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?
Saturday, January 7, 2012
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!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Jesus' Version of "Getting Things Done"
I’m going to do something stupid up here. I’m going to start a sermon with a confession. Which is stupid because who really cares about somebody else’s problems? Be that as it may - here is my confession: I struggle with organization. Especially in my office. I have lots of important stuff, which I half remember is there, but I can’t put my hands on it. Like a couple of Sundays ago. When the scripture was about the king inviting everybody to the banquet and people give all kinds of lame excuses about why they can’t come. Carol Erb had given me a copy of a really funny old song about that. I remember the chorus: I can not come to the banquet, don’t bother me now, I have taken a wife I have bought me a cow, I have fields and possessions that cost a pretty sum, so don’t bother me cause I can’t come. I thought that would be really fun for us to sing. But I couldn’t find it.
I looked everywhere for it. But I didn’t find it. What I did find was a journal that had directions for an art project that I really really really wanted to do during Lent last spring.
I pulled that thing out of the piano bench, looked at it and just about cried.
I struggle with organization. So I signed up with a life coach to take a course on organization. And I bought a books - "Getting Things Done". And I’m working on it. I’m seeing some progress, but if you walked in my office right now, you’d be hard pressed to tell. But there’s one difference now: I have a filing cabinet. That is the first and most important thing to do for office organization: have a filing system that you can put things into and take things out of when the occasion arises. Or you are sunk. You are always looking at piles of paper and you have all this information and it is useless to you. You have to have some organizing principle or all the paper is just . . . trash waiting to fulfill its destiny, which is to be thrown away.
OK. Most of you don’t have disorganized offices. Or linen closets. Or pantries. Or clothes closets. OK. Good for you.
But what about our understanding of God and especially the handle we have on scripture - which we affirm is one of the most important ways God communicates his will for our lives. How do you organize all the things between the covers of this book and make sense of it for your life?
Pharisees in Jesus’ day, and Pharisees in our own day (and I’m not using that term derogatorily - well, maybe I am) look at this book and pull out all the laws. There are 10 Commandments. Those are the law God gave through Moses. 10 is just quite a few. OK. Well the people in Jesus’ day had not 10, not 100 - but closer to 1000- 613 to be precise - laws that they had drawn out of God’s Word and tried to follow to the letter everyday of their lives.
So, they come to Jesus, with a question about those 613 laws that they feel will be a stumper. (It’s just actual fact that they were not asking out of intellectual curiosity - but malice toward our man, Jesus.) “Which is the most important commandment?” It’s like asking a mother, which is your favorite child. Or an art collector, “Which is the best painting?” or a banker, which is your favorite hundred dollar bill? The right answer is, ‘All of them!”
But Jesus doesn’t take the easy answer. Why are we not surprised by that? Jesus doesn’t mouth the pious platitude. Instead he offers an honest answer. Love God. Love your neighbor as yourself. Boom. A one-two punch. He said, Those aren’t just two of my favorites. Those are THE two , on which hang all 611 of the others.
In other words - he wasn’t just answering a question. He was offering an organizing principle. He was revealing the filing system for understanding and accessing God’s intent for our lives. God’s intent for us is LOVE. Love of God. Love of humanity.
He was saying that living a Good - God blessed - life means organizing it around these two things: Love of God. Love of neighbor.
Those are the two drawers in the filing cabinet of your life. Everything that comes into your life, and every action you take while you live each and every day should go into and come out of those two categories. Purpose #1 - To Love God. Purpose #2 - to Love Neighbor as Self. And if something doesn’t belong in one of those two drawers, then it belongs in the circular file. The trash. Both the drawers are labeled love.
Here I”m gonna quote a Biblical scholar, Michael Hare, (Matthew, Interpretation Commentaries) who writes:
In an age when the word 'love' is greatly abused, it is important to remember that the primary component of biblical love is not affection but commitment. Warm feelings of gratitude may fill our consciousness as we consider all that God has done for us, but it is not warm feelings that Deut. 6:5 demands of us but rather stubborn, unwavering commitment. Similarly, to love our neighbor, including our enemies, does not mean that we must feel affection for them. To love the neighbor is to imitate God by taking their needs seriously. [p. 260]
Let’s take that first drawer. Loving God with all our heart, and soul and mind: How do we do that? Prayer. Worship. Stewardship of time and talents. Taking care of God’s gifts to us and returning a proportion of those gifts to God’s work in the world. This is how we show our commitment to God. By putting God first. Not money. Not family, not heritage. not country. God.
David Foster Wallace: Because here's something else that's true. In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And an outstanding reason for choosing some sort of God or spiritual-type thing to worship -- is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things -- if they are where you tap real meaning in life -- then you will never have enough. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you. Worship power -- and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart -- you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. And so on. On one level, we all know this stuff already -- it's been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, bromides, epigrams, parables: the skeleton of every great story. The trick is keeping the truth up-front in daily consciousness.
That’s the first file drawer of life.
And the second organizing principle, the second file drawer is love of neighbor - taking the needs of other people (not just friends, or relations or fellow Christians, or Americans, but neighbors as Jesus defines it - everyone who has need and who doesn’t?) as seriously as you take your own needs.
In this file drawer goes how we talk to others with whom we disagree. How we understand our place in the community. How we respond to power. How we exercise the power and influence that we have. How we treat customers in our stores, people who wait on us in restaurants, students in our classes, people on committees, migrant workers who pick our food, people who cut us off in traffic, everybody. We pay attention to their needs and treat them as equal to our own.
This is the second drawer of life.
Now, my two drawer analogy breaks down a little, because the Love God drawer and the Love Others and Self drawer aren’t really two separate drawers.
Martin Luther, I think, once said that God is perfectly sufficient unto God’s Self. God doesn’t need anything that we have to give. God is God. The Creator of the Universe isn’t waiting for our prayer to act, or our worship to feel good about Himself, or our gifts to make Himself complete. So the only way we can offer something to God is to offer it to our neighbor. Love of God is not something apart from loving neighbor. It is the reason for loving our neighbor. That is what God desires from us and for us. So the drawers get cross filled. What belongs in one belongs in the other, too. And what comes out of one can be found in the other.
But rather than that making things more complicated and confused, it really makes things more simple. Love is the only thing that matters. All the rest of details. Which the God of LOVE we know in Jesus Christ invites us to work out with fear and trembling in our own lives.
I would like to invite you to briefly experiment with letting LOVE organize your thoughts. Listen for how God is inviting us today to choose love.
Open your heart. Be attentive for any particular word or phrase that stands out to you:
Jesus said, You shall love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.
Amen.
I looked everywhere for it. But I didn’t find it. What I did find was a journal that had directions for an art project that I really really really wanted to do during Lent last spring.
I pulled that thing out of the piano bench, looked at it and just about cried.
I struggle with organization. So I signed up with a life coach to take a course on organization. And I bought a books - "Getting Things Done". And I’m working on it. I’m seeing some progress, but if you walked in my office right now, you’d be hard pressed to tell. But there’s one difference now: I have a filing cabinet. That is the first and most important thing to do for office organization: have a filing system that you can put things into and take things out of when the occasion arises. Or you are sunk. You are always looking at piles of paper and you have all this information and it is useless to you. You have to have some organizing principle or all the paper is just . . . trash waiting to fulfill its destiny, which is to be thrown away.
OK. Most of you don’t have disorganized offices. Or linen closets. Or pantries. Or clothes closets. OK. Good for you.
But what about our understanding of God and especially the handle we have on scripture - which we affirm is one of the most important ways God communicates his will for our lives. How do you organize all the things between the covers of this book and make sense of it for your life?
Pharisees in Jesus’ day, and Pharisees in our own day (and I’m not using that term derogatorily - well, maybe I am) look at this book and pull out all the laws. There are 10 Commandments. Those are the law God gave through Moses. 10 is just quite a few. OK. Well the people in Jesus’ day had not 10, not 100 - but closer to 1000- 613 to be precise - laws that they had drawn out of God’s Word and tried to follow to the letter everyday of their lives.
So, they come to Jesus, with a question about those 613 laws that they feel will be a stumper. (It’s just actual fact that they were not asking out of intellectual curiosity - but malice toward our man, Jesus.) “Which is the most important commandment?” It’s like asking a mother, which is your favorite child. Or an art collector, “Which is the best painting?” or a banker, which is your favorite hundred dollar bill? The right answer is, ‘All of them!”
But Jesus doesn’t take the easy answer. Why are we not surprised by that? Jesus doesn’t mouth the pious platitude. Instead he offers an honest answer. Love God. Love your neighbor as yourself. Boom. A one-two punch. He said, Those aren’t just two of my favorites. Those are THE two , on which hang all 611 of the others.
In other words - he wasn’t just answering a question. He was offering an organizing principle. He was revealing the filing system for understanding and accessing God’s intent for our lives. God’s intent for us is LOVE. Love of God. Love of humanity.
He was saying that living a Good - God blessed - life means organizing it around these two things: Love of God. Love of neighbor.
Those are the two drawers in the filing cabinet of your life. Everything that comes into your life, and every action you take while you live each and every day should go into and come out of those two categories. Purpose #1 - To Love God. Purpose #2 - to Love Neighbor as Self. And if something doesn’t belong in one of those two drawers, then it belongs in the circular file. The trash. Both the drawers are labeled love.
Here I”m gonna quote a Biblical scholar, Michael Hare, (Matthew, Interpretation Commentaries) who writes:
In an age when the word 'love' is greatly abused, it is important to remember that the primary component of biblical love is not affection but commitment. Warm feelings of gratitude may fill our consciousness as we consider all that God has done for us, but it is not warm feelings that Deut. 6:5 demands of us but rather stubborn, unwavering commitment. Similarly, to love our neighbor, including our enemies, does not mean that we must feel affection for them. To love the neighbor is to imitate God by taking their needs seriously. [p. 260]
Let’s take that first drawer. Loving God with all our heart, and soul and mind: How do we do that? Prayer. Worship. Stewardship of time and talents. Taking care of God’s gifts to us and returning a proportion of those gifts to God’s work in the world. This is how we show our commitment to God. By putting God first. Not money. Not family, not heritage. not country. God.
David Foster Wallace: Because here's something else that's true. In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And an outstanding reason for choosing some sort of God or spiritual-type thing to worship -- is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things -- if they are where you tap real meaning in life -- then you will never have enough. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you. Worship power -- and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart -- you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. And so on. On one level, we all know this stuff already -- it's been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, bromides, epigrams, parables: the skeleton of every great story. The trick is keeping the truth up-front in daily consciousness.
That’s the first file drawer of life.
And the second organizing principle, the second file drawer is love of neighbor - taking the needs of other people (not just friends, or relations or fellow Christians, or Americans, but neighbors as Jesus defines it - everyone who has need and who doesn’t?) as seriously as you take your own needs.
In this file drawer goes how we talk to others with whom we disagree. How we understand our place in the community. How we respond to power. How we exercise the power and influence that we have. How we treat customers in our stores, people who wait on us in restaurants, students in our classes, people on committees, migrant workers who pick our food, people who cut us off in traffic, everybody. We pay attention to their needs and treat them as equal to our own.
This is the second drawer of life.
Now, my two drawer analogy breaks down a little, because the Love God drawer and the Love Others and Self drawer aren’t really two separate drawers.
Martin Luther, I think, once said that God is perfectly sufficient unto God’s Self. God doesn’t need anything that we have to give. God is God. The Creator of the Universe isn’t waiting for our prayer to act, or our worship to feel good about Himself, or our gifts to make Himself complete. So the only way we can offer something to God is to offer it to our neighbor. Love of God is not something apart from loving neighbor. It is the reason for loving our neighbor. That is what God desires from us and for us. So the drawers get cross filled. What belongs in one belongs in the other, too. And what comes out of one can be found in the other.
But rather than that making things more complicated and confused, it really makes things more simple. Love is the only thing that matters. All the rest of details. Which the God of LOVE we know in Jesus Christ invites us to work out with fear and trembling in our own lives.
I would like to invite you to briefly experiment with letting LOVE organize your thoughts. Listen for how God is inviting us today to choose love.
Open your heart. Be attentive for any particular word or phrase that stands out to you:
Jesus said, You shall love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.
Amen.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Show Your I.D. - Deacon's Mission Sunday
Show your I.D. - A long long time ago, I used to be asked for to show my I.D. when I bought a six pack of beer. But that hasn't happened for a while now. Now, the only time I get asked to show I.D. is when I cash a check. Or when I use a credit card I haven't signed. In some countries, and even in some states in this country, folks are asked to show I.D. more frequently, to prove you are who you say you are.
So what identifies You? What are our identifying characteristics as a church? How do people know that we are who we say we are?
If someone were to “check our I.D” to make sure we are put together by God, to make sure we are the Church we say we are, what would they be looking for? or that each of us is the Christian we say we are, what would they be looking for?
Scripture has a pretty good “check list” of ways to identify things put together by God: It’s “Faith, Hope and Love” . This is Paul’s first use of this trio of Christian virtue, but you may already be thinking of how he puts it much later - in the great I Corinthians 13 passage we hear often at weddings: “So faith, hope and love abide, these three and the greatest of these is love.” Here he talks about the work of faith, the labor of love, and the patience of hope that leap to mind when a vital church is mentioned. This week, anticipating the Deacon’s Mission Dinner, I’ve been thinking about how the work of faith, the labor of love and the patience of hope show up on our “I.D.”.
The first is the Work of Faith -
At it’s most basic - the work of faith may be found in feeding people. Deacons feed people. In fact, that’s how Deacons got their start. The earliest Christian church, which is described in the Book of Acts in the New Testament - faced a problem. Some of the church members were hungry and feeling neglected. So the church appointed a few of its members to give special attention to these folks and make sure that they got fed.
Our deacons are still feeding people. When someone is sick, or in special need, it is the Deacons who organize meals to be taken to them. Have you ever gotten a meal from a deacon? I have. It is a way for us to show the church’s love and care for its members.
The Deacons are feeding all of us this morning after worship. They’ve all made their favorite casserole, salad and dessert and brought them here to share with all of us. When we sit down and share, we are taking part in a tradition of the church that goes back to the very beginning. And I’m not talking about Jello salad, though I specially requested one, out of respect for historical accuracy.
This summer, our Deacons expanded their feeding role by whole heartedly participating in a food distribution partnership with the Eastern Illinois Food Bank. This was a project that a couple of elders suggested, and I took it to the Deacons, I’ll have to tell you, with a certain apprehension. It would require what might be a substantial committment of resources and time. Would the Deacons want to use their funds? But my hesitation was groundless. All five of them immediately leapt at the idea, and saw it as an opportunity to be part of Christ’s work. So early one Saturday morning, they were there to help unload a truck of pantry boxes and produce and other contributions that the congregation had made - and to meet the people who had needs in Southern Champaign County. We were truly blessed to be able to share Christ’s love with young moms who were wanting healthy food for their children,with older folks whose Social Security was being stretched to the limit, with folks unable to find work in the bad economy.
You’re going to hear a little more about this project at the Dinner this morning, and many of you were there to see this work of faith. So I won’t say too much more. But I will say that the hard work and the sweet spirit of the event reminds us of what Scripture says: It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special.
The Work of Faith is part of our church’s I.D.
Labor of Love - Kemmerer Village
I can’t help it. When I hear “labor of love” I think of childbirth. Labor is the hard work of delivering a child into the world. But the labor of loving just keeps going. There is the physical labor of carrying them around and dressing and feeding them. There is the emotional labor of putting their needs before your own. There is the spiritual labor of praying for them and with them and teaching them that God loves them and that following Jesus Christ is the very best way to live life. Love is laborious.
Several of the ministries that the Deacons support have to do with loving children: Crisis Nursery, Women in Transition, Juvenile Diabetes Association, Camp Scholarships. Let me lift up just one: the Presbytery’s Children’s Home at Kemmerer Village.
I’m reading from one of their newsletters: Many of the children who come to our residential program have complicated personal histories. The children’s experiences often include severe family conflict, educational probles, childhood mental illness (such as depression, axiety, suicidal behaviors, aggressive outbursts, mood swings) and parental mental illness or substance abuse. In order to work effectively with these young peole, we require around the clock supervision with staff well trained to provide significant external structure along with nurturing guidnace. On an average day 45 children are cared for on the Kemmerer Village Campus ranging from ages 12-19, while 72 children from infancy to age 21 reside in 36 foster homes that Kemmerer Village licenses and oversees.
That’s a lot of numbers. But what the Deacons try to remember is that each of those numbers is a child. A child like the one I heard speak at Kemmerer Village at a Presbytery Meeting. He was 18 and had just graduated from High School. He was beginning community college that next year. And he said, “I want to thank you for Kemmerer Village and the 5 years I have spent here. When I came to live here, I was full of anger. I didn’t feel that I belonged anywhere. I acted out often, because making others feel bad was the only way I knew to get out how bad I felt inside. But my cottage parents, and Chaplain Mulch and all the staff here showed me that they really cared for me, and that even God loved me. I had some rough times, but that love changed me. I began to learn at school, and think about the future. Now I have graduated from high school and I know that I can live a good life. I will never forget the folks who helped me. They are my family now. And it is good to have a family who loves you.”
Raising children is a labor of love. The labor of love is part of our church’s I.D.
Patience of Hope - addressing intractable problems with the wideness of God’s mercy.
The Malawi Well Project. In the face of intractable poverty and disease in Africa, it is an act of outrageous hope to build one well. And so, every year, we do. We do one little thing. And that one little thing means that 200 or so people have clean water to drink, and their babies don’t die of dysentery. And their women can have healthy babies. And their children aren’t so weakened with parasites that they fall victim to every little infection that comes along. We do one little hopeful thing, year after year after year. And we join with churches and individuals from Illinois and all over the world and do one little thing. And to date 13, 561 wells have been dug and over 2 million people have clean, safe water to drink. Are we finished? Is the problem of poverty in Malawi, Tanzania or Zambia licked? No. But for 2,000,000 people it is. And our hope grows and grows.
The patience of hope is part of our church’s I.D.
So the words of our scripture are true - they apply to us today, just as Paul wrote 2000 years ago:
The word has gotten around. Your lives are echoing the Master's Word. The news of your faith in God is out. We don't even have to say anything anymore—you're the message!
Because your lives display the work of faith, the labor of love and the patience of hope, it clear your I.D. confirms that you are who you say you are - the church of Jesus Christ.
So this is our benediction:
From God the Father and Christ our Master To you who are assembled here: Amazing Grace! Robust Peace!
Thanks to the Deacons of our church - those who have served, and those who serve now: Marlene Evans, Jan Siders, Betty Lauchner, Terry Pratt and Karen Talbott. It is clear that God not only loves you, but has put his hand on you for something special.
So what identifies You? What are our identifying characteristics as a church? How do people know that we are who we say we are?
If someone were to “check our I.D” to make sure we are put together by God, to make sure we are the Church we say we are, what would they be looking for? or that each of us is the Christian we say we are, what would they be looking for?
Scripture has a pretty good “check list” of ways to identify things put together by God: It’s “Faith, Hope and Love” . This is Paul’s first use of this trio of Christian virtue, but you may already be thinking of how he puts it much later - in the great I Corinthians 13 passage we hear often at weddings: “So faith, hope and love abide, these three and the greatest of these is love.” Here he talks about the work of faith, the labor of love, and the patience of hope that leap to mind when a vital church is mentioned. This week, anticipating the Deacon’s Mission Dinner, I’ve been thinking about how the work of faith, the labor of love and the patience of hope show up on our “I.D.”.
The first is the Work of Faith -
At it’s most basic - the work of faith may be found in feeding people. Deacons feed people. In fact, that’s how Deacons got their start. The earliest Christian church, which is described in the Book of Acts in the New Testament - faced a problem. Some of the church members were hungry and feeling neglected. So the church appointed a few of its members to give special attention to these folks and make sure that they got fed.
Our deacons are still feeding people. When someone is sick, or in special need, it is the Deacons who organize meals to be taken to them. Have you ever gotten a meal from a deacon? I have. It is a way for us to show the church’s love and care for its members.
The Deacons are feeding all of us this morning after worship. They’ve all made their favorite casserole, salad and dessert and brought them here to share with all of us. When we sit down and share, we are taking part in a tradition of the church that goes back to the very beginning. And I’m not talking about Jello salad, though I specially requested one, out of respect for historical accuracy.
This summer, our Deacons expanded their feeding role by whole heartedly participating in a food distribution partnership with the Eastern Illinois Food Bank. This was a project that a couple of elders suggested, and I took it to the Deacons, I’ll have to tell you, with a certain apprehension. It would require what might be a substantial committment of resources and time. Would the Deacons want to use their funds? But my hesitation was groundless. All five of them immediately leapt at the idea, and saw it as an opportunity to be part of Christ’s work. So early one Saturday morning, they were there to help unload a truck of pantry boxes and produce and other contributions that the congregation had made - and to meet the people who had needs in Southern Champaign County. We were truly blessed to be able to share Christ’s love with young moms who were wanting healthy food for their children,with older folks whose Social Security was being stretched to the limit, with folks unable to find work in the bad economy.
You’re going to hear a little more about this project at the Dinner this morning, and many of you were there to see this work of faith. So I won’t say too much more. But I will say that the hard work and the sweet spirit of the event reminds us of what Scripture says: It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special.
The Work of Faith is part of our church’s I.D.
Labor of Love - Kemmerer Village
I can’t help it. When I hear “labor of love” I think of childbirth. Labor is the hard work of delivering a child into the world. But the labor of loving just keeps going. There is the physical labor of carrying them around and dressing and feeding them. There is the emotional labor of putting their needs before your own. There is the spiritual labor of praying for them and with them and teaching them that God loves them and that following Jesus Christ is the very best way to live life. Love is laborious.
Several of the ministries that the Deacons support have to do with loving children: Crisis Nursery, Women in Transition, Juvenile Diabetes Association, Camp Scholarships. Let me lift up just one: the Presbytery’s Children’s Home at Kemmerer Village.
I’m reading from one of their newsletters: Many of the children who come to our residential program have complicated personal histories. The children’s experiences often include severe family conflict, educational probles, childhood mental illness (such as depression, axiety, suicidal behaviors, aggressive outbursts, mood swings) and parental mental illness or substance abuse. In order to work effectively with these young peole, we require around the clock supervision with staff well trained to provide significant external structure along with nurturing guidnace. On an average day 45 children are cared for on the Kemmerer Village Campus ranging from ages 12-19, while 72 children from infancy to age 21 reside in 36 foster homes that Kemmerer Village licenses and oversees.
That’s a lot of numbers. But what the Deacons try to remember is that each of those numbers is a child. A child like the one I heard speak at Kemmerer Village at a Presbytery Meeting. He was 18 and had just graduated from High School. He was beginning community college that next year. And he said, “I want to thank you for Kemmerer Village and the 5 years I have spent here. When I came to live here, I was full of anger. I didn’t feel that I belonged anywhere. I acted out often, because making others feel bad was the only way I knew to get out how bad I felt inside. But my cottage parents, and Chaplain Mulch and all the staff here showed me that they really cared for me, and that even God loved me. I had some rough times, but that love changed me. I began to learn at school, and think about the future. Now I have graduated from high school and I know that I can live a good life. I will never forget the folks who helped me. They are my family now. And it is good to have a family who loves you.”
Raising children is a labor of love. The labor of love is part of our church’s I.D.
Patience of Hope - addressing intractable problems with the wideness of God’s mercy.
The Malawi Well Project. In the face of intractable poverty and disease in Africa, it is an act of outrageous hope to build one well. And so, every year, we do. We do one little thing. And that one little thing means that 200 or so people have clean water to drink, and their babies don’t die of dysentery. And their women can have healthy babies. And their children aren’t so weakened with parasites that they fall victim to every little infection that comes along. We do one little hopeful thing, year after year after year. And we join with churches and individuals from Illinois and all over the world and do one little thing. And to date 13, 561 wells have been dug and over 2 million people have clean, safe water to drink. Are we finished? Is the problem of poverty in Malawi, Tanzania or Zambia licked? No. But for 2,000,000 people it is. And our hope grows and grows.
The patience of hope is part of our church’s I.D.
So the words of our scripture are true - they apply to us today, just as Paul wrote 2000 years ago:
The word has gotten around. Your lives are echoing the Master's Word. The news of your faith in God is out. We don't even have to say anything anymore—you're the message!
Because your lives display the work of faith, the labor of love and the patience of hope, it clear your I.D. confirms that you are who you say you are - the church of Jesus Christ.
So this is our benediction:
From God the Father and Christ our Master To you who are assembled here: Amazing Grace! Robust Peace!
Thanks to the Deacons of our church - those who have served, and those who serve now: Marlene Evans, Jan Siders, Betty Lauchner, Terry Pratt and Karen Talbott. It is clear that God not only loves you, but has put his hand on you for something special.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Showing Up
This is a short sermon (for me! :-)) We are taking the Congregational Life Survey at the end of the service, and I wanted to leave at least 20 minutes out of the hour.
The text is Matthew 22:1-10 - The Parable of the King's Banquet. I'm not reading the part about the man without the wedding garment. THAT's another story, my dears!
Woody Allen said “80% of success is just showing up.”
This is certainly borne out by the parable Jesus tells in our scripture today: The big mistake is made by those who choose not showing up to participate in the King’s celebration. And the big success is achieved by those from the highways and byways, not by strenuous effort or massive preparation or surpassing worth - but just by showing up to be there when the celebration began.
Just showing up doesn’t sound like much of a challenge to set before God’s people. Just show up. Just be present. Just attend.
But how often we miss the celebration by failing to be present in the moment that God has so carefully prepared. How often we walk right past the feast the God has spread before us, too preoccupied with other concerns to even notice the brimming cup, the lavish table, too busy, way too busy to pause for the anointing that soothes and heals.
Life unfolds in the present. But so often, we let the present slip away, allowing time to rush past unobserved and unseized, and squandering the precious seconds of our lives as we worry about the future and ruminate about what's past. (Quote from a site on the internet)
God is eternal. We sing it every Sunday - as it was in the beginning, is not and ever shall be - but the words and glorious music fly past us, out of our mouths without ever entering our hearts, so anxious are we to get on with the service - get to our favorite part - the benediction haha - and go on with the rest of our busy busy day.
God is eternal. Past Present and Future all belong to Him. But the only time that we can experience his presence, and partake of God’s goodness is in the present time. Now is all we have. It is our opening into eternity. The present is a gift that we too often take for granted and refuse to open, or to open ourselves to experience.
One of the things I love most about Jesus is that he is incredibly present to those he encounters in his life. He pays attention to the fishermen beside the Sea of Galilee. He notices the beauty of the lilies of the field. He isn’t in a hurry to get the children to go sit down so that he can get on with the task of preaching to the grown ups. He takes them in his arms and blesses them. He rises early in the morning to go off to pray - to give to God his undivided attention.
How would our lives look if we, too, practiced being present to people in our lives and in the present with the God we say we love? You can’t do that all the time - you may say. Well, of course. But what if we spent this hour every week with our eyes and ears wide open to God’s love? What would we see in this present moment?
A couple of Sundays ago, when the service was over, one of you said, Did you see, there was a nice little moment, when one of the Sunday School teachers invited a child who was here alone to sit with her. Did you see it? It was just a moment, but it was full of grace.
Do you notice the glow on the face of new parents, or the beauty of an older couple holding hands? Do you see the kindness in the manner the elders pass communion, or feel the power of our voices raised together in song? Does the familiar sound of a friend’s voice calm your heart?
These things happen and we could experience them every time we gather, for when we are gathered in His Name, our Lord and Savior is present with us.
And it is not just on Sunday that God invites us to show up at the banquet of life. Far from it! Our moments and our days are full of the gracious love of God, who invites and invites and invites us to be part of the celebration He has prepared.
This week, my prayer is that we will show up for the banquet. That we will actually be alive to the moments that nourish and sustain us.
Maybe a bedtime story for a child. Maybe a quiet dinner with a loved one. Maybe an honest conversation with a friend, or a stranger. Maybe a few minutes of gratitude before the day begins.
There will be a knock on the door of your heart and you will sense the invitation to come to God’s banquet. You will know that all is prepared and it is time for you to come. You will feel the urge to make excuses for yourself and be too busy to attend the party. But what a shame it would be to miss it!
Because the largest part of success is JUST SHOWING UP.
The text is Matthew 22:1-10 - The Parable of the King's Banquet. I'm not reading the part about the man without the wedding garment. THAT's another story, my dears!
Woody Allen said “80% of success is just showing up.”
This is certainly borne out by the parable Jesus tells in our scripture today: The big mistake is made by those who choose not showing up to participate in the King’s celebration. And the big success is achieved by those from the highways and byways, not by strenuous effort or massive preparation or surpassing worth - but just by showing up to be there when the celebration began.
Just showing up doesn’t sound like much of a challenge to set before God’s people. Just show up. Just be present. Just attend.
But how often we miss the celebration by failing to be present in the moment that God has so carefully prepared. How often we walk right past the feast the God has spread before us, too preoccupied with other concerns to even notice the brimming cup, the lavish table, too busy, way too busy to pause for the anointing that soothes and heals.
Life unfolds in the present. But so often, we let the present slip away, allowing time to rush past unobserved and unseized, and squandering the precious seconds of our lives as we worry about the future and ruminate about what's past. (Quote from a site on the internet)
God is eternal. We sing it every Sunday - as it was in the beginning, is not and ever shall be - but the words and glorious music fly past us, out of our mouths without ever entering our hearts, so anxious are we to get on with the service - get to our favorite part - the benediction haha - and go on with the rest of our busy busy day.
God is eternal. Past Present and Future all belong to Him. But the only time that we can experience his presence, and partake of God’s goodness is in the present time. Now is all we have. It is our opening into eternity. The present is a gift that we too often take for granted and refuse to open, or to open ourselves to experience.
One of the things I love most about Jesus is that he is incredibly present to those he encounters in his life. He pays attention to the fishermen beside the Sea of Galilee. He notices the beauty of the lilies of the field. He isn’t in a hurry to get the children to go sit down so that he can get on with the task of preaching to the grown ups. He takes them in his arms and blesses them. He rises early in the morning to go off to pray - to give to God his undivided attention.
How would our lives look if we, too, practiced being present to people in our lives and in the present with the God we say we love? You can’t do that all the time - you may say. Well, of course. But what if we spent this hour every week with our eyes and ears wide open to God’s love? What would we see in this present moment?
A couple of Sundays ago, when the service was over, one of you said, Did you see, there was a nice little moment, when one of the Sunday School teachers invited a child who was here alone to sit with her. Did you see it? It was just a moment, but it was full of grace.
Do you notice the glow on the face of new parents, or the beauty of an older couple holding hands? Do you see the kindness in the manner the elders pass communion, or feel the power of our voices raised together in song? Does the familiar sound of a friend’s voice calm your heart?
These things happen and we could experience them every time we gather, for when we are gathered in His Name, our Lord and Savior is present with us.
And it is not just on Sunday that God invites us to show up at the banquet of life. Far from it! Our moments and our days are full of the gracious love of God, who invites and invites and invites us to be part of the celebration He has prepared.
This week, my prayer is that we will show up for the banquet. That we will actually be alive to the moments that nourish and sustain us.
Maybe a bedtime story for a child. Maybe a quiet dinner with a loved one. Maybe an honest conversation with a friend, or a stranger. Maybe a few minutes of gratitude before the day begins.
There will be a knock on the door of your heart and you will sense the invitation to come to God’s banquet. You will know that all is prepared and it is time for you to come. You will feel the urge to make excuses for yourself and be too busy to attend the party. But what a shame it would be to miss it!
Because the largest part of success is JUST SHOWING UP.
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