Again - not written out completely. "Note-y" not naughty.
Give it up for Lent -
What will you give up for Lent? If you are giving up chocolate, or lunch, or the internet, or whatever . . . . great.
I'd like to know how your Lenten discipline affects you. What will you learn? How will you grow? That’s great.
Sermons will explore possible things Christians might give up for Lent. Not stuff like chocolate. But stuff like heartaches. Worry. Fear. Burdens.
The promise we’ll be claiming is the one Jesus spoke “Come unto me all you who labor, carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and have a soft heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my burden is easy and my yoke is light.”
The first burden we want to give up and get some rest from is the burden of a heavy heart. And one thing that can weigh our hearts down and make them feel like we are dragging around a rock - is anger
Two things, really, anger at other people that have done us wrong - and regret about what we ourselves have done - in a past that is less than perfect.
Let’s talk about storing pain and anger over what other people have done first. Cause I hardly ever talk to someone whose heart is heavy. And I hardly ever feel weighted down myself, but what this isn’t part of the reason. Human beings love to hang on to offenses they have suffered. We just do. Description - of holding onto the jagged words and mean things people have said and done to us. Lauren Winner is the one who calls them jagged - “I cling to them although it is my own palms that are lacerated by carrying them.” It is our hearts that are weighed down by holding onto the hurts and heartaches of the past.
Lent is a time for us to lighten up our hearts by practicing the compassion and forgiveness of Christ. By requesting and accepting forgiveness for what we have done. And by forgiving and letting go of those things that others have done to hurt us.
And they are linked. Forgiveness for others and forgiveness for ourselves are inextricably linked - not by theologians, or Oprah or Psychologists. By Jesus. In the prayer that he taught his disciples to pray - the one we say every Sunday - “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” Right after the prayer, before he talks about anything else, the FIRST thing he says is “If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither can your Father forgive you.” A heart from sin set free is a heart that sets others free. And it happens together - that kind of light heartedness.
Lewis Smedes said, “To forgive is to set a prisoner free, and to discover that the prisoner was you.”
To forgive means to let go - to release - any expectation of redress of grievances, or to be Paid Back. It is to say, “That happened, and I am not going to waste one more moment of my precious life reliving it.” And then, you just don’t pay it any more attention.
This does not mean that you renew the relationship with the person who injured you. Your forgiving the hurt does not change the person who hurt you. It changes you.
To ask forgiveness of another is also to be relieved of a burden and to receive a gift. I don’t know if you read conservative columnist Cal Thomas - but his column last week was about a recent experience in which he made a mistake. Before a big crowd of supporters, he said something really mean and personal about MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow. He writes, “All the mean things people say about me are no excuse. I am not supposed to behave like that. One of the principles in which I believe is not to engage in name-calling - which, to my shame, I did. The next morning I felt bad about it, so I called Ms. Maddow to apologize. It wasn’t one of those meaningless “If I’ve offended anyone. . . “ apologies; it was heartfelt. I had embarrassed myself and was a bad example to those who expect better from me. Maddow could not have been more gracious. . . . To be forgiven by one you have wronged is a blessing, it’s even cleansing.”
But even if Rachel Maddow hadn’t been gracious, Thomas would have been unburdened by sincerely repenting. And God’s forgiveness would have allowed him to make a fresh start.
Accepting God’s forgiveness says that God is bigger and God’s love is greater than any mistake or sin in my life. I don’t have to be a liar, even though I told a lie. I don’t have to be a rigid, judgmental jerk, even though I acted like one once. I don’t have to be a lazy, no good whatever. God can make a new future for me.
It’s sort of humbling, when you think of it: it’s just saying that I’m not big enough to ruin God’s plan for the world. I may mess up. And I will never be perfect. But I don’t have to keep beating myself up and making the same mistakes over and over again.
You know I love country music, and there’s a song by Tom Russell that says it perfectly:
“When the lie that you told buzzing round in your head
Let it go.
. . . “
I can change. Which is why it is so hard, I guess. Being forgiven changes you. I’ve told you about the great hat I saw. It said, “Let’s change. You go first.”
So before you forgive, you might want to spend a little time in prayer. Ask Jesus to sit with you. After all, he’s an interested party here. He cared enough about your forgiveness to go to the cross to show you how it is done. So sit with him and try this:
Picture yourself sitting in a beautiful place - a field filled with flowers, or a mountaintop meadow. Or this sanctuary. And you are holding a package on your lap. It is heavy. It is the burden that you have been carrying. It is the pain and anger of a broken relationship, it is the the guilt over a personal failure. It is something that needs forgiveness. Spend a few minutes getting really clear about what is in the package. And then take your hands off of it. Let it go. Imagine that instead of weighing heavily upon you, it begins to rise, like a balloon, and all you hold is the string. What if it flies away? What will that mean for you? Talk to Jesus about that. What would be different in your life if you let it go? And then, the two of you decide if you are ready.
Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy burdened, and you will find rest for your souls.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Sermon - Feb. 19th
This is more "note-y" than usual, but here it is.
Mark 2:1-12
“Casting Call”
Casting call - which part do you want to play? Which will you read for? High school drama productions, it was always what we discussed. What part do you want? And I loved it when there were LOTS of parts. (When there were only two or three, I could bet that my very talented and beautiful sister would get one and I would end up on doing Props or Make up.)
Suppose we were going to act this story out. In Wednesday afterschool sunday School, we really are going to act it out. Or at least we’re going to try. When I told the kids we were going to act out the story - immediately a couple of them wanted to be Jesus. For the purposes of this sermon, at least, let’s just say that that part has been taken. None of us is Jesus. And isn’t that a relief?
This story has lots of big, juicy parts. Which part is the one you want to play?
Let’s look at the AVAILABLE parts:
We have many parts for extras. Those who came to hear Jesus speaking the Word. These folks crowded around Jesus, filled up the house where he was, and the doorways, and sat in the windows. They came to see what all the fuss was about and to hear what this man, who had grown up in the neighborhood, had to say. Is this a part that almost any of us could play convincingly. We are curious about this Christ. We’d be interested in giving him a hearing. We’d walk across the street to see what all the commotion is about. Who wouldn’t?
But there’s more to this part. Do you have the elbows and the death stare to play it? You see these folks got a good seat at the show, and they didn’t care about much but enjoying the Jesus’ performance. They got there first, after all. They had a right to be there. So when the next characters enter the scene, they feel called to hold their position. They don’t let the latecomers, the newcomers get in.
I was once at a sale. A really good, going out of business sale. At a really good shop in Topeka Kansas. The last day of the sale everything was going to be 90% off, and my friend Jim Buskirk and I met there about 7 oclock. We weren’t the first. But we were in pretty good position. And we were prepared to wait, which we did. We had our coffee. We had each other’s company. Gradually, lots of others joined us. The store was going to open at 8. And about 7:55, clear at the back of the crowd, and woman’s voice rang out. Excuse me! Excuse me! My dad is up there. I need to get to my dad. Daddy! Here I am. She was pushing and shoving her way to the front of the line. Jim and I looked at each other and instantly linked elbows.
We would have been right at home in Capernaum, surrounding Jesus and protecting our place in his presence.
Do you want to play that part in the story? Do you want to be part of the crowd that protects its place, even though it requires keeping others away from Jesus? Well - maybe in some sort of play. But it’s an attractive part for members in churches around the world - part of the crowd. gate keepers One problem that some churches have is that they’ve got a lot of these crowd members. Some think a certain pew belongs to them. Or a certain ministry is their exclusive domain. But I hope that none of us, when we stop to think of it, will want to play that part in real life!
But don’t worry - there are other parts.
The heroes of the story are the four friends who, at great personal cost and trouble, bring their buddy and place him before Christ. Now I want you to realize - these aren’t speaking roles. And they are very demanding.
This is an example of ensemble acting. I’ve always pictured it as four men, four guys who take life by the horns and “get ‘er done!” But it could be women, too. Or a couple of couples. Could you play this part? Do you relish a challenge? Do you have a big heart? Are you as stubborn as the day is long? Because the part is not an easy one. You can throw your back out, sometimes, bringing folks to Jesus. But these guys were persistent, too. They see that the door is blocked. They can’t get through the usual way, but do they give up? No! They haul the mat and the man up the flight a stairs, and proceed to dig through the roof of the house in order to put their friend before Jesus. They wouldn’t rest and they wouldn’t give up bringing their friend to Jesus.
This is a part of the story that I pray we will all learn and act out in our real lives. Bringing people who need healing and forgiveness into Christ’s presence.
One way - I’ll admit it, the FIRST way a preacher thinks about - is to invite them to church. To put them in physical proximity to a community where Christ lives. Just invite them to be where the church is - at worship, in fellowship, in mission. And inviting once is rarely enough. Rarely. You have to offer over and over, and in the mean time, you can carry them to God in prayer, over and over and over again. Just bring them into Christ’s presence and have faith that He will do his Saving Thing.
It’s a far better part - though more difficult - than the part of the scribes in this little drama. These are the guys that have been listening to the goings on and choose to criticize what is happening. The script says, “They began to discuss in their hearts and then whisper to each other, “What’s going on here?”
In real life, there are always people who play this part. I have a pastor friend who gets an email every Monday morning, letting him know what he did wrong in the service on Sunday. Every Monday morning. He didn’t say the prayer right. The hymn selection stunk. He forgot to announce the page number for the Bible reading. Something. I am so thankful that I don’t have such diligent scribes in this congregation. Cause every Sunday, I know I make mistakes! And I don’t mind hearing about them, every once in a while. Maybe that is better than having folks whispering amongst themselves. But I have to wonder, is that really the role that anyone wants to play? The critic? I hope not.
There is one other part you might consider: the part of the paralytic man who finds himself gathered up, strapped in his stretcher, lowered through the roof and set down in front of Jesus. There are times in every life when we need to play this part. When we need someone to do this for us, put us right in front of Jesus’ face, where he can look us in the eye and we can look up from the floor where we are lying and see that glorious face, and let him do what he needs to do to get us up and moving again. Sometimes we need that word of forgiveness. Jesus says, “My child, your sins are forgiven.” For one thing, I love that Jesus called the man, “My child.” There’s something so precious about being reminded that that is how God sees us. This may sound strange, but the guy who used to work at the shop where I took my car called me “Kiddo.” “Hey, Kiddo!” I never missed an oil change on that car, because I so loved to hear that greeting. It made me feel like part of the family, and not the part that had to figure things out and fix them. Someone else was in charge. Kiddo. The guy at the Nissan place now calls me “Ma’am.” It’s not the same.
Last week someone said to me, “You’re a good kid. It’s going to be all right.” That’s what Jesus said to the man on the mat. Kiddo, you are forgiven.
We have no idea what “sins” that man had weighing him down. But we know what it is like to be so burdened with guilt and regret that we can’t go on. To have a past mistake always playing itself out in our minds and hearts, keeping us from moving into the future God has planned for us. Sometimes we need to be that man who is forgiven.
And wonderful are the times when the forgiveness is followed by healing! Maybe you wonder, like I do, why Jesus forgives before he heals this character. One possibility is that by forgiving and then healing, Jesus is attempting to break through people’s natural but WRONG tendency to connect sin with physical sickness, or financial poverty. Back then, this connection was especially strong. People thought that if someone was sick, or disabled, it was because they were being punished by God for doing something wrong. Remember at one point when Jesus and the disciples encounter a blind man and the disciples ask, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
And Jesus said, “Neither.” We aren’t quite that cruel these days, but there is still a tendency to put all the responsibility for some crippling situations on the one who is crippled by them. If people are poor - they must be lazy. If kids don’t read well, the parents are unfit. If there is a car crash, somebody must have been drinking. I don’t know why that makes us feel better. Because things are usually much more complicated than that. So Jesus forgives the man first. So that the people don’t think that his problems are God’s punishment. That’s a possibility, at least.
But, wonderfully for the man - and for his friends who drug him there and whose arms were probably too tired to drag him back home, Jesus also heals the man, telling him, “Get up! Take up your bed and walk.” The story isn’t complete until the person who is healed is able to stand on his own and move out into the world as a living testimony to God’s love and power and grace. Mark says, “It blew people’s minds when they saw it!”
So do you have it in you to play that part? To get up, roll up the mat you came in on, and walk out into the world to demonstrate what Jesus can do? Is that the part for you?
That’s the part I want. That’s the part I want for all of us.
Mark 2:1-12
“Casting Call”
Casting call - which part do you want to play? Which will you read for? High school drama productions, it was always what we discussed. What part do you want? And I loved it when there were LOTS of parts. (When there were only two or three, I could bet that my very talented and beautiful sister would get one and I would end up on doing Props or Make up.)
Suppose we were going to act this story out. In Wednesday afterschool sunday School, we really are going to act it out. Or at least we’re going to try. When I told the kids we were going to act out the story - immediately a couple of them wanted to be Jesus. For the purposes of this sermon, at least, let’s just say that that part has been taken. None of us is Jesus. And isn’t that a relief?
This story has lots of big, juicy parts. Which part is the one you want to play?
Let’s look at the AVAILABLE parts:
We have many parts for extras. Those who came to hear Jesus speaking the Word. These folks crowded around Jesus, filled up the house where he was, and the doorways, and sat in the windows. They came to see what all the fuss was about and to hear what this man, who had grown up in the neighborhood, had to say. Is this a part that almost any of us could play convincingly. We are curious about this Christ. We’d be interested in giving him a hearing. We’d walk across the street to see what all the commotion is about. Who wouldn’t?
But there’s more to this part. Do you have the elbows and the death stare to play it? You see these folks got a good seat at the show, and they didn’t care about much but enjoying the Jesus’ performance. They got there first, after all. They had a right to be there. So when the next characters enter the scene, they feel called to hold their position. They don’t let the latecomers, the newcomers get in.
I was once at a sale. A really good, going out of business sale. At a really good shop in Topeka Kansas. The last day of the sale everything was going to be 90% off, and my friend Jim Buskirk and I met there about 7 oclock. We weren’t the first. But we were in pretty good position. And we were prepared to wait, which we did. We had our coffee. We had each other’s company. Gradually, lots of others joined us. The store was going to open at 8. And about 7:55, clear at the back of the crowd, and woman’s voice rang out. Excuse me! Excuse me! My dad is up there. I need to get to my dad. Daddy! Here I am. She was pushing and shoving her way to the front of the line. Jim and I looked at each other and instantly linked elbows.
We would have been right at home in Capernaum, surrounding Jesus and protecting our place in his presence.
Do you want to play that part in the story? Do you want to be part of the crowd that protects its place, even though it requires keeping others away from Jesus? Well - maybe in some sort of play. But it’s an attractive part for members in churches around the world - part of the crowd. gate keepers One problem that some churches have is that they’ve got a lot of these crowd members. Some think a certain pew belongs to them. Or a certain ministry is their exclusive domain. But I hope that none of us, when we stop to think of it, will want to play that part in real life!
But don’t worry - there are other parts.
The heroes of the story are the four friends who, at great personal cost and trouble, bring their buddy and place him before Christ. Now I want you to realize - these aren’t speaking roles. And they are very demanding.
This is an example of ensemble acting. I’ve always pictured it as four men, four guys who take life by the horns and “get ‘er done!” But it could be women, too. Or a couple of couples. Could you play this part? Do you relish a challenge? Do you have a big heart? Are you as stubborn as the day is long? Because the part is not an easy one. You can throw your back out, sometimes, bringing folks to Jesus. But these guys were persistent, too. They see that the door is blocked. They can’t get through the usual way, but do they give up? No! They haul the mat and the man up the flight a stairs, and proceed to dig through the roof of the house in order to put their friend before Jesus. They wouldn’t rest and they wouldn’t give up bringing their friend to Jesus.
This is a part of the story that I pray we will all learn and act out in our real lives. Bringing people who need healing and forgiveness into Christ’s presence.
One way - I’ll admit it, the FIRST way a preacher thinks about - is to invite them to church. To put them in physical proximity to a community where Christ lives. Just invite them to be where the church is - at worship, in fellowship, in mission. And inviting once is rarely enough. Rarely. You have to offer over and over, and in the mean time, you can carry them to God in prayer, over and over and over again. Just bring them into Christ’s presence and have faith that He will do his Saving Thing.
It’s a far better part - though more difficult - than the part of the scribes in this little drama. These are the guys that have been listening to the goings on and choose to criticize what is happening. The script says, “They began to discuss in their hearts and then whisper to each other, “What’s going on here?”
In real life, there are always people who play this part. I have a pastor friend who gets an email every Monday morning, letting him know what he did wrong in the service on Sunday. Every Monday morning. He didn’t say the prayer right. The hymn selection stunk. He forgot to announce the page number for the Bible reading. Something. I am so thankful that I don’t have such diligent scribes in this congregation. Cause every Sunday, I know I make mistakes! And I don’t mind hearing about them, every once in a while. Maybe that is better than having folks whispering amongst themselves. But I have to wonder, is that really the role that anyone wants to play? The critic? I hope not.
There is one other part you might consider: the part of the paralytic man who finds himself gathered up, strapped in his stretcher, lowered through the roof and set down in front of Jesus. There are times in every life when we need to play this part. When we need someone to do this for us, put us right in front of Jesus’ face, where he can look us in the eye and we can look up from the floor where we are lying and see that glorious face, and let him do what he needs to do to get us up and moving again. Sometimes we need that word of forgiveness. Jesus says, “My child, your sins are forgiven.” For one thing, I love that Jesus called the man, “My child.” There’s something so precious about being reminded that that is how God sees us. This may sound strange, but the guy who used to work at the shop where I took my car called me “Kiddo.” “Hey, Kiddo!” I never missed an oil change on that car, because I so loved to hear that greeting. It made me feel like part of the family, and not the part that had to figure things out and fix them. Someone else was in charge. Kiddo. The guy at the Nissan place now calls me “Ma’am.” It’s not the same.
Last week someone said to me, “You’re a good kid. It’s going to be all right.” That’s what Jesus said to the man on the mat. Kiddo, you are forgiven.
We have no idea what “sins” that man had weighing him down. But we know what it is like to be so burdened with guilt and regret that we can’t go on. To have a past mistake always playing itself out in our minds and hearts, keeping us from moving into the future God has planned for us. Sometimes we need to be that man who is forgiven.
And wonderful are the times when the forgiveness is followed by healing! Maybe you wonder, like I do, why Jesus forgives before he heals this character. One possibility is that by forgiving and then healing, Jesus is attempting to break through people’s natural but WRONG tendency to connect sin with physical sickness, or financial poverty. Back then, this connection was especially strong. People thought that if someone was sick, or disabled, it was because they were being punished by God for doing something wrong. Remember at one point when Jesus and the disciples encounter a blind man and the disciples ask, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
And Jesus said, “Neither.” We aren’t quite that cruel these days, but there is still a tendency to put all the responsibility for some crippling situations on the one who is crippled by them. If people are poor - they must be lazy. If kids don’t read well, the parents are unfit. If there is a car crash, somebody must have been drinking. I don’t know why that makes us feel better. Because things are usually much more complicated than that. So Jesus forgives the man first. So that the people don’t think that his problems are God’s punishment. That’s a possibility, at least.
But, wonderfully for the man - and for his friends who drug him there and whose arms were probably too tired to drag him back home, Jesus also heals the man, telling him, “Get up! Take up your bed and walk.” The story isn’t complete until the person who is healed is able to stand on his own and move out into the world as a living testimony to God’s love and power and grace. Mark says, “It blew people’s minds when they saw it!”
So do you have it in you to play that part? To get up, roll up the mat you came in on, and walk out into the world to demonstrate what Jesus can do? Is that the part for you?
That’s the part I want. That’s the part I want for all of us.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
The Lifted Life - Sermon Feb. 5
Scripture: Mark 1:29-39
Isaiah 40: 21-31
Need a lift? I don’t mean a ride to the post office, but a lift for your spirits? A little wind beneath your wings? During these mostly grey, often damp and cold days of winter, I’ll admit that sometimes my spirits lag just a bit. So the words that shone out at me from the scripture lessons for this week were those beautiful words of promise - Those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall rise up with wings like eagles. They shall walk and not be weary, they shall run and not faint.
And then the Gospel story of Jesus coming right into the humble house of Peter’s mother in law, who had been laid low by a fever. Immediately. Mark’s favorite transition - IMMEDiately - they told Jesus about her and he went to her, took her hand and lifted her up.
What a great story for us to hold in our hearts as we walk through these mid-winter days.
Jesus took her by the hand and LIFTED HER UP! It’s better than that - this is the same word that is used by this Gospel writer about Jesus himself on Easter morning. He has been raised - lifted up. So Jesus is raising up this weary and fever worn person and lifting her into New Life!
How do we get lifted up? How does Jesus take our hands and raise our spirits - raise our lives to that next level? Well, the Spirit that lifts us and makes us soar is renewed in three different ways:
The first way of renewal is service to others -
Service
This isn’t “passed around the sandwiches and beers”. This is the same word Jesus uses to describe His own life’s purpose - “I have come not to be served, but to serve”. This is the measure of greatness Jesus holds out for his followers of every age - “The greatest of you must become the servant of all.” This is the challenge and the hope Martin Luther King captured when he said, “Any body can be great. Because any body can serve.”
How do you serve? It can be huge - giving up her job and possessions to help homeless people find homes. Or it can seem small - giving a few hours to cut homeless men’s hair. But it cannot BE small - because it is doing what we have been raised up by God to do. And at every stage of the Christian life, it is vital that we recognize and embrace the service we do. Hazel Mumm died this week. She was 104 years old and about as big as my right arm. She used to live across the street, but for the last 10 years or so she’s lived in the nursing home. By the time she got to 100, she was beginning to wonder about how long this show was going to go on. But she’d say, “As long as God gives me, I’m going to do what I can to help out.” She brought her bedridden hall mates water. She prayed - out loud- for the sick. She told the dying that there was nothing to fear, that God would take them home. And she just kept breathing. The last time I saw her was at the Philo Tavern. Her children were taking her out for lunch and she was drinking a beer. And she told me I should have one, too. That woman knew how to serve.
To be Lifted Up by Jesus is to be lifted up to a lifetime of service - whether that lifetime is 104 years or considerably less than that. One of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of our lives can be recognizing and fulfilling our call to service.
Two _ Lifted up for prayer.
Jesus was serving - healing diseases, casting out demons - and he slipped away. To pray. He raised himself up out of bed and headed out to some where where he could be alone with God. A life that soars like an eagle has to be balanced. It can’t be constant activity. There has to be time spent in quiet with God. Watch the soaring birds - they aren’t flapping flapping flapping all the time. The “eagles” of Isaiah’s poetry were big birds that perched on the edge of the rocky cliffs overlooking valleys, spread their wings and waited for the warm air to lift them and carry them aloft. Think of prayer as spreading your wings and waiting on the Lord.
And prayer is one of those things, those habits of the heart, that need renewal at times. Lent is an opportunity that the community of faith gives to each other to attend to this important element of our spiritual lives.
This Lent you are invited to undertake 40 days of renewal in prayer. I ordered a few copies of a book I think we’ll find encouraging - called “Praying with my Pen”. If you would like one, please let me know.
For Jesus, communion with God in prayer refocussed and renewed his spirit. It does the same for us. This week a friend shared a meditation by Mary Oliver that captures the experience of prayer in a somewhat unexpected way:
The Summer Day
Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean- the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention,
how to fall down
into the grass,
how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed,
how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
The third way of renewal and lifting up that the Gospel writer points us toward is to seek out new places and new people and new ways to share the message of Christ.
The disciples come to find Jesus, and they want to take him back to the scene of his recent triumph, and, incidentally, their home and the place they are most comfortable. One way that God renews his people is by taking us beyond our comfort zone and out into the wider world. That is certainly true for churches. We tend to think of this group and this place as our church home. And it is wonderful to share Christ here. But we are also called to go OUT and share God’s message of grace and love more widely. Jesus doesn’t suggest it. Jesus commands it.
Yesterday the Outreach Committee of this congregation met to outline plans for reaching out for the year ahead. They planned three events to reach new people with Christ’s love. And one continuing emphasis - for each one of us to invite one new person to participate in our life in the coming year. I’m going to be asking you this year - who have YOU told about what God is doing here? Who have you included in the Kingdom Life of this congregation?
Renewal and lifting up of the church happens when we have the courage to step out of our routine and into the outward and upward call of Christ.
The Good News of Jesus Christ is moving and active in this world.
The Spirit is still lifting up those who are weary and burdened by living. God is still strengthening us, individually and as a church body to walk and not be weary, to run and not faint.
Jesus is still taking us by the hand and lifting us up - in service, in prayer and in outreach.
As we come to the Table this morning, as we lift our hearts to God, the question we might ask ourselves is, this week -
How will we live the lifted life?
Isaiah 40: 21-31
Need a lift? I don’t mean a ride to the post office, but a lift for your spirits? A little wind beneath your wings? During these mostly grey, often damp and cold days of winter, I’ll admit that sometimes my spirits lag just a bit. So the words that shone out at me from the scripture lessons for this week were those beautiful words of promise - Those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall rise up with wings like eagles. They shall walk and not be weary, they shall run and not faint.
And then the Gospel story of Jesus coming right into the humble house of Peter’s mother in law, who had been laid low by a fever. Immediately. Mark’s favorite transition - IMMEDiately - they told Jesus about her and he went to her, took her hand and lifted her up.
What a great story for us to hold in our hearts as we walk through these mid-winter days.
Jesus took her by the hand and LIFTED HER UP! It’s better than that - this is the same word that is used by this Gospel writer about Jesus himself on Easter morning. He has been raised - lifted up. So Jesus is raising up this weary and fever worn person and lifting her into New Life!
How do we get lifted up? How does Jesus take our hands and raise our spirits - raise our lives to that next level? Well, the Spirit that lifts us and makes us soar is renewed in three different ways:
The first way of renewal is service to others -
Service
This isn’t “passed around the sandwiches and beers”. This is the same word Jesus uses to describe His own life’s purpose - “I have come not to be served, but to serve”. This is the measure of greatness Jesus holds out for his followers of every age - “The greatest of you must become the servant of all.” This is the challenge and the hope Martin Luther King captured when he said, “Any body can be great. Because any body can serve.”
How do you serve? It can be huge - giving up her job and possessions to help homeless people find homes. Or it can seem small - giving a few hours to cut homeless men’s hair. But it cannot BE small - because it is doing what we have been raised up by God to do. And at every stage of the Christian life, it is vital that we recognize and embrace the service we do. Hazel Mumm died this week. She was 104 years old and about as big as my right arm. She used to live across the street, but for the last 10 years or so she’s lived in the nursing home. By the time she got to 100, she was beginning to wonder about how long this show was going to go on. But she’d say, “As long as God gives me, I’m going to do what I can to help out.” She brought her bedridden hall mates water. She prayed - out loud- for the sick. She told the dying that there was nothing to fear, that God would take them home. And she just kept breathing. The last time I saw her was at the Philo Tavern. Her children were taking her out for lunch and she was drinking a beer. And she told me I should have one, too. That woman knew how to serve.
To be Lifted Up by Jesus is to be lifted up to a lifetime of service - whether that lifetime is 104 years or considerably less than that. One of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of our lives can be recognizing and fulfilling our call to service.
Two _ Lifted up for prayer.
Jesus was serving - healing diseases, casting out demons - and he slipped away. To pray. He raised himself up out of bed and headed out to some where where he could be alone with God. A life that soars like an eagle has to be balanced. It can’t be constant activity. There has to be time spent in quiet with God. Watch the soaring birds - they aren’t flapping flapping flapping all the time. The “eagles” of Isaiah’s poetry were big birds that perched on the edge of the rocky cliffs overlooking valleys, spread their wings and waited for the warm air to lift them and carry them aloft. Think of prayer as spreading your wings and waiting on the Lord.
And prayer is one of those things, those habits of the heart, that need renewal at times. Lent is an opportunity that the community of faith gives to each other to attend to this important element of our spiritual lives.
This Lent you are invited to undertake 40 days of renewal in prayer. I ordered a few copies of a book I think we’ll find encouraging - called “Praying with my Pen”. If you would like one, please let me know.
For Jesus, communion with God in prayer refocussed and renewed his spirit. It does the same for us. This week a friend shared a meditation by Mary Oliver that captures the experience of prayer in a somewhat unexpected way:
The Summer Day
Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean- the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention,
how to fall down
into the grass,
how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed,
how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
The third way of renewal and lifting up that the Gospel writer points us toward is to seek out new places and new people and new ways to share the message of Christ.
The disciples come to find Jesus, and they want to take him back to the scene of his recent triumph, and, incidentally, their home and the place they are most comfortable. One way that God renews his people is by taking us beyond our comfort zone and out into the wider world. That is certainly true for churches. We tend to think of this group and this place as our church home. And it is wonderful to share Christ here. But we are also called to go OUT and share God’s message of grace and love more widely. Jesus doesn’t suggest it. Jesus commands it.
Yesterday the Outreach Committee of this congregation met to outline plans for reaching out for the year ahead. They planned three events to reach new people with Christ’s love. And one continuing emphasis - for each one of us to invite one new person to participate in our life in the coming year. I’m going to be asking you this year - who have YOU told about what God is doing here? Who have you included in the Kingdom Life of this congregation?
Renewal and lifting up of the church happens when we have the courage to step out of our routine and into the outward and upward call of Christ.
The Good News of Jesus Christ is moving and active in this world.
The Spirit is still lifting up those who are weary and burdened by living. God is still strengthening us, individually and as a church body to walk and not be weary, to run and not faint.
Jesus is still taking us by the hand and lifting us up - in service, in prayer and in outreach.
As we come to the Table this morning, as we lift our hearts to God, the question we might ask ourselves is, this week -
How will we live the lifted life?
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Epiphany Sermon/Story
Dream of a Different Way
by Cindy Shepherd
Matthew and I love dreams. I, too, believe that God sometimes uses our dreams to comfort and to guide us. This story is my attempt to imagine what the wise men dreamed which changed their plans after they saw and worshipped the Christ Child.
“Having had a dream . . . they returned by a different way.”
As he settled into bed after seeing the little king, Casper’s mind reviewed their journey. He was glad he had suggested they come. All three of the wise men had seen the star. All three had consulted their ancient book of heavenly wisdom. They had all agreed on the importance of the new king. But it was Casper who initiated the trip. It was Casper who had said, “Let’s go!”
His enthusiasm for the journey sprang from several motives: He wanted to take an active part in history-in-the-making. He craved adventure and enjoyed the fellowship of his friends, Balthazar and Melchoir. But, perhaps most important of all, Casper was anxious to get away from home.
To tell the truth, he had just had another disappointment from his parents. You see, Casper was at the stage in life when he felt ready to take a wife. He was about forty. Perhaps he had been ready for a few years. The trouble was that in the entire province, not one suitable woman could be found.
As he looked back, he realized that his parents had been finding faults and making excuses for years. His mother’s voice rang in his ears:
“This one has no social standing.”
“That girl’s dowry isn’t large enough.”
“She’s too mousy.”
“She’s too loud.”
Now, whenever Casper so much as noticed a woman, he heard the voice: “Casper, She won’t do! . . . “ It had happened again today, as the innkeeper’s lovely daughter held the door of the stable open for him. She was of marriageable age - strong, with beautiful eyes - and (his mother’s voice) “Casper! A foreigner?! You’ve got to be kidding, honey!”
Casper shook the voice out of his head and closed his eyes to sleep. And to dream.
In his dream, Capser found himself once again in the stable. Again, there was the beautiful baby, lying in a manger of hay. In his dream, the innkeeper’s daughter stood beside the quiet baby and she beckoned to Casper. He wnet to her, put his arm around her and, together, they gazed down at - Yes! It was THEIR sleeping infant. Casper’s heart was warm and filled with love.
And then he heard a voice - but NOT his mother’s voice - say, “Casper, don’t go back to Herod tomorrow. Stay here in Bethlehem and see what will be.”
And when Caper awoke the next morning, he remembered the dream.
Melchior, like Casper, had been glad to make the long trip to Bethlehem. He enjoyed the privilege of worshipping the newborn king. It was especially gratifying to be able to offer the gift of a treasure box of gold. The parents clearly needed the help. It made him feel good to do things like that - to use the wealth his high-status job earned him to do good.
When he knew he was doing good while he was doing well, Melchior’s conscience didn’t hurt him quite so badly. But he noticed that, lately, the moments when his staus gave him pleasure were getting few and farther between. He simply could not settle in and enjoy his position. Because he knew he didn’t deserve the prestige, the money . . . the job.
Melchior had a shameful secret, one he couldn’t bring himself to share, even with the other wisemen: His family had two sons and only enough money to send ONE to astrologer school. So the boys agreed that whoever scored highest on the S.A.T. - the Stargazer’s Aptitude Test - would get the truition. Melchior’s secret was that, when they took the test, he had cheated. He cheated his brother out of the chance to go to astrologer academy. Not Melchior was a hot shot wiseman, and his brother was a pots and pans dealer back in Syria. Melchior felt awful. He was a lout. He was a fraud. He was a dirty rotten cheater.
He had to quit thinking like that! Or he’d never get to sleep, and he and his friends had a long trip ahead of them. He told himself, “I’ve got to think of something positive. I’ll think of giving the gold to the baby.”
He closed his eyes to sleep. And to dream.
The stable door opened and Melchior staggered inside. There, across the straw strewn floor, was the rustic holy family. Mary. Joseph. The Child. Melchior advanced toward them, carrying his huge box of treasure. It was SO HEAVY!
The box seemed to have grown from the size of a shoe box to that of a coffin. Melchior could hardly carry it! What was going on? As he approached the child, it dawned on him. This box had no gold in it. It was filled with test papers, and cast iron pots and pans, and his poor brother. It was an entire box filled with Melchior’s shame and guilt. What an awful thing to give a baby! He needed to put it down. But he couldn’t.
Closer and closer his unwilling feet carried him to the manger, until the baby reached out a tiny, pudgy hand and took the hideous box from Melchior’s exhausted arms. It seemed no more than a rattle to him. The baby shook it, laughed and threw it to the corner of the stable. All the burden was gone.!
Then Melchior heard a voice, “Don’t go back to Herod. Go to your brother and make this thing right between you.”
And when he awoke, Melchior remembered his dream.
Balthazar had no trouble falling asleep. Especially when he’d completed an objective. Today, they found the little king of Israel. The star led them all the way. Watching stars came easily to Balthazar. He never had to work too hard, or study very much. And he made a lot of money. Even when you spent as much as he had recently on camels and myrrh, it was still a good living. Which was why, years ago, Balthazar decided to become an astrologer in the first place. It had surprised a few people. Everyone seemed to think he would become a musician. His aunt told him, “A voice like yours is a gift! You should sing! sing! sing!” But rather than study music, Balthazar had opted for the security of a professional career. Had he made the right choice? It seemed to have woked out, but Balthazar didn’t know.
He yawned and drifted off to sleep. And to dream.
The stable door opened and Balthazar slipped inside. What was that awful sound? WAAAAAAHHHH ! It was the baby. Crying. WaaaaAAAAAH!
Balthazar looked around. There was no one else there. No mother. No father. No servant. Nobody. So Balthazar scooped the red-faced infant into his arms and began to walk and to sing:
“Hush little baaby, don’t say a work. . . “ the crying slowed.
“Papa’s gonna buy you a mockingbird . . . “ The baby relaxed.
“If that mockingbird don’t sing. . . “ The newborn king’s eyelids drooped and closed.
He was sleeping in Balthazar’s arms, when Balthazar heard, “Don’t go back to Herod. You belong in a place I will show you.”
When he woke up, Balthazar remembered the dream.
As the three wise men packed their camels the next morning, they were strangely quiet.
Each one seemed to be in a spell cast by his cream. As the innkeeper’s daughter passed them in the stable yard, Casper was the first to break the silence. “Friends,” he announced, “I hope you won’t mind going on without me. The two of you can go back to Herod, can’t you? I believe I have some business here in Bethlehem.”
Balthazar readily agreed that Casper should stay.
Then Melchior, looking anxious, chimed in, “This is awkward because, you see, I too was hoping to be relieved from our responsibility to Herod on the trip back. I need to return directly to my home and straighten out some business with my brother. It is rather urgent, and I need to leave immediately.”
Balthazar was unfazed. “There is still no problem! I don’t mind traveling alone!”
The three bid one another ”God speed” and went their separate ways. Balthazar alone traveled the road back to Herod’s Jerusalem palace. But, before he got there, Balthazar saw an arrow shaped signpost by the side of the road:
“Red Sea School of Music - 10 M >”
Balthazar pulled on the reins and stopped his camel. A snippet of the dream came to his lips. “If that mockingbird don’t sing . . .” He sighed “Herod will simply have to understand.”
And he turned his camel and headed down a different road.
“And having a dream - they returned by a different way.”
Having met and worshiped the Christ, what do you dream?
This New Year, will your dreams lead you in a different way?
by Cindy Shepherd
Matthew and I love dreams. I, too, believe that God sometimes uses our dreams to comfort and to guide us. This story is my attempt to imagine what the wise men dreamed which changed their plans after they saw and worshipped the Christ Child.
“Having had a dream . . . they returned by a different way.”
As he settled into bed after seeing the little king, Casper’s mind reviewed their journey. He was glad he had suggested they come. All three of the wise men had seen the star. All three had consulted their ancient book of heavenly wisdom. They had all agreed on the importance of the new king. But it was Casper who initiated the trip. It was Casper who had said, “Let’s go!”
His enthusiasm for the journey sprang from several motives: He wanted to take an active part in history-in-the-making. He craved adventure and enjoyed the fellowship of his friends, Balthazar and Melchoir. But, perhaps most important of all, Casper was anxious to get away from home.
To tell the truth, he had just had another disappointment from his parents. You see, Casper was at the stage in life when he felt ready to take a wife. He was about forty. Perhaps he had been ready for a few years. The trouble was that in the entire province, not one suitable woman could be found.
As he looked back, he realized that his parents had been finding faults and making excuses for years. His mother’s voice rang in his ears:
“This one has no social standing.”
“That girl’s dowry isn’t large enough.”
“She’s too mousy.”
“She’s too loud.”
Now, whenever Casper so much as noticed a woman, he heard the voice: “Casper, She won’t do! . . . “ It had happened again today, as the innkeeper’s lovely daughter held the door of the stable open for him. She was of marriageable age - strong, with beautiful eyes - and (his mother’s voice) “Casper! A foreigner?! You’ve got to be kidding, honey!”
Casper shook the voice out of his head and closed his eyes to sleep. And to dream.
In his dream, Capser found himself once again in the stable. Again, there was the beautiful baby, lying in a manger of hay. In his dream, the innkeeper’s daughter stood beside the quiet baby and she beckoned to Casper. He wnet to her, put his arm around her and, together, they gazed down at - Yes! It was THEIR sleeping infant. Casper’s heart was warm and filled with love.
And then he heard a voice - but NOT his mother’s voice - say, “Casper, don’t go back to Herod tomorrow. Stay here in Bethlehem and see what will be.”
And when Caper awoke the next morning, he remembered the dream.
Melchior, like Casper, had been glad to make the long trip to Bethlehem. He enjoyed the privilege of worshipping the newborn king. It was especially gratifying to be able to offer the gift of a treasure box of gold. The parents clearly needed the help. It made him feel good to do things like that - to use the wealth his high-status job earned him to do good.
When he knew he was doing good while he was doing well, Melchior’s conscience didn’t hurt him quite so badly. But he noticed that, lately, the moments when his staus gave him pleasure were getting few and farther between. He simply could not settle in and enjoy his position. Because he knew he didn’t deserve the prestige, the money . . . the job.
Melchior had a shameful secret, one he couldn’t bring himself to share, even with the other wisemen: His family had two sons and only enough money to send ONE to astrologer school. So the boys agreed that whoever scored highest on the S.A.T. - the Stargazer’s Aptitude Test - would get the truition. Melchior’s secret was that, when they took the test, he had cheated. He cheated his brother out of the chance to go to astrologer academy. Not Melchior was a hot shot wiseman, and his brother was a pots and pans dealer back in Syria. Melchior felt awful. He was a lout. He was a fraud. He was a dirty rotten cheater.
He had to quit thinking like that! Or he’d never get to sleep, and he and his friends had a long trip ahead of them. He told himself, “I’ve got to think of something positive. I’ll think of giving the gold to the baby.”
He closed his eyes to sleep. And to dream.
The stable door opened and Melchior staggered inside. There, across the straw strewn floor, was the rustic holy family. Mary. Joseph. The Child. Melchior advanced toward them, carrying his huge box of treasure. It was SO HEAVY!
The box seemed to have grown from the size of a shoe box to that of a coffin. Melchior could hardly carry it! What was going on? As he approached the child, it dawned on him. This box had no gold in it. It was filled with test papers, and cast iron pots and pans, and his poor brother. It was an entire box filled with Melchior’s shame and guilt. What an awful thing to give a baby! He needed to put it down. But he couldn’t.
Closer and closer his unwilling feet carried him to the manger, until the baby reached out a tiny, pudgy hand and took the hideous box from Melchior’s exhausted arms. It seemed no more than a rattle to him. The baby shook it, laughed and threw it to the corner of the stable. All the burden was gone.!
Then Melchior heard a voice, “Don’t go back to Herod. Go to your brother and make this thing right between you.”
And when he awoke, Melchior remembered his dream.
Balthazar had no trouble falling asleep. Especially when he’d completed an objective. Today, they found the little king of Israel. The star led them all the way. Watching stars came easily to Balthazar. He never had to work too hard, or study very much. And he made a lot of money. Even when you spent as much as he had recently on camels and myrrh, it was still a good living. Which was why, years ago, Balthazar decided to become an astrologer in the first place. It had surprised a few people. Everyone seemed to think he would become a musician. His aunt told him, “A voice like yours is a gift! You should sing! sing! sing!” But rather than study music, Balthazar had opted for the security of a professional career. Had he made the right choice? It seemed to have woked out, but Balthazar didn’t know.
He yawned and drifted off to sleep. And to dream.
The stable door opened and Balthazar slipped inside. What was that awful sound? WAAAAAAHHHH ! It was the baby. Crying. WaaaaAAAAAH!
Balthazar looked around. There was no one else there. No mother. No father. No servant. Nobody. So Balthazar scooped the red-faced infant into his arms and began to walk and to sing:
“Hush little baaby, don’t say a work. . . “ the crying slowed.
“Papa’s gonna buy you a mockingbird . . . “ The baby relaxed.
“If that mockingbird don’t sing. . . “ The newborn king’s eyelids drooped and closed.
He was sleeping in Balthazar’s arms, when Balthazar heard, “Don’t go back to Herod. You belong in a place I will show you.”
When he woke up, Balthazar remembered the dream.
As the three wise men packed their camels the next morning, they were strangely quiet.
Each one seemed to be in a spell cast by his cream. As the innkeeper’s daughter passed them in the stable yard, Casper was the first to break the silence. “Friends,” he announced, “I hope you won’t mind going on without me. The two of you can go back to Herod, can’t you? I believe I have some business here in Bethlehem.”
Balthazar readily agreed that Casper should stay.
Then Melchior, looking anxious, chimed in, “This is awkward because, you see, I too was hoping to be relieved from our responsibility to Herod on the trip back. I need to return directly to my home and straighten out some business with my brother. It is rather urgent, and I need to leave immediately.”
Balthazar was unfazed. “There is still no problem! I don’t mind traveling alone!”
The three bid one another ”God speed” and went their separate ways. Balthazar alone traveled the road back to Herod’s Jerusalem palace. But, before he got there, Balthazar saw an arrow shaped signpost by the side of the road:
“Red Sea School of Music - 10 M >”
Balthazar pulled on the reins and stopped his camel. A snippet of the dream came to his lips. “If that mockingbird don’t sing . . .” He sighed “Herod will simply have to understand.”
And he turned his camel and headed down a different road.
“And having a dream - they returned by a different way.”
Having met and worshiped the Christ, what do you dream?
This New Year, will your dreams lead you in a different way?
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Heaven Can't Wait for Hope
Advent #1 - Hope Can’t Wait
Isaiah 64, Mark 1, 13
Advent is a time of waiting. And if there is anything that is harder to do than wait, it is to wait in the dark. Nights are so long. the sun goes down at 4: 32 and doesn’t show it’s bright little face until 6:50 in the morning. Add to that the fact that the short days we do have this time of year are often overcast with thick clouds.
The darkness isn’t just meterological, is it? Did you read the paper yesterday? On Black Friday (see - dark) there was incident after incident of bad behavior on the part of bargain hunters. People trampled, robbed, pepper sprayed by PS3 video game seekers. Yeah, take that! Christmas Spirit!
And, the stories that weren’t about bad behavior were about people who had sacrificed Thanksgiving dinner with their families in order to stand on line to get into a temple of consumerism - like Walmart or Best Buy or the mall.
It’s pretty gloom and doom out there in the big cold world. Economic uncertainty. Political unrest. Social polarization. Environmental disasters. It’s a dark time on planet Earth.
If we pay any attention at all, it is easy for our hearts to resonate with the words of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, who cried out this prayer: “O Lord! Would that you would tear open the heavens and COME DOWN!”
It’s easy to think of God sitting up, beyond the clouds, in majesty and glory upon His throne. And what we need is for Him to rip a hole in the clouds, and descend with power and might to remake the world one more time. If God would do that he would set things right! He’d teach those nasty shoppers a lesson. He’d shine a light on the rats and roaches that are ruining our country and our world. He’d rescue the little guys, upside down in their mortgages, and put to work the restless, purposeless young people who see no future for themselves. O! Would that you would tear open the heavens and come down!
That isn’t our Advent hope, though. Not because it couldn’t happen. But because it has already happened - God has already torn open the heavens and come down. The very first section of the very first account of Jesus’ life - the Gospel of Mark - uses that very image to describe the inauguration of Jesus’ ministry: He says that the heaven were torn open - literally ripped - like a cloth, and God’s Spirit descended on the Christ.
The Gospel of Luke traces the rip in the heavens all the way back to the night of Jesus’ birth, when the skies over the shepherds opened and the good news of great joy was announced by a heavenly choir.
God ripped open the heavens and came down in the person of Jesus Christ. Since that happened, hope has changed. What he did, how he lived, who he touched, what he said - all of that means that what we hope and wait for is qualitatively different now.
Our hope is deeper and more profound because it is based on the knowledge that God was not content to sit in the heavens and tsk tsk over human suffering and sin. God ripped open the world and entered our darkness whole heartedly, taking on all our limitations and pains and problems. God couldn’t wait for conditions to be right, or the world to be a promising place. He couldn’t wait until everyone and everything was ready. He jumped right in, in a surprising place, and at a surprising time.
I think that is one of the reasons Jesus, when he is talking about the future of the world, says that God’s coming is when the sun is dark and the moon has lost it’s light and the stars have fallen from the sky. Because God comes when things are dark. When we have lost our ability to see the future, God comes to bring us a bigger and better future than anything we could have imagined.
This is hard to see in the macro world of economics and politics. I’m not at all comfortable naming this development or that one as a sure sign of God’s future working itself out among us. It is too soon to say if our country will become a better one because of these difficult days. I’m not sure what is going to come out of the European debt crisis or the popular uprisings in the Middle East. Something better? I hope so. But I don’t know about that.
But I do know that it is sometimes, often, the darkest areas of a person’s life are precisely the place where God’s tears into our lives to re ignite hope and open a future.
It’s not just that we hope that God comes down from heaven or that at the end of this messy life we get to go up to heaven. It is that somehow the best part of heaven - God - is making us new even here and now, as we wait in the world’s darkness and our own.
This has happened to me. This has happened to many of you. But I want to tell you a story that comes from another community about how God works to bring people in darkness the light. (Shane Claibourne - Irresistable Revolution, p. 183)
This story is about a couple who couldn’t have children. (Kinda like some couples in the Bible.) And about a teenage girl who was having a baby for which she wasn’t prepared. (Kinda like Jesus’ mother.) The couple invited the homeless girl to come and live with them, and after the baby was born, she stayed. The couple helped her raise the baby, while she pursued her dream of going back to school to become a nurse. They have been living together for over a decade now. They are a family. And the baby is a teenager. And there is a heart-wrenching twist to this story, because the older woman in this family is very ill now. But she has a nurse in her home to help take care of her, just as she once took care of the nurse. Out of darkness - there is a profound and beautiful hope.
So - how do we hope given our faith that God has torn open the heavens and come down? Jesus says we hope and wait expectantly. And the best image I’ve come across for that kind of expectation is that it is like being a kid, waiting for a parent to come and pick you up. (Lifted from commentary by a PCUSA prof. at Luther Seminary. textweek.com) After school, a music lesson, soccer practice. You remember that feeling? And sometimes mom or dad was late. Now I guess kids can text to find out where mom is. But back in the day, that wasn’t a possibility. The best we kids could do was to do whatever we could think of to shorten the time and the distance between us. We’d walk to the corner we knew mom would drive around. We’d stand there, leaning out into the street to look for the familiar car. We’d listen for the sound, watch the place it would appear. We’d wait expectantly, not passively, but moving in the direction of the one we hoped to see.
Advent Hope is like that. It is the kind of hope that looks alert for opportunities to move in the direction of Jesus Christ. God couldn’t wait to bring us hope, and we can’t wait to do whatever we can to share that hope with others. We know God is with us when we do. One of the things we do as a congregation is provide opportunities to reflect the light of Christ. This week you’ve already heard about two: The Outreach team’s “Creches and Carols” event is a way for you to invite a friend or neighbor to get to know our community, and sense the love of God. And the Deacons have provided a way for you to feed a hungry family at Christmas time by shopping for food baskets. In our lives, I pray that we will be alert for chances we have to move in God’s direction as we hope this Advent season.
The days may be short. The darkness may be all around us. But as people of God we never lose hope. For, as we’ve been saying for centuries:
Christ has come, Christ is coming, Christ will come again.
Right here, right now - heaven can’t wait for hope.
Isaiah 64, Mark 1, 13
Advent is a time of waiting. And if there is anything that is harder to do than wait, it is to wait in the dark. Nights are so long. the sun goes down at 4: 32 and doesn’t show it’s bright little face until 6:50 in the morning. Add to that the fact that the short days we do have this time of year are often overcast with thick clouds.
The darkness isn’t just meterological, is it? Did you read the paper yesterday? On Black Friday (see - dark) there was incident after incident of bad behavior on the part of bargain hunters. People trampled, robbed, pepper sprayed by PS3 video game seekers. Yeah, take that! Christmas Spirit!
And, the stories that weren’t about bad behavior were about people who had sacrificed Thanksgiving dinner with their families in order to stand on line to get into a temple of consumerism - like Walmart or Best Buy or the mall.
It’s pretty gloom and doom out there in the big cold world. Economic uncertainty. Political unrest. Social polarization. Environmental disasters. It’s a dark time on planet Earth.
If we pay any attention at all, it is easy for our hearts to resonate with the words of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, who cried out this prayer: “O Lord! Would that you would tear open the heavens and COME DOWN!”
It’s easy to think of God sitting up, beyond the clouds, in majesty and glory upon His throne. And what we need is for Him to rip a hole in the clouds, and descend with power and might to remake the world one more time. If God would do that he would set things right! He’d teach those nasty shoppers a lesson. He’d shine a light on the rats and roaches that are ruining our country and our world. He’d rescue the little guys, upside down in their mortgages, and put to work the restless, purposeless young people who see no future for themselves. O! Would that you would tear open the heavens and come down!
That isn’t our Advent hope, though. Not because it couldn’t happen. But because it has already happened - God has already torn open the heavens and come down. The very first section of the very first account of Jesus’ life - the Gospel of Mark - uses that very image to describe the inauguration of Jesus’ ministry: He says that the heaven were torn open - literally ripped - like a cloth, and God’s Spirit descended on the Christ.
The Gospel of Luke traces the rip in the heavens all the way back to the night of Jesus’ birth, when the skies over the shepherds opened and the good news of great joy was announced by a heavenly choir.
God ripped open the heavens and came down in the person of Jesus Christ. Since that happened, hope has changed. What he did, how he lived, who he touched, what he said - all of that means that what we hope and wait for is qualitatively different now.
Our hope is deeper and more profound because it is based on the knowledge that God was not content to sit in the heavens and tsk tsk over human suffering and sin. God ripped open the world and entered our darkness whole heartedly, taking on all our limitations and pains and problems. God couldn’t wait for conditions to be right, or the world to be a promising place. He couldn’t wait until everyone and everything was ready. He jumped right in, in a surprising place, and at a surprising time.
I think that is one of the reasons Jesus, when he is talking about the future of the world, says that God’s coming is when the sun is dark and the moon has lost it’s light and the stars have fallen from the sky. Because God comes when things are dark. When we have lost our ability to see the future, God comes to bring us a bigger and better future than anything we could have imagined.
This is hard to see in the macro world of economics and politics. I’m not at all comfortable naming this development or that one as a sure sign of God’s future working itself out among us. It is too soon to say if our country will become a better one because of these difficult days. I’m not sure what is going to come out of the European debt crisis or the popular uprisings in the Middle East. Something better? I hope so. But I don’t know about that.
But I do know that it is sometimes, often, the darkest areas of a person’s life are precisely the place where God’s tears into our lives to re ignite hope and open a future.
It’s not just that we hope that God comes down from heaven or that at the end of this messy life we get to go up to heaven. It is that somehow the best part of heaven - God - is making us new even here and now, as we wait in the world’s darkness and our own.
This has happened to me. This has happened to many of you. But I want to tell you a story that comes from another community about how God works to bring people in darkness the light. (Shane Claibourne - Irresistable Revolution, p. 183)
This story is about a couple who couldn’t have children. (Kinda like some couples in the Bible.) And about a teenage girl who was having a baby for which she wasn’t prepared. (Kinda like Jesus’ mother.) The couple invited the homeless girl to come and live with them, and after the baby was born, she stayed. The couple helped her raise the baby, while she pursued her dream of going back to school to become a nurse. They have been living together for over a decade now. They are a family. And the baby is a teenager. And there is a heart-wrenching twist to this story, because the older woman in this family is very ill now. But she has a nurse in her home to help take care of her, just as she once took care of the nurse. Out of darkness - there is a profound and beautiful hope.
So - how do we hope given our faith that God has torn open the heavens and come down? Jesus says we hope and wait expectantly. And the best image I’ve come across for that kind of expectation is that it is like being a kid, waiting for a parent to come and pick you up. (Lifted from commentary by a PCUSA prof. at Luther Seminary. textweek.com) After school, a music lesson, soccer practice. You remember that feeling? And sometimes mom or dad was late. Now I guess kids can text to find out where mom is. But back in the day, that wasn’t a possibility. The best we kids could do was to do whatever we could think of to shorten the time and the distance between us. We’d walk to the corner we knew mom would drive around. We’d stand there, leaning out into the street to look for the familiar car. We’d listen for the sound, watch the place it would appear. We’d wait expectantly, not passively, but moving in the direction of the one we hoped to see.
Advent Hope is like that. It is the kind of hope that looks alert for opportunities to move in the direction of Jesus Christ. God couldn’t wait to bring us hope, and we can’t wait to do whatever we can to share that hope with others. We know God is with us when we do. One of the things we do as a congregation is provide opportunities to reflect the light of Christ. This week you’ve already heard about two: The Outreach team’s “Creches and Carols” event is a way for you to invite a friend or neighbor to get to know our community, and sense the love of God. And the Deacons have provided a way for you to feed a hungry family at Christmas time by shopping for food baskets. In our lives, I pray that we will be alert for chances we have to move in God’s direction as we hope this Advent season.
The days may be short. The darkness may be all around us. But as people of God we never lose hope. For, as we’ve been saying for centuries:
Christ has come, Christ is coming, Christ will come again.
Right here, right now - heaven can’t wait for hope.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Sermon notes - 11/20/11
Nov. 20, 2011
Matthew 25: 31-46
The Final
I had a teacher in high school who would give us the answers to the final exam before the final exam. Not just the questions, but the answers. It was very helpful. She said, “I don’t want anybody to flunk. I want everyone to learn the material and be able to do well on the test. It just makes sense to give you the answers, so there is no reason in the world why any one should fail.” And . . . that was nice.
Our Gospel lesson this morning seems to indicate that Jesus, like my teacher, also does everything in his power to insure that when people face their final examination, they do as well as they possibly can.
Does all this final exam talk make us a little nervous? Well, it does me. I think when we hear this our natural first thought is that this is about who gets into heaven and who goes to the other place. And Jesus, who we all know is a forgiving kind of a guy, doesn’t seem to cut the goats in the story much slack. This seems like a not very funny version of a St. Peter at the pearly gates joke (and, having searched my internet sources for an appropriate example to share with you, I must say, there are some funny ones, but not many a preacher can tell from the pulpit. Want one anyway? A nice little old married lady died and met St. Peter at the pearly gates. St. Peter says, Everybody has to answer a spelling question to get into heaven. You’ve been married for 47 years, always good to your husband . . . can you spell the word “LOVE?” Of course she can and she comes right in and makes herself at home. A few years later, St. Peter asks her to watch the gate for him while he runs an errand. As she’s sitting there, who should come up but her husband. She’s so glad to see him! “How’ve you been?” she asks. “Couldn’t be better, he says. The last three years have been the happiest of my life. I married Vicky, the nurse who took care of you during your last illness. She’s a real ball of fire. We’ve traveled all over the world. Had the best time. Why, today we were water skiing and my ski slipped off, hit me in the head, and here I am. So how do I get in?” “You have to spell a word.” “What word?” Czechoslavakia.
Getting into heaven jokes are . . . iffy. But the evidence is that Jesus’ story, is not so much about individuals getting into heaven when they die, as how the church that he was leaving behind on earth could fully and faithfully participate in the Kingdom that Jesus the Christ had brought into being on earth.
If it is true, that the Kingdom of God is at hand in Jesus’ life, and that Jesus has invited us to be a part of His Kingdom - then how do we exercise our citizenship in this divine new order of things? How do we show that we belong and we long to remain where Jesus’ love is the ultimate rule?
Maybe this is more like a citizenship test. Where does our love, loyalty and future lie?
In some countries, passing a citizenship test is really hard. You have to be born there, or be of the right ethnic group, or prove that you can speak the language. But the test that Jesus tells us the answer to here (4 times in 10 verses! ) is really remarkably lenient.
It isn’t asking us to do or know anything really hard. We don’t have to explain the doctrine of the Trinity, or repeat the words of institution for the Lord’s supper. We don’t have to quote a Bible verse, or show our sunday school attendance record.
All we have to do is these things:
Feed the hungry.
Give water to the thirsty,
Clothe those who need clothing.
Welcome the stranger.
Visit the sick and those in prison
It’s not asking for something that takes incredible skill, or courage, or massive amounts of time. Or cooperation. Or politic power.
He doesn’t say, “End world poverty” “Design a water distribution system that meets the criteria of equity and fairness.” “Heal the sick.” “Free the prisoner.” Just feed those who are hungry. Give water to the thirsty. Give clothes to those who need them. Be nice to the new person in the neighborhood. Simple, doable things that fit into anyone’s life.
And the world is full of hungry, thirsty, needy, strange, sick people. You don’t have to look very far to find someone who needs your compassion, who needs your help. Maybe the new mom down the street, maybe the child who doesn’t seem to have a coat. maybe the mumblin, confused person on . . . The question isn’t “what should I do, but where should I start?”
It’s like we’re in the group of soldiers who set up camp in a forest at night. They weren’t sure exactly where the enemy was, so they sent out a scout to find the location for their morning escape. He was gone a long time, and when he came back, they gathered around. “Great news!” he said, “We’re surrounded! We can attack anywhere.”
There are opportunities everywhere to be loving, helpful, kind and generous people. To serve Christ the King by serving the his brothers and sisters and ours. Praise the Ruler of All - the Good Shepherd - our Soul’s Teacher! We know the questions, we know the answers! We need not fear the final exam. PS It’s already started.
Matthew 25: 31-46
The Final
I had a teacher in high school who would give us the answers to the final exam before the final exam. Not just the questions, but the answers. It was very helpful. She said, “I don’t want anybody to flunk. I want everyone to learn the material and be able to do well on the test. It just makes sense to give you the answers, so there is no reason in the world why any one should fail.” And . . . that was nice.
Our Gospel lesson this morning seems to indicate that Jesus, like my teacher, also does everything in his power to insure that when people face their final examination, they do as well as they possibly can.
Does all this final exam talk make us a little nervous? Well, it does me. I think when we hear this our natural first thought is that this is about who gets into heaven and who goes to the other place. And Jesus, who we all know is a forgiving kind of a guy, doesn’t seem to cut the goats in the story much slack. This seems like a not very funny version of a St. Peter at the pearly gates joke (and, having searched my internet sources for an appropriate example to share with you, I must say, there are some funny ones, but not many a preacher can tell from the pulpit. Want one anyway? A nice little old married lady died and met St. Peter at the pearly gates. St. Peter says, Everybody has to answer a spelling question to get into heaven. You’ve been married for 47 years, always good to your husband . . . can you spell the word “LOVE?” Of course she can and she comes right in and makes herself at home. A few years later, St. Peter asks her to watch the gate for him while he runs an errand. As she’s sitting there, who should come up but her husband. She’s so glad to see him! “How’ve you been?” she asks. “Couldn’t be better, he says. The last three years have been the happiest of my life. I married Vicky, the nurse who took care of you during your last illness. She’s a real ball of fire. We’ve traveled all over the world. Had the best time. Why, today we were water skiing and my ski slipped off, hit me in the head, and here I am. So how do I get in?” “You have to spell a word.” “What word?” Czechoslavakia.
Getting into heaven jokes are . . . iffy. But the evidence is that Jesus’ story, is not so much about individuals getting into heaven when they die, as how the church that he was leaving behind on earth could fully and faithfully participate in the Kingdom that Jesus the Christ had brought into being on earth.
If it is true, that the Kingdom of God is at hand in Jesus’ life, and that Jesus has invited us to be a part of His Kingdom - then how do we exercise our citizenship in this divine new order of things? How do we show that we belong and we long to remain where Jesus’ love is the ultimate rule?
Maybe this is more like a citizenship test. Where does our love, loyalty and future lie?
In some countries, passing a citizenship test is really hard. You have to be born there, or be of the right ethnic group, or prove that you can speak the language. But the test that Jesus tells us the answer to here (4 times in 10 verses! ) is really remarkably lenient.
It isn’t asking us to do or know anything really hard. We don’t have to explain the doctrine of the Trinity, or repeat the words of institution for the Lord’s supper. We don’t have to quote a Bible verse, or show our sunday school attendance record.
All we have to do is these things:
Feed the hungry.
Give water to the thirsty,
Clothe those who need clothing.
Welcome the stranger.
Visit the sick and those in prison
It’s not asking for something that takes incredible skill, or courage, or massive amounts of time. Or cooperation. Or politic power.
He doesn’t say, “End world poverty” “Design a water distribution system that meets the criteria of equity and fairness.” “Heal the sick.” “Free the prisoner.” Just feed those who are hungry. Give water to the thirsty. Give clothes to those who need them. Be nice to the new person in the neighborhood. Simple, doable things that fit into anyone’s life.
And the world is full of hungry, thirsty, needy, strange, sick people. You don’t have to look very far to find someone who needs your compassion, who needs your help. Maybe the new mom down the street, maybe the child who doesn’t seem to have a coat. maybe the mumblin, confused person on . . . The question isn’t “what should I do, but where should I start?”
It’s like we’re in the group of soldiers who set up camp in a forest at night. They weren’t sure exactly where the enemy was, so they sent out a scout to find the location for their morning escape. He was gone a long time, and when he came back, they gathered around. “Great news!” he said, “We’re surrounded! We can attack anywhere.”
There are opportunities everywhere to be loving, helpful, kind and generous people. To serve Christ the King by serving the his brothers and sisters and ours. Praise the Ruler of All - the Good Shepherd - our Soul’s Teacher! We know the questions, we know the answers! We need not fear the final exam. PS It’s already started.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Ready? Set? Burn!
This is what I THINK I'm preaching tomorrow. Spirit willin' and the creek don't rise.
The Parable of the Ten Maidens and Their Lamps -
I count among my few friends a wedding planner. What a high-pressure, responsible job! One of the biggest moments - one of the great events in any person’s life - When I read this parable this week, I couldn’t help but think right away of how the wedding Jesus talks about in this story could have used the services of my friend Gwen. I mean REALLY! The groom is late. The guests fall asleep. Half the wedding party fails to perform their assigned duty. Then the groom locks out 5 of the bride’s best friends. . . What a disaster! And you know I am planning a wedding myself. In my current nuptial state of mind, I’ve had wedding nightmares this whole week.
But finally, I had to say to myself what I’m saying to you this morning: Jesus isn’t talking about weddings. The wedding stuff is just an analogy. It’s just a narrative device. So I’m not going to spend alot - heck, I’m not going to spend ANY time talking about first century wedding customs or explaining the whys and wherefores of wedding customs through the ages.
Jesus is talking about Big Events - Once in a Lifetime Moments - Experiences that Change LIves Forever. This parable is about Once in a Lifetime chances and whether we are able to rise the occasion. So let’s cut to the chase, shall we?
And the first truth about moments like that - God moments in our lives - is that moments like that don’t happen according to OUR schedule. We can’t write the really big events on our calendars with the time and the place in pen.
In Jesus’ story - the groom does not arrive when he is expected. He is delayed, and doesn’t show up when everyone is waiting and ready. He shows up way late, in the middle of the night, when everyone has fallen asleep.
This is the way God moments happen in our lives. Week before last, Tim was gone all week. From Monday through Friday he was in Phoenix, and Friday evening, when I expected him home, I was really looking forward to seeing him. He pulled in the drive and I walked out to meet him, but as I did I saw a neighbor, someone I have known casually since moving to Philo, walking down the street. I waved, and this person walked straight toward us. “Cindy, do you have a minute? I need to talk to you.” Something had happened to that person that day that caused them to need to talk about God and life and death and the big stuff. I’d wanted to talk to this person about their faith, and share my faith in Jesus for ten years. And this was the moment. This was the time when the door was finally open and we finally got to share and pray together. Was it on my calendar? My schedule? No. It was not. It happened when it happened. And by the grace of God, ready or not, I was there. That’s how God- moments occur.
How can we loosen our grip on our schedules, our control, our goals and objectives just enough to be able to be there, ready and expectant, when a Big, life-changing moment comes too early, or too late to fit into our plans?
Some of the people in Jesus’ story managed to do that. Some didn’t. But some did. Here’s the mark of the successful bridesmaids - They were packin’. Not guns. But flasks of oil. They had the resources to deal with the unexpected at the ready. Now, those other bridesmaids might have had plenty of oil in great big barrels at home. Olive oil is hardly a scarce resource in Palestine, then or now. But they didn’t have it with them. They couldn’t pull it out and use it when the need arose.
What about our faith? Are we packin? When we face a “Big Event” - whether it is the chance to share our faith, or do an important service for one of the least of these my brothers and sisters - Do we have what we need close at hand? Do we have a relationship with Jesus that is close enough, solid enough that we can describe it to someone who needs to know him? Do we know how to pray well enough to do it if someone asks? Have we thought deeply enough about the big questions to at least know how to phrase them should the occasion arise? When it comes to faith, are we packin? Having a Sunday go to meetin faith is good. It’s like having a big barrel of oil at home. But when someone is hurting - and they need a light for their darkness - it often isn’t enough to say, “My church has services on Sundays at 10. That’s where God can be found.” When it comes to faith - each of us needs to carry it with us. We gotta be packin’.
Which takes preparation. Cause here’s the thing - each one of us needs to be prepared to meet God and to walk into the Once in a LIfetime moments God puts in our lives one by one. There’s no such thing as faith by association. That’s why the bridesmaids who have oil can’t share it with the ones who do not. Your mother’s faith may be great. But it isn’t your faith. Your grandfather’s generosity may have been legendary. But that doesn’t make you generous. Your brother, or your sister or your best friend may be the most compassionate person ever. But their compassion doesn’t make you a loving person. To be the person God is calling you to be means that YOU have to respond to the call. Nobody can trust God or serve God or meet God for you. Each one of us has to decide what kind of person we are going to be and practice being that person for ourselves.
Preparation is about habits and practice. Part of Tim’s success is that he’s one of the best lighters around. Putting the best light on a situation - literally - takes time and a certain amount of trouble. Sometimes people say to him, “Oh, we don’t really need to take the time to do it right for THIS shot. It’s not important enough. Not enough people are going to see it. Nobody will notice the difference. Nobody really cares.” And he say, “That’s true. This shot doesn’t really require great lighting. But if I don’t do good lighting on this shot, then when the really important shot comes, I won’t know how.”
The habits of faith - prayer, worship, giving, Bible study, building up the church, speaking the truth in love, forgiving one another, trusting God - are like that. Most times whether we do them or not doesn’t seem to make much difference. But if we don’t do them on a regular basis, they don’t become part of who we are, and when we DO need to do them, we find that we don’t know how. The Big Event comes, a loved one dies, a child is in trouble, a opportunity to make a difference or to make a big mistake comes and we are clueless as to how to respond.
The Big LIfe changing events happen and if we are ready, willing and able to answer the summons, we become part of the celebration of God and all those other invited guests. We stand on one side of the door and enjoy the party. But the door has another side. And there are eternal consequences for not preparing, not being ready, not being able to respond.
I don’t think Jesus was trying to scare people. But I think he was trying to motivate people to be ready for the Big Opportunities for faithful living that God puts in each believer’s life.
Let’s get ready for the moments that come whether we are ready or not.
Let’s get set by practicing our faith every week, every night, every day.
Let’s let our lights shine for Jesus. Ready? Set? Burn!
The Parable of the Ten Maidens and Their Lamps -
I count among my few friends a wedding planner. What a high-pressure, responsible job! One of the biggest moments - one of the great events in any person’s life - When I read this parable this week, I couldn’t help but think right away of how the wedding Jesus talks about in this story could have used the services of my friend Gwen. I mean REALLY! The groom is late. The guests fall asleep. Half the wedding party fails to perform their assigned duty. Then the groom locks out 5 of the bride’s best friends. . . What a disaster! And you know I am planning a wedding myself. In my current nuptial state of mind, I’ve had wedding nightmares this whole week.
But finally, I had to say to myself what I’m saying to you this morning: Jesus isn’t talking about weddings. The wedding stuff is just an analogy. It’s just a narrative device. So I’m not going to spend alot - heck, I’m not going to spend ANY time talking about first century wedding customs or explaining the whys and wherefores of wedding customs through the ages.
Jesus is talking about Big Events - Once in a Lifetime Moments - Experiences that Change LIves Forever. This parable is about Once in a Lifetime chances and whether we are able to rise the occasion. So let’s cut to the chase, shall we?
And the first truth about moments like that - God moments in our lives - is that moments like that don’t happen according to OUR schedule. We can’t write the really big events on our calendars with the time and the place in pen.
In Jesus’ story - the groom does not arrive when he is expected. He is delayed, and doesn’t show up when everyone is waiting and ready. He shows up way late, in the middle of the night, when everyone has fallen asleep.
This is the way God moments happen in our lives. Week before last, Tim was gone all week. From Monday through Friday he was in Phoenix, and Friday evening, when I expected him home, I was really looking forward to seeing him. He pulled in the drive and I walked out to meet him, but as I did I saw a neighbor, someone I have known casually since moving to Philo, walking down the street. I waved, and this person walked straight toward us. “Cindy, do you have a minute? I need to talk to you.” Something had happened to that person that day that caused them to need to talk about God and life and death and the big stuff. I’d wanted to talk to this person about their faith, and share my faith in Jesus for ten years. And this was the moment. This was the time when the door was finally open and we finally got to share and pray together. Was it on my calendar? My schedule? No. It was not. It happened when it happened. And by the grace of God, ready or not, I was there. That’s how God- moments occur.
How can we loosen our grip on our schedules, our control, our goals and objectives just enough to be able to be there, ready and expectant, when a Big, life-changing moment comes too early, or too late to fit into our plans?
Some of the people in Jesus’ story managed to do that. Some didn’t. But some did. Here’s the mark of the successful bridesmaids - They were packin’. Not guns. But flasks of oil. They had the resources to deal with the unexpected at the ready. Now, those other bridesmaids might have had plenty of oil in great big barrels at home. Olive oil is hardly a scarce resource in Palestine, then or now. But they didn’t have it with them. They couldn’t pull it out and use it when the need arose.
What about our faith? Are we packin? When we face a “Big Event” - whether it is the chance to share our faith, or do an important service for one of the least of these my brothers and sisters - Do we have what we need close at hand? Do we have a relationship with Jesus that is close enough, solid enough that we can describe it to someone who needs to know him? Do we know how to pray well enough to do it if someone asks? Have we thought deeply enough about the big questions to at least know how to phrase them should the occasion arise? When it comes to faith, are we packin? Having a Sunday go to meetin faith is good. It’s like having a big barrel of oil at home. But when someone is hurting - and they need a light for their darkness - it often isn’t enough to say, “My church has services on Sundays at 10. That’s where God can be found.” When it comes to faith - each of us needs to carry it with us. We gotta be packin’.
Which takes preparation. Cause here’s the thing - each one of us needs to be prepared to meet God and to walk into the Once in a LIfetime moments God puts in our lives one by one. There’s no such thing as faith by association. That’s why the bridesmaids who have oil can’t share it with the ones who do not. Your mother’s faith may be great. But it isn’t your faith. Your grandfather’s generosity may have been legendary. But that doesn’t make you generous. Your brother, or your sister or your best friend may be the most compassionate person ever. But their compassion doesn’t make you a loving person. To be the person God is calling you to be means that YOU have to respond to the call. Nobody can trust God or serve God or meet God for you. Each one of us has to decide what kind of person we are going to be and practice being that person for ourselves.
Preparation is about habits and practice. Part of Tim’s success is that he’s one of the best lighters around. Putting the best light on a situation - literally - takes time and a certain amount of trouble. Sometimes people say to him, “Oh, we don’t really need to take the time to do it right for THIS shot. It’s not important enough. Not enough people are going to see it. Nobody will notice the difference. Nobody really cares.” And he say, “That’s true. This shot doesn’t really require great lighting. But if I don’t do good lighting on this shot, then when the really important shot comes, I won’t know how.”
The habits of faith - prayer, worship, giving, Bible study, building up the church, speaking the truth in love, forgiving one another, trusting God - are like that. Most times whether we do them or not doesn’t seem to make much difference. But if we don’t do them on a regular basis, they don’t become part of who we are, and when we DO need to do them, we find that we don’t know how. The Big Event comes, a loved one dies, a child is in trouble, a opportunity to make a difference or to make a big mistake comes and we are clueless as to how to respond.
The Big LIfe changing events happen and if we are ready, willing and able to answer the summons, we become part of the celebration of God and all those other invited guests. We stand on one side of the door and enjoy the party. But the door has another side. And there are eternal consequences for not preparing, not being ready, not being able to respond.
I don’t think Jesus was trying to scare people. But I think he was trying to motivate people to be ready for the Big Opportunities for faithful living that God puts in each believer’s life.
Let’s get ready for the moments that come whether we are ready or not.
Let’s get set by practicing our faith every week, every night, every day.
Let’s let our lights shine for Jesus. Ready? Set? Burn!
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