal successor on his throne.// understandably, assumed this meant a flesh and blood bearer of earthly power/QE 2// but 500 years later, if THAT’S what God meant, then God was a liar- David’s descendents were all dead. So the Jews started looking for a deeper, spiritual meaning - although most of them didn’t succeed in that quest; they thought that there was a secret, unknown descendent who was ascend to the throne and exterminate Israel’s enemies with invulnerable armies of heavenly beings.
But at least one man, a first century village carpenter, DID succeed in finding that deeper meaning of power and authority – and demonstrated it in the presence of the Roman governor himself.
Imagine prisoner/KC jail – I know the mayor! I know the governor! Right fella – tell me another one.
How much more from John 18:
Cynical roman governor - are you the KING of the Jews? // read - //what IS truth? Take him away –
Later, when Jesus is brought back beaten and bloody and tortured, Pilate is even more confused and frightened – there is something about this man – crowd cries, he is the Son of God – and Pilate feels even more disturbed. His cynical armor is falling away -
John’s narrative – pilate’s view changes 180: begins with Jesus is a looney – ends up thinking perhaps he truly IS a king.
On this Christ the King Sunday, we consider the difference between FORCE and authority – where power lies and where it comes from. And as we look at the example of Jesus himself and of a few others, we start to see that we are not as powerless as we think we are - that sometimes power is the same as having a gun or a sword or the authority to arrest someone, but that many times it isn’t; especially where the power of the Gospel is concerned.
Jim Wallis, Sojourners – justice for the poor study: no power as we usually judge those things; no guns, no bombs, no handcuffs – but a tremendous moral force.// and here’s a similar person: Let’s look at the bulletin cover – pls meet Dorothy Day, a remarkable 20th century activist, lover of the poor, and founder of the Catholic Worker movement.
We don’t have a photo of Jesus and Pilate, but here’s a photo of D Day and the CA police, each //of them doing their job. ….. when we look at this, do we see a POWERLESS woman? I think I feel sorrier for the police than I do for her.
THAT’S the kind of power Christians are supposed to have – THAT’S the kind of kingdom Jesus is king of, and comes to bring us. The power of being a moral force; the power of being righteous, in the true sense of the word. // Inv children rally: make the world aware of the African children being brutalized.
Usually, when we exercise this kind of power we are looking for a final enshrinement in law and action. //D Day: farmworkers union to be honored and respected by the growers// IC – diplomatic action to be taken by the world’s leaders – and force if necessary. But the bearers and initiators of that divine rule are not themselves violent; they may or may not be lawyers. When they went to DC last week, our young people DID have and exercise power. When D Day sat on the road that day, she too exercised power, without having a bullet or a billy club.
Another example: Lincoln: trying to line up congressmen to vote for the 13th amendment:
“the fate of millions of people now in bondage, the fate of millions unborn, are at stake here - Remember that I am President of the United States, clothed with immense power, and I expect you to procure those two votes ...”
Not armies, not guns, that are going to get the votes//congressmen’s families or liberty aren’t threatned – its moral force: the rightness of Lincoln’s position, that slavery must end; AND the power of being the elected representative of the American people.
In the end, Pilate couldn’t face the loss of his power and prestige – he gives in to the crowd’s warning that to accept Jesus as a king is to be at odds with Ceasar – when John’s Gospel was written many a Christian had already paid with their life for accepting that very claim. Pilate became the model for those who knew who Jesus was, but who could not bear to follow through with their decisions and actions.
Same ball park: – fiddler on the roof – May God bless and keep the czar – far away from us.
If we don’t understand that Jesus IS a king, and is OUR king, then we are still keeping the Gospel at arm’s length. We are singing the blessing for the czar, only it’s Jesus who we want kept far away from us – unless we REALLY need him. And if we DO understand that Jesus is our king, then the only possible outcome is giving our full allegiance. And it really doesn’t matter what our other interests are, or what other people or other institutions say or think.
As Dorothy Day stayed where she was that day until forced to move, as Lincoln ignored political expediency and used his power to end slavery, as the bound and bloodied Jesus confronted Pilate with who he was, may we allow ourselves on this Christ the King Sunday to be confronted and challenged as well, and joyfully and seriously accept Jesus as our king, and let the consequences fall where they may; Amen.