New Hope Sermons

March 4 Sermon

2012-03-03T16:09:00.005-08:00

Judges 6:36-40

The Sign of the Fleece

Then Gideon said to God, ‘In order to see whether you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said, I am going to lay a fleece of wool on the threshing-floor; if there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said.’

And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water.

Then Gideon said to God, ‘Do not let your anger burn against me, let me speak one more time; let me, please, make trial with the fleece just once more; let it be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.’

And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

Years ago, thebeginning of spring meant one thing: the beginning of baseballseason. I counted down the days, and some seasons the hours, untilSpring Training opened and my beloved Cincinnati Reds took the fieldfor the first time that year. In Spring Training, everyone lookslike they'll have the best years of their career, the Reds haven'tlost a game, and there is nothing but hope.

Being a Reds fanfor the last twenty years has meant that hope usually vanished notlong into the season. But seeing as how they won the World Serieswhen I was 9 years old, I was hooked for life, so there is no limitto the number of losing seasons I will endure for them.

Lately, though,spring has taken on a bit of a different meaning. We all rememberlast April 27, when a swath of storms cut through the southeast andleft each of us shaken by their power. Tuscaloosa was devastated,along with Ringgold and Apison and other points in between. Our ownchurch found a tree on top of its roof, and we wondered how long itwould take before life returned to normal.

For many of us, itwasn't too long before we had moved on past the storms. For thosewith damaged roofs and trees in the yard, it took longer, and thereare still many woodpiles lingering at the fringes of our lives thatserve as reminders of what once was.

Friday, as springonce more made its arrival, mother nature reared her suddenly verythreatening head and reminded us of the power of wind, of how smallwe can feel, of how vulnerable life is. I had one eye on the weatheron Friday morning as I worked on my sermon, and had sent Rachel anemail advising her to come home around four to make sure she was herebefore the worst of the coming weather hit. Caleb was at daycarewhen I received an email advising all parents to come pick theirchildren up immediately. I looked at the weather and noticed thegiant red part of the storm lingering over the same part of the mapas my house. At that moment I decided that it was probably wiser tospend my time in the basement than to get in the car and go drivearound town.

When I emerged fromthe basement and turned the news back on, I saw pictures that shockedme. The marina at the end of Hunter Road, a few miles from ourhouse, was no longer filled with boats parked neatly in their slips. Now there was chaos, fiberglass and twisted metal thrown everywhere,as though some giant child had thrown a tempter tantrum and tossedhis toys every which way. I couldn't get there even if I had wantedto, though—the same tornado had torn across Hunter Road, blockingthe way and smashing houses on its way out of town. Luckily, itdoesn't seem as though anyone was killed.

But it's put a newmeaning on the arrival of spring. The last two years have shaken myunderstanding of what a thunderstorm means. While I used to sit andworry about whether my basement would leak, now I sit in my basementand worry whether my house will be vulnerable to the winds of prey.

And I can't helpbut wonder what this means for my faith. I can't help but try towrap my mind around the proper response as a man of faith in themidst of the storms of life. I can't help but let my mind be caughtup in the winds of misfortune and wonder where God is in the midst ofall of this.

With such questionson my heart, I turn to Gideon's fleece. It seems trivial in the faceof such questions. Last week we discussed Gideon's call—a callfrom God to lead Israel out from under the oppression of theMidianites. We discussed Gideon's lack of qualifications, how he wasthe least in his family. We discussed how Gideon was angry at Godbecause he couldn't understand God's presence and working in themidst of their times of trial. But God called Gideon anyway.

Gideon, however,still wasn't convinced. So we come to this story today, to the storyof the fleece, and we marvel at how small this story is. It pales incomparison to the tale of Noah's Ark, to the seas splitting forMoses, to the awesomeness of the crucifixion. It's a story of a mansetting out a fleece for God, and expecting God to perform a tinymiracle with it to confirm his suspicions. Gideon doesn't quitetrust that this call to lead Israel is from God, so he asks God to dothis miracle with the fleece.

And sure enough,God does it. Not just once, either—but twice. Gideon isn'tcompletely convinced the first night—so he asks God to perform amiracle once more, just once more, but not to be angry about it. Gideon is remarkably humble for being so brash, but God performs thismiracle once more to confirm Gideon's call to lead Israel.

What I'd like topropose is that we read this story with a mind not on what it tellsus about us, not on what it tells us about Gideon, but rather that weread this story focused on what it teaches us about God. For what itteaches us about God in relation to Gideon is just the same as whatit teaches us about God in relation to us. As much as humanity haschanged, God hasn't.

The heart of thisstory is the small, almost insignificant miracle that God performsfor Gideon. I don't think it caused God too much trouble to make afleece wet and leave the ground dry—after all, this is the same Godwho carved Mount Everest from the earth and created Saturn and itsrings. The amazing thing is that God does it at all.

Gideon asks God forproof that the call is truly from God. And God, who wants Gideon tofollow him, who wants Gideon to lead the Israelite people in the hopethat they might be drawn closer to him, who longs for each person Godhas made to be in a life-transforming relationship with himself,gives Gideon that proof.

God could havesimply cast Gideon off and selecting someone who wouldn't be filledwith as much doubt. God could have found someone who wouldn't asksuch questions. God could have searched for an individual who didn'tneed a wet fleece before he would follow God's call. God could havesought out someone a little more perfect.

But God didn'tsearch for someone a little more perfect. God used Gideon, in all ofhis doubts and uncertainties, though Gideon was filled withimperfections. God used Gideon because God had called Gideon. Godwanted Gideon to be drawn closer to him, to be a leader for thepeople, and God was willing to continue to pursue Gideon even whenGideon wasn't perfect. Even if Gideon's life was a little messy, wasless than ideal, God wanted Gideon to follow him. When Gideondoubted, God reached out to him, and when Gideon doubted again, Godreached out once more. This is a God who reaches out time and timeagain to pursue us.

This is the sameGod who pursues us. This is the same God who wants to use us, in themidst of our doubts and our imperfections. This is the same God whopursues us and calls us even though we aren't perfect, even though wemay have big questions about God. We may not always walk thestraight and narrow, but even when we fall, God chases after us witha heart for his people, his creations, his beloved ones.

When our life istossed about by storms of life, whether they are of our own making orwhen they fall on us from the sky, God pursues us. God never turnshis back on us. God is with us. God pursued Gideon and continued toshow Gideon his love, and God does the same for us. Whether thechaos in our life has everything to do with our choices or nothing wecould have controlled, God pours out his love upon us. Sometimes, itcan take some work to see exactly how God does this—sometimes, weeven wonder where God is in our midst. But God is there—God ispresent, alive and active. God is there, and God is pouring out hislove upon us, whether we deserve it or not, whether we can recognizeit or not.

In today's text, weread about the smallest of miracles, a gift to Gideon to show him howmuch God loves him.

In your life today,I believe that God is pouring out that same love and using peoplearound us to help us see it. May we open our eyes to recognize howGod pursues us with unmatched love, and may we allow our lives to beused in such a way so that others may see God's love and the passionwith which he pursues them.

Let us pray

Sermon for 2/26/2012

2012-02-25T19:00:00.002-08:00

Judges 6:11-16

The Calling of Gideon

Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Midianites. The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, ‘The Lord is with you, you mighty warrior.’

Gideon answered him, ‘But sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our ancestors recounted to us, saying, “Did not the Lordbring us up from Egypt?” But now the Lord has cast us off, and given us into the hand of Midian.’

Then the Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian; I hereby commission you.’ He responded, ‘But sir, how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.’ TheLord said to him, ‘But I will be with you, and you shall strike down the Midianites, every one of them.’

Everyone loves theunderdog. It's part of our American ethos—we love the story of theperson who is down and out, who has no advantages, but ends upsucceeding beyond everyone's wildest imaginations. It's the reasonthat all the presidential candidates latch on to some story fromtheir past that indicates they have humble roots, no matter how manymillions they may have now—they're trying to connect with thatstory, to make us believe they are just another commoner who hassucceeded by the value of their own work.

The movie Rudyis one example of this story. It's the story of a kid who is toosmall to play football at Notre Dame, but the movie would have usbelieve that through his hard work and determination he becomes ahero to many and eventually makes it onto the field for Notre Dame'sfootball team. The truth behind the story is debated, but we'resupposed to love the movie and want it to be true even if it isn't. To not like the movie, I've heard, is un-American. Which means thatit's probably not a good thing that I don't particularly like themovie. But maybe it's just because I don't care for Notre Dame'sfootball team.

TheBible is also littered with these stories. The story of David isprobably the first one that comes to many of our minds, although ifthe story of Jesus Christ were being sold to movie theaters today, itwould probably be advertised along the lines of Carpenter'sson ends up saving the world...and your soul! Gideon fits in well with this storyline—he tells the Lord as muchwhen he is called to save the Israelites—My clan is theweakest, and I am the least in my family. Not exactly a promising start to a career, but it's bare honesty.

Infact, everything that Gideon says in our reading today wouldn't behow we would script it. Gideon doesn't respond to the Lord's callwith enthusiasm or a great desire to serve. If we were in charge,Gideon's initial response might be enough to have the Lord go asksomeone else.

Listenagain to his reply: If the Lord is with us, why then hasall this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds thatour ancestors recounted to us? Gideon isn't pleased with the Lord's role in the life of theIsraelites. And, to be honest, who can blame him? To give you a bitof context, the Israelites are being oppressed by the Midianites—theyare constantly being overrun, and every time they begin to get theirfeet on the ground, they get overrun once more. The scene opens withGideon hiding wheat so that the Midianites won't find it the nexttime they decide to beat up on the Israelites.

SoGideon is angry with God, because he feels like God has abandoned hispeople.

Andwho here hasn't every been angry with God?

Iwas listening to an interview with someone in Homs, Syria the otherday, and they said that they are begging for humanitarian aid intheir city. He said that all they want is half a life, as thoughit's too bold to ask for a whole life. Their expectations are so lowbecause they've been brutally abused over the past months, with nosign of hope. They only want half a life.

Thinkabout all that's going on in the world. There is chaos everywhere. War seems to linger in so many places on the planet. Famine hasparts of Africa in its grip. Mexico has fallen prey to druglords. Gangs threaten the prosperity of Chattanooga and many of itsresidents, some of whom have no other hope. And in our own lives,how many of us have known death to take a loved one from us? Howmany have dealt with disease and illness? Or have spent weeks andmonth searching for employment?

Inall of these situations, we wonder where God is. We wonder why Goddoesn't intervene and feed kids in Africa. We wonder why God doesn'toffer hope to kids in rough neighborhoods. We wonder why God doesn'theal a loved one, why God doesn't direct our feet in the paths thatlead to life. We wonder why God keeps silent when we shout ourprayers to the heavens.

Weshare our concerns with Gideon, who shouts his prayers to the angelof the Lord when God calls him.

Iwant you to notice something very important in this text. I want youto notice what isn't there.

Arebuke.

Goddoesn't rebuke or strike Gideon down for voicing his anger to theLord. Instead, he still calls him to serve, to lead.

Ithink this is a very important point. Serving God doesn't have tomean that we're not allowed to question God. Loving God doesn't meanthat we're never allowed to be angry with God. Being in a lovingrelationship means that we'll grow frustrated at times. Marriagesdon't fail because people start arguing—they fail when people stoparguing, because that means that the people have stopped caringenough to fight. Our relationship with God is no different—we'resupposed to offer everything to God, and when we have frustration andanger, we can offer that to God, too. God is big enough for yourquestions. God is big enough for your anger. God is big enough foryour frustration. So place it all before God.

Butdon't expect God to give up on you just because you're angry. Goddoesn't answer Gideon's questions, just like we may never trulyunderstand why so many awful things go on in the world. God is bigenough for our questions, but while God may not give us answers forall of them, God will make a way forward, promising a victoriousfuture. And just like Gideon, God will still call you to be a partof this victory, a part of the church, to be an instrument of hisredemption. Even if you don't feel worthy—even if you feel likethe last person that God would call, God wants you to be a part ofwhat God is doing in the world. God wants you to join in.

Youmay not feel worthy—but just as God promises Gideon, God will bewith you. God's power will work in you and through you in such a waythat you may not always realize what God is doing, but I promise youthat God is at work within you. The way to live as Christians is tostop working against God, and to begin working with God, to discoverthe places and ways that God is at work within you and grow in thatdirection. God isn't going to fix all of your flaws at once, but Godworks on parts of our lives at a time, and if we're patient and letGod work, we find ourselves constantly growing as a part of our lifeof faith. God is at work in us, through us, working out salvationfor all of humanity and using the church.

Remember,it doesn't mean you can't ever be upset with God. What it does meanis that God can handle your anger, as long as its part of youroffering. We're in this covanental relationship, and God wants us topour all of ourselves out before God as an offering. So let us pourourselves out, joys and concerns, and let God do a mighty workthrough us.

Letus pray

Ash Wednesday Reflection

2012-02-22T13:08:00.001-08:00

You may know that Ilisten to a lot of country music. One recent song that has come outis 'I want you to love me like my dog does.' In it, the singerlaments that his girlfriend does not share the overly optimistic viewof him that his dog has. Now, I will not attempt to offerrelationship advice, but I will say that dogs are wonderful at givingout love.

I haven't owned adog in some years, but I will never forget the fact that my dog usedto think that it was a miracle that I came home. Every single time. It was like it had won the lottery simply to see my car coming downthe driveway. If I ever felt neglected, the best thing in the worldto do was to go drive around the block and come home, sure to see atail wagging in anticipation of my arrival. It's hard for us tomatch a dog's love. Now that I have cats, there is a very cleardistinction. Cats appreciate my existence because they wouldn't getfed otherwise. But as for the cat bothering to stand up when Ireturn home, there's not much chance. Unless it's hungry.

I suspect that partof our amazement with a dog's love is that we're not very comfortablewith unconditional love. It doesn't seem natural to us—when we gooff to work or school for the day, it seems as though we should haveto prove ourselves worthy of a dog's love, when in fact the dogusually pours out its love whether or not you deserve it. We haveconditioned ourselves to believe that love is something we earn—partof the aura of Valentine's Day is the line of men standing in thegreeting card aisle at 5:15 in any store in the country. These menknow that they need a card, or else they will suffer some sort ofrepercussion, even if it is only embarrassment. We feel as though weneed to earn love. And, in some ways, this is good—we are calledto live in such a way that makes our beloved love us more. We are tolove them selflessly. But we can't forget about unconditional love.

This is the loveGod gives us. It's the love we would give others if we weren't sosinful, but God doesn't sin, so God doesn't put conditions on hislove. He gives it freely to us, offering us all the love we canstomach and more. We don't have to be good people or live goodlives—the love is there regardless. God loves us while we aresinners, before we are ever aware of God's love, and so powerfullythat nothing can separate us from that love. It's the greatest loveever—the love that sends Christ to the cross to die for your sins2,000 years before you were born and before you can ever think to askfor a Savior.

There are noconditions for us to earn this love. But it should change the way welive.

And this is thepurpose of the Lenten season. Not to begin to live in such a waythat we are worthy of God's love, because that isn't possible. Thepurpose of Lent is that we examine our lives and recognize the areasin our life that are not drawing us closer to God. The purpose ofLent is to examine, to alter, and to be transformed. In a fewminutes we'll have an invitation to the discipline of Lent, but Ithink it's wise to begin with an understanding of God's love—it's adeeper ocean than we can imagine, and we cannot ever find the bottomof God's love--it simply doesn't exist.

Perhaps, in yearspast, you've entered Lent with the thought that if you change orbegin a certain behavior, you'll be more worthy of God's love. Setdown that idea. It's not Biblical. God gives God's love freely,without condition. And we can never be worthy of it—Christ alonemakes us worthy, because he is worthy. We wander the road of Lentbecause our lives are meant to be lived as responses to God's love,responses that help us see God's love in the world, in our lives, andhelp us to be changed by it, rather than simply living in ignoranceof it. Our Lenten journey, our preparation for Easter, is to helpour lives be in tune with who and how Christ is calling us to be asindividuals, as a community. It's about making sure that your lifeis an accurate reflection of God's selfless and generous love.

So as we enterLent, may we do so with hearts free of the burden of earning God'slove. May we learn to simply accept it, and in so doing, may we betransformed by it.

Let us pray.

February 19 Sermon

2012-02-18T19:37:00.003-08:00

Luke 24:36-53

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.’

The Ascension of Jesus

Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

*****************************

We're going tobegin with one of those logic puzzles that you probably haven't donesince you took the SAT.

Everyone knowsthat zombies love to eat what?

And in today'sstory, Jesus eats what?

Therefore, we canstate that Jesus is not a zombie.

Now, this maysound silly, but part of the mission of the early church includingconvincing the world that Jesus Christ was not a zombie or a ghost,some figment of overactive imaginations that had returned from thegrave to haunt them. We're so used to it today—we say that JesusChrist was raised from the dead. But when we stop to think aboutit—it's not exactly an easy claim for people to believe. And Idoubt that it's easier to have someone believe it today than it wastwo thousand years ago. I have no doubt that many in the earlychurch were simply discounted as crazy. Peter himself was accused ofbeing drunk with wine on Pentecost. Why? Well, he was merely tryingto convince a crowd that the Savior of all humanity, the one who wascrucified on a cross, had risen from the dead.

Put yourself inthe shoes of the disciples—you've watched Jesus be crucified. You're certain that he is dead. The Romans were not amateurs atcrucifying someone. They had earned their masters' degree in killingtheir enemies, and they go extra credit for added brutality. Thereis no doubt that Jesus was dead.

These same men andwomen, the ones who watched Jesus die, were now standing in a roomwith the man. You'd think you were crazy, too. You'd think he was aghost, come back to haunt you. You'd probably think anything exceptthe truth—that he was raised from the dead.

But raised hewas—he even asks for, and eats in their presence, some boiled fish,in the hopes that it will convince them that he is truly alive. Thedisciples, seeing him in the flesh, are able to be convinced. Butthen they are charged with going forth and convincing others thatJesus Christ is the Messiah, and that he was raised from the dead. No easy task—if he is a ghost, or a zombie, or an imagination basedon too much wine, then all of Christianity falls with that truth. Ifhe's just a ghost, we believe in vain—for if there is no hope forlife beyond death, if God is not stronger than death, than our faithis worth nothing.

But if JesusChrist is who he says he is, and if he is raised like he proved tothe disciples, than everything changes. For then death and sin havebeen defeated, and he is the Lord of life, and of life everlasting,and all who believe in him will have life in his name. Now that'ssomething worth believing in, right?

But first he hasto prove he is alive, and that he has defeated death. That is thepurpose of the first half of this passage.

Having done that,he moves on to the next step—telling the disciples how they are tolive.

These instructionsare for us, too. Think about it for a moment—it's the only thingleft, to tell us how to live, because we have nothing else left forus but life. We have no need to fear death—it has been defeated. Whatever fear we may have in our life is destroyed by theresurrection—we still hold on to some of it, but not because weneed it—rather simply because we aren't quite able to wrap ourminds about the truth of the resurrection for us today. The simpletruth is that our resurrection life has already started—this lifeis our warm-up, the first round, for what is to come in eternal life. We aren't just waiting for the resurrection—rather, we're livingso that we'll be prepared for the resurrection. The beauty and loveand joy that you have in this life, in small and big portions, arehints of what is to come—they reveal God to us. It's why we'recalled to spread love and beauty and truth in this life—we don'thave to resist them, but rather we celebrate them, because they'regifts of God. They are signs of life, and they are everywhere, andwe are called to celebrate and embrace them, because they're allpractice for eternal life. Death is defeated—we need not feardeath, because it is gone. All that is left is life.

So Jesus tells ushow to live.

And he gives us apattern, a rhythm. He doesn't tell us exactly what to do on Sundayor Tuesday, he doesn't tell us what to say or where to go, but hegives us a pattern that we are called to model our life after. It'sa simple, two step pattern, and if we live each and every dayfollowing this pattern, we'll be drawn closer to God and to theabundant life God has prepared for us.

Step 1: Verse45—open your minds to the Scriptures. Grow in faith. Learn aboutGod. Be led by the Holy Spirit as it says in verse 49.

Step 2: Verse47—proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins, in word and deed. Proclaim Christ, constantly.

Step 3: Repeat.

This is thepattern of the Christian life. It's who we are as Presbyterians. Christ give us this simple gift and assures us that if we establishthis pattern in our lives, we will grow as disciples.

When we talk aboutthe growth aspect of it, we're talking about a lifetime's worth ofwork and investment into spiritual growth. We never stop growing. I'd like to say that there is some shortcut, some sort of workaroundwhere we can get to where we need to be and finish growing—butthere isn't. This is simply about establishing a rhythm in yourlife—it's about recognizing that you're never finished, andcommitting yourself to a lifestyle of habits that will help you growspiritually. There is no substitute for putting in the time that ittakes to grow in faith—we have to commit to spending time inprayer, in study, in reflection. It's the first stage of our faith,and if we shortcut this part, we don't get to reap the full rewardsof the second half. We wait first. We grow first—and we do itwaiting on the presence of the Holy Spirit. In our spiritual growth,we learn about God, and we learn about ourselves in relation to God. The Holy Spirit opens windows for us—but it's our responsibility tolook through them and see what God has in store for us.

After we haveinvested ourselves in spiritual growth, then God leads us out intothe world. We pray, we grow spiritually, and then we are ledoutward. If all we're doing is worshiping and fellowshippingtogether, we're missing half of the Christian life. We're notbalancing ourselves. Christ instructs us to grow spiritually, andthat should naturally lead us out into the world. The more we learnabout God, the more we recognize that God is a God who is alwaysreaching out. This should lead us to reach out, too. We should goout and proclaim God's name, his love, his grace. The more we grow,the more motivated we are to reach out. The more we reach out, themore we realize how much growth we still have to do. But our worshipshould lead us out into the world, to engage with our neighbors andthose in need, so that our lives are about proclaiming Christ in allwe do. As Christians, it is crucial that we engage in mission workin the world, telling the Good News in word and deed.

It's the rhythm ofthe Christian life. It's how Christ instructs the disciples, andit's how he instructs us. He will always be with us, he promises,but we are called to offer our lives back to him.

Let us pray

2/12 Sermon

2012-02-11T20:15:00.000-08:00

Luke 24:13-35

The Walk to Emmaus

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them,but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, ‘What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?’ They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, ‘Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?’ He asked them, ‘What things?’

They replied, ‘The things about Jesus of Nazareth,who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.’

Then he said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.

They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within uswhile he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’ That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, ‘The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!’ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

I want you to think for a momentabout this question: What did you expectto happen this morning? When you got upand came to church, what did you expect? Did you spend any time thinking about it? Did it occur to you to haveexpectations? Did you think it would bejust like any other Sunday? Or do youexpect something so incredible to happen you couldn’t possible imagine what itmight be?

Our expectations can have apowerful impact on how we perceive an event. If I go in to the movie theater and expect that I’m going to see a greatmovie, it would take a lot for me to not like the movie. In the same way, if I expected the movie tobe terrible, I’d probably seek out every possible glaring hole in the plot andmanage to dislike the movie, even if it isn’t a bad movie.

Our expectations can alsochange. I’ve been on planes before whereI expected the flight to be a smooth ride to my destination. Thirty seconds into the flight, when theplane hits a rough patch of air and jumps sideways, suddenly that expectationis gone—my hope is that I make it to my destination safely, while somewhere inmy gut I’m expecting the plane to crash any minute.

So we can have all sorts ofexpectations, and we acknowledge that they can have a big impact on how weperceive an event, and that they can also change after an event has started.

Now, let’s turn to the two discipleson the road to Emmaus. Think ofeverything they have going on in their minds as they go to walk these sevenmiles. The average person walks about2.5 miles per hour, so they have almost three hours to ponder the events of theweekend. They’ve seen their Lordarrested by the Jewish leaders, crucified by the Romans, and they spent timemourning him before hearing reports that he was not in fact dead but has risenfrom the grave. They set out for Emmauswith all of this information on their hearts, probably hoping that by the timethey reach their destination they will have sorted this all out and come tosome sort of conclusion. They probablyexpect this to be an uneventful walk in which some truth is shed upon theirsituation.

The reality of what they experienceis far different than their expectations.

In summary, Jesus appears and walksto Emmaus with them. The entire timethey walk, he is busy unfolding the truth contained in the Old Testament thatpoints to him. He is opening their eyesto the reality of Christ as a Savior, and they are spellbound. What they expect to be an ordinary walk istransformed into a lesson about the single most important truth that has evergraced this world—that Jesus Christ is the Messiah the world has been waitingfor.

What Christ did on that walk wastransform their expectations. They hadn’texpected to be confronted with the reality of Christ. When they invited him in for a meal, theythought they were simply going to have a dinner guest. Instead, their ordinary evening wastransformed into a sacramental moment, into an incredible encounter with theRisen Christ. Their eyes were opened andthey realized that Christ had always been with them, and it had been noordinary walk at all. Their expectationand the reality were far different.

I think it’s important that weshift this back to ourselves—that we make the connection between the disciplesand ourselves. But this story isn’t onlyabout us. Remember, we’re talking aboutexpectations.

Forty years ago, there weredifferent expectations than there are today. Forty years ago, it was expected that people would be in church onSunday morning. It was expected that thechurch was the place you would be, and that the church was a trustworthy andworthwhile institution for people to put their trust in.

No more.

There is a general loss of trust ininstitutions. It’s part of what this big,post-modern world is about—people don’t have faith in institutions. They don’t approve of Congress, and don’texpect them to make good decisions—and Congress, lately, hasn’t beendisappointing them. They don’t expect togrow up and spend their Sundays in church. There isn’t the expectation that the church is a trustworthyinstitution. The church is notconsidered relevant anymore.

It’s difficult for those of usinside of the church to grasp all of this. We wonder why people don’t trust us, but the reality is that people don’texpect the church to be a worthwhile place to spend their Sunday mornings. And so they stay home.

The reality is that if we are goingto be relevant in the 21^st century, we have to break someexpectations. People expect the churchto be a stale and irrelevant place, a place where people come and arecomfortable but are not transformed into disciples who base their entire liveson Christ. People don’t expecttransformation, so for the church to reach out to people, we have to break someexpectations and allow ourselves to be transformed by the reality of Christ inour midst.

Friends, for us to be agents oftransformation in the community, for us to demonstrate to the world that we areserious about our faith and that it is worth their lives, we first have to bewilling to be transformed ourselves. Wecan’t expect other people to want to take up Christianity if we are not livinga faith that transforms us. If we’recaught up in something comfortable that isn’t dynamic and alive, why wouldsomeone else want that?

And this is where we turn back to thedisciples, walking the road to Damascus. They didn’t expect Jesus Christ to accompany them to Emmaus, but theywere mistaken. They didn’t realize ituntil much later, when they sat down to break bread, but Christ was with themevery step of the way.

In the same manner, Christ is withyou every step of the way. Think aboutthat for a moment—it’s not just some nice platitude that should make us feelbetter—it should radically alter the way we look at the world, the way we seeour lives. Jesus Christ, the God whocreated the universe, walks with you every step of the way, every moment ofyour life. Wherever you go, Christ goeswith you, is already there before you arrive. Whatever you do, Christ is beside you—leading us to the question, doyour actions bring glory to him? If youstopped for a moment and recognized that Christ was with you, would you livedifferently?

How would you live differently ifyou expected to meet the Risen Christ on your daily commute, around yourbreakfast table, in a conference or hospital room? Would you act differently if your expectationwas that Jesus Christ, Lord of Heaven and Earth, would be with you? Would you come to church with a different setof expectations if we stopped for a moment and recognized that Jesus Christ ishere to transform our hearts and our lives? Would you go out with a different attitude if you realized that Christgoes with you, before you, and leads you outward?

Friends, we’re called to live witha different set of expectations. Eachday, we should expect that Christ will accompany us in all that we do. His Holy Spirit is at work within us, andthat should transform how we live, how we speak, how we act. Our lives should be evidence that Christ iswith us.

Do you show that to the world? Do you allow Christ to transform yourordinary life into a holy offering? Doyou expect Christ to show up every day?

And if not, why would anyone else wantto have the same faith?

Let us pray

Sermon for February 5

2012-02-02T19:33:00.000-08:00

Luke 24:1-12

The Resurrection of Jesus

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body.While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’

Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

How many of youhave ever forgotten anything?

What types ofthings do we forget?

I forget all sortsof things. I often will forget where I left my car keys or my cellphone. If I'm leaving my office, I almost always forgetsomething—and will often stand in the center of the room wonderingwhat it was I forgot. Lately, I'm afraid of forgetting Calebsomewhere—I'm fairly certain that I'm going to show up at thedaycare one day with everything but the baby. The only question iswhen, not if.

We are a forgetfulpeople. It's why our lives are filled with lists and calendars andall sorts of different tools to remind us of the things we need toremember, because we don't trust our minds, mostly because they'veproven themselves to be less than reliable.

I wear a weddingring everyday. Well, almost everyday. Except for the days when Iforget to put it back on after I've been to the gym. Yes, Isometimes forget where I left my wedding ring and yes, I realize howbad that sounds.

A wedding ring is areminder. It's not a promise in and of itself—it's not a magicaltoken that functions only when I'm wearing it. It's not as thoughI'm not married anymore when I'm not wearing it. But it serves avery important purpose—it's a symbol, a reminder of my marriage, ofthe vows I have made to God and to my wife. I have promised to loveand cherish her, to commit myself to her and no one else. I do nottake my vows lightly, and my ring serves as a constant reminder ofthe promises I have made. It reminds me that I am to live foranother, not just for myself, and that each decision I make affectsmore than just me. It is a reminder of who I am.

In the church, wehave these reminders as well. We have a cross on the wall at thefront of the sanctuary, reminding us of the price that has been paidfor our salvation. We have a baptismal font that is always here,even when we're not using it, because we want to remember thepromises we have made in our baptisms, and the promises that God hasmade to us. We have this Bible on the table to remind us of thecentrality of Scripture in our lives. Our church is filled withreminders of God's presence.

Our history is,too.

If we look backover the history of God's people, it is also filled with reminders ofwhat God has done throughout the ages. We tell the stories to eachother, to our children, so that we will not forget what God has doneover the years. We tell the story of the Israelites having beenfreed from the Egyptians, to remind us that we worship a God ofliberation. We tell the story of Noah to remind us how sad God is athuman sin, but how God is also desperate to save. We tell these oldstories because they remind us of who God is and who we are. Imaginethe Jews gathering at Passover each year to tell the story of God'sliberating power—it's a similar story we tell when we gather aroundthis table later in the service. We tell God's story, and within itwe find our own identity.

But sometimes weforget. Sometimes we forget the fact that we're living in the midstof God's story, and we live for ourselves. Sometimes we forget theenormity of God's promises to us and begin to live a much smallerstory. And sometimes we're simply so overwhelmed by life that weforget that we were made for a greater purpose. Anybody ever feelthat way?

If you've ever beenso worn out by life that you've forgotten all the promises God hasmade to you, you're not alone. You're actually in pretty goodcompany—the company of these women who have gone to the tomb toembalm Jesus. First of all, they forgot that there was a giant stonein front of the tomb, a stone so large that they wouldn't be able tomove it. Had they remembered this, they might have just stayed home.

But when theyarrived, the stone had been rolled away, and upon entering the tombthey discovered that the body of their Savior was gone.

Vanished.

Nowhere to befound.

We read that thewomen were perplexed about this, but while they were deep in thoughttwo men in dazzling clothes stood beside them and terrified them. After the women regained their wits, the angels did an amazingthing—they reminded them that they already knew exactly where Jesuswas. He is not here, but has risen. They're happy to pass along this amazing news, this story of aSavior who has defeated death, but they know that Jesus has alreadytold the women about this. He told them long ago what was going tohappen.

Butthey forgot, as all humans do. In the midst of the tragedy of thecross and the puzzlement of an empty tomb, they forgot the promisesof Christ to rise from death.

Inthe midst of a crazy and busy life, how many of you have ever foundyourselves in a place where you've forgotten the promises of Christ? How many of you have looked around and not thought about the factthat Christ is with you always? How many of you have foundyourselves in a place of despair and forgotten that not even deathcan separate you from the love of Christ? How many of you have everbeen in a place so dark that you forget about the light that alwaysshines?

Weforget that Christ is always with us, and that everything we do issupposed to be an offering to Christ. We get so caught up in life,in the busy-ness of everyday life, that we forget we're supposed tobe serving God, that we're supposed to be reaching out. We forgetabout our true mission, our true identity, and we begin to believethat this life is all there is, rather than remembering that thislife is merely preparation for the next life.

Weforget all this. And that's ok—it's part of being human.

Whatwe need are reminders.

Justas the women needed a reminder of the promise they had already heard,we, too, need reminders of the promises that have been made to us.

Whatdoes it take to remind us of Christ's presence around us? I imaginethat there is a different answer for each of us. For some, it maytake divine intervention, like the angels in the tomb. For others,it may be the simple presence of a loved one or a favorite Bibleverse perched nearby as a reminder of God's love. It may bedifferent for each of us, but the need is the same—to rememberGod's promises and grace. We need to have this in our lives, so Iurge you to structure your lives in such a way that you areconstantly aware of Christ's presence in your life. What will ittake for you to remember that Christ is with you in your work andplay? What will it take for you to remember that your every meal isa gathering around Christ's table?

Andfrom this place of remembering God's grace, we go forth to remindothers of the promises God has made. This was the role of the womenin our story today—they went out to remind others that Christ hadpromised to rise from the dead. Their news led Peter to the tomb,and Peter ended up leading the church.

Whomwill you remind of Christ's promises? How will your life be areminder to others that Christ has promised to always be with us? How will you live in such a way so that others will be reminded ofChrist's light through your actions and words?

Weare a forgetful people, living in a forgetful world.

Maywe remind one another of Christ's promises, and may our lives bereminders to others of God's faithfulness.

Letus pray.

Sermon for 1/22/2012

2012-01-21T14:54:00.000-08:00

Luke 23:26-56

The Crucifixion of Jesus

As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus. A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. But Jesus turned to them and said, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For the days are surely coming when they will say, “Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.” Then they will begin to say to the mountains, “Fall on us”; and to the hills, “Cover us.” For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?’

Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. [[ Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’]] And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!’ The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’There was also an inscription over him, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’

One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’ But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’

The Death of Jesus

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ Having said this, he breathed his last. When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, ‘Certainly this man was innocent.’ And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts. But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

The Burial of Jesus

Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments.

On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

Much of our culturedepends on us wanting to be like those who are more famous than us. Last weekend there was another Hollywood awards show, and I have nodoubt that countless celebrities traipsed the red carpet withbreathless onlookers commenting on their attire for the evening. Designers count on this—they depend on people like you and merushing out to the store and buying similar clothes so that we mightat least look like our favorite celebrities. Often you'll see acelebrity endorsing a product that you can be certain they have neverused—but the company depends on you believing that their word makesthe product more appealing.

In Christianity,this takes on a bit of a different spin. There aren't, as far as Iknow, reporters who announce what brand of suit Joel Osteen iswearing, in the hopes that other Christians will rush out and buy thesame. There aren't brands of Billy Graham endorsed clothing, becausethere isn't a market for people to buy similar clothing in the hopesthat it might help us become like him.

But we are guilty,I think, of having a bit of envy for those 'super-Christians' thatare lifted up in society and in Scripture. We read the stories ofDavid and Gideon and Abraham and Noah and we wonder why our livesdon't more closely mimic their radical dependence on faith. In ways,we can learn from them, and their faith can show us how to live, eventhough we are separated by many years.

There's a commonstory told that reflects on this common idea that we are called toemulate the giants of the faith.

A classic story tells about the greatChassidic Rabbi Zusha, who was found agitated and upset as he lay ondeathbed. His students asked, “Rebbe, why are you so sad? After allthe the great things you have accomplished, your place in heaven isassured!”

“I’m afraid!” Zusha replied,“Because when I get to heaven, God won’t ask me ‘Why weren’tyou more like Moses?’ or ‘Why weren’t you more like KingDavid?’ God will ask ‘Zusha, why weren’t you more like Zusha?’And then what will I say!?”

The reality of theChristian life is that each of us is a unique individual, made in theimage of God, but called and gifted in ways that have never been seenbefore and never shall grace this earth once more. You, and youalone, have the combination of brains and brawn for a very certainreason—because God has called you to something unique.

Now, perhaps theChristian church, perhaps this very church, has been guilty of tryingto prescribe a one-size-fits-all calling. And while I will say, inour defense, that many of the attributes of our lives in faith areheld in common, our lives themselves are so unique that we couldnever capture a full picture of them in the same way that you do. You have been uniquely gifted, called and placed in your situation,and only you can minister the way you do to the people in your life. If I tried to minister in the same situation and way you did, itwouldn't work, just as your gifts and callings wouldn't work in mylife. We are each differently gifted, thanks be to God. God lovesvariety, and God uses us in different ways, in different places,differently.

In today's text,this sad, sad tale of death and despair, we come face to face withthis fact in the way only a story-teller could capture. We findourselves wandering the path to Golgotha, to the cross, along withJesus, and on the road we meet people as different as one couldimagine.

First, we meetSimon of Cyrene, a man of mystery who appears for the purpose ofaiding Jesus on his long journey. Simon is there to carry thecross—so he is a strong man. Perhaps he had spent his lifewondering why God made him so strong, only to discover on this daythat it was for the purpose of helping his Savior. Perhaps, afterthis day, he recognized his calling as being a man of help to otherswith burdens too great for one. Simon shouldered his brother's load.

Next come thewomen. Now, these women probably weren't given the gift of strengthas Simon was. I don't want to say that for certain, for plenty ofwomen in this world are stronger than I am, but these women had arole to play, too, but it was different than Simon's. How much worsethis story would be if everyone assumed their role was the same asSimon's! Instead, they are called to weep, to mourn for the depth ofdespair in the world, to cry for the presence of sin. And I will saywith boldness that there are people this very day who need someone tocry with them, who need someone to sit with them in their sorrow anddiscuss the deep wrongs of their lives, of the world. They don'tneed someone to fix their problems, they just want someone to listen. So the women, in their own way, wept.

Next, we come tothe soldiers, men oblivious to the fact that their gifts could beused for God's glory. They are more concerned with enrichingthemselves and being entertained by this sad scene than they are inhelping anyone. Sounds like much of the world, doesn't it? Moreinterested in being enriched and entertained than in growingfaith—may we be careful not to fall into this rut.

Finally, we havethe two soldiers on the cross—one is caught up in the soldiers'mockery, but the other recognizes that he has missed his life'scalling, wasted his terrible years, and in his dismay and anger hecries out to the Savior, desperate to hear if it is too late. Thegood news for him, for me, for you, is that it isn't too late. TheSavior's arms are always open for another sinner to run home.

Even after thedeath of Jesus, we see people putting their gifts to use. Joseph ofArimithea has influence and he has wealth, and both of these he putsat the service of God so that the body of a King may have a place tolie. He doesn't try to carry the cross, and he doesn't come weeping,but rather comes with the gifts that he has, that no one else has,and does what he can. It's all Jesus asks—that we do what we canto be faithful in our lives.

At the end of thescene we encounter once more the women, waiting to embalm the body ofJesus, desperate to offer one more service to their Lord. They knowthat they can't do everything, but this once thing they can do, andso they will return.

Friends, you haveeach been given a unique combination of gifts for the purpose ofplaying a role in God's unfolding drama of redemption. You are anagent of hope, of light, of the Kingdom, and if you play your part tothe best of your abilities, you can trust God to do the rest. So letus set aside our comparisons, our self-abuse, for not being someoneelse, and let us discover who we are and how we are to live. Let usdo this as individuals, claiming our singular role in God's Kingdom,and let us do this as a congregation—may we not regret that wearen't Christ United Methodist or Rivermont Presbyterian or any ofthe other mega-churches around us. We have a unique role to play asNew Hope Presbyterian Church, and we betray our true identity if wedon't live into that and trust God to do something powerful withthat. Let us claim our identity with passionate hearts and befaithful to that call.

Each of us followsthe King in our own way, and we follow Him to the cross, where hefulfilled his unique role as the lamb led to the slaughter, theperfect sacrifice to atone for the sins of humanity. He laid downhis life for us, that we might have life, and so we follow him, andin his life we have our own life, lived for his glory, so that we mayspread the message to all of humanity—Christ is Risen!

Let us pray!

Sermon for 1/15/12

2012-01-14T19:09:00.000-08:00

Luke 23:13-25

Pilate then called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was perverting the people; and here I have examined him in your presence and have not found this man guilty of any of your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us. Indeed, he has done nothing to deserve death. I will therefore have him flogged and release him.”

Then they all shouted out together, “Away with this fellow! Release Barabbas for us!” (This was a man who had been put in prison for an insurrection that had taken place in the city, and for murder.)

Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again; but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” A third time he said to them, “Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death; I will therefore have him flogged and then release him.”

But they kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that he should be crucified; and their voices prevailed. So Pilate gave his verdict that their demand should be granted. He released the man they asked for, the one who had been put in prison for insurrection and murder, and he handed Jesus over as they wished.

************************

Often in life, weget exactly what we deserve. Those who work hard are rewarded, andthose who don't are not. Lately, there has been much discussionabout this, much of it sparked by the Occupy Wall Streetprotests—people don't feel like they get what they deserve. Theysee a system tilted against them, so that no matter how hard theywork, they will never get ahead. They see a corrupt system, in needof serious reform. We rebel against the times we do not get what wedeserve—when we've worked hard, we want to see rewards offered. It's what is fair.

I have had alifelong tendency to disobey the speed limit. It's simply part of myidentity—I can come up with all sorts of people and cities andother things to blame, but the simple fact is that my right footseems heavier than my left. Guilty. So it wasn't too shocking whenI was driving across Alabama quicker than the state of Alabama wouldprefer and I saw a trooper coming the other way cross the median andhead my way. I knew I was caught red-handed, so I had pulled overbefore he had even managed to turn his lights on. He told me howfast he had clocked me and asked if I knew what the speed limit was,and I replied that I did, and soon I had a very expensive souvenir ofmy trip to Clean Water U. But I couldn't protest too much—I earnedit.

Every once in awhile, though, we are given a gift of grace, something that we do notdeserve, and it should startle us. When I was sixteen, and had beendriving for several months, I worked in a large subdivision with manystop signs and a low speed limit. I had been told by my parents thatif I ever received a speeding ticket, I'd lose my license for sixmonths. Soon, however, that fear wore off, and I drove faster andfaster and coasted through more and more of those stop signs. Wasn'tlong before those same blue lights were behind me, and an officer wasasking me if I knew what I had done.

Perhaps it was theabject fear he saw in my face, or maybe he was just feeling mercifulthat morning, but for some reason he let me off with a warning, andthe sense of relief and gratitude that washed over me was immense. Iwas so grateful to not have to face my parents' collective wrath forbeing punished for something I was absolutely guilty of doing.

Perhaps you, too,have a similar story of not being punished for something youdeserved. If you do, you can relate, in some small way, to therelief Barabbas faces today in our Gospel reading.

The question ofBarabbas' guilt is never raised—the people of the crowd don't evenseem too concerned with who he is and what he is done—they are justdoing as they are told by their leaders, chanting for the death ofJesus while also crying out for the release of Barabbas. In otherGospels, we are told that it was the custom of Pilate to release oneprisoner, and the people choose this guilty insurrectionist over theteacher who challenges them to love God more than they love anythingelse in the world. Barabbas certainly isn't going to argue toomuch—he gets freedom instead of a death he might have deserved,while Jesus receives a death he does not deserve. Never has such aperfect man had such an unfair fate cast upon him. But he doesn'tsay a word, doesn't cry out against the unfairness of the system,doesn't try and convince the people, or Pilate, of his innocence. Like a lamb before the slaughter, Jesus says nothing.

It's so unfair.

And we are thebeneficieres of this unfair story. For we, just like Barabbas, standguilty as charged of sin, of loving other things more than we loveGod. We have plenty of things to blame, but at the end of the day weare responsible for the sinful choices we have made, and we areguilty, just like Barabbas. Each of us is guilty of a differentcrime, but at the end of the day, we have chosen self, chosen world,over God.

It's not to saythat we're terrible people, that we deserve a public death—but itdoes mean that if we had to stand before God just as we are, we wouldhave no claim to eternal life.

Enter Jesus, thelamb to the slaughter, the perfect Son of God. He doesn't sayanything before Pilate, before Herod, before the crowd, because thisis how it was always going to go. From the time God spoke the worldinto being, from the time God spoke to Abraham, from the time theangel spoke to Mary, it was always heading here, to a violent deathon the cross, taken on behalf of every sinner who has ever lived. Indying on the cross, Jesus opened up a door to life that we do notdeserve—he made eternal life possible with God, even though wecannot make a case for it based on our own actions—Jesus makes ourcase for it, and when we stand before God upon Judgment Day, we willnot be seen as a tarnished, guilty sinner, but rather we will becovered by Christ. We are worthy because He is worthy. Each sindisappears, and we are made new.

So, like Barabbas,we have been freed from the weight of our sin. It would be nice ifwe could live a perfect life from this point forward, but wecan't—we'll continue to sin, but because we are in Christ, we stillhave hope for eternal life.

The so-what of allthis, the purpose of it all, is not simply to get us into eternallife with God. The point of it all is that each one of you has beentransformed by the grace of God. Christ is our Lord and Savior, theonly way to salvation, and we are called to live a life that reflectsthat.

We don't know howBarabbas lived, but we know that he had the chance to re-write theend of his story.

I don't know whereyou go from here, but I will leave you with this question: Are youliving a life that reflects the freedom, the life, the hope that youhave found in Christ taking the punishment you deserve and leavingyou the gift of eternal life in its place? Does everything you do,in every moment of your life, re-tell the story of Christ's offer ofsalvation and redemption? Or does it keep telling the story of theprison of sin from which you have been freed?

Let us pray.

Sermon for 1/8/12

2012-01-07T19:41:00.000-08:00

Luke 23:1-12

Jesus before Pilate

Then the assembly rose as a body and brought Jesus before Pilate.They began to accuse him, saying, ‘We found this man perverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.’ Then Pilate asked him, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ He answered, ‘You say so.’ Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, ‘I find no basis for an accusation against this man.’ But they were insistent and said, ‘He stirs up the people by teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he began even to this place.’

Jesus before Herod

When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And when he learned that he was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him off to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had been wanting to see him for a long time, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform some sign. He questioned him at some length, but Jesus gave him no answer. The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him; then he put an elegant robe on him, and sent him back to Pilate. That same day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other; before this they had been enemies.

How many of youhave ever played the game 'Telephone'? I imagine that most of you,at some point in life, played this fairly simple game. In it, peoplesit in a circle and one person whispers a statement into the ear ofthe person next to them, who then relays it to the next, and so onuntil the bit of information has traveled around the circle. Thefinal message is then compared to the original, often with humorousresults. Rarely, if ever, are the two the same. The reason for thisis that the original message gets distorted at some point along theway, and then that message gets distorted, and each succeedingmessage is farther from the truth.

Now, if you werenot in the middle of a game, and you heard a garbled message, thebest thing to do would be to ask the originator what the message wasto be sure you knew exactly what had been said. This would make sureyour knowledge was accurate, and just as importantly, it would ensurethat what you were passing on to the next person was accurate. Ifyou fail to do so, you simply compound the error. As they say, alittle knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

In Christianity, alittle knowledge can be downright scary. In the Presbyterian church,we encourage each individual member to take up their own independentstudy of the Bible. We want you to take responsibility for yourfaith—we want you to have your own knowledge. If you never openthe Bible in your house, your faith becomes like a game oftelephone—you're listening to my interpretation of it. Now, I'mtrying to be as faithful as possible in relaying the truth of theBible. But I am human, and I make mistakes. It's important for youto be involved in your own study of the Bible so that you candouble-check what I'm saying—so that you can go back to the sourceand be sure that your faith is based on the firm foundation ofChrist. There are plenty of leaders in the world who willmaliciously twist the words of the Bible for their own benefit, andthousands of followers go along blindly, never opening their ownBibles to fact-check their leaders. They simply follow a distortedGospel.

In Jerusalem, theJewish leaders had developed their own distorted faith, passed downthrough generations of church leaders like a big game of telephone. Only this was no party game—this is the single most important thinggoing on in the world, and the leaders were leading the churchastray. They weren't going back to the text and seeing the God whowants all of their hearts and lives offered to him and him alone—theywere simply following along in a distorted, rules-based faith thatdepended on works alone to save them. They'd forgotten the God whostood behind the story. Their distorted faith didn't simply affectthem—they passed it along to others, and to the leaders who cameafter them, so generations of believers were affected by theirrefusal to allow God to dwell within their hearts. The leaders ledthe church astray, and it went farther off course with eachsuccessive leader.

Enter Jesus.

He came totransform all of this. He invited the leaders back to the truth ofGod's love, back into the fold of what it means to follow God. Heinvited them to take off the blinders, to see the distortions forwhat they were, and to lead the people back from the wilderness intothe promised land. He wanted them to understand that their heartswere astray, that they had fallen prey to generations of distortions,and to return to a life of worship. Jesus came to save everyone—thatincluded the Pharisees, the chief priests and the scribes. Jesusloved them just as much as he loved the disciples, as much as heloved those he healed, and he desperately wanted to see them come toa saving faith in Him alone.

But they resisted. Boy, did they ever resist. Three years of public ministry by Christdid nothing to soften their hearts. Countless exchanges with theWord made flesh didn't weaken their defenses—they had bought intotheir distorted faith, and they would not be shaken. Eventually,they had him arrested, and here we are today in Luke 23, with Jesuson trial and this crowd accusing him of all sorts of things, most ofthem lies, in the hopes of having him put to death, thus enablingthem to continue in their comfortable distortions. They distort theministry of Jesus to Pilate in the hopes that it will buy them aconviction. They want this problem solved.

Now, I don'tbelieve that Pilate and Herod are very important to this text. Ithink Pilate sees Jesus as a curiosity, someone not worth his time. When Jesus refuses to reveal anything self-incriminating before him,Pilate is hesitant to join into this inter-family squabble. When theassembly refers to him as a Galilean, Pilate sees this as goldenticket—suddenly, Jesus is not his problem.

It's a gloriousrealization for Pilate—Jesus is someone else's problem, and soPilate passes the buck, sending Jesus off to Herod, who has his owndistorted view of Jesus. Herod wants to be entertained, wants tohave some great story of seeing Jesus perform a miracle before hisvery eyes, not so that he will believe, but rather so he'll have astory to share at cocktail parties. He wants to see Jesusperform—but Jesus remains silent, so Herod and his soldiers mockthis Jewish carpenter and send him back to Pilate. The King of Kingshas nothing to say to the king. The one who heals beggars and dineswith sinners and prostitutes has nothing to say to the king with anempty heart.

So back Jesus goesto Pilate, along with the assembly and their hatred for hischallenges of his difficult faith, his calls to a hard road ofdiscipleship. They hate him for how he pushes them to giveeverything, to give their comfort and their hearts to God. They hatehim for challenging the distorted faith to which they have grownaccustomed. They hate him for calling them to change.

And so here wehave before us the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords—how do werespond? Is our own faith a distortion? Or do we live the kind offaith that Christ calls us to?

The best way toknow for certain what kind of faith Christ calls us to is to be inconstant study of Scripture. It's where the answers are for each ofus. We need to be in church, and sermons and worship certainly playa large part in our spiritual formation—but you need to be workingon your own, studying on your own, because you have a book with everyanswer in it. Only by reading it for yourself do you grasp thecomplete call of Christ's discipleship. Only by spending hours andhours in its pages do we understand how complete the call todiscipleship is. Christ wants all of your life, all of your heart,all of your energy. Christ wants every single day to be an offeringto Him—Christ wants all that you do, in work and play, every secondof every hour, to be lived for His glory. If we believe thatChrist's call to discipleship is not a call on all of our lives, weare no better than those who had him put on trial—we our attemptingto live our own distorted version of Christianity, and Christ callsus back to him, to worship with heart, body, mind and soul. He callsus to complete discipleship.

The scribes andthe Pharisees allowed their faith to grow distorted over the years,and when Christ called them to change, they refused.

What kind of faithwill you have? One based on a love of and study of Scripture, whereyou are constantly aligning yourself with God's call on your life? One rooted in listening to the Holy Spirit direct your feet?

In Jesus Christ,God came to earth to save you. On the cross and in the garden wherethe stone was rolled away, a message was sent to all people thatnothing on this world will ever be the same. May we live a life thatis constantly reminding ourselves and others that we have beentransformed in Christ, and that we will not allow ourselves to live adistorted version of the Gospel based on our comfort andunwillingness to change.

Let us pray.

Evelyn Piatt Memorial Service

2012-01-06T19:18:00.000-08:00

Romans6:3-11

Do you not knowthat all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptizedinto his death? Therefore we have been buried with him bybaptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the deadby the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

Forif we have been united with him in a death like his, we willcertainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We knowthat our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sinmight be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. Forwhoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died withChrist, we believe that we will also live with him. We know thatChrist, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death nolonger has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin,once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So youalso must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in ChristJesus.

EvelynPiatt loved her family. She had pictures of them all, and alwaysloved being surrounded by family. There were always updates to beheard about grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her family washer life.

Shewas also very generous with the definition of family—it wasn'tsimply a matter of her biological family. She loved her churchfamily as well—the one in Ohio as well as her adopted family herein Chattanooga. She was always checking in on Rachel and I, veryinterested in our home remodeling projects, making sure Rachel wasprogressing on her painting in the house—she loved family, all ofthem. She adopted us into her family.

Ultimately,that's what the Christian church is about—we are included into afamily much bigger than our own biological family. We have a churchfamily that surrounds us, that encourages us, that lifts us up whenwe don't have the strength to stand on our own. We have a churchfamily that reminds us of the promises of the Christian life.

Today,we gather together to remind ourselves of the promise that has beenfulfilled for Evelyn, the promise that awaits each of us at the endof life. When we talk about baptism, it is not complete until wecomplete our journey in this life. We are baptized into Christ'sdeath and resurrection—and just as Christ could not experience theresurrection without his own death, we cannot fully share in Christ'sresurrection without our own death.

Itdoesn't mean that the pain or grief is any less—but it does meanthat we, as a Christian family, are called to gather together andhelp one another remember the promise that Christ gives—we are tohelp each other look beyond the cross and to the empty tomb, to theriver of life that flows from the throne of grace. Evelyn hascompleted her baptism—and in doing so, she passes through theshadow of death and into the full light of the glory of God.

Thesame promise that was extended to her is offered to each of us—inour own baptisms, we have begun a journey, and it will not culminatein our own death—no, rather it continues through death and intolife, eternal with Christ. We cannot get to eternal life exceptthrough death, and each one is invited to take part in thislife—Christ bids us to come, to join him in his life, in his deathand resurrection. May we each follow where he leads, and in so doingtake hold of the promise of eternal life.

Letus pray.

Sermon for January 1, 2012

2011-12-31T19:58:00.000-08:00

Luke 22.54-71

Peter Denies Jesus

Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. Then a servant-girl, seeing him in the firelight, stared at him and said, ‘This man also was with him.’ But he denied it, saying, ‘Woman, I do not know him.’ A little later someone else, on seeing him, said, ‘You also are one of them.’ But Peter said, ‘Man, I am not!’ Then about an hour later yet another kept insisting, ‘Surely this man also was with him; for he is a Galilean.’ But Peter said, ‘Man, I do not know what you are talking about!’ At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, ‘Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly.

The Mocking and Beating of Jesus

Now the men who were holding Jesus began to mock him and beat him; they also blindfolded him and kept asking him, ‘Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?’ They kept heaping many other insults on him.

Jesus before the Council

When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, gathered together, and they brought him to their council. They said, ‘If you are the Messiah, tell us.’ He replied, ‘If I tell you, you will not believe; and if I question you, you will not answer. But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.’ All of them asked, ‘Are you, then, the Son of God?’ He said to them, ‘You say that I am.’ Then they said, ‘What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips!’

This will certainlycome as no surprise to any of you, especially those who know me well,but I am imperfect. Pretty darn imperfect, and depending on the dayI can be incredibly imperfect. Sometimes it is more obvious thanothers, and some days I may actually find the wisdom to draw near tothe Holy Spirit's design for my life. Even then, though, I haveflaws. Lots of them.

In years past, Ihave resisted the common theme of making new years' resolutions. Perhaps I simply didn't want to do what everyone else was doing, ormaybe I simply thought my imperfections weren't obvious enough toneed fixing around new years. I often believed that I should take upthe work of correcting my mistakes whenever I recognize them, andwhile I still believe that, I also believe that I used that as anexcuse not to set out on the difficult task of examining my life andseeking the Holy Spirit's wisdom to guide my feet on the next leg ofthe journey. Perhaps I may use fancier words that transcend thecommon new years' resolutions, but I believe that God is calling meto spend some time in silent reflection upon my habits andimperfections and set out on a journey to allow my heart to be guidedby the Holy Spirit over the next year, that the next leg of my lifemay be spent falling deeper and deeper into love with God.

At the heart of myimperfections, I believe, are the different ways that I deny Jesus'Lordship in my life. At the heart of each of our imperfections isthe simple fact that we find different ways to deny his Lordship. Weeach do things, everyday, that Christ would not have us do. If wetruly allowed Christ to be Lord over every aspect of our life, wewould live differently than we do. How differently depends on thedegree of sin in each of our lives, but we are each imperfect. Whenwe reflect upon our imperfections, the Spirit can guide us intorepentance and then into action, that we might allow our lives to beshaped around God's will for our lives, rather than our own.

In today's passage,I'd like to lift up three different ways that characters deny Christ. They are different in word and tone, but at the heart is the refusalto allow Christ to be Lord of the heart.

First, we havePeter's very obvious denial. Peter is, quite possibly, my favoritedisciple. Why? Because he is so visibly and obviously broken. Heis passionate about following Jesus, and yet his failures arewell-detailed in the Gospels. He is imperfect, and Jesus loves him,even when he messes up. Here, just after Jesus has been arrested,after he has cut off a slaves' ear, after he has promised to followJesus to death, Peter is denying knowing the very man. He wouldprobably deny laying eyes on Jesus given the chance—he knows thatassociation with Jesus may lead to death, and Peter is in full onsave-yourself mode here in the courtyard. Peter, the rock upon whichJesus will build the church, denies Christ openly with his words. Notice, here in Luke, how Peter is reminded of his sin of denial—it'swhen Jesus looks at him. When Peter is confronted by the Word madeflesh, Peter recognizes his sin for what it is.

From here, we go tothe story of Jesus being beaten by the ones who hold him. They mockhim and his abilities to prophecy. They mock what he stands for andthe holiness that drips from him. They mock him and abuse theirpower, beating him because they know can. They heaped insults uponhim, certain that they had power over him. By their actions, theydenied the Lordship of the Prince of Peace.

After that longnight had passed, Jesus is taken before an assembly of the elders ofthe people, chief priests and scribes, and they want to know if he isthe Son of God. They want him to say something that will allow himto condemn him to death. They're not interested in the truth—theydon't want to be confronted with his glory—they simply need areason to put him to the death they have already planned. They thinkthey know how the story ends, they think they know all the details,they just need Jesus to supply the one missing piece—something bywhich to convict him to death. If he doesn't, they'll come up withsomething, but they're hoping Jesus will give them what they sodeeply want. They deny the Lordship of Christ by believing in theirown wisdom, by believing they know everything and not listening towhat Christ has to say. In their unwillingness to trust Jesus, theydeny him.

From the text, weturn to our own lives, and I hope that I can present you with somethings to think about over the coming minutes and hours and days. Ihope that I can offer some meat that you might chew on, that mightoffer some direction, that you may do some self-examination andperhaps seek the Holy Spirit's guidance on how you might change inthe coming year to more closely align your life with God's will foryou.

First, I think wewould be wise to join with Peter in examining our words. Does theway you talk glorify God? Do your words acknowledge that Jesus isLord of everything you do, of everything you say—or do you setaside parts of your day and not offer them to God?

We can talk aboutfaith in two different ways. First, we can talk to others about thedifference it makes to us that we are a Christian. We can talk aboutour relationship with Christ to others—we can talk about how it isfood for our souls, about how it nourishes us each and every day,about how we struggle when we do not have it.

The other way is torecognize that everything we say reflects upon who we are. What kindof language do you use? Are you kind to others when you talk, or areyou rude? Do you use foul language and take the Lord's name in vain? If someone was handed a sheet of paper with everything you said in aday recorded, could you be proud of how you conducted yourself? Orwould you be embarrassed? How we talk to others is part of ourwitness—even if we're not talking about our faith, we're talking ina way that reflects upon our faith, because we are a people whoproclaim that everything we do matters to God.

Need a guide? I'drecommend spending some time in the Word, seeing how other people offaith conducted themselves—just as the nearness of Jesus made Peterrecognize his sin, the nearness of Scripture helps us see our ownsin.

Secondly, I'd liketo invite you to reflect upon your actions. Do you conduct yourselfin a way that reflects a man or woman seeking God in everything youdo? Do the choices you make with your life witness to someone who ispointed towards the Kingdom of heaven, or are you making choices toenlarge your own kingdom? Those charged with watching over Jesusconducted themselves in a way that sought to entertain themselves atthe expense of Jesus Christ—are you spending too much time inshallow entertainment and not enough time in deep commitment to arelationship with Christ? Are you choosing to invest yourself andyour energy in a life of witness to a greater power? Are youchoosing to serve? Our actions are part of our witness—and we canchoose to acknowledge or deny Jesus Christ's Lordship in our actionsas well as our words.

Finally, we come tothe chief-priests and the scribes. They thought they had all theanswers. They thought they knew the path they were called to walk,and they were certain that no one else was going to tell them theywere wrong. They were so unwilling to trust God's leadership thatthey didn't listen to Christ calling them into a new way of life. Indoing so, they denied Christ. Will you be like these few, or willyou be contrite and go to God in humility, seeking guidance? Willyou spend some honest time in heartfelt prayer, seeking God's wisdom,rather than your own? Will you admit that you don't have all theanswers, but that you worship a God who does? Or will you continueon the same path you've always been on, certain of yourself and howyou think things will go?

Friends, we have achoice—in each and everything we do, we can deny or acknowledgeChrist's Lordship in our lives. Each of us has areas of our lives inwhich we need to change. Each of us has a growing edge that God isasking us to offer to Him, so that he might help us grow.

This year, whatwill you choose? Will you choose the hard road of discipleship?

Let us pray.

Christmas Day Sermon

2011-12-25T06:12:00.000-08:00

Luke 2:8-20

The Shepherds and the Angels

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

*********************

I imagine that you've never beenjealous of the life of a shepherd. Imagine yourself outside in a mid-December night, wrapped up against thecold but unable to afford the warmest clothes. You're standing around, watching the sheep sleep in the middle of thenight, wondering what on God's green earth you're doing this for. It's not a job for the feint of heart, or forthe weak, or for the rich—those who have the ability or freedom to do anythingelse would choose just that. But theshepherds are there because they don't have anything else—they haven't turneddown lives of luxury because they feel called to a ministry to sheep. They're shepherds because it puts food on thetable. They're shepherds because itpays, even if it doesn't pay much.

It's not a job they wouldchoose, and it's not a job we would choose. But it's a job, and in this day and age, that still counts forsomething—even if it doesn't pay as much as we like, it's still pay. Some people are shepherds because they haveto be, just as people today do jobs because they have to do them, because thereisn't anything else.

It's this crowd to whom Godsends the heavenly host of angels to announce the birth of a Savior. God is always doing strange things likethis—he's reaching out to the last people in the world we'd expect him to reachout to. He's inviting people in to theparty who don't seem like the first option on the party invite list. We'd expect God to show up in a church or asynagogue—instead God shows up in a pasture, with the sheep.

God does strange things. The Incarnation itself is a bit strange—theSavior of the world being born in a manger in poverty. But they're not strange to God—to God, it's achance to show a love for the poor and the needy. To God, it's a chance to reach out to theworld, and God reaches out to everyone, even those people we might leave offthe list if we were in charge of making it up. And so, as a result, a heavenly host of angels show up in the middle ofa field of sheep to announce to the shepherds the news that a Savior is born.

So, here we are, two thousandyears later, still hearing the story that the angels told on that firstChristmas, and God is still reaching out to all of humanity, to the rich aswell as the poor, to the greatest and least of these in our minds, because toGod we are all equal, each one of us a sinner in need of a Savior.

We don't have the first words ofJesus recorded, but we have some of the last words—Go, therefore, and makedisciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of theSon and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I havecommanded you. And remember, I am withyou always, to the end of the age. We, too, are sent to share the message with everyone. We're called to go to those the worldconsiders the least—the shepherds of today's world, the poor and the homeless,those so quickly forgotten—and share the love of Christ. We, too, are called to take this message tofields and plains, to the places we might not naturally go, as well as theplaces we frequent everyday. We'recalled to join with the angels and sing the songs of God's amazing love, sothat we might tell the whole world about God's gracious and free love.

Let us pray.

Christmas Eve Meditation

2011-12-24T14:41:00.000-08:00

John 1:1-5, 14-18

The Word Became Flesh

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” ’) From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

*******************

I learned a lotabout having a child this year. And by that, I mean that I learned alot about watching my wife have a child this year. While she wasundergoing pregnancy and having a child grow inside of her, I wasgetting into the best shape of my life and competing in triathlons. So let's not pretend that both sides of this equation are equal.

But still, I waswith her every step of the way, even when those steps got a bitshorter and slower as Caleb grew. I was with her in the deliveryroom, throughout the long labor, and I have been ever since. And theone thing I gained from this experience is the wisdom that having achild is not an everyday occurrence. It's not easy, nor is it safe. Caleb was not in a big hurry to come into this world, and Rachel andI both came to the conclusion that had her pregnancy occurred 100years ago, neither she nor Caleb would have likely survived thelabor. Having a baby is a risky endeavor, and not for the faint ofheart.

And so it amazesme all the more this year, as we come to this miraculous Christmaseve, that God chose this dangerous, risky process by which to bring aSavior into the world. Our God, the One who spoke the world intobeing, could easily have had a little boy materialize somewhere inthe wilderness to be adopted by some loving family, perhaps by Maryand Joseph on their way to Bethlehem. Or Jesus could have simplyappeared in the wilderness at the age of 30, having skipped all thedangerous years beforehand, and not much would have changed. Markand John's Gospels would read the same.

But God chose tohave Jesus come into this world as a baby because God longs for us toworship Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, to turn from sin to Him. And in order for us to worship Him, we have to be able to trust Himfirst. We have to be able to trust that he understands us, that heknows what it is like to be scared, to be sad, to be human. We haveto be able to trust that Jesus doesn't save us out of pity, but outof love, because he knows exactly what it is like to be human, and heshows us how to live in our humanity, not trying to avoid it, butembracing it.

In Jesus Christ,God becomes vulnerable. Trust me, there is nothing more vulnerablethan a newborn infant. The only things that Caleb can do are cry,eat, dirty his diaper, and flail his limbs without any semblance ofcontrol. It's amazing to think that our Lord and Savior was once thesame way—he couldn't hold his head up without the help of Mary andJoseph. This is the One who came to save—and does save. He wasdependent on humans.

Thousands of yearslater, the church still depends on humans. God uses us to carry themessage of Christ forward. Without the church to be His hands andfeet, the message of Christ flails around here in themanger—confronting no one with the awesome message of love. Butyour hands and your feet have been chosen by God to be the objects tocarry the message of love and grace forward. God is depending on us,the feeble and sinful church, to share Christ's love with the world.

God invites us tojoin in with what he is doing in the world. God uses us, just as Godused Mary and Joseph, to move forward the redemption of all ofcreation.

This Christmas,may you celebrate the reality of a Savior who comes as a man, fullyhuman and fully God, to offer us salvation, and may you rejoice thatthis Savior invites you to play a role in the redemption of humanity. God uses people, you and I, to work in the world—won't you joinin?

Let us pray.

Sermon on 12/11/2011

2011-12-11T06:19:00.001-08:00

Luke 22:47-53

The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

While he was still speaking, suddenly a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him; but Jesus said to him, ‘Judas, is it with a kiss that you are betraying the Son of Man?’ When those who were around him saw what was coming, they asked, ‘Lord, should we strike with the sword?’ Then one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear.But Jesus said, ‘No more of this!’ And he touched his ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple police, and the elders who had come for him, ‘Have you come out with swords and clubs as if I were a bandit? When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness!’

*****************

I want you to take a moment and think about your favorite movie. What comes to mind?Now take a moment and think about the conflict in that movie—who is it between?Every great movie is filled with conflict. Think about some of the greatest movies of all time—they each have a conflict—sometimes it's a conflict rooted in the love between a man and a woman. Sometimes it’s a conflict between two friends or two enemies. Often, it’s far more complicated than that.

But there’s always conflict.Ever since Adam and Eve were shown the way out of the Garden, good and evil have been in conflict. Sometimes, good appears to have the upper hand, such as when the Israelites were marching through the Sea of Reeds with the Egyptians hot on their tail. Other times, evil seems to be winning—I was writing in Caleb’s baby book about the things that were happening around his birth and it was pretty difficult to come up with a lot of newsworthy great events—but there were plenty of bad events. They battle, back and forth, with rays of hope bursting through the darkness.

Here, in the 22nd chapter of Luke’s Gospel, we find them at war once more. Throughout the last few chapters we’ve been awaiting this clash—we had expected it once we started reading about betrayal, and perhaps we read a bit closer to see how and when they would clash.Jesus has gone to the Mount of Olives to pray, and he urges the disciples to join him in prayer, while the forces of evil gather their friends and make their way to the Mount, that they might strike the first blow in the hopes of gaining the upper hand.

We join the action here today.Remember—Jesus is busy praying, and he’s urging the disciples to pray. He’s encouraging his followers to spend time doing the single most important thing that they can be doing, and he’s trying to model the prayer that is more important than any other prayer—not my will, but yours be done. Perhaps he’s finally awakened the disciples to do their Christian duty and pray. Perhaps they’ve finally awoken to the need to pray—I can picture them rousing themselves from sleep and kneeling to pray when Judas bursts onto the scene, his band of no-so-merry men behind him, wielding clubs and swords, disrupting everything. Judas, acting as though nothing is wrong, ambles up to Jesus, who is not shocked by any of this, and goes to kiss him before Jesus stops this horrid scene.

Judas disrupts this time of intimate prayer with his betrayal. Who knows how long he has been plotting this. He’s had ample opportunities to betray Jesus to the chief priests—but he chooses here and now, in this prayer time in the garden. Why?Because Satan loves to disrupt us when we’re finally getting serious about spending time with God. I’m not sure there’s anything the devil loves more than finding a man or woman about to spend time with God in prayer and distracting them with some menial task so thoroughly that they never get back around to prayer. I can imagine the laughter in the bowels of hell as the demons recount ways they have turned individuals from prayer—perhaps they prompted a mundane phone call just before someone sat down to read the Bible, or interrupted a spiritual conversation with the sound of the trash truck and a reminder that the trash can hadn’t made it to the street yet. Friends, if you’re getting serious about developing your spiritual life, expect some serious opposition—and remember to stay strong in the face of it. There will be ample opportunities to drop out—but don’t let Satan turn you from your work.

So Satan comes to betray Jesus with a kiss, using this sign of love as a sign of betrayal, turning a wonderful thing into a terrible thing, and the disciples finally come to their senses, realizing what is happening, and leap up with a question: Lord, should we strike with the sword?Now, perhaps Luke, in his excitement at recording the scene, simply forgot to record Christ’s answer. I think a far more likely scenario, certainly a far more common one, is that the disciples, having asked the question, rushed into action before bothering to listen for an answer.

Not that anyone you know would ever do that.
Not that you would ever do that.
Not that I would ever do that.

Can you imagine the nerve—asking the Lord a question, for guidance on an issue, and then plowing ahead with your own plans without even bothering to give the Lord time to answer your carefully worded question?How often do you spend time in prayer asking for guidance on an issue, but never bother to spend time in silent reflection listening for an answer? Are you guilty of never bothering to ask a trusted friend what they think about a tough question, forgetting that the Lord often speaks through those who know us best? Do you sometimes doubt whether the Lord answers questions and ask them simply out of duty?As Christians, as people called to spend time in prayer and prefer the Lord’s will to our own, we’re called to discern God’s will for our lives. Often that means we need to spend more time in silent waiting than we do speaking. It’s like that old saying that so many of us heard from our mothers—you were given two ears and one mouth in the hope that you might listen twice as much as you speak. The Lord’s answers are rarely clear, I have found, but they are never clear when I don’t listen, when I don’t open the Bible and search for God’s wisdom, when I don’t bother to discuss the question with anyone I trust.

So the disciples leap into action and aim for the kill. They go for the head of one of the slaves of the high priest, removing his ear and probably giving the man more than he had expected. By this point, however, Jesus leaps into action. No more of this, he cries, and he reaches out his hand to heal the man’s ear.Typical Jesus—healing his enemies when the disciples think they are saving him.Let this text be a lesson to those who think God is always on our side when we go up against our enemies—Jesus loves our enemies just as much as he loves us.

I imagine that this text wasn’t referenced often in the midst of the Crusades, when it was believed that God would give them the power to destroy their enemies. The thought of Jesus running around on the battlefield healing the wounded on each side should be enough to give us pause. Jesus shows his perfect love by healing those who have come to arrest him. So I’d invite you to think about that the next time you’re in conflict with someone—as you’re imagining yourself emerging victorious, think about Jesus reaching out and healing them from the mental or emotional wounds you might have caused them. Perhaps it will lead us to be a bit more careful with our words, and perhaps it might help us put selfless love for enemies into action a bit more earnestly. Christ loved those who would come and arrest him—and he calls us to do the same.

Having healed the slave, he turns to the chief priests and the temple police, mocking their selection of weapons, wondering aloud why they didn’t bother arresting him in the temple, highlighting their fear of him. Evil always prefers the dark to act. It’s why crime often goes down in neighborhoods or parks when public lighting is installed—evil creeps back into shadowy places, hoping that its actions won’t be seen. So, too, has evil chosen the dark and seclusion of the Mount of Olives at night in this text, and they come to arrest Jesus, and Jesus, he who will defeat death and sin, allows it to happen.

Why?

Probably because he knows it has to happen.Probably because he knows the end of the story.But this is your hour, and the power of darkness, Jesus cries. I can picture him saying it with a sad look on his face, knowing that evil reigns in these men’s hearts, but knowing how much greater the power of love is. Satan will have his power, will do his worst, will try and conquer the light by crucifying the one who has come to save.But good will prevail.The light shall shine in the darkness, even when the darkness does not understand it. Jesus shall be resurrected, raised from the dead.Out of the depths of the darkest night, the Son shall rise. Evil will have its hour, but good wins. God wins.

And God calls us to join in—to shine in the darkness, to be filled with the light of Christ. As you go forth into the world, I’d invite you to consider the Christmas lights—each one shining in the night, each one a tiny speck of light that does something powerful when joined with a whole strand and plugged into the source. Each light is unique, and yet so many lights can transform a house, a community, a world. Will you let the light shine in you, in your own unique way, so that God may change the world anew and use you as the light overwhelms the darkness and transforms all of creation?Will you join in with what God is doing?Will your life be a victory song?Will good triumph in you?

Let us pray

12/4 Meditation

2011-12-04T05:24:00.001-08:00

Luke22:39-46

Jesus Prays onthe Mount of Olives

Hecame out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives; and thedisciples followed him. When he reached the place, he said tothem, ‘Pray that you may not come into the time of trial.’ Thenhe withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, andprayed,‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet,not my will but yours be done.’ [[ Then an angel from heavenappeared to him and gave him strength. In his anguish he prayedmore earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of bloodfalling down on the ground.]] When he got up from prayer, hecame to the disciples and found them sleeping because of grief, andhe said to them, ‘Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that youmay not come into the time of trial.’

FollowingJesus was not easy for the disciples. They had to make sacrifices tofollow Jesus—perhaps these sacrifices were made easier by themiracles that Jesus was performing before their very eyes, butnevertheless, they had to sacrifice to follow Jesus. For three yearsthey followed this incredible man around the region, never certain ofwhat miracle came next, surely always amazed by the words that pouredforth from Christ. They left behind family and friends to followJesus, and perhaps every now and again they thought they had itrough.

Itwas about to get a lot rougher. I think, by this point, they'restarting to get the picture that everything is not going to turn outwell in the end. I think by this point, they're starting to graspthe coming death of Jesus Christ. I have to imagine that theybelieved that there would still be a way out of it, but it's hard tothink that they couldn't see the writing on the wall.

Butthey're still following Jesus. They're still there, still with him,still at his side, even though threats loom and Pharisees linger,waiting for their chance to bring Jesus down—the disciples arestill there.

ButJesus knows it's about to get a whole lot tougher. And so he leadsthem to the Mount of Olives, where he needs to go and pray. He needsto go and spend some time in conversation with God, for he knows whatis about to come and how difficult it will be. Notice, too, how heurges the disciples to be in prayer. “Pray that you may not comeinto the time of trial.”

Now,we pray this prayer every week. We constantly are praying that theLord lead us not into temptation. We know that we are weak andstruggle with resisting temptation—so we pray for the Lord to keepit at bay.

Butwe all know that temptation comes, just as surely as we fail toresist it.

Sowhy does the Lord encourage us to pray?

Becauseprayer shapes us. Prayer shapes the kind of people that we are. Prayer forms us as disciples—the disciples have followed Jesus foryears, all the way to the Mount of Olives, and they still needforming, just as surely as you and I do. We need more practice asdisciples—and prayer forms us as the kind of people who depend onJesus Christ for every decision we make. When we are in constantprayer, we are looking to God's wisdom, rather than our own, whentemptation does overtake us. Jesus prays the most selfless prayerpossible: notmy will by yours be done.

Whenwe pray this, over and over again, eventually we begin to believe it,and then we begin to live it. Then, when we are overtaken bytemptation, our minds are prepared to follow God's will rather thanour own. When we are constantly being formed as disciples, we aremore likely to resist temptation.

Solive a life rooted in prayer. It's not enough just to come tochurch, or to mutter a prayer once a day. Let us be in prayerconstantly—for in our prayers we are being formed. We are beingformed as a people ready to empty ourselves, to set aside our ownwants and desires and to pick up God's will for us. In prayer, weare shaped daily, so that when temptation comes, we will be preparedto face it.

Noticehow the disciples opted for sleep rather than prayer. When thetemptation to flee from Christ comes, they ran. May we be in prayerso that when adversity comes, and as Christians I promise you that itwill come, we will be formed as disciples to stand as witnesses tothe Lordship of Jesus Christ in every part of our lives.

Letus pray.

11-27 Sermon

2011-11-27T05:05:00.001-08:00

Luke 22:24-34

The Dispute about Greatness

A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. But he said to them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

‘You are those who have stood by me in my trials; and I confer on you, just as my Father has conferred on me, a kingdom, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

‘Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death!’Jesus said, ‘I tell you, Peter, the cock will not crow this day, until you have denied three times that you know me.’

This morning we'regoing to talk about greatness.

When we begin totalk about greatness, one of the first things that comes to mind issome of the nicknames throughout the ages that allude to greatness. For starters, there is Muhammad Ali, who was simply called 'TheGreatest.' There is Wayne Gretzky, who was called 'The Great One',and we have greatness rolled into a name in the case of Alexander theGreat.

Each of these menhad greatness in their nickname because they reached the highestpinnacle of their profession. There has been no greater boxer thanAli, and it's hard to imagine a hockey player better than Gretzky. Ihave never seen Alexander the Great in action, but since we're stilltalking about him thousands of years later, we can safely assume hewas pretty good at leading an army. Greatness came naturally tothem, and they worked and worked and worked to perfect it. They weregreat at what they did.

I'd invite you totake a second and consider what greatness looks like in your life. If I told you that in ten years you would be referred to as great,what images come to mind? What defines greatness in your life? Whatwould it take for you, for others, to think of you as great. As apastor, it's tempting to think that greatness would be a church wherethousands gather every Sunday to hang on every word.

But that's theworld's idea of greatness, and if we're not careful, we buy in towhat the world defines as great. We think that if we achieve fameand fortune we will be great. As a pastor, it's so tempting tobelieve that I am great if people come to hear me—but the realityis that image is an idol, because it's not about me, and greatness inmy profession, just like greatness in your life, isn't defined by thethings this world defines as great. This is the distinction Jesus ismaking in the text today, and it's a distinction he wants us to makein our lives, too. Jesus is redefining greatness.

Let's look at thesituation out of which this discussion arises—the disciples arearguing about which one is to be regarded as the greatest. Why isthis important? Let's not forget that Jesus is leaving the disciplessoon, and he's been pretty open and adamant about that fact. Thedisciples are assuming that whichever of them is the greatest willassume Jesus' role of leadership within the group, and to the worldat large. They believe that the ministry will continue exactly as ithas, and the leader will gain notoriety and fame across the region. They believe that being the greatest will enhance their status andreputation within the group. They want to be great so that otherswill see them as great.

Notice how Jesusresponds to this argument. He doesn't dispute with them that thenatural inclination is to assume that the one who is served, the onewith the higher worldly status, is often seen as great. He doesn'tdispute that those with wealth, fame and power are seen as great.

What he does isredefine greatness in the eyes of God. What Jesus does is demandthat those who wish to follow him must follow a different route andbe willing to set aside the world's idea of greatness if they want toachieve greatness in the eyes of God. God isn't going to love youany more than He already does if you have wealth and fame. You aregoing to achieve greatness the way that God defines it by doing one,and only one, thing: serving others.

Now, it's ournatural inclination to want to complicate this. We're going to wantto add all sorts of complications and intricacies to it—but Jesussays it so straightforwardly. Serve others. Jesus, the greatestperson that has ever and will ever live, serves others. Jesus spenthis time in the gutter, serving beggars. He spent his time reachingout to lepers and others that most people wouldn't even talk to—heserved them with a heart willing to love. He did this as a way toshow others what true greatness is—it's service. It's love inaction.

Now, you may bewondering how much service it takes to be great. You may be worriedthat you're not serving enough to meet Jesus' high threshold. Thisis where I have some really good news for you:

Jesus calls brokenpeople.

It would have beeneasy for Jesus to call the best of the best, the ones with the leastsin in their lives. It might be easy for God to look out across thepopulation today and choose to save only those with the least amountof sin in their lives.

But God lovesbroken people. Always has. Has promised to always do so.

Look at thedisciples. Jesus has been talking for days, for weeks, for years,about how he is going to be killed. All of the action is coming to ahead, and Jesus is busy discussing which one of the disciples isgoing to betray him. How do the disciples respond? With hearts fullof concern for Christ? Desperate to hang on his every word, to catcheverything possible before he is crucified?

No, they get caughtup in worrying about who is going to be in charge when he's gone.

Then we turn toPeter, who promises to follow Jesus wherever he will lead, even ifthat ends in prison or death. No, Jesus says—you'll deny evenknowing me three times before the sun rises. Peter, the rock uponwhom Jesus will build his church, will deny even knowing JesusChrist. These are the disciples, the ones whom Jesus handpicked tofollow Him.

God loves brokenpeople. He's been using them to build his kingdom for thousands ofyears. Now, he's going to use you.

You may want toobject because you believe your sins are so great, because you thinkyou're unworthy. You may not believe that you can ever lead a lifeof service like the one that Jesus led.

I have news foryou—you'll never live up to his standard. You'll never achieve alife like the one Christ led. But the great news is that you don'thave to—you're worthy of Christ's love because of what he did, notbecause of what you have—or haven't—done.

Which means that wecan set aside all of our fears about being good enough, about beingworthy. We can set those aside and focus our eyes on one thing: being great in God's kingdom. And that doesn't necessarily meanpreaching to a church of 10,000 people or giving more money thananyone else. What it means is that you are called to serve.

You're called toserve your family and your friends, your neighbors and your church,strangers and loved ones, homeless and wealthy, republican anddemocrat—you are called to serve. You're called to serve with yourlife, with your time, with your money and your energy. You're calledto serve others, to constantly put others first and determine how youfind new ways to serve. You're called to serve through prayer andaction, through your words and your listening. You're called toserve in ways you can't even imagine right now. You are called toserve, and in so doing, you are great in God's eyes.

Because whenever weserve someone else, we serve God. So strive to be great, not in theeyes of the world, but in the eyes of God, and live a life thatserves others, that chooses not to sit at the table and be served,but rather to serve. In so doing, may we do our part to join inGod's building of a kingdom.

Let us pray.

November 20 Worship

2011-11-19T19:05:00.001-08:00

Luke22:7-13

ThePreparation of the Passover

Thencame the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had tobe sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Goand prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.’ Theyasked him, ‘Where do you want us to make preparations forit?’ ‘Listen,’ he said to them, ‘when you have enteredthe city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow himinto the house he enters and say to the owner of the house, “Theteacher asks you, ‘Where is the guest room, where I may eat thePassover with my disciples?’ ” He will show you a largeroom upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.’ Sothey went and found everything as he had told them; and they preparedthe Passover meal.

Isn'tit wonderful when things are prepared for you? Rachel and I don't goout to eat very often, but there's something so relaxing aboutknowing that all of the cooking and preparation will be taken careof—we don't even have to wash dishes! We simply get to sit backand enjoy a relaxing meal in each other's company. We have a role toplay, but so much is already done for us.

Today'sGospel message invites us into this reality—in today's message, wereach the Last Supper, the celebration of the Passover meal beforeJesus is arrested and put on trial. In today's passage, we see whereall the preparation has been leading.

Butbefore Jesus is arrested, before he heads off to the garden to pray,he eats a meal with his disciples. And he sends them off to preparethe meal, but the story conveys the message that God has beenpreparing for this for a long time. Things have been set in motionhundreds, even thousands of years, each of them leading up to thismoment.

ButJesus still invites the disciples into the action. He gives them arole to play—they are to go and prepare the meal. They are toaccompany Jesus these last few steps of the journey. They are totake the message to the world after he ascends, to be Jesus'witnesses.

Inthe same way, each of you are invited to join in with what God isdoing. We don't have to make all the preparations. We don't have todetermine the path to salvation. It has all been done for us. Godhas made everything ready, and he invites us to play a role, to joinwith him in what he is doing in the world. Today, we gather tocelebrate God's mission, and in our worship we are rejuvenated to goout into the world and share the Good News of God's love and grace inthe world.

*****************************************************

Luke22:14-23

TheInstitution of the Lord’s Supper

Whenthe hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles withhim. He said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat thisPassover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will noteat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ Thenhe took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, ‘Take this anddivide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on Iwill not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of Godcomes.’ Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had giventhanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body,which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And hedid the same with the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup that ispoured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But see, theone who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table. Forthe Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to thatone by whom he is betrayed!’ Then they began to ask oneanother which one of them it could be who would do this.

Imaginewith me, for a moment, that you worship in a church that has tall,vertical windows up and down the walls of the sanctuary. Now, thismight not be so bad if the church were located in a suburban areawhere there's nothing but trees and parking lots as far as the eyecan see. But imagine this church is in the middle of a highlydeveloped area, where there is constant change just outside thewindow. Perhaps, just as a bonus, we'll throw in a siren everythirty minutes or so, just as another noise. Imagine trying to focusin such an environment. It would be difficult, right?

Theworld is filled with distractions. Many of them are harmless, butsome are much more than that—some turn our attention away from God,and when we turn from God, it leads our vision away from God, and caneasily lead our feet, our hearts, away from the path God has setbefore us. Before we know, we're far from who we want to be, andit's not always easy to find our way back.

Inthe passage I just read, Jesus is talking about how the betrayal ofone of the disciples is upon the group. Each disciple is stunned,and notice what happens just after Jesus introduces this fact—thedisciples begin to ask one another who it could be that would do sucha thing.

It'sonly natural—we'd do the exact same thing. These men have spent somuch time together over the past three years. They are as close asbrothers, and they've just found out that one of them will betraytheir leader. They want to know who, and why, and all sorts of otherinformation.

Butnotice what the distraction does—it turns their attention away fromJesus.

Thisis what sin does—it turns us away from God. It distracts us anddrags our hearts and minds away from the worship of God. Sin keepsus from thinking about God, and we end up with our minds set on thethings of this world—before long, we're so busy that we forget tonotice that Jesus is still at the table with us. Before long, wemight even forget why we're at the table.

Sindoes the same thing to us today that it has for thousands of years—itturns us from God. I don't know what the sin in your life is,whether it's big and all-consuming or small and insignificant, but Ican tell you what it does to your life, because it does the same tomine—it turns our hearts and minds away from Christ. When wegather together to confess our sins, we set our hearts and minds backon Christ, and begin once more to struggle against sin, to struggleto live for Christ.

Iinvite you to join me in a time for silent confession of sin, toreflect about the things in your life that turn you from God, andpray for God's forgiveness, that we might once more direct our livesback toward God.

Pleasepray with me.

Sermon for 11/13/2011

2011-11-12T21:02:00.001-08:00

Jesus choosing Judas tells us nothing about Judas--but it tells us everything about Jesus.

Luke 22:1-6

The Plot to Kill Jesus

Now the festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was near. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus to death, for they were afraid of the people.

Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve; he went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers of the temple police about how he might betray him to them. They were greatly pleased and agreed to give him money. So he consented and began to look for an opportunity to betray him to them when no crowd was present.

***************

For those of youwho are football fans, you doubtless have heard of a little eventheld every year called the NFL draft. It's the time of the year whenprofessional football teams gather to draft the college players fortheir team. NFL teams spend untold amounts of money scouting forthis huge event—they want to be sure they pick the best player. Any number of websites will offer up their opinions on who thebiggest draft busts are—players who were picked very highly, whowere expected to perform at the highest levels, and often ended upbeing out of the league within a few short years. Somehow, thescouts missed something and didn't predict that a certain player justdidn't have what it takes to make it in the NFL. The NFL is anuncertain business, and one mistake can cost a team millions ofdollars.

I want you to holdthe NFL draft in your mind—it's an event where each team doeswhatever is possible to draft the absolute very best player to ensuretheir future success. If you were responsible for running a footballteam, or any other type of team, you'd want the best and thebrightest, too. If you're hiring someone to fill a job, you want theabsolute best person you can get, right?

So imagine thatyou had the responsibility of picking Jesus' disciples—how wouldyou choose? You'd probably go to the biggest and best synagogue andpick the brightest and most promising disciples, right? Beinghumans, with our limited knowledge, we wouldn't know how each onewould turn out, but we'd pick the most qualified and believe thatthey couldn't be topped in terms of potential. You'd feel even morepressure if I told you that Jesus Christ would be crucified, and thetwelve disciples would be largely responsible for the future of theChristian Church once Jesus ascended into heaven. You'd be soworried you'd spend hours questioning each candidate to make sure thechurch was in the best hands possible to ensure its survival.

That's what wewould do if we were in charge of choosing disciples, right?

Which is yetanother illustration as to why we're not in charge.

Jesus goes for aslightly different route than the one we would select. He goes andchooses fishermen, men who may have aspired to be priests andPharisees but just didn't make the cut. Jesus chooses men whoweren't quite good enough, who longed to qualify as religious leadersbut didn't measure up in the eyes of the leadership of the day. Jesus goes for them. It's a curious selection, we would say, and onein particular is more curious than the rest.

Judas Iscariot.

Now, we believethat Jesus knows everything, and that He knows what is going tohappen. So, basing off that, we can say that Jesus knew that Judaswas going to betray him. Which makes most of us wonder why Jesuschose Judas to be a disciple in the first place. If I'm Jesus, andI'm clearly not, I would have had Judas stay as far away from me aspossible. But Jesus chooses Judas to follow him, invites him in to afellowship of disciples and spends three years with a man who willvoluntarily betray him. Jesus knows this is going to happen andchooses Judas anyway.

Why?

Why choose yourbetrayer to be one of the twelve people in the world who are closestto you?

Why choose asinner who will not turn back until it's too late?

Why choose a manwho will not be able to control himself in the face of temptation?

Why?

That's the kind ofGod we worship. We worship a God who doesn't always make sense, whodoesn't choose people for the reasons we would choose people, whodoesn't follow the wisdom of the world. We worship a God who lovesfreely, who extends grace to everyone, and who desperately longs foreach one of his children to come to him in repentance. We worship anamazing God, and it's in stories like this one, in the tale of Judas,that we realize how incredible our God is.

Jesus picked Judasbecause he loved Judas. Jesus wanted Judas to be a part of theKingdom of God, to know God's love and to worship God with all of hisheart. It's the same thing Jesus wants out of each of us—to lovehim completely, to live a full life that can only be found when livedunder the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Jesus picked Judas because Judaswas loved just as much as every other child of God.

Did Jesus knowJudas was going to betray him?

Absolutely.

But Jesus lovedhim anyway.

Just as much asJesus loves you and I, even when we betray him.

Now, it's easy tosee the betrayal of Judas when it leads to the cross. But I believethat we just as often betray Jesus Christ when we choose sin over Himin our modern world.

As I've watchedthis appalling story of child abuse and neglect at Penn State breakout, I see a betrayal of Jesus. I see sins of omission—adults witha responsibility to love and protect children failed in thatresponsibility. They failed to act to protect children, and in theirinaction, they sinned. Sin isn't simply doing somethingwrong—sometimes we sin when we fail to do the right thing.

But sin doesn'thave to be big and public. It can be small and private, in thedepths of our hearts, a sin that never knows the light of day. Whatever your sin is, it's different from the sin of Judas by amatter of degrees, not type. When you and I choose sin, when wechoose to worship something other than Christ, we betray Jesus insome big or small way.

And yet Christ hasstill chosen us. He has still chosen to live for us, to die for us,to rise for us. He has still reached out in love and mercy to extendthe grace of the Gospel to each and every one of you. He didn't castyou down or refuse to choose you because he knew you would sin. Hedidn't opt not to offer salvation to you because he knew at somepoint you would turn your back on him. Instead he chose love andgrace, forgiveness and mercy, and for that reason we gather heretoday, so that the hearts that beat within our chests might cry outin love and gratitude for all that God has done. We live out a lifeof thanksgiving, because Christ has chosen us. Not because we wereworthy, not because we were the best, not because we were the mostqualified, but because he is a God of love, mercy and grace, and weare the ones that he loves. For no other reason but love did he dieon the cross, and so it is my utmost prayer that each and every oneof our lives might be a loud song of praise, of thanksgiving, andthat we might have the courage to live as disciples of the great andmerciful Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us pray.

November 6 Sermon

2011-11-05T19:25:00.000-07:00

Luke 21:25-38

The Coming of the Son of Man

‘There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see “the Son of Man coming in a cloud” with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.’

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

Then he told them a parable: ‘Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Exhortation to Watch

‘Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.’

Every day he was teaching in the temple, and at night he would go out and spend the night on the Mount of Olives, as it was called. And all the people would get up early in the morning to listen to him in the temple.

I want you to stopand think for a second—when was the last time you drank somethingjust to get energy?

Might have beenthis morning—I know that they make coffee makers with alarm clocksbuilt in to ensure that your coffee is ready before your feet hit theground. Could have been Friday afternoon—maybe you were draggingas you headed into the weekend. Or perhaps late Thursday night, asyou worked on a project that was due on Friday morning. I think thelast time I did was when I was driving back from Kentucky not toolong ago—I stopped in Knoxville for a cup of coffee to keep meawake, and, sure enough, it kicked in around the time I got toCleveland, ensuring that I had plenty of energy right about the timeI was trying to go to bed.

When I was incollege, I don't remember having a lot of options for energy when Ihad to stay up late and write a paper. We didn't have the variety ofenergy drinks that now stack the shelves of every grocery store, gasstation and mini-mart in the country. Though the energy drink onlybroke into the market almost 15 years ago, it has developed into amulti-billion dollar industry and one of the easiest products tofind. It seems like you can buy a bottle of 5 hour energy almostanywhere.

The fact that thisindustry is thriving is an indicator that each of us often findsourselves running out of energy. We're over-committed andover-burdened, rarely feeling like we have enough time in the day tofulfill all of our obligations. We're running ourselves into theground. We often joke about it, laughing it off as we run for ournext task.

But Jesus warns usabout the dangers of this in today's text.

Be on yourguard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation,he says. Dissipation is the loss of energy over time. If we takethis tennis ball and bounce it down the aisle, we'll notice that eachbounce is a little lower than the one before it. Each time it meetsthe ground, some energy is removed, so that it soon doesn't haveenergy to bounce at all. Perhaps that may sound like many of yourdays.

Whatare the dangers of dissipation, of losing energy? We don't have toleave the Bible to discover those. We can turn to the story of Jacoband Esau to see the danger, the peril, that lurks in our exhaustion. In our exhaustion, we find ourselves weakened—and our moral compassis weakened as well. Esau, exhausted from his labors in the fields,comes to Jacob and is willing to offer his birthright in exchange fora bowl of soup! It's the worst trade in human history, and yet Esauaccepts it, such is his desperation. He gives up everything in hisweakened state.

We,too, are often in danger in our weakness. When we're not at ourbest, it's easy to fall into the snares the devil sets for us. Whenwe aren't fully alert, we can easily fail to obey Christ and settlefor what's easiest, for what's convenient. It is so important that,as Christians, we live lives that are morally upright—we have to doeverything we can to live up to the standard Christ has set for us. We will never succeed, of course, but the world is watching us live,and part of our testimony is our actions. By our choices we revealthe foundation of our life.

SoChrist tells us to be wary of dissipation. He doesn't want us toallow our energy to fade and flag. He warns of drunkenness in thispassage, but any sin could fit in here—we need to be on our guard.

Thisis the first command Christ gives us. It's amazing to think that hespends this entire chapter talking about the end of the world, and atthe end he gives us two very specific commandments about what to doabout it. He doesn't tell us to spend the next 2000 years obsessingover and worrying about the end of the world, like many have chosento do. He tells us this for information, I suppose, but then tellsus to get about the business of being a Christian. Being on ourguard, being alert, is the first aspect.

Thesecond is prayer.

I want you to take a second and realize what Jesus is saying—he istelling us that prayer is one of the two most important things we cando in our lives as Christians. It isn't a supplemental task that wecan pick up when we need some help, or something that is always therefor us if we're in a tight spot. Jesus Christ, the Savior of theworld, is telling us that prayer is to be part of the foundation ofour lives, one of the single most important things we can do. Wedon't know when the end times will be, when Christ will descend fromthe heavens in his glory, but we can prepare in the way we live, andin our lives of prayer.

So are you taking prayer as seriously as Christ is charging you totake it? It's an easy thing to put off. I heard the other week thatthe average Christian prays for five minutes a day. The averagepastor apparently prays for eight minutes a day. I will freely admitthat there are many days when I struggle to make the time to pray. It feels like another task to fit into an often overwhelmed day. ButChrist is telling me that it needs to be the first task that goesinto my day, the first thing I schedule, and the rest of life needsto unfold around it. It needs to be foundational.

Notice, too, what we are to pray for—that we will stand before theSon of Man. We are praying for the future, that our lives may bepointed in one direction, and that they will culminate in our eternalworship of Jesus Christ. In our lives of prayer, we are being formedas disciples, as individuals whose lives are oriented towards Christthe King—we are aiming for heaven while we're living on earth. Weare being reminded of our purpose, of the single most importantaspect of our being—that we are called to worship, we are createdto worship, and when our prayers remind us of this, they re-orientus.

When our prayers remind us of our single most important aspect, theyshould lead us to awe and wonder at the God who created us.

And this, you may find, gives you a little more energy. Because theidea that God created you to exist forever in his eternal glory mightjust help you live with a sense of purpose here—whatever task isbefore you is one that is you offer up in your life to your God andKing. In this life, you are preparing for your eternal worship. Each thing you undertake is vitally important to the Kingdom—becauseyou are vitally important to the Kingdom. Whether at work or play,you are doing Kingdom work, spreading the Good News of Christ.

May you do so on your guard, led by prayer, filled with the HolySpirit. May his energy fill you and lead you out in your life ofdiscipleship.

Let us pray.

10/30 Sermon

2011-10-29T20:03:00.000-07:00

Luke 21:5-24

The Destruction of the Temple Foretold

When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, ‘As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.’

Signs and Persecutions

They asked him, ‘Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?’ And he said, ‘Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, “I am he!” and, “The time is near!” Do not go after them.

‘When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.’Then he said to them, ‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

‘But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defence in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.

The Destruction of Jerusalem Foretold

‘When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those inside the city must leave it, and those out in the country must not enter it; for these are days of vengeance, as a fulfilment of all that is written. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people; they will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken away as captives among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

*****************************

I'm a triathlete. That word often brings to people's minds images of Ironmen out inHawaii trudging across the desert. They imagine me swimming 2.4miles, riding my bicycle for 112 miles, and then running a marathonto finish up a refreshing day.

That's not me. The best time ever recorded is 7 hours and 50 minutes. That's forthe whole thing. I have every confidence that if the bike course wasall downhill I could complete that portion in that time. Of course,I would then have no desire to go run a marathon, or to have warmedup for the bike ride by swimming 2.5 miles. I'd probably call it aday and go have a milkshake. I compete in sprint triathlons, whichare about 10% of the whole enchilada. They take me about an hour anda half, and I still feel like I've earned a milkshake by the end ofit.

The most importantaspect to a triathlon is the training. You can't just dive into onewithout any preparation. Well, I suppose you could, but the resultswouldn't be pretty. The triathlons in which I compete usuallycomprise of a 800 yard swim, a 15 mile bike course, and a 3 mile run. It's nothing compared to an Ironman or even a marathon, but itrequires you to be competent in three different areas. For example,if you can't swim, a triathlon is a pretty poor choice of hobbies. If you hate riding a bicycle, I'd recommend you explore otheroptions. But if you love to run, bike and swim, as I do, then it's agreat sport to try.

But it requires alot of training. I spend a good deal of time on the bicycle trainerI have in the basement, and I look for opportunities to swim everychance I get. I don't run a lot because I'm trying to save my knee,but I try to keep myself in good shape. Triathlons requireendurance, so I work hard to prepare.

All this trainingcomes in handy in the midst of a race. It's not that I worry I'mgoing to forget how to run or I won't remember how to pedal mybicycle. I don't worry that I'll be in the middle of a lake andsuddenly have no idea how to swim, and I'm confidant that I can tiemy shoes even when I'm stressed out. No, the training comes in handywhen I'm in the middle of the bike course and my legs begin to feelheavy, when I grow frustrated and feel like the course will neverend, when everyone is passing me and I forget why I do this—that'swhen the training comes in handy, because my body defaults to acertain setting. I've trained my body to compete in these events,and so when my mind wanders and I lose my focus, my bodyautomatically responds and keeps driving me forward. It keeps mylegs and arms churning and gets me through the low spots. This pastsummer I competed in a race in Kingston that wasn't fun at all. Ihad been moving for almost three hours, and running for over fourmiles, when I was ready to throw in the towel. No part of me wantedto keep moving, and I hurt. Cruelest of all, they had set the finishline on top of a hill, and you had to run completely around thebottom of the hill before ascending to the finish line. It was hot,and it was brutal, and I wasn't that interested in continuing.

But my trainingkicked in. I had prepared for this moment, so that when my minddespaired, my body kept moving. It knew what I was supposed to do,so that by the time my mind finally got around to deciding tocontinue, by body had already moved closer to the finish line. Mydefault setting was moving forward—so when all else failed, I keptmoving forward.

In this incrediblydifficult passage from Luke's Gospel, we come to a challenge thatseems as daunting as a hill at the end of a race. We've beentraveling with Jesus from the stable in Bethlehem, and just as wedraw near to the pivotal events in human history, we wind up havingto spend a chapter listening to Jesus talk about a temple beingthrown down and trials and tribulations that we will face. We wantto move on to the familiar things, the Last Supper and the Trial, butJesus is making us slow down and listen first.

Jesus is trying toprepare us. Jesus is trying to help us train our minds, our hearts,our lives, so that when the trials come we will be ready to live withintegrity, with honor, staying true to the Word of God. Listen tohis words again:

They willarrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over...

You will bebetrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; andthey will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all becauseof my name.

Jesus knows what lies before us. He knows what lies before him. Just think about his mindset—he's standing on the edge of his owndeath, on the lip of the abyss into which he is about to plunge. Inthe coming days he will be arrested, beaten, and hung upon a cross,betrayed by a friend, and then he will descend into the depths ofhell itself. This is what awaits him, and he does not go easily,lightly—rather he knows that he must prepare his disciples for thesame journey, knowing that they will suffer similar persecutions,similar betrayals, similar deaths. He knows that the future of thechurch will, in large part, be determined by the actions of thosethat are listening to him speak. He wants to prepare them. Listenagain:

Make up yourminds not to prepare your defense in advance, for I will give youwords and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able towithstand or contradict.

Those words would be anathema to most lawyers in this country. Indeed, to anyone with an ounce of common sense, deciding not toprepare your own defense seems crazy. It seems like you'reabandoning all hope—your very life may be on the line, and Jesuswants you not to prepare for your defense.

Whathe wants the disciples, what he wants from you, is a heart so fullyfocused on him that, in your time of trial, when all the world hasdeserted you, you will default to a position of complete and totaldependence on him. What he wants from you is a life that is intraining to follow him—think of yourself as training for the mostimportant competition in your life. How is your training going? Even Jesus is using language athletes are familiar with—Byyour endurance you will gain your souls. Endurance—and to gain endurance we have to train. Throughout theNew Testament, we hear cries for endurance—that we are to endure.

Now, endurance is not a very popular term in a modern culturefascinated with instant gratification. We like our results to happennow—when I had Directv we had the option for OnDemand movies—wewouldn't have to wait at all. Any cell phone advertisement willdiscuss the importance of instant gratification—they need to offer4G service, because waiting just will not do. We want things and wewant them now.

Jesus doesn't promise instant gratification. He instead calls us todiscipleship, which has an entirely different connotation. Discipleship is a slow process—indeed, it takes a lifetime, and weoften don't see the results immediately. We may not see the resultsfor years, or even for decades. Discipleship requires great trust inthe Holy Spirit, to trust that God is working in us and through us,even thought we may not always realize it. We want to be impatient,to see what God is doing now, when God works on a much longer timeframe—he wants us to build throughout our lives, to grow as hischildren.

If I sit and stare at my son, I won't be able to see him grow—if Iwanted, I could even become frustrated that he wasn't growing beforemy eyes. But I know that in a month, or six months, I'll be able tolook back and notice the changes. Discipleship is the same way—wemay not see the results immediately, but we'll be able to look backafter a period of years and notice the ways that God has beenworking, the places where God was moving actively without our evenrealizing it.

Jesus calls us to a life of discipleship, and it's no different thanthe training I do for my triathlons. Discipleship is a life oftraining, of slow growth, and we can't rush it. I can't wake uptomorrow morning and decide that I'm going to be spiritually mature. What I can do is decide to sit down tonight and begin a process thatwill help me grow in faith. What we are worth doing is worth doingwell, and to do it well requires long amounts of time, years andyears, a lifetime's worth of effort—you may well grow frustratedthat God doesn't seem to be working fast enough, but trust me, God isat work, through your prayers and study, through your conversationsand time alone. God is at work in you, doing a mighty work ofturning your heart toward him.

In this work, God is preparing you, and you are training, so thatwhen challenges come, when you despair because of betrayal or hatred,your default mode will not fail, but you will default to trust inGod's sovereign grace, in his mercy, in his love. In the darkesthours of your life, you will know that God is with you because youhave been preparing for them your entire life. Indeed, in our owndeaths, we will not fear because we have been practicing for themevery moment of our lives, and that even in the moment of death wewill have trust in God to prevail, and prevail he will, carrying usthrough death into life everlasting.

By our endurance we will gain our souls, Jesus tells us.

Will you be practicing to endure, or will you grow impatient withGod's slow progress?

Will you commit to be patient, to let God do a mighty work, or willyou rush out for what's new, for what promises instant results, andbe led astray by the temptations of our instant gratificationculture?

Let us pray.

October 23 Sermon

2011-10-23T16:45:00.001-07:00

Luke 20:45-21:4

Jesus Denounces the Scribes

In the hearing of all the people he said to the disciples, ‘Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honour at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.’

The Widow’s Offering

He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury;he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.’

It’s easy for usto name people whom we would label as evil. The name Hitler isusually the first to arise in people’s minds—he is portrayed asthe pinnacle of evil, a man willing to kill millions simply becausethey were different. I have a book discussing nonviolence titledWhat About Hitler, based on the idea that surely we can useviolence against someone like Hitler.

What’s moredifficult, for me, is to figure out how someone gets to that point. I don’t believe that Hitler woke up one morning and decided to bethe world’s epitome of evil. I don’t think Stalin spent time onthe playground as a child thinking about the best way to exterminatemillions. I don’t believe evil takes over someone’s life in amatter of minutes—I believe that its influence becomes greater andgreater over a period of time, until a person is almost completelyunrecognizable from who they once were. I believe that a slow,gradual process takes place and masks the image of God so completelyit’s hard to see it at all. Just like the power of water can carvethe Grand Canyon given enough time, so, too, can evil transform thelandscape in someone’s life.

It may seem a bitdramatic to turn from a discussion on Stalin and Hitler to thescribes, who pale in comparison to such evil, but I believe that whatwe learn from one can be applied to the other.

In the beginning ofour lesson today, the scribes are not lifted up in a positive lightby Jesus. Beware the scribes, who like to walk in long robes, wholove to be greeted with respect, and love to have the best seats inthe synagogues and places of honor in the banquets. Theydevour widows’ houses and say long prayers for the sake ofappearances.

In the beginning,they’re hypocrites, empty houses that look great on the outside,but have no heart for God on the inside. By the end of the passage,though, they’re devouring widows’ houses. They hypocrisy harmsothers—the widows who give offering to support them are supportingexpensive lifestyles. The scribes want more, so the widows givemore. It would be no different than if I asked you all to raise $1million so I could go live in a massive house that I didn’t need. It would be a burden on you that would do nothing for the Kingdom. Jesus is warning the disciples to watch how they live.

But I want topropose that the scribes didn’t just wake up one morning and decideto rob the widows. They didn’t decide to be hypocrites because itseemed like the right thing to do. Rather, I would propose, theinfluence of evil grew daily, and they stopped fighting. At first,they decided they needed a little fancier robe, and they decided theyliked not sitting in the back row. They believed that a fancier robewould satisfy their needs—they didn't turn from God with intent,they rather turned toward the things of this world, hopeful that theycould find what they needed there. Soon, the robes got fancier andfancier, and they welcomed flattery more and more, and soon they hadthe best robes in town, and would only frequent places that welcomedthem with an over-the-top reception. It wasn’t long before theywere asking widows for more and more without giving any thought tothe widows. It didn’t happen overnight—and I would imagine thatif you told them at the beginning what they would turn out like, theywould have been horrified. But little by little, their hearts werecorroded, and soon a Grand Canyon appeared, a giant gulf into whichany good disappeared, leaving only an outside appearance. Theythought they could be satisfied by the things of this world, but inturn the world only led them farther away from God. Jesus warns thedisciples.

He warns us, too—becareful how you live. Be careful about the little decisions youmake, because over time, those little decisions make us. If youcheat a little now, you’ll be cheating a lot later. Cut a cornernow, and you’ll be cutting two before you know it. Evil’sinfluence grows, which is why we need to be resistant to sin, eventiny sins, because small sins grow into large ones. It’s why thosewho have been through Alcoholics Anonymous can’t take even onedrink now, because one drink leads to two, and two leads to three,and soon the walls are crashing down around one’s ears. Be carefulwith sin. The second you begin to believe that the things of thisworld can satisfy your deepest needs is the same second the worldsteps in to make promises—and it's the same moment you're led alittle father from God.

It’s interestingto think about where Jesus is saying this. He’s teaching them thisby the treasury, where he is sitting watching people deposit gifts. Notice that Jesus sits with the disciples and watches people give. What we give matters to Jesus, but even more important than that iswhy we give—which is what Jesus is trying to teach the disciples.

This poor widow,with her two copper coins, has put in more than the rich. They havecontributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty. Shehas put in all she had to live on.

Jesus lifts upthese two contrasting attitudes—those who give out of wealth, andthose who give out of poverty. Notice that he doesn’t say thatwhat or how the wealthy give is bad—he simply lifts up the poorwidow as having given more. But he’s making a radical point, onewe lose when we debate what percentage of our income we ought togive, one we lose when we wonder whether we should give on net orgross income (and just for the record, if you have enough money tohave this debate, it should be given on your gross income. But Idigress)—he’s making the point that the widow gives more becauseshe gives all she has to live on, meaning that she is completelydependent on God for sustenance. She recognizes that God alone cangive her what she needs—that money cannot give her anything sheneeds—only extras. And she’s made the decision that she doesn’tneed the extras.

In short, God hassatisfied her.

Satisfaction is aninteresting idea for us to talk about today. I heard a greatpreacher talking about satisfaction in terms of a good meal—abouthow you couldn't possibly want another bite. When we are satisfied,we don't want any more. When we are satisfied, we couldn't hold anymore. We have no reason to desire anything else when we are trulysatisfied.

The struggle wehave is that only Christ can truly satisfy us. The world offers usall sorts of satisfaction—but only Christ truly satisfies. And,when we are satisfied, when we are living by faith in Christ, ourrelationship to money is fundamentally changed.

Think about theways we view money now. Think about how important we make it out tobe. We place so much value on money—on the accumulation of it, onhow we spend it, on how much others have. No one would have any ideawho Warren Buffet was if he didn't have so much money—he's a quietold man who has accumulated billions through investing. But we knowhim as inordinately wealthy. We are often guilty of ranking peopleby their wealth—as though that has any effect on the kind of peoplethey are, as though that affects how God sees them. We worry aboutmoney all the time in our own lives—we worry that we don't haveenough, or that we're not saving enough, or that we're not spendingit on the right things. We worry about money, about making it andlosing it, and it's so hard to come to grips with it, because wethink we need so much of it to live.

The reality is thatyou don't need any of it.

That's right—Isaid it. You don't need money. If you didn't have a dime and livedon the street, you'd still have the most important thing in thisworld—a relationship with Jesus Christ. Nothing else matters asmuch as that life-giving relationship. You may die of hypothermia ifyou don't have enough money, but nothing can seperate you from thelove of Christ. And when we're living in Christ, when we're centeredin Christ, we are satisfied, and we don't need anything else. Otherthings are nice additions, or add some color or flavor in life, butnothing can meet our needs, because every need is met in Christ.

It's why the oldwidow wasn't afraid to give every dime—because she was completelysatisfied.

It's why so many ofus are afraid to give more—because we think money can meet needsthat it can't.

When we're inChrist, our relationship to money is fundamentally changed. Moneycannot meet our needs, because there are no more needs for it tomeet. It can only adorn the walls, or dress up some dark corners,but money is merely a tool for us to use, to give away, to wonder howChrist can use. When we're in Christ, money becomes something thatis fun to imagine how God might use it. When we're in Christ, moneyis superfluous, and we can rest easy, knowing that the single mostimportant thing in our life is taken care of, and that nothing cantear us away from the one who satisfies our every need.

Let us pray

October 16 Sermon

2011-10-15T14:14:00.000-07:00

Luke 20:27-44

The Question about the Resurrection

Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to himand asked him a question, ‘Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless.Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.’

Jesus said to them, ‘Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die any more, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.’ Then some of the scribes answered, ‘Teacher, you have spoken well.’ For they no longer dared to ask him another question.

The Question about David’s Son

Then he said to them, ‘How can they say that the Messiah is David’s son? For David himself says in the book of Psalms,
“The Lord said to my Lord,
‘Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.’ ”
David thus calls him Lord; so how can he be his son?’

********************************

This coming Friday, I will reach the ripe old age of 30, anumber that seems to have far more significance than 20 or 10 did. As I begin my fourth decade of life, I canhear the AARP beating down my door already…

Rachel and I have been talking for some time about properways to commemorate such an occasion. Atleast we were, until we discovered that she would be having a baby shortlybeforehand, and our collective energies would be mostly focused towards thebaby. Last Tuesday, just after she hadgiven birth to baby Caleb, she looked at me and said, “This counts as yourbirthday present, right?”

So, I probably won’t be celebrating my 30^thbirthday by going out and painting the town. I’m probably going to stay in and stare with wonder at Caleb, themiracle that has fallen into our laps, the gift from God we received about twoweeks ago.

And what a gift Caleb is. I’ve been amazed at how readily I sit and stare at him—he’sincredible. He has little tiny fingers andtoes, and his eyes dart around the room, trying to take in all he sees, whichis impressive considering he can probably only see about six inches rightnow. It’s amazing to look at him andknow that ten months ago he was made up of only a couple of cells, and that hehas been growing like crazy, and will continue to grow. God is only getting started with him, and hehas placed this gift, this enormous responsibility, into our laps, so that wemight invest ourselves in raising him as a Christian, in teaching himwell. Each of you will also be a part ofhis life, and we all have a responsibility to Caleb, just as we do to Josephand Sarah and every other child in this congregation.

All of life is a gift. New babies remind us of that, but it’s not something we should everforget—life is a gift from God. Each dayis a gift from God. When the sun riseson a new day, it does so because God has made the choice to give us a gift ofanother day, and it’s our responsibility to use that gift well. No matter how we use it, we may not getanother one.

In our Scripture passage today, some Sadducees, religiousleaders of the day, come to Jesus with a hypothetical question. They pose this instance of a woman whomarries a man with six brothers. In theinstance of her husband’s death, it is a requirement that the oldest brothermarry her so that she may be cared for. The instance the Sadducees suggest is that all seven brothers die, andthen the woman finally dies. They wantto know who she will be married to in heaven—surely, they imagine, she can’thave seven husbands in heaven!

Jesus, however, turns from the nuts and bolts of theirridiculous question to address the heart of the matter—their anxiety over thelife to come that he promises. They arewrestling with how the resurrection works, and who among us hasn’t donethat? Who among us hasn’t spent sometime wondering if the streets are really paved with gold, or what kind ofbodies we will have, or how all those people will fit in heaven? We’re curious about heaven and we wonder whatit will be like. Jesus addresses theheart of the question—and reminds us that it is a gift, one to be received withgratitude.

“But those who are considered worthy of a place in that age,”He begins. It’s not for those who are worthy, because Jesus knows that none ofus are worthy—it’s for those who are considered worthy. And how are we considered worthy? We become, as Jesus says, ‘children of theresurrection.’ This is the reality wejoin when we believe in Jesus Christ. When we give our lives over to Him, when we direct our efforts and ourlove to Him and Him alone, we become children of God, children of theresurrection, who cannot die.

As children of God, we have no need to fear or worry. Don Kaller talked about this last week in hissermon—we have hope, and we trust that the future is in good hands. We often try to assure Caleb that he is ingood hands, that he has nothing to fear. He cannot understand that just yet, being two weeks old, but Rachel andI will do everything possible to give him the best future we can. We want him to know that he can trust us,that we will not put him in danger. Now,there will be times in his life when he may be curious about our methods, likewhen he is at the doctor or when we put him down for a nap and he’s nottired. But all these things are for ourgood—we are trustworthy.

In the same way, God has prepared a future for you, and Godis trustworthy. No matter what theresurrection looks like, we don’t have to worry about it—it’s in goodhands. We may wonder at times aboutGod’s trustworthiness, especially when we come to challenges in life, but Godhas assured us that He is trustworthy, so we can be free from our anxiety aboutthat. Jesus is reminding us that theresurrection is a gift from our good Father in heaven. We have no need to be anxious about it.

Freed from anxieties about the future, we can return to thepresent, to the gift we have here and now. Jesus is trying to urge the Sadducees to stop worry about the future andlive in the present. We don’t need towaste our lives worrying about what is to come. We can live in the present, the here and now. It’s so tempting for me to spend my timewondering what Caleb will be when he grows up, what he will look like and whatkind of life he might lead. I wonder ifhe’ll be a doctor or a pastor, if he’ll glorify God in all he does, if he’ll behonorable and live with integrity. But Ihave to stop myself—I am called to simply enjoy Caleb now, to wonder at hislittle arms and tiny fingers, to give thanks for the gift of now and dowhatever I can to love him now.

We are called to do the same. Do not worry about the future. Look around you—there is a world to love now. The people who surround you—I promise youthat they need your love. Your familyneeds your love and attention just as surely as the children of this churchdo. Your neighbors, your friends,strangers in the pew, each one needs your love and attention. We are all broken—we need someone to show usthe love of Christ.

That brings us to the theme of Bread for the WorldSunday. Around the world, people arehungry. Around the country, people arehungry. Here, in Chattanooga, here, inEast Brainerd, people are hungry. In thechurch office, we give out food boxes to those in need. We send food to East Brainerd Elementary tohelp feed the needy, and still, people are hungry. Friends, I’m tired of hearing about hunger,especially when I know it’s a problem that we can solve. Over 20,000 people are fed by our Food Bankevery week. Every week. In this country, in Chattanooga, we have themoney and the resources to feed one another. Let’s find a way to do this. Wecan end hunger here in Chattanooga. Ibelieve that God can do this. Let’s giveour hearts, let’s give our lives, to this problem, that we may not sit by thesidelines while thousands go hungry. Weare called to serve something greater than ourselves—life is a gift, and may weuse that gift well, in service to our friends and neighbors. Let us use our gifts to improve thecommunity. Let us spread the gift ofChrist’s love through food.

Let us pray.

Sermon for October 2

2011-10-01T19:25:00.000-07:00

Luke 20:20-26

The Question about Paying Taxes

So they watched him and sent spies who pretended to be honest, in order to trap him by what he said, so as to hand him over to the jurisdiction and authority of the governor.

So they asked him, ‘Teacher, we know that you are right in what you say and teach, and you show deference to no one, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth.Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’ But he perceived their craftiness and said to them, ‘Show me a denarius. Whose head and whose title does it bear?’ They said, ‘The emperor’s.’ He said to them, ‘Then give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’

And they were not able in the presence of the people to trap him by what he said; and being amazed by his answer, they became silent.

********************

Money is a fairly interestingthing. It’s been around for thousands ofyears, in one form or another. We’vebeen in constant search of a way to determine value, to make trade easier, todefine wealth. At one time and place,shells have served as definers of wealth, while the same shells here will getyou nothing but confused looks at the bank. In other corners of the world, a $5 bill will get you nothing, but hereperhaps it might by you a gallon of gas, leaving enough left over for a cup ofcoffee. Gas station coffee, thatis. It used to be that the United Statesheld enough gold in reserve for each dollar that was printed. Now, we print money with reckless abandon. In one month the Mint can produce almost90,000,000 $100 bills. Very few of themseem to make it to the pockets of those that need them most.

We use this money in all sorts ofdifferent ways. We use it to pay cablebills and grocery bills. We use it tosee movies and baseball games, to offer allowances to children and tips towaiters. We use money everyday, in someway, shape or form, to heat our houses and keep shoes on our feet.

What are some ways that we usemoney as a tool for good?

What are some ways we use money asa tool for not-so-good?

We can use money to feed the poor,or our relentless greed for more money can twist our minds and hearts, leadingus to sins and the general breakdown of society. While I will not even pretend to grasp allthe complexities that have led us into this recession, what I can say is thatit was greed that drove us here—the greed of bankers for more has led millionsinto begging for enough. Those who haddecided that they didn’t have enough, and so it leads us to times when men andwomen apply for four jobs in a day with little hope of landing one. Money is a tool, but it is also a necessaryone in this day. We long for thesecurity it provides and the comfort it can give.

Jesus understood how money is usedas a tool. He certainly understood itspower—he talked about it often, so that any disciple who followed him for yearswould surely have known exactly what his feelings on money were. He knew its power—he warned those who wereheld in its grasp to leave it behind or risk losing their souls. But he understood that it was just a tool—andfor that reason people should not be afraid to pay their taxes or fees orwhatever else was necessary in life—money is just money, invented by man andwill, one day, pass away. It’s nothingspecial, just a coin denoting wealth, and it’s not the wealth that matters. Jesus taught us throughout the Gospels thathow we use money is what matters, not the money itself.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus marks abig difference. Jesus talks about how weshouldn’t be afraid to pay money to the emperor—it’s just money, after all. But he says that we should also be perfectlywilling to give to God the things that are God’s. And what is it that belongs to God?

Here now the words from Genesis2:7: thenthe Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrilsthe breath of life; and the man became a living being.

That sounds a little different thanthe process of a dollar bill coming off a printing press, doesn’t it?

There’s something different goingon in us than there is in the rest of creation, then in the things that wecreate in society. There’s somethingdifferent because each one of us is created out of eternal stuff by the LordGod in his own image—you were created by God, knit together in your mother’swomb, called beloved from before you were born. You are watched over every day of your existence, and nothing canseparate you from the love of God, your Creator. You belong to God—you have been bought withthe price, the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing can change that—you are beloved.

You are not just a tool. You are not just a person—you are beloved byGod, and never, ever forget that. Jesusis calling you to give your life back to God, to offer yourself back ingratitude. And how do we do that?

We use the tools we have.

Money, for example.

We talked earlier about how moneyis a tool. Any tool can be used for goodor bad purposes. A hammer, for instance,can be used to build a home for the homeless with habitat for Humanity. Or it can be used to crush your finger whenyou’re holding a nail. Or it could beused by a thief to break a window. Onetool, three uses. Each tool that hasbeen created could be twisted for evil uses.

How will you use money, and whatstory will it tell about your life? Willthe quest for more define your life, or will your generosity with it leavetales of gratitude in your wake? Willyour love of money consume your time, or will your freedom with it leave animpression? Will it twist your soul sothat you are focused on money alone, or will your recognize its power and seekto always use it responsibly?

In your spending of money, you areusing a tool that shapes your life, whether you like it or not. One of the reasons we are called to givemoney to the church, to give money away, is that in giving money away freely werelease its power over us. Weacknowledge that we do not need to restlessly seek every dime, but rather thatenough will be provided, that are basic needs will be cared for, that we aremore than just income-earners, that we are shaped for eternity. In giving money back to God, be it throughtithing at the church or sponsoring children through World Vision, we allowourselves to be defined as generous people, as a grateful people who want togive back, who want to use money as a tool to shape us into the Christlike,selfless people we were created to be.

Money is a tool, not something sacred, and we are called to use it assuch, to pay the bills and help shape us as disciples. Jesus didn’t create money with the idea thatit might exist forever in the halls of heaven—man created it, and Jesus callsus to use it responsibly, ethically, Christlike. Don’t be afraid of money—rather release it,send it out with love, and watch as the people of God use it to proclaimrelease to the captive, recovery of sight to the blind, and the transformingGood News of Christ’s victory over death. May money not define us, but may our use of it help shape us asdisciples.

Let us pray.

9/25 Sermon

2011-09-24T18:40:00.000-07:00

Luke 20:9-19

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

He began to tell the people this parable: ‘A man planted a vineyard, and leased it to tenants, and went to another country for a long time.When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants in order that they might give him his share of the produce of the vineyard; but the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Next he sent another slave; that one also they beat and insulted and sent away empty-handed. And he sent yet a third; this one also they wounded and threw out.

Then the owner of the vineyard said, “What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.” But when the tenants saw him, they discussed it among themselves and said, “This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance may be ours.” So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.’ When they heard this, they said, ‘Heaven forbid!’ But he looked at them and said, ‘What then does this text mean:
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone”?

Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.’ When the scribes and chief priests realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to lay hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people.

***************************

My car weighs about 3,000 pounds. Throw in my weight and my golf clubs,and it’s probably close to 3,200 pounds most days. At thirty miles an hour, that car hasabout 48 tons of force. Inlayman’s terms, that would hurt a lot if it hit you. Which should mean that whenever Idrive, I should be completely focused on the road ahead of me. I am operating a vehicle that iscapable of doing significant damage to anything that it might hit.

So on Wednesday morning, I’m driving towork, and a mosquito happens to fly across my windshield. What do I do? Do I consider the world around me andthe potential damage I might do to the neighbor’s house if my car were to gocareening into it? Do Ithink about the safety of the mailboxes on the side of the road? Or do I stop watching where I’m goingand blindly swat at a tiny insect that is trying to hide in the safety of thatcrack between the windshield and dashboard?

Of course, you know the answer. I forget about everything else goingon, including the forward trajectory of my car, in the hopes of killing aninsect that has found its way into my car. The mosquito isn’t trying to bite me,and is doing a rather good job of avoiding me, but I’m determined to invite itto experience its final redemption, and I know I’ll worry about it if I can’t see it.

In today’s Gospel lesson, the tenants ofthe vineyard are a lot like me trying to swat at that mosquito—they’veforgotten about everything else in the world, believing all that matters iswhat’s right in front of their eyes.

And if we’re honest with ourselves, Ithink we, too, often forget about the world outside our own littleworlds. We forget aboutwhere we’re going and the people we’re becoming on the way, too wrapped up inthe little crises of life, and we’re busy swatting away at the bugs of lifewhile the car runs off the road, over the neighbor’s mailbox and into theditch. It’s easy to forgetthere is more than just us, that we were created for something bigger than whatwe see before us. But Godhas a way of reminding us.

It’s an age old problem—from thedays of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, humans have been forgetting thebigger picture. We’ve been forgettingthat we’re made for one purpose—to glorify God. We forget that we are created for eternity, that we were created withpurpose, and we get entirely too wrapped up in the problems that are rightbefore us. It’s not that these problemsaren’t important—it’s that we aren’t supposed to let these problems define us,and so often our lives become a way of managing crises, of moving from one tothe next, and we believe that the most important thing is whatever is right infront of us—we forget the bigger picture, the overall relationship with Godthat we are supposed to be growing and developing. We forget that we are made to live forever.

In our Gospel reading today, a manplants a vineyard and then takes a long trip after leasing the vineyard to sometenants. We don’t know how long hedisappears for, but we can safely assume it will be best measured in years, notmonths. The vines have to grow tomaturity and begin producing grapes, which might take up to seven years. It’s easy to imagine that these tenants, nothearing from their landlord, might even forget that he exists. They might begin to believe that it is onlydue to their hard work that they have grapes to cultivate. They may wonder why they ever paid anyattention to the landlord, and simply assume that the day’s work is all theyhave to focus upon.

Eventually, the harvest is ready,and the tenants are ready to cash in. Surely they’ve all been dreaming of their plans for the money. I bet they’re counting each barrel of grapesas pure profit.

But then the owner has the audacityto send a representative to collect his fair share of the profits. It is his vineyard, after all, and it is onlyby his grace that the tenants live there at all. It’s only right that he should expect them tobe ready to give back to him.

But to the tenants, this slave is arude reminder that they are not the Lords of their castle. This slave is a reminder that they are nottheir own creators, and that they are there to serve someone else. This slave is, to them, a chance to finallybe free. They will be free to rulethemselves, to answer to no one.

Eventually, after two more slavesare sent away with violence, the owner sends his own son, his beloved son. He believes there is no possible way that thetenants will disrespect his own son. Canyou imagine a group of people so broken, so twisted, as to kill the son oftheir lord?

Obviously, when Jesus tells thisparable, he is aiming it directly at the leaders who are willing to kill Jesusin order to rule themselves. They’reready to get rid of Christ because their power is threatened.

Now, I think that none of us are ina position quite so extreme. Yet, Iwould say that each of us is in danger of living the kind of life that movesfrom crisis to crisis without considering the overall life that we aredeveloping. I would say that each of usis in danger of living in such a way that ignores the reality that we werecreated to glorify God. I would say thateach of us can fall prey to the temptation to live as though we were God,rather than to glorify God.

So what is to be done?

Let’s think back to that earliertale about the mosquito in the car. Whatcan we learn from it?

First of all, you have to live witha direction in mind. We cannot forgetwho created us and what we were created for. We are tenants that have been set here in God’s vineyard, and we existfor the sole purpose of glorifying God. Now, we have the freedom to glorify God in all we do—but we cannot for amoment forget that God exists and begin to live as a people who are our ownGod. When we do that, we are like thetenants, ignoring the prophets who were sent to remind us of God’s presence,and ignoring Jesus Christ, God’s own son, sent to orient us back to God. You were created to life forever with God—ourlives are intended to be moving in that direction, rather than inwardlyfocused, dealing with the small crises of everyday life. If all we ever do is swat blindly atmosquitoes and worry about minor things, we’re going to lose track of movingtowards a goal of becoming a more Godly people everyday.

So what do we do?

Well, we have to make sure the caris in good condition. Some of this we doon our own, some we do with the help and assistance of others. For example—how many of you take your car into the mechanic every time you need to fill up on gas? You’re expected to do this on your own. When it comes time to change the fuel pump,however, most of us need some help with this.

Same thing with our life offaith—you’re expected to be working and growing on your own. But, just as you can’t do everything on yourown, sometimes we need some help. Wecome to worship, we gather together, in order to help us move farther down theroad of faith. We’re growing into theGodly people we’re created to be. We’retuning our lives by God’s word—we’re reminded that we are going to liveforever, and that our lives, here and now, are practice for eternity. Our character is being shaped forever.

So friends, you are the tenant inthe vineyard. You have been created byGod and set here in his vineyard to spend your life. At some point, you will be asked how youinvested your time and your energy. Didyou direct your ways, your efforts, into becoming a more Godly person? Were you focused on traveling along a road ina Godly direction? Do you remember whosevineyard it is, or do you careen from one crisis to the next, forgetting abouteverything outside the car and living wildly out of control, simply hoping tomake it from one day to another?

Do not forget the big picture. May we remember that we live in God’svineyard, and that everything is meant to be done for his glory, and his gloryalone.

Let us pray.

9/18 Sermon

2011-09-17T12:31:00.000-07:00

Luke 20:1-8

One day, as he was teaching the peoplein the temple and telling the good news, the chief priests and the scribes camewith the elders and said to him,“Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave youthis authority?”

He answered them, “I will also ask youa question, and you tell me: Didthe baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?”

They discussed it with one another,saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ allthe people will stone us; for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” So they answered that they did notknow where it came from.

Then Jesus said to them, “Neither willI tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

***************

I have a driver’s license. What it says is that I have been granted theauthority by the state of Tennessee to drive a car. If anyone question’s that authority, I canproduce the license and let them take up their quarrel with Tennessee.

The same goes for myMastercard. When I go to the grocerystore, I produce my credit card and Mastercard gives me the authority to buyfood without actually handing over any money. If anyone has any questions or concerns, I can direct them toMastercard, rather than myself. Theyvouch for me.

We’re constantly trying to figure outwho has the authority to do something and who does not. I recently received a letter from the IRSregarding my 2009 tax return, and the first thought that came to my mind waswhether or not it was a scam—was this just someone trying to convince me todivulge sensitive information in order to make a quick buck? People try to convince us they have the authorityto do something when they are actually just taking advantage of our willingnessto trust them.

So when it comes time for thescribes and the Pharisees to question Jesus’ authority, we shouldn’t be sosurprised. They’re doing something verynatural—trying to figure out just who Jesus is and who is granting him thepower to do the things that he is doing.

Just imagine what it was like forthe religious leaders of the day. Theythink they have a fairly stable situation. They understand the political and religious landscape of the day. They know who the various groups are and whatthey believe, and they’re striving to keep things stable.

Then, out of nowhere, Jesus comesalong out of dusty old Nazareth. Theydon’t hear much about him, and then suddenly he acquires a massive following—thousandsshow up just to hear him speak. He isperforming miracles and mass feedings, healing the sick and dealing with lepers. He has broken radically from traditionalJewish practices, and in almost every facet of his ministry he is doingsomething that shocks you.

Naturally, as a leader, you’d wantto know who Jesus was. You’d want doknow where he came from and who gave him the authority to do the ministry he isengaged in. You want to know whether he’sthe real deal, or just a scam artist trying to grab his fifteen minutes offame.

Think about what this might looklike today. Here we are, sitting inchurch. Church services have been heldat this location for over thirty years—we think we have a pretty goodunderstanding of how things work around here. Let’s imagine that we begin to hear some rumblings about this guy indowntown Chattanooga who’s performing miracles, who is healing sick people atErlanger hospital. Let’s say that’s madesome pretty bold claims, but that he has backed up every single one ofthem. We’re skeptical, but at the sametime we’re curious. We think we have a prettygood understanding of church and what it means to follow God, but this guy ischanging things up a little, and we’re a tad uncomfortable. So then he walks into our sanctuary one dayand says we should follow him—think of all the questions that come tomind. We’d want to know if he was thereal deal, or if he was a phony. Therehave been all sorts of strange claims made by religious leaders over the years—wewould want to know if this guy was just another fake, or if he was the realdeal. We’d want to know if he hadauthority from God, or was pretending to be God.

So let’s not be too hard on the chiefpriests and the scribes—they’re just trying to figure out exactly who Jesusis. They want to know if he is the realdeal or not.

Friends, in the world today, we aresurrounded by chief priests and scribes. There are thousands of people around us who have heard about Jesus. They have heard the stories about him andthey see his followers everywhere. Whatthey want to know is whether he is the real deal or not.

In the story today, Jesus doesn’tgive the scribes and priests a straight answer.

Today, it’s our responsibility toanswer society’s questions. With ourlives, we testify to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. When people wonder whether he is the realdeal, they look to the lives of the followers of Christ, and they wonderwhether Christ’s transforming power is for real. What do our lives say? Do they point to Christ as the Son of God, ordo they point inward, to ourselves?

I believe that we are surrounded bypeople who want to know if Christ is the real deal or not. And I believe that we should live in such away so that people ask us why we do them. They will ask us who motivates us.

When we serve the poor, people willask why we invest our time in the least of these.

When we love the troubled, peoplemay ask why we bother.

When we give away our money, peoplewill ask why we don’t save it for ourselves.

When we donate our time, people mayask why we don’t use it to play.

When we spend time with themourning, people may ask why we care in tough times.

When we give our love, people mayask who motivates us to love others.

When they ask why you do it, whatwill you say?

When they ask who motivates you tolove others, what will your reply be?

They are asking you who gives youthe authority. Will you be prepared togive your testimony, to tell your story?

Let us live in such a way thatothers ask why we do so, that they question who gives us our authority to serveothers. And when they ask, may we beprepared to offer the reasons as to why we have chosen to love and serve thisworld that God has made.

Let us pray.

9/11 Sermon

2011-09-09T09:40:00.000-07:00

Luke 19:41-48

Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem

As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.’

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; and he said, ‘It is written,
“My house shall be a house of prayer”;
but you have made it a den of robbers.’

Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him; but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard.

****************

I am willing to bet that none ofyou can remember what you were doing on September 11, 2000.

It’s an insignificant date, no moreimportant the rest of the dates in our lives. When we awoke on September 11, 2001, I would imagine that we expectedit, too, to be like the rest of the dates of our lives—filled with the thingswe had to do that day, but not highlighted by the events that have made itstand out in our history.

I managed to awaken an entirefraternity house that morning. In eachof our rooms, our fire alarms were equipped with dust sensors. You can probably imagine that a house filledwith forty college-age men didn’t dust too often, so the dust sensor, also calledthe ‘dirty alarm’, went off fairly regularly. I was guilty of setting it off that morning, and when we walked backinto the fraternity house someone turned on the news to reveal a burningbuilding in NYC. It took hours for it toset in what had happened, and in the hours and days to come the reality of theevent sank into every heart, and as we mourned and grieved and struggled, wepondered what it all meant.

It’s been ten years since thatclear, autumn morning was transformed into a stifling nightmare for thiscountry. Even here in Chattanooga, westill feel its impact every time we step into an airport and hear color codedthreat levels. That morning did much totear away our innocence, our sense of safety, our sense of security. In addition to stealing thousands of innocentlives, those 19 hijackers took away a country’s sense of safety within itsborders. We’ve always known the world isa dangerous and scary place—but that hit home that morning like neverbefore. And we’ve never been the same.

As humans, we’ve always struggledwith security. The simple fact of thematter is that we are not secure. Wecannot secure our future for ourselves. In Matthew 6, Jesus warns against storing up for ourselves treasures onearth, where moths consume and thieves break in and steal. Throughout human history, there have alwaysbeen threats to our security. For thisreason we install locks on our cars and our homes. We have complicated alarm systems and policeare constantly visible in every city on earth. Our military patrols the country, on guard for external threats, andthey turn their ears inward, too, watching out for those within who mightthreaten our security.

It’s the same reason we go to thedoctor for annual check-ups, why my insurance company waives the co-pay forpreventative care. We try to secure ourphysical bodies as well as our possessions. We’re trying to gain a sense of comfort, a sense of security. My sister will often try and shatter this byopining that I’ll be the healthiest person ever to get run over by atruck. It’s mean-spirited, but true—I cannotsecure my physical health despite the best effort. Life happens, and sometimes it happenscruelly and quickly. Who among us doesn’tstill get overwhelmed when we think of Jennifer Yi, and weep at the thought ofhow quickly we lost someone so bright? We are not safe.

As Christians, we acknowledge thatGod has created us and He alone sustains us. We confess that without God’s sustaining hand, we would not live for asingle moment. He has createdeverything, and we awake each morning because he creates that morning and allthat is in it. We believe that we aresecure because we are in him, and we believe that even when we die, we live inChrist, that our true security is in him. It’s why the second half of that verse from Matthew reads that we are tostore up for ourselves treasures in heaven, where moths cannot consume andthieves cannot break in and steal. Oureternal home is in heaven, and our security should lie in that eternal home.

But we don’t always do that. I believe that’s what drives Jesus to weep atthe sight of Jerusalem. I believe that’swhat drives his anger in the Temple in today’s Gospel reading. I believe that Jesus is saddened, is angered,by the fact that we continue to seek out security in physical goods, in thethings of this world. I think it breaks hisheart that we store our treasures up on earth, despite the fact that they willfade away. He says, ‘If you, even you,had only recognized the things that make for peace!’ We don’t recognize that placing our truesecurity in God alone makes for peace, and so we live in a chaotic world.

One of the drawbacks to having achurch located at this intersection is that we constantly listen to sirensgoing by the church. On Tuesday, inresponse to the wet, rainy and treacherous roads, we constantly heard sirensgoing up and down Shallowford Road. Ithought of what those sirens bring. Whenwe hear a siren, it is a reminder of the chaos of the world. It could be a fire truck responding to ahouse fire, or an ambulance going to the scene of a car accident. It could be the police racing to the scene ofa crime, or any other possibility.

Whatever the cause, sirens remind us of the world’s chaos, and theyspeak to the fact that someone, somewhere, is experiencing a terrifying loss ofsecurity in that moment. I think of thesirens that raced to the World Trade Center on the morning of 9/11—they wereresponding to the terrifying horrors that were occurring that morning, and toevery New Yorker they passed they were a symbol of the fact that this was notwhat was supposed to happen, of the chaos that had been brought home thatmorning.

But a siren serves another purpose,too. A siren is also a symbol of hope, areminder that in chaotic times there is help. For those in car accidents, in fires, for victims of crimes, there arepeople willing to come to the rescue, who are willing to try and restore orderto the chaotic scene. On 9/11, those whorode in vehicles with sirens blaring were willing to do anything they could torescue the victims of horrific crimes. Those sirens carried people who were willing to rush up the stairs in acrippled, burning building to aid those in need. Those sirens reminded us that people werewilling to give their lives so that others might have life. They responded to chaos, chaos that claimedmany lives, in the hopes of restoring order, peace and security.

Ultimately, our only true securityis in God. This world may providemoments of security, and it is my hope that we can each live a life that is assecure as possible, free from threats of chaos. We know that we will never be truly free from chaos this side of heaven,but until then it is my hope that we can live peaceful, stress-free lives. We will never achieve it, but it is a worthygoal.

However, to achieve security inthis world, we have to acknowledge that we are not secure except in the arms ofGod. Only in acknowledging that thisphysical world, our physical bodies and all of our goods will pass away do wegain the proper perspective, the abundant life that Christ promises. Only when rooted in God alone are we freefrom worries about this passing life.

So the challenge I pose to youtoday is this: Find your sirens.

Find your sirens. Sirens can bear hope, can remind us of thefact that there are individuals in the world who respond to crises and try tosow order where there is chaos. AsChristians, we know that only Christ can truly bring order to the midst of ourchaos. As Christians, we know that onlyGod’s strength and wisdom can restore shalom, can restore peace, in thistroubled and insecure world.

So Ichallenge you to find things in your lives that remind you of the fact that oursecurity lies in God alone, not in the things of this world, and that intrusting in God’s providing love, we can be freed from much of the stress thatworries about this world brings. Perhapsit’s a certain Bible verse that reminds you of God’s abiding love. Maybe it’s a beautiful place, a park or aforest, that gives you a sense of peace that reminds you that God has createdthis world, and that the life to come is even more beautiful than the one weinhabit. Maybe it is a person who pointsyour soul to Christ, who has the ability to calm your troubled soul and relieveyou of the burdens and stress you carry. Maybe it’s a hobby or activity that reminds you of God’s care for God’screation.

I think it’s different foreach of us, but it is important that we each have a siren, a reminder that Godcreates order in the midst of chaos, that in God we are ultimately, eternallysecure, free from worry and strife. Whenyou turn to your siren, may it turn you to God, so that you might experience thesecurity that comes from the depth of God’s eternal love.

This is a chaotic, turbulent worldwe inhabit. When we live rooted in God’stender and abiding love and security, we recognize that the chaos will passaway and all that will be left is peace, security, and we shall live forever inthat. That is the only true security wehave, and while we cannot create it for ourselves, we can seek to live withinit in this life, as practice for the life that is to come.

Let us pray.

Family Camp Sermon

2011-09-05T11:08:00.001-07:00

Ephesians 5:8-11

For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light— for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

******************
For the theme of Family Camp, we're focusing on what it means to be children of light, to live in the light of the Lord. So, I thought it would be only appropriate if I spent the majority of this sermon talking about something that has no ability whatsoever to create its own light.

Have you ever spent time in an evening staring at a full moon? Or have you watched the moon rise over the trees, giant and red in the sky? Perhaps you've marveled as the moon is just a sliver in the sky, or you've searched the night sky for any hint of the moon as it hangs darkly above. The moon is always there, our constant companion, and yet it is always changing, never the same from one night to the next. At least that's how it looks.

We look at the moon completely differently now. We've sent astronauts to stand on the surface of the moon, and we have video of them playing golf up there. For a long time it's always been said that the moon was made of green cheese, but we now know that it's just one big rock, which is exactly what happens when you leave cheese out.

But centuries ago, they didn't ever imagine that one day a man would stand upon the moon. They didn't even understand that it couldn't produce its own light. It was thought for a long time that the moon was simply another star in the night sky. It took some time before they realized that the moon could not produce its own light, but rather simply reflected the light of the sun, even when we couldn't see the sun. The moon makes its lonely trek around the earth, reflecting the light of the sun, a reminder to us that the sun is still there when we cannot see it. Sometimes, a full moon reflects so much of the sun's light that you can see the world around you thanks to its light. Other times, a new moon is scarcely visible at all, and it takes a long time to locate it in the night sky. And then, every once in a while, the moon parks itself between the earth and the sun, blocking the sun for a moment. Of course, occasionally the earth does the same, getting between the sun and the moon so that the moon is completely obscured.

What I'd like for us to do today as a group is imagine ourselves as the moon. I hope that we can learn something from this thought experiment, and perhaps it will help you think of your life in Christ every time you look up and see our faithful companion in the night sky.

Any conversation about the moon needs to start with the sun. The moon cannot produce its own light--it can only reflect what light it gets from the sun. In the same vein, we cannot produce our own light or our own love. We can only reflect the love we receive from our Father in Heaven. We can only reflect the light we get from God. When we think about ourselves as children of light, what we mean is that God has given us the light, as well as the responsibility to demonstrate that light to the world. We are to be light to the world, but we can only do that if we are living in relation to the light, to God.

Think about how the moon moves in phases. Our religious lives, if we're honest with ourselves, also moves in phases. Sometimes, in our fullest phases, it feels as though God is right there with us, and we're certain about what God is doing in our lives and the world. It feels as though we can feel God within us and see His light leading us forward. This is like the full moon phase--we are reflecting the full light of God, and showing it to the world. Not any of the light is wasted or blocked--every part of our life is filled with Christ's love. This is what we all strive for!

But, we have other phases of life, too. In these times, it feels as though the world is standing firmly between us and God. It's as though the world is conspiring against us, trying to block us from receiving the light of
God. Sometimes, we do this on our own, placing the world between us and God, and sometimes the world just ends up there, blocking God's light. In these dark times, it's hard for us to remember how to see the light. We forget how easy it was in those other full phases, and we long for the warmth of God's light.

These are tough, tough times.

And, in most of life, we're moving between these two extremes. We're not always moving closer to God, and we're not always moving farther away, but we're usually moving in one direction or the other. The world sometimes seems to be getting in the way, and often we can see around it and reject the temptations of sin, but it, as all things, moves in phases.

Don't be too hard on yourselves--you're not perfect. Only Christ was perfect, and it's okay that you're not perfect. God loves you anyway. It's not a license to sin, but you have to allow yourself to be forgiven. We don't get a full moon all the time, and we don't get a sin-free life, either. What we get is another chance to try, and grace for our failures. Our role is to recognize those places and ways that the world gets between us and God, and do whatever we can to minimize those times.

Now, in reference to those times of eclipses, when the moon actually moves between the world and God, we can sometimes be tempted to do this, too. One of the biggest messages during an eclipse is that people can't watch it with their eyes because they'll still be damaged. In the same way, we can't look directly at God's glory and be undamaged. God's glory is too great for our eyes, and when people start to believe they can stand in God's place, we simply hurt other people.

Our job is to reflect God's glory. We don't take God's place, but we reflect God's glory by letting God's light shine through us. Just as people can't look directly at the sun, people don't look directly at God--rather they see God at work through others. In the darkest of nights, the moon is often the only companion some people have. In the darkest of times, may the love of Christ shining through us be a companion and assurance to those in need.

And I challenge you to search for ways in your own life to search for ways to let God's light shine in and through you. May we establish our own, healthy orbit, so that the world isn't standing between us and God, and so that we're reflecting God's light to the world, rather than simply absorbing it for our own benefit. Life will always move in phases, and you're never going to get it exactly right, but when we establish a healthy orbit with worship and fellowship and prayer and study and sabbath, we have a better relationship with God and can also share that with others.

May this time of Family Camp be a healthy and spiritual sabbath for you, and may what you gain here be something to take with you as you go, that you may bask in God's glorious light and reflect that to the world,
Let us pray.

August 28 Sermon

2011-08-28T04:40:00.000-07:00

Luke 19:28-40

After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord needs it.” Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.

As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

***************

It's a bit strange to be hearing the Palm Sunday story in August. I freely acknowledge that--we're used to hearing this in the spring, and we'll be reading it again this April, the Sunday before Easter. It's one of the big stories of the life of Jesus--his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, seated on the back of a colt. We've been headed this way for almost two years now, following the story of Jesus as he made his way through villages and towns, through lepers and Pharisees. The story was always going to end here, in Jerusalem. We never had any doubt that we would come here, to the central city of Judaism, where everyone gathered, where the temple was. We never wondered if it would be different this time--but it's always a bit strange when we come to today. For most of the Gospels, Jesus travels by foot, from dusty town to dusty town, followed with curiosity, with hatred by some. Here, though, we come to a parade.

And who doesn't love a parade? They have them the world over--they are celebrations of something, of anything. Millions around the country gather on New Year's Day to watch the Rose Parade in sunny California, where groups have been assembling beautiful floats. I visited the Rose Parade once, and I can assure you that it's a spectacle of pure joy and celebration. Most parades are exactly that--families gather to watch the floats and the bands, and for moments all the troubles in life are forgotten.

Have you seen the movies made from WWII where they depict the conquering army riding victoriously into a city? They have the men riding on tanks while the citizens of the town stand by cheery wildly, waving little flags and rejoicing that the conquering heroes have come to liberate them from the clutches of evil.

That's exactly what this parade is. Only there is a bit of a different expectation to this.

See, Jews were waiting for the Messiah to ride into Jerusalem and liberate them from the occupying Roman army. They were waiting for vast military victories that would free them from the clutches of their enemies and allow them to live a peaceful and prosperous life in Jerusalem. The Messiah would be the one who would bring all of this about, so when Jesus rides into Jerusalem the expectation is very real that this is exactly what he is riding in to do. Everyone in the city is ready for him to overthrow the Romans and restore the city to purely Jewish rule. They aren't cheering for a man to come in to die on a cross between two common criminals. This is not what they expect.

I believe that, if we are completely honest with ourselves, we may share more in common with this crowd than we dare to admit. There may be, on occasion, a bit of such an expectation on our part. We believe that when we accept Jesus into our hearts as Lord and Savior that he will ride into our hearts as a liberating Savior, freeing us from sin and opposition and all those other things that clutch at our hearts, and we will live the rest of our lives in comfort and security that, when we die, we'll go to heaven.

So when bad things fill our lives and the world around us, we wonder if it's our fault. We wonder if our faith isn't strong enough. We wonder if we're using the wrong words when we pray, or if we're simply not praying right. We wonder what we've done, because we're certain that Jesus should have gotten rid of all these pesky points of struggle and opposition. One of the worst results of sin and brokenness is that we begin to question our purpose--we wonder if what we do really matters. We look back on our life, on our time spent, and we wonder if we made a difference. Rick Warren's The Purpose-Driven Life was one of the best-selling books ever because it addressed a need people have--a desire for purpose. We long to live lives that matter.

Just like the crowd, we don't always fully understand Christ's mission. And, not understanding his mission, we don't necessarily understand our role in it. We feel like we don't have a purpose.

Christ's mission is to liberate us from sin and begin the process of redeeming the entire world from sin. Christ isn't interested in establishing an earthly kingdom like the Romans had. James and John were arguing about who would sit at the Lord's right hand, believing that Christ's rule would be all about earthly power and riches. Instead, Christ has come to defeat death, and to restore our souls to new life, eternal life, rooted in him. Christ defines riches in terms of love and grace and mercy and peace, rather than dollar signs and power and beauty. Christ is working on a deeper level, and because Christ works on a different level than the world, the world sometimes believes Christ is working at all.

Instead, Christ comes to defeat death and promise new life to all who accept him as Lord and Savior. Christ, in his grace, then invites us to play a role in this. Our role isn't to simply sit back and watch him take power--it's to join with him in the redemption of all of creation. We are invited to play co-creator with God, to shine the light of love into the darkest corners of the world, to restore the broken to hope and offer promises of new life to those who mourn and weep.

Tracking back to today's text, this places us in the unlikely position not of the crowd, but rather of the colt.

Here we are, bound by the ropes of sin and death to the world, when Christ sends a disciple to steal us away, to liberate us from sin and death--the Lord needs us to be his hands and feet in the world, needs us to work in the world. The Lord needs you.

What does the Lord need you to do?

Bear his image into the world.

The light of the world is within you, upon you, and everywhere you go, you are to bear the light of Christ. It's our primary responsibility--wherever your feet take you, you bring the image of Christ, riding upon you. Whatever you say, you are to bear the image of Christ. This is your purpose--the single most important task that has ever been given to any one person not named Jesus Christ--you are to bear the image of Christ. When people see you, they should be able to see through you and see Christ acting in you. Your words are his. Your actions are his. All that you are is an offering to him. When you drive, when you eat, when you sleep, when you work, when you play--you are that colt, untied from the world, bearing the image of Christ into the world. It is your purpose. It is your life's work. It is the most important thing you will ever do.

So, when you rise in the morning, I'd invite you to consider--how will you demonstrate Christ today, to your coworkers and friends, to your family? When you lie down at night, do you look back over the day and ask, how have I borne Christ today?

May we recognize the responsibility we have, and may we live with the knowledge that we bear Christ into the world in all we do.

Let us pray

August 21 Sermon

2011-08-21T04:33:00.000-07:00

Luke 19:11-27

The Parable of the Ten Pounds

As they were listening to this, he went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. So he said, ‘A nobleman went to a distant country to get royal power for himself and then return. He summoned ten of his slaves, and gave them ten pounds, and said to them, “Do business with these until I come back.” But the citizens of his country hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, “We do not want this man to rule over us.”

When he returned, having received royal power, he ordered these slaves, to whom he had given the money, to be summoned so that he might find out what they had gained by trading. The first came forward and said, “Lord, your pound has made ten more pounds.” He said to him, “Well done, good slave! Because you have been trustworthy in a very small thing, take charge of ten cities.”

Then the second came, saying, “Lord, your pound has made five pounds.” He said to him, “And you, rule over five cities.”

Then the other came, saying, “Lord, here is your pound. I wrapped it up in a piece of cloth, for I was afraid of you, because you are a harsh man; you take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.” He said to him, “I will judge you by your own words, you wicked slave! You knew, did you, that I was a harsh man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? Why then did you not put my money into the bank? Then when I returned, I could have collected it with interest.”

He said to the bystanders, “Take the pound from him and give it to the one who has ten pounds.” (And they said to him, “Lord, he has ten pounds!”) “I tell you, to all those who have, more will be given; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and slaughter them in my presence.” ’
*****************

Last Saturday, Rachel and I went to birthing classes. Somehow, human beings managed to have babies for thousands of years without birthing classes, but we were required to go through seven hours of a powerpoint presentation on how to have a baby. From what I can tell, it doesn't look so bad. The videos all make it look pretty easy. By far, my favorite moment of birthing class was the slide where they advised that one of the best techniques for childbirth was to 'use breathing during labor'. We both thought that was such great advice that we're going to go ahead and use breathing all the way up until labor, and then hopefully well beyond that point as well.

It's been quite a journey that we have been on for the past seven months. Having the decision to have a child seems like such a long time ago, and the elation from discovering that Rachel was pregnant has long since evolved into an interesting mixture of emotions, from pure excitement to sheer intimidation at the thought of raising a child. We feel so underequipped and unqualified, despite having been children ourselves, and so we wonder how we'll ever make it through this. We feel confidant that we'll be leaning upon many of you during the process, but that's what churches do--we depend on one another.

Without a doubt, I've been praying one prayer more than any other over the past seven months. I've been praying that the Lord manages to lead me in such a way so that this child grows up to be faithful to the Lord. I pray that he has a wonderful relationship with Jesus Christ, and that he feels comfortable and confidant in the church. I hope that he knows that God is good, that God loves him in each and every moment of his life, and that God will always be faithful, even when the world seems to be collapsing around him.

Some of you may be wondering by now what my child has to do with this text from Luke. After spending many hours this week staring at the text and waiting for something to emerge, I soon realized that my child has everything to do with this text. For this child is an enormous reponsibility with which we are being entrusted--he is a gift from the Lord, and Rachel and I, and all of you, have the responsibility to raise him in such a way that he understands, that he sees, God's love made manifest in and through us. It is through us that he will know the Lord. If I live a life that is faithful to God, he will see that. He will see my successes and my failures, where I live with integrity and where I fall short. If I live a false life, he will see that, and he will question faith. If I am honest about my shortcomings and admit my failures with humility, always striving for the best, he will see that, too. Everything I do will be under the microscope, and while his faith is not entirely determined by my life, I have the chance to influence him for good. I have a massive amount of influence on his life--if I waste that, he will struggle throughout life. If I seek to show Christ's love, however, that will pay dividends throughout his life.

That's what this parable from Jesus is about at the core of it. It's about the fact that each of us has an opportunity and a responsibility in this life. What we have is a choice--we can choose to take that opportunity and proclaim Christ's love. Each of us has different opportunities that come our way throughout life--life moves in phases, in stages, in seasons. Your life today is different than it was ten years ago, twenty years ago. Your opportunities are different. Our life changes, but the core responsibility is the same--to serve the Lord in all we do. It's not about achieving success as the world defines it--to have a private plane and a private island in some tropical locale. It's about achieving faithfulness, about serving God in all walks of life, from being at home to the workplace to school.

In the parable today, the nobleman gives each slave an amount of money and tells them to do business until he comes back. I think we are in the same situation. Notice who acts first--the slave doesn't step forward and demand the money. The slave doesn't seize it on his own, or create it out of his own ingenuity. The slave is graciously given the money. The nobleman is leaving for a time, and he wants the slaves to be busy at work while he is gone.

In the same way, the Lord has ascended into the heavens and reigns on high. He has sent the Holy Spirit to be with us in our life and ministry here, and he has promised to return at some unknown date. Don't waste your time trying to figure out the date. Harold Camping doesn't know, I don't know, and the Mayans sure as heck don't know. It's someday. But the Lord has given each of us a charge until he comes back--we each have a responsibility while he is gone. It's to do business. And not just any business--we're to be about the Lord's business. In all that we do, we do God's business. In everything you do, you're to serve and worship God. Whether you're cleaning the bathroom or making a presentation to the CEO of the biggest corporation on earth, whether you're teaching a child how to drive or putting a band-aid on their cuts, you've got one goal--to be about the Lord's business, which is showing the love of Jesus Christ and proclaiming his name. That's your goal. Some of us will achieve big and public results, like the first slave. Some of us will achieve modest and less public results, like the second slave. It doesn't matter how big of a worldly ministry we have--what matters is that we're doing the business of God, loving God and neighbor. It's our responsibility.

Which brings us to the third slave, the one who did nothing, who rested on his laurels out of fear. He was so afraid of messing up, of getting it wrong, that he did nothing. And how did the Lord react? With fury and rage--from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.

We shout out that it's not fair for the Lord to do this.

But we also have to remember that this is a parable. It didn't really happen. It's not a true story--what it is is Jesus making a big, public point--we need to be constantly at work to be sure that we are striving for faithfulness. This life isn't about resting on our laurels and making sure that we don't break any of the commandments--just as important as what we do is what we don't do. I believe that a sin of omission is just as powerful as a sin of commission. If I never bother to tell my child about Jesus, if I never bother to take my son to church, if I never bother to do anything related to teaching him about God, that's not viewed by God as good just because I didn't teach him bad things. We're expected to strive to be faithful, and when we have certain tasks set before us, we're to do them with all of heart, so that God is glorified through us. If we don't bother to act, just because we don't make mistakes doesn't mean we'll be rewarded. Let us act with boldness for Christ, seeking to be faithful, not striving simply to avoid major sins.

Friends, in six weeks, I will be overwhelmed by the enormity of the task before me. I am overwhelmed just thinking about it. But I am also excited, because it is an opportunity. We all have opportunities in our lives--they're all different, but let us be of the same mind in the midst of these opportunities--let us be focused on proclaiming Christ through them. Christ has freely given us life and love and grace and mercy, and we have a responsibility to respond. May our lives be our response, our loud and long affirmation of faith in Christ Jesus.

Let us pray.

August 14 Sermon

2011-08-14T05:04:00.000-07:00

Luke 19:1-10

He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way.

When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.”

So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.”

Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”

***************

The first part of this story revolves around vision, around the desire of Zacchaeus to see Jesus. Next, after he scales the tree, and sees Jesus, he hears the words of Christ: “I must stay at your house today.” After Zacchaeus shimmies down the tree and dines with the Lord and Savior of all of creation, there is a third part to the story—the response.

In today’s sermon, I want to talk about three aspects of our life of faith that follow the outline of this story. The first is vision—we long to see the ways that God is at work in the world. For non-Christians, this is the first step of faith, to see that God is real and that God is at work. For those of us who are Christians, we still search for signs that God is at work in the world and in our lives. Next, we hear the call of Christ. For non-Christians, this is the invitation to accept his Lordship. For those who have done so, we are called to accept his leadership, his guidance, his vision. We see, and then we hear. Only then do we respond. Only after seeing his hand, after hearing his call, do we respond. So often we put this step first, rushing into the world, but soon we run afoul and begin to wonder where God is in our midst, having never located him in the first place.

First, I’d like to talk about the power of vision.

When the film Water for Elephants was being filmed in Chattanooga, I read an account of a woman from Florida who loaded up her daughter into the car and proceeded to drive over six hours to camp out near the set on the off chance that the two of them might see Robert Pattinson, better known as the vampire from the Twilight series. They drove six hours on the off chance they might see him! They weren’t even guaranteed that they would see him, and surely a conversation, much less dinner, would have sent them both of the edge of cardiac arrest. In my mind, when I read that article some months ago, I was baffled by the drive of this woman and could not possibly understand what was going through her mind. At the time, the 19^th chapter of Luke never crossed my mind.

But now, when I sat down to read this text on Monday morning that was the first thing that came to mind. As I read the words of Luke describing Zacchaeus’ passion and burning desire to see Christ, I realized that this tale was not locked safely away in the 1^st century. It was alive and well today. The desire to see someone can drive us to do crazy things.

Zacchaeus was probably not a deeply religious man. He wouldn’t have been welcome by the Jews because of his work for the Roman empire as a tax collector. As he was most likely corrupt, he wouldn’t have been welcome by anyone else, either, simply because they didn’t like him. They wouldn’t have trusted Zacchaeus or welcomed him to any public gatherings.

But something came over Zacchaeus that day. Perhaps it was the rumor of the man who had just cured a blind man outside the city walls. Perhaps he had heard about him long ago and had always wondered what he might look like. Perhaps the Holy Spirit was the only source for his knowledge, but something overtook his heart and drove him to climb a tree on the off chance that he might see Jesus.

I believe that we, too, have a similar desire to Jesus at work in the world. We long to see what Jesus is doing, where Jesus is working, and how we can be a part of that. I believe that one of the hardest questions for Presbyterians to answer is ‘Where is God at work in your life?’ I don’t exactly know why this is, but we struggle with that question. Often, we’re simply not sure what God is up to. We don’t see where God is leading us or exactly know where God is working in our lives, in our hearts.

I believe that some of this is simply because God often works in strange and mysterious ways, as we discussed last week. But I think we have some fault as well—sometimes we’re not willing to run ahead, and sometimes we’re not willing to climb a sycamore tree.

Zacchaeus climbed that tree because there was no other way for him, a short man, to see Jesus. Do we have the same burning desire in our hearts to see Christ at work? Will you drop everything else and turn to the Lord in prayer when you’re in need? Will you make sure that you include time for devotions every day? Are you willing to ask friends and loved ones their advice when you’re in spiritual drought? Or do you simply stand still, waiting for a brilliant light to shine from the heavens and illumine your problems? Had Zacchaeus not moved, he might not have seen Jesus. Sometimes, we have to climb a tree to see where God is at work in our lives. I don’t know what your tree is, but I bet you have an idea about what tree you know you need to climb that you’re simply not doing.

So we have Zacchaeus up in his sycamore tree when the Lord comes around. At this moment, Jesus, like he has a habit of doing, does something very unexpected. He stops, turns to Zacchaeus and says, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.”

Here we have the Lord speaking, very clearly, telling Zacchaeus what comes next. Now, it’s laughable for us to imagine, but think about all the excuses Zacchaeus could have made. “Lord, I don’t have anything to eat. Lord, I haven’t cleaned the house. Lord, I have other plans.” Zacchaeus didn’t do any of that—he humbly recognized the opportunity, and he dined with the Lord.

The Lord calls us, too. We are constantly being called by the Lord. First, we have to see where he is at work. Then we need to listen to his voice. I don’t know what he’s calling you to do. Perhaps you are being called to reach out to the poor. Perhaps you’re being called to listen to your co-worker. Maybe you’re being called to be a leader in your community.

I don’t know what you’re being called to do, which is why we each need to listen to the Lord. But then we need to lay down our excuses. We all have them—we’re too busy, we’re not equipped, we’re not ready, there’s something in the way, there’s a better time, etc. There will always be an excuse, and each one needs to be set down. The Lord calls us to follow—may we do so with boldness.

Finally, we have the climax of the story, when the Lord declares that salvation has come to the house. This is the part about Zacchaeus’ response. He’s seen the Lord. He’s heard the Lord’s voice, and he’s responded with gratitude. He has been transformed because of Jesus Christ, and as a result of recognizing the Lord’s love he’s going to give away half his money.

Now, this isn’t a blanket response. You don’t have to give away half your money to the poor as your response to the Lord. But our lives are meant to be a response to God’s unconditional love. God’s love changes us—when we recognize how big it is, it changes us. This may be the first person in Zacchaeus’ life who has ever offered unconditional love to him. As a result, he is transformed. Salvation has come to his house when he accepted the Lord in, now when he decided to give away half his fortune.

In the same way, salvation comes to us when we accept the unconditional love of the Lord. He loves you without condition, and comes to each of us with his arms open wide. You cannot earn this love. Nothing you can do will make him love you more. Never forget that.

It is up to you how you respond. But we are called to respond, to give back, to share this love. Perhaps your response, the unconditional love you share, will be the one thing that motivates someone else to run and climb a tree in the hopes of seeing Jesus.

You never know how the Lord might use you.

Let us pray.

August 7 Sermon

2011-08-07T19:50:00.000-07:00

Luke 18.31-43

A Third Time Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon. After they have flogged him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again.’ But they understood nothing about all these things; in fact, what he said was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar Near Jericho

As he approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard a crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.’ Then he shouted, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Those who were in front sternly ordered him to be quiet; but he shouted even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Jesus stood still and ordered the man to be brought to him; and when he came near, he asked him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ He said, ‘Lord, let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, praised God.

**************

I don’t know how many of you have ever dealt with anxiety, but it’s not an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. Or an evening. Or any other time of the day. I’ve dealt with anxieties for the last seven or eight years, and while it certainly comes and goes at times, every once in a while I am simply paralyzed by my anxieties, to the point that it’s all I can do to think about anything other than that anxiety.

Now, it’s easy for someone else to look at my life and wonder what I have to be anxious about. Everything is going so well, right? Except for the fact that my life will be completely turned upside-down by the birth of a child in the next two months, things are going pretty well.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t have stress. There was a point in my life, not too long ago, where Rachel and I had gotten married, we had moved several times, we’d both started new jobs, and my parents had gotten a divorce, all within about a year and a half. Any one of those events is stressful enough for a year—combine them all into one relatively short time period, and they wreaked havoc on my body and mind.

We all have stress. It appears differently to each one of us, but there’s major things going on in each one of our lives. It could be a headache. It could be fears about retirement tied in to the stock market’s trip around the roller coaster. It could be fears about what you’re going to eat, or how you’re going to pay the bills. I don’t care what other people may have said to you—whatever is going on in your life, right now, is very important. Don’t pretend it’s not affecting you—it matters. It affects our mind and our body—one of the uniquely wonderful gifts of stress is that it produces tunnel vision—we get to the point that all we can focus upon is the stressful event, to the point that we can’t actually think about anything else.

Now, that’s an important point—when we’re focused on the bad things going on in our lives, we often fail to notice anything else that’s swirling around us. It’s often a driving point in our lives—how do we remove whatever stress is in our life?

I’d like to focus on how this text from Luke’s Gospel teaches us how to react to the stresses and struggles of life. I believe that what we can learn here can be applied to every situation in life, whether it’s watching the stock market go down 500 points in a day or watching a loved one deal with a difficult illness.

In this morning’s text, we’re presented with a blind man. We don’t know why he’s blind. We don’t know how long he’s been blind for. We don’t know what he’s been doing with his life or whether his blindness led him to fall from grace. All we know is that he was sitting by the roadside begging, and we could probably forgive him for feeling sorry for himself now and again. We could probably even forgive him for being angry, for being hopeless, or for dealing with his debilitating condition in any other way. In those times, he wouldn’t have been treated well or singled out for acts of kindness—he would have been left by the side of the road, perhaps a recipient of an occasional random act of kindness, but more or less forgotten by the world.

When Jesus of Nazareth approaches Jericho, the blind man hears that he is drawing near and cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Those who were in front sternly ordered him to be quiet, perhaps the biggest piece of evidence yet that, as mentioned earlier in this text, they simply don’t understand who Jesus is. They clearly haven’t been paying attention as Jesus has stopped to heal and attend to almost every person that seems to cry out to him. I suppose they don’t understand the extent of his love.

I think we often end up with the same mindset, though. How often have you thought that your problems are dwarfed by the world’s problems? Have you ever felt guilty for nagging at God with your little requests, when so much of the world is wrapped up in chaos? We can watch the news and hear about a war in Afghanistan and oppression in the Middle East and famine in Somalia and be overwhelmed, so much so that when we sit down to pray about our aching back and worried mind, we suddenly find ourselves wondering if God even listens to us.

In today’s text, Jesus takes the time to stop and approach the blind man who cries out to him. Do not doubt for a minute that he will do the same for you. Jesus is drawing near to Jerusalem, to the cross and the empty tomb, to the most important week in the history of humanity, and he still takes the time to listen to this blind man. Trust me—he cares deeply about your prayer requests, so let us never put ourselves down and believe that God is more worried about something else. God has more than enough love for us, and he loves you just as much as he does a child on the other side of the planet. Do not doubt that for a moment.

Next, notice what Jesus asks the blind man—“What do you want me to do for you?” It’s as direct a question as you will find. Jesus, being all-knowing, knows exactly what this blind man wants. He knows the inner secrets of his heart. Yet, he still asks.

Why does he ask when he already knows?

I believe it’s because he wants us to know that he hears our prayers. Our life of faith is meant to be a relationship. We’re not intended to sit back and let God do whatever it is God will do—we’re called to join in, to be a part of what God is doing in the world, and to be bold for Christ. Well, how in the world are we going to boldly tell others about Christ if we can’t even talk straight to God? God wants us to know that He is available and wants to hear our prayers. He wants to know about your stress—he wants to know about your hopes and your dreams, your fears and your joys. He wants you to take the time to speak to him. In our continued life of prayer, we build trust. The more often we lift things up to God, the closer to God we will feel. It’s a circle that reinforces itself. Let us lift our prayers up before God, big and small, so that we come to know and remind ourselves that God wants us to pray to him, in big things and in small.

And finally, in our text, Jesus heals the man. He uses this brief exchange as an opportunity to do the miraculous. He takes this ordinary blind man’s life and creates something extraordinary, a story with great power, through which God is glorified. He does all of this with no warning, but simply reaches out and changes this man’s world.

Soon, he will change more than this man’s world. He’s on his way to Jerusalem, where he will suffer and die on a cross. Just think—today’s story happens only a few days before he enters Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. The miraculous is about to occur—and, as we read earlier, the disciples have no idea. They don’t see it coming at all. They don’t grasp the fullness of Christ, but they have a suspicion that if they follow him, he will turn the ordinary into the extraordinary?

Why?

Because that’s what he’s been doing since they began to follow, and they’re ready and eager to see what he has in store next. There may be no warning, no build-up, but he will continue to do miraculous things in the strangest places.

He will do the same for you, too. You may not expect it. It may come at the most unlikely time—but be ready. Live ready. Jesus is near, and he loves you infinitely, and in claiming you as his own he has already worked a miraculous feat in your life. You are not ordinary—you are extraordinary, and God will continue to transform you.

So may we continue to know that Christ cares infinitely for us.

May we lift our lives up before God in prayer in all we do.

And may we be ready for God to reveal the extraordinary to us at any moment.

Let us pray.

Sermon for July 31

2011-07-30T20:51:00.000-07:00

Luke 18:18-30

The Rich Ruler

A certain ruler asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honour your father and mother.”

’ He replied, ‘I have kept all these since my youth.’ When Jesus heard this, he said to him, ‘There is still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ But when he heard this, he became sad; for he was very rich.

Jesus looked at him and said, ‘How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’

Those who heard it said, ‘Then who can be saved?’ He replied, ‘What is impossible for mortals is possible for God.’

Then Peter said, ‘Look, we have left our homes and followed you.’ And he said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not get back very much more in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.’

**************************

There are all sorts of walls in this world. Some of them have even become very famous, which is pretty remarkable when you consider that walls aren’t usually very exciting.

Some of the more famous walls in the world include The Great Wall of China and the Berlin Wall. Hadrian’s wall in Britain marked the end of the Roman empire. Most of the famous walls in history aren’t famous for their appearance, but rather for what they stood for. The Berlin Wall marked the line between East and West, and it stood as a reminder of all that was different. When I visited Ronald Reagan’s presidential library, I heard over and over again, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall!” And lo and behold, it was torn down.

Think about all the walls in your life—and not just physical ones. Some of them are very good—we need walls to keep the heat out and walls to define our personal space. Someone who says there are no good walls is someone who hasn’t much interest in a public bathroom, I suppose. Some walls, however, are not as helpful. Congress has been beating its head against a wall over the past two months about how to scale the wall of the debt ceiling, and they seem to be giving us a good definition for things that might just be ‘impossible for mortals’.

The ruler in today’s story comes to Jesus with a question, and in response Jesus presents him with another wall. The ruler wants to know how to inherit eternal life. He addresses Jesus as ‘Good Teacher’, and Jesus seizes on this to highlight the way to eternal life.

For eternal life stands on one side of a wall, and there is but one gate. For a long time the law was a gift from God that was meant to guide us to eternal life, but in our sin we could not keep the law, and the law itself could not save us. In God’s infinite mercy, God sent Jesus Christ to provide us a way beyond the wall of death, into life. Jesus is the only gate—there is no way around the wall, no sneaking past the guard—we enter eternal life only through the gate. This is the purpose of Jesus’ question—does the ruler call Jesus ‘good’ because he thinks he’s a great teacher and a really nice guy, or does he call him good because he recognizes him as the Lord of Lords, as Savior, as God incarnate? There is a vast difference between the two. It’s one thing to recognize Jesus as powerful, as good. It’s another to come to him as a sinner seeking redemption. Jesus is the gate, the door in the wall, through which we must pass if we hope to gain eternal life.

Having established this, Jesus goes on to discuss the life of the teacher. And this is where, I believe, we need to draw another distinction.

We believe that there exists another wall between this life and the eternal life that is to come. We believe that wall exists at the point of death, and that once we have died, we pass through the shadow of defeated death and into new life.

And while that is true in some respects, I believe we need to shift that wall backward, so that we place that wall firmly at the point of baptism, when we are joined into the life, the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In short, what I am suggesting, what I believe Jesus is calling us to do, is to live our lives now as though we are already living the eternal life that Christ extends to us. How we live now matters—it’s the message he gives to the ruler, to the disciples, and to us today. This life, this time, this day, this very moment, matters. It’s our practice for eternity—indeed, we’re already living in the Kingdom of God. What we do matters deeply, and so we live as disciples, here and now, rather than simply live in the belief that all will be made right when we die. Rather than see death as the wall that separates this life from eternal life, let us see ourselves as already living for eternity, as having passed through Christ into new creations, and let us live with total commitment to Christ.

This is where we come to the idea of the walls that we build. This is where the ruler’s money gets in the way. This is where our own idols interfere. John Calvin called the human heart a factory of idols. Indeed, we can turn almost anything into an idol, and in doing so we begin to build walls in and around our own heart, refusing to turn everything over to God. In the ruler’s case, it was money—he was very rich, and he loved being very rich. He loved being very rich more than he loved God, and so Jesus did the most compassionate, loving thing that he could do—he invited him in to eternal life, but asked him to first set down the thing he loved more than God.

He does the same to us. He knows that we build barriers around our hearts, and in doing so we try and keep God out. We build up idols, things we love more than God, and think that these are what define our life. Maybe it’s money, or perhaps it’s the pursuit of money. It could be fame or power or comfort or prestige or beauty or youth or anything that you pursue more than you pursue God. That’s what Jesus asks us to set down. He knows how difficult it is for us. He knows how sad it can make us. But he knows that in order for us to fully live we have to set aside those things that cannot give us life. It doesn’t mean we have to give them up, necessarily, but it does mean that we cannot love them more than we love God. It often takes hard work. But faith is hard work.

Rob Bell, in a video series he does, tells a story about his son at the beach. His son is collecting shells, and has his hands full of shells, so full he cannot possibly fit one more shell in his hand, when he comes across a shell more beautiful than any other. He wants it desperately, and yet he cannot pick it up, for his hands are clenched around so many other shells. He turns and looks at his father, as though waiting for divine intervention to grow him a third hand, when his father tells him the difficult truth—he has to let go of some of the smaller shells in order to grasp the one he truly wants.

Jesus is before us, inviting us into eternal life, into abundant life, into full and grace-filled life. He knows how wondrous it is, and he also knows all the things that hold us back, that prevent us from acting now. He knows our sin and our shame, and still he calls us.

Will you set down all those other things, those things that will fade away, those things that cannot give life, and will you pursue true life in Christ now? Will you stop waiting for eternal life, and start living into eternal life now? This life matters, and we are called to live it for the glory of God. Let us recognize that Christ has defeated sin, defeated death, and is calling us into an abundant life, here and now.

Let us pray

July 24 Sermon

2011-07-23T12:17:00.000-07:00

Luke 18:15-17

People were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they sternly ordered them not to do it. But Jesus called for them and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”

*************

I want you to think for a moment about the cereals for children you see advertised on television or the store. Think about some of the names…

Count Chocula.

Cocoa Pebbles.

Fruit Loops.

Cookie Crisp. Seriously—Cookie Crisp. It’s a cereal made from cookies. How amazing is that?

My favorite as a kid was Apple Jacks. My mother would never let me buy the serious sugar cereals, but she let me buy apple jacks, perhaps because the word apple was in the title. Make no mistake, these were not healthy, and had nothing to do with apples. By the time you finished the cereal, the sugar had formed this paste-like substance in the bottom of the bowl that was absolutely delicious. And kept you wired for 36 straight hours.

Now think about the breakfast foods that are targeted at adults.

All-bran.

Bran flakes.

Grape nuts.

Oatmeal.

I eat oatmeal every day, and all I have to say about oatmeal is that it’s a long way from apple jacks.

What happened there? At what age were we supposed to transition from eating Cookie Crisp to Bran Flakes? When did the fun police come in and take over breakfast? What fun is it to be responsible?

It’s not just the cereals that change as you grow. Currently, our nation is obsessed with watching Congress debate the debt ceiling. How many kids do you think have any idea what a debt ceiling is? When I was ten, four trillion sounded like an imaginary number, not something I’d ever be considering cutting from a budget. Think about the things that stress you out—mortgages and utility payments, the price of gas and worries about job securities. Now think about the things that stress children out—rain when they’re supposed to play soccer, or maybe reruns of their favorite television shows. What a change!

Not that it’s a bad thing to worry about debt ceilings and job security, but at some point they have become these massive sources of stress for us that preclude us from focusing on everything else. We’re so worried about putting gas in the car that we can’t enjoy a beautiful sunset. Imagine telling a kid catching lightning bugs that someday he won’t do that any more because he’ll be worried about falling in a hole and twisting his ankle. Imagine telling him he won’t take the time to wonder at such things as lightning bugs and bubbles.

This week, during Vacation Bible School, came to synagogue school to visit with Rabbi Keith and his co-rabbi, Laura Becker from Northminster Presbyterian. We spent a good portion of the week practicing Hebrew, teaching children how to write in an ancient language, one that will serve them little purpose over the years and cannot be recognized by those of us who only speak English.

And they loved it.

Many of us, if asked to spend time practicing an ancient, foreign, difficult language, would quickly grow bored with the pointless exercise. The kids, however, dug in and enjoyed the chance to do something new, something different. They were captivated by it, and loved doing it just to try it.

When I was a kid, I thought my dad could do anything. I thought he was the strongest, smartest man alive, a man who could fix anything that was broken. He was an engineer, so he could fix almost anything, and this amazed me. When I was 17 and holding the flashlight while we worked on the car at 11 PM in 50 degree weather, it wasn’t nearly so amazing. Somehow, on the road to adulthood, I lost the ability to be amazed at my father.

Somehow, I come dangerously close to not being amazed at my Father in Heaven, too. Somehow, the power of the stories that captivated my imagination as a youth stopped being so incredible. The sun stopping in the middle of the sky—heard it before. Joshua capturing Jericho with trumpets—old news. Noah, floating all of life on a boat in a flood—who hasn’t heard that? This book is filled with stories of a God who pours out endless amounts of love on a sinful and undeserving people, and so often we react to it by tossing it on the shelf and turning on an electronic screen that promises more entertainment, more flash and sizzle. Our threshold for entertainment is so high that we have forgotten how to be amazed at what God has done in creation, in the world, in our lives.

How many of us truly take the time to wonder at what God has done in our lives? How many us truly slow down and reflect at the blessings God has freely poured out into the world? Do we slow down enough to remember that God didn’t have to do any of this, but rather does it freely, out of love and grace? Have you watched the sun set recently, marveling at the beauty God paints across the sky each and every night, not because he has to, but because he wants to? Have you stared at the colors of a moth’s wings, or been captivated by a tree growing in a park? Has the sound of a child’s laughter or the embrace of a close friend stopped you and caused you to be so grateful at the God who gives this freely?

God didn’t have to do any of this. He did it because God loves beauty, and loves to see it again and again and again. G.K. Chesterton talks about how adults quickly grow bored with things, but God never does. He writes, Now, to put the matter in a popular phrase, it might be true that the sun rises regularly because he never gets tired of rising. His routine might be due, not to a lifelessness, but to a rush of life. The thing I mean can be seen, for instance, in children, when they find some game or joke that they specially enjoy. A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.

If we are to be like children, we must regain this sense of wonder. We cannot live as slaves to the demands of the world, constantly anxious about money and security and whatever else we are anxious about.

Here’s a challenge—find something to wonder at every day. Find something beautiful, in your life, or in the world, and spend some time just marveling at it. Maybe it’s a flower in your yard you’ve never slowed down enough to appreciate. Maybe it’s your spouse, and you’ve forgotten how to be amazed at what a blessing they are you to. Maybe it’s the sunset or the sound of the insects at night. Maybe it’s the freedom of driving with the windows down on a country road. It can be anything, but be free to wonder, to laugh and smile, and to thank God for how freely God has blessed you.

May you take time to wonder, and may this wonder lead to worship—all truly beautiful things in this world point to God’s beauty, and our gratitude and wonder should lead us back to God, who has poured wondrous things into our lives, into this world. In our wonder we worship, and we are grateful, and it changes us into the type of people who will be worshipping our God forever in a place more wondrous than we can imagine.

Let us pray