Randall K. Smith, Pastor                                                                                                                                           PO Box 278     
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Joaquin, TX 75954                                                                                                                                                                joaquinumc@gmail.com

Sunday:	Time	Wednesday	Time	Friday
Sunday School	10:00	First Wednesday: Family Night/Youth Group	6:00	Pine Grove Birthday Party	2:00 PM
Worship	11:00	Other Wednesdays /Bible Study	6:00
Youth Group  Fourth Sundays	12:00	Thursday		Saturday
Fifth Sunday Singing-every 5th Sunday	6:00 PM	Prayer Breakfast	8:00 AM	Scrapbooking 3rd Saturday	8:30 AM

Randy's sermons are posted at this site.  If you would like to look at calendar of events or other things happening at FUMC in Joaquin go to www.joaquinumc.com.  

   

                                       Pastor's Sermons 

November 22, 2009/Christ the King Sunday/First Lesson-2 Samuel 23: 1-7/Second Lesson-Revelation 1: 4b-8; /Gospel Lesson-John 18: 33-37

(The following is the unedited text of the spoken word)

The Language of the Eternal

            Grace and peace from our brother, Jesus, Amen.  Today is the last day of the Christian calendar.  Next week begins the forty days of Advent that begins a new year for the church.  In 1922, this last Sunday of the liturgical year, was named “Christ the King” Sunday.  Officially, we Americans don’t much care for kings and queens and lords and ladies.  We fought a war for independence against a King and we are way too democratic to have nobility.

            Titled nobility doesn’t impress us but we are certainly fascinated with it.  Like most of the world, people in the US fell in love with Lady Dianna and her concern for the poor and her desire to give her two sons an appreciation for the ordinary.  And since we don’t have our system of royalty we unfortunately have created our own.  We have elevated the super-rich, actors, and sport stars to almost nobility status.  Our televisions tell us everyday about what these people are doing—the good, the bad, the ugly.  At the end of every football game, the camera will go in search of the owners of the teams as if they had just played the game and deserve our praise.  The owner of the Titans certainly showed his nobility last Sunday and had to pay a $250,000.  Every time I start to like the Cowboys again the cameras have to switch to Jerry Jones in his luxury box looking over his vast kingdom. 

            A young lion wandered away from his father to test whether he would get the same respect from the Animal Kingdom as his father did.  When the monkeys came by he demanded that they tell him who he was.  “You are the King of the Jungle,” answered the frightened monkeys.  The little lion puffed up and told them they better never forget it.  That went on all morning as he challenged various groups of animals.  He asked the same question to a herd of elephants.  The big bull elephant walked up to the lion, swooped him up in his trunk, sung him around and around and threw him in the river.  Battered and wet, the little lion replied, “Just because you didn’t know the answer to the question doesn’t mean you had to get nasty about it!”

            In the days of the Gospel Lesson, the people of Israel felt about kings like we do.  They didn’t much care for them.  And they had much stronger reasons to dislike the king—in this case Caesar who conquered and occupied their nation using fear and terror.  They longed for the days of a just, Jewish King like David.  The people of Jesus’ generation were looking for the messiah—a king who would rid them of the hated Romans.  Many Jews wondered if this Jesus could be that messiah—that conquering king.  And in our Gospel Lesson we see that Pilate is unnerved by the idea of Jesus as the new King of the Jews and worried about what havoc Jesus and his followers could create for him and his Roman legions.

            “Are you the ‘King of the Jews,’” asked Pilate.  Jesus replied, “My kingdom doesn’t consist of what you see around you.  If it did, my followers would fight so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews (the Jewish elite.) But I’m not that kind of king, not the world’s kind of king.”  The answer did not satisfy Pilate and Pilate was not going to take any chances with a possible rebel.  Jesus’ fate was sealed. 

            When John of the Island of Patmos describe the conflict, in his Revelation, between good and evil, justice and injustice, and compassion and hatred he used the art of nature to describe the coming turmoil.  An island close by was a huge volcano and this spitting of fire and brimstone became the backdrop for his end of the age story.  In his flowery prose John told his readers that the ‘God Who Was’ and the ‘God About to Arrive’ will make us a kingdom.

            We know that the author of Revelation must have been an educated Greek because he was such an accomplished writer.  He was writing in the language of the divine—not the mundane when he described his revelation.  And when we turn to the Gospel of John, he too spoke divine language when he said in his prologue, “In the beginning was the Torah (Word), and the Torah was with God, and the Torah was God.  He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.  In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

 This is Divine Language is what the ancients called “mythos.”  When we think of myth most of us think of Greek myths and folk stories about heroes and gods.  Greek mythology is popular and entertaining in high school English classes everywhere.  But mythos is so much more.  The words of Mythos are not meant to tell us about historical events but attempts to go where words, language and human thought have difficulty speaking.  Mythos was written to express something that is timeless and has an eternal dimension. 

Mythos speaks to the mystery of God and can provide opportunities to experience God. Unfortunately, when the Western World entered the modern age and saw the dawning of the Age of Reason, Mythos became secondary and was pushed aside as man’s scientific and mathematical understandings grew.  During the Age of Reason, many philosophers, scientists, mathematicians, and theologians were so excited by the great leaps of learning that they thought that everything could be understood through rational thinking—even God.

The amount of knowledge grew by leaps and bounds and today it moves in nanoseconds not in years.  And we have made great progress in technology, science, medicine, and understanding of the natural world.  But the Age of Reason did not see the end of wars, people’s indifference to other people, or great leaps of compassion and justice.  The Enlightenment brought us the Rights of Man and the Declaration of Independence but did not end slavery, greed, or war. 

            Man’s attempt to understand the divine remains, as it always has, beyond our ability to speak or think.  So when St.

John speaks in his version of the Gospel of “the Word” being present before creation he is speaking divine talk—mythos.  John is saying that the divine is breaking into the ordinary in order to describe God’s ever presence in our world.  When the ancients spoke of science and math, and reason they were speaking of Logos—reason, logic, and scientific thought. Mythos speaks to the timeless and the eternal.  But the ancients like John and the early Christian teachers and theologians saw no contradiction between faith and reason and felt that both Logos and Mythos were important to human thinking and understanding. 

For John, Jesus was the Christ—the great light of God’s love and justice that comes into our everyday world.  This great light—this God compassion and justice has always existed but the Christ, walking as a human being brought this divine, eternal promise and hope to all who would listen, believe, and follow.  Amen.

                 

 

November 15, 2009/33^rd  Sunday in Ordinary Time/First Lesson-1 Samuel 2: 1-10/Second Lesson-Hebrews 10: 11-14,18; /Gospel Lesson-Mark 13: 1-8

(The following is the unedited text of the spoken word)

Hannah’s Song

            Grace and peace from our brother, Jesus, Amen.  The poetry of joy and praise found in the second chapter of 1 Samuel is in response to a life of disappointment and a life of humiliation that is explained in the first chapter.  Hannah is one of two wives of Elkanah.  Elkanah first wife, Peninnath had many children but Hannah was barren.  In these ancient times, not being able to produce male children was a sign of God’s disfavor.  Hannah had failed in her most basic wifely task.  We do not know if God disfavor was upon Hannah but in my understanding, it was not.  The scriptures tell us that Elkanah was good to Hannah but I don’t find that convincing.  He doesn’t stop Peninnath from teasing Hannah and seems to set Hannah up for ridicule in the gathering of people.  I guess you would say that Elkanah, like most men, is clueless.

Peninnath takes every opportunity to mock Hannah and to parade her children before the congregation of people and the priests in full confidence that God favors her.  Twice in this opening story, the story teller lets the reader know that God indeed is responsible for Hannah pitiful condition.  Of course, Jewish Rabbis and almost all Christian writers would stress that knowing God is not in our realm.  God is transcendent.  The ancient Greek meaning for transcendence is “that which climbs beyond know reality and cannot be categorized.

It is the custom for Biblical editors to insert poems into books to increase the artistic and religious appeal.  This poem—the Song of Hannah was added to the prose much later and becomes to the Israelites not only a story of faith and trust but also a poem of National Thanksgiving.  Being almost Thanksgiving 2009, the poetry can have significant meaning for us today. 

Hannah’s Song and much later the New Testament’s version of The Song of Hannah—the Song of Mary—the Magnificant is a poem of thanksgiving for the reversal of fortune.

Hannah’s greatest prayer had finally been answered—she would have a son.  She, in full faith and trust in God’s goodness promises her son to the service of God. I imagine that Hannah’s first word upon discovering the good news was just one word—“Yes.”  Her song was her great celebration of her great joy.  It is like Tiger Wood’s hand pump after sinking a forty-foot putt.  On the news Thursday morning they showed the quickest goal in soccer history.  The starting kick sailed fifty feet into the netting of the goal.  And no sport celebrates a score quite like they do in soccer—football to the rest of the world.  The announcer shouts “GOOOOOOOOAAAAALLLLL” and the fans break into minutes of celebration.  Hannah’s song was her end-zone celebration after catching a pass.

One word that I learned when I took my first course at SMU was exegesis.  The course was “Pastor as Interpreter of the Bible” taught me that exegesis means to guide and to lead out.  Exegesis is the art of interpreting and explaining the text of scripture.  Only since the 1800s with the rise of American fundamentalism did the idea develop and take hold that the words of scripture were limited narrowly to a strict literal interpretation.  This was foreign to early Christian exegesis and study.  Scriptures were see as ever expanding and told in allegory and symbolism to be interpreted for all the ages.

Our spiritual forefathers were the centuries of Jewish rabbis who saw the scriptures as expanding and changing and speaking to all ages—past and present.  The Torah was the written law but it was the Talmud, the oral tradition that was and is seen as much more important.  Talmud means study and most often refers to two written volumes of transcribed study and arguments.  These were the Jerusalem Talmud put into written form at the end of the 5^th Century CE and the Bavli or Babylonain Talmud completed in the 6^th Century CE.  But as long as Rabbis study, argue, reveal other Talmud(s) are developed and written.

Wesley also believed that each time scripture is read it can be revelation in a way not see or thought of before.  Jewish exegesis is called “midrash.”  Jewish exegesis and interpretation always retains the sense of a quest for something fresh that may not be immediately self-evident.  This sermon has been a long theological statement to say that the Jews understood today’s scripture to be speaking of the nation of Israel.  Israel for too long had been barren.  For too long, Israel has seen her enemies intimidate and dominate her.  But there is great God-news.  Israel would soon be dancing in their salvation.

God is indeed the one who brings not only death but also life. The weapons of the powerful will be smashed and God’s justice will grow.  God’s justice will be attained when the poor are uplifted and see their dignity restored.  God will see justice and will also see the foolish and greedy stumble and fall.

Hannah is Israel and life will be born in Hannah.  Justice for Hannah will come and those who mocked her for so long will stumble and fall.  But we can also read the Song of Hannah and see a story about how people treat people.  Peninnath was a co-wife along with Hannah and they should have been like sisters.  Hannah’s pain should have been Peninnath’s pain.  But she was selfish and wanted to be the dominate wife and if that meant to crush Hannah that was just fine.  No opportunity was missed to humiliate Hannah in every public gathering.

                In our Wednesday Night Bible Study we are studying the rule—Do Good.  We were and we are reminded that Jesus says that to love God one must love our neighbor.  And if Penninnath couldn’t find it possible to love Hannah, regardless of what she might proclaim, she could not love God.  If we cannot one of God’s children who is right in front of us, how can we possible say we love God who is transcendent and hard even to fathom.  Love of God and love of neighbor cannot be separated.  This was Jesus’ midrash—his understanding of the Torah.  Jesus believed that all scripture spoke to love and God and love of our fellow human beings.  Each is tied to the other and both are vital in our walk of faith.  As we come to share a moment of remembrance and communion, let us come joined by love and our common humanity. Amen.

 

November 8, 2009/32^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time/First Lesson-Ruth 3: 1-5; 4: 13-17/Second Lesson-Hebrews 9: 24-28/Gospel Lesson-Mark 12: 28-34

The Book of Better Things

            Grace and peace from our brother, Jesus, amen.  Bigger doesn’t always mean better.  Almost every fast food restaurant has some way that you can “super-size your meal.”  The result of our overindulgence is that too many of us are now “super-sized” and this new “us” is creating all kinds of health problems from diabetes to heart disease.  The United States is number #1 in childhood obesity and heart disease due to poor diet is being seen in children as young as eight.

          Sometimes looking at things in a different way or doing something new or different, or even doing something you always do but in a different way can be a better way.  We are definitely going to have to make a national effort to change how we look at eating.  In most of the world that still struggles for their daily bread, people eat to live.  But here, we live to eat. Being able to alter habits and to change one’s way of thinking and living is difficult.  In our Wednesday Bible Study, Brother Warr reminded us that this something we cannot do ourselves.  We must call upon God’s Spirit that resides in each of us to show us a new way—a healthy way—a way that leads to peace and harmony.

            A couple of weeks ago the Gospel Lesson was about the blind man who regained his sight because he so totally trusted in Jesus.  I read about people who are my age and older (maybe some younger) who must hold reading material at arm’s length from their eyes.  I see some of you doing that when you read the bulletin.  If you do that you suffer from presbyopia.  No, this is not an affliction of Presbyterians but is the name of a common eye problem associated with aging.  Presby means elder or old and opia means something dealing with the eyes or sight.  There is now a laser treatment which increases the strength and flexibility of the eye muscles.  Five 10 minute treatments and periodic tune-ups can reverse presbyopia. 

            Too often, in our faith journey we develop presbyopia and we become so accustomed to the way things are and the ways things always have been that we forget that faith is an ongoing process and requires us to be strong but flexible.  In the First Lesson from the Book of Ruth, Ruth follows her mother-in-law’s advice on how Ruth can get herself a good husband.  We know Ruth is living among strangers, living in an alien culture, and she is really at the mercy of strangers.  She must have total trust in Naomi—a women she loves and cherishes.  Her trust and willingness to venture into unfamiliar territory brings her love, security for herself and Naomi, and a son.

            In the Second Lesson from Paul’s letter to the Hebrews he is urging his listeners to try something new.  The Letter to the Hebrews has been called “the Book of Better Things. Paul reminds them of the days when the Temple of God was nothing more than a tent and sacrifices would be brought and offered up at various festival times.  Paul says, “Now imagine a new Holy Place—a new tent that is Jesus.  In this new tent the way to God is open to all and the need for animal sacrifices is no more.”  It took great trust to move past the old ways and embrace a new approach to salvation.  For those who could empty themselves of their anger, hatred, jealousy, and self-centeredness a new way to experience God and God’s peace could be realized.

            The beginning point for both Ruth and to Paul’s listeners was the willingness to trust and to hope.  But that was and is only the opening salvo in the path toward holiness.  Jesus didn’t want followers who said that they believed but went no further.  Paul says this trust and faith would help us all to step forward in Christ ways.  We are called to love everyone and to see the imprint of God even on the faces of our enemies.  We are step forward in humility and not respond in anger to taunts or jeers.  Instead of pushing people out of our way or pretending we don’t see them; we are to reach out with the love of Christ. 

            Jesus demands that his followers trust him that his ways will lead to redemption and salvation.  Ruth had to not only trust Naomi she had to act on what Naomi told her to do.  In our Gospel Lesson Jesus tells the story of the poor widow who despite her dire circumstances was willing to give so that others might have their daily bread or a coat to fend of the cold.  In her poverty, this widow trusted and she moved forward in trust and love.

            A Sunday school teacher asked her middle school students if they would give $1 million dollars to missions.  “Yes,” they all screamed. Then she asked if they would give a $1,000 and all yelled out yes.  What about $100 and once again all said they would.  The she asked, “Would you give just a dollar to mission?”  All the children said yes except Johnny.  “Johnny,” the teacher questioned as she notice Johnny clutching his front pocket.  “Why didn’t you say yes this time?  “Well,” he stammered, “I have a dollar.

            Jesus compared this devotion to those people who loudly proclaim their faith and want to be noticed for their religiousness but at the same time exploit the weak and the helpless.  Jesus says the longer they pray the more pathetic they are.        

            Our lessons today remind us that God and the ways of God are not the exclusive property of any one tradition.  The divine light can not be confined to a single lamp.  God does not belong to either East or West but to those who trust and are willing to walk forward in that trust.  We must not be afraid to hear old words spoken in new ways.  Revelation is God’s way of allowing us to explore and to experience that which is divine. Amen.      

          

November 1, 2009/All Saints Day/First Lesson—Wisdom 3: 1-9/Second Lesson—Ecclessiasticus 44: 1-10, 13-14/Gospel Lesson---John 11: 32-44

                                                                            (The following is the unedited text of the spoken sermon) 

 Saints of the Church

            Grace and peace from our brother, Jesus, Amen.  There were a multitude of scriptures to choose from for this Sunday. Two of the lessons that could be chosen came from the Apocrypha.  The word “apocrypha” means “things that are hidden” but these books are not hidden.  You can buy a Bible that includes the Apocrypha and I suggest that if you are in the Bible buying market that you do that.  Apocrypha can also mean “withdrawn” and this is a better definition for these books.  These books were withdrawn from common use among Roman Catholics and they are not even included in Protestant Bibles.  The first reading today comes from a book called “Ecclesiasticus, or the Wisdom of Jesus Bin- Sirach. 

            Today is All Saints Day.  Many Protestant Churches do not celebrate this day because it simply sounds and feels too Catholic.  As often happens, many Protestant reformers of the 15^th and 16^th centuries threw out the baby with the bath water.  Much of the sacred music, liturgies, and rituals were discarded as “Papist” or “Popish.”  The excesses of the revolt against anything that smelled of Catholic influences included destroying artwork and smashing and destroying stain glass windows which adorned the churches and cathedrals of Western Europe.

            I have come to believe that we will never be able to comprehend God but that we might—through discipline and discernment experience God—even if it is for short glimpses.  I believe that the beauty of art, the symbols of Christianity, the rituals, and the liturgies of the ancient church can help us prepare our hearts, souls, and minds to be receptive to experiencing God.  I have tried to increase those ancient activities of the church into our time of holy worship and I will continue to try to hearken back to those things and those activities which may help us feel God’s presence.

            I am not a Buddhist but I agree with the Buddha when he said there should be moderation in all things.  So I don’t want to take away from our church a Sunday in which we remember the saints just because we are a Protestant Denomination.  I recently heard of a church in either North or South Carolina that—are ready for this—are burning Bibles.  That’s right—burning Bibles!  Their pastor has decreed that all Bibles except the King James Version are the works of the devil and must be destroyed.  I think burning any book is ungodly.

 I may preach about the ancient mystic practices and different ways Christians of old looked for and understood truth and God.  And you may say from time to time that some of what Randy says just doesn’t jive with my thoughts of faith.  And that is fine—that is the way it is suppose to be.  We Protestants believe that each person is a priest and can read, interpret, and be moved by scripture and thoughts of God.  One of the things I most love about Methodist or Wesleyan theology you is our determination to be a big tent church.  We work at being accepting and tolerant and we try not to be judgmental.  I think our church is uniquely situated between rejecting religion on the one side and literalistic fundamentalism on the other.  We proudly occupy that middle way.

And so today, in that fine Wesleyan tradition, we remember those who touched us and made a difference in our lives We remember those who selflessly gave of themselves so that our generation and future generations can have a place to go and worship and a place to hear the good news.  In the Lesson today, Jesus Bin-Sirach said that there are people who did such wonderful and powerful things that their names are known by all.  But he said there were also many who had no memorial built to them.  They died and for most people it is as if they had never lived.  But these people were men and women of mercy and their righteous deeds will never be forgotten.  Their posterity continues forever and their glory will never be blotted out.  “Their bodies were buried in peace, and their names live to all generations.”

These are the people we honor today.  Most will never be written up in books or have a movie made about them.  Most worked and played just as we do.  But their selflessness and their desire to help others touched us. And because they cared so much their righteousness will live on and on because their deeds will be remembered and they will also live on through us. 

I came across some humorous epitaphs that were found on gravestones and I want to share them with you.  One said, “Harry Edsel Smith of Albany, New York: Died 1942.  Looked up the elevator shaft to see if the car was on the way down.  It was!”  In an English cemetery was: “Anna Wallace—The children of Israel wanted bread, and the Lord sent them manna.  Clark Wallace wanted a wife and the Devil sent him Anna.”  In a New Mexico cemetery: Here lies Johnny Yeast…Pardon me for not rising.

My favorite is found in an English cemetery where you will find this thoughtful epitaph:

“Remember man, as you walk by

As you are now, so once was I

As I am now, so shall you be.

Remember this and follow me.”

Someone scrolled at the bottom of the tombstone this reply:

            “To follow you I’ll not consent

            Until I know which way you went.”

            The Gospel Lesson is one which almost all Christians know—the story of Jesus raising of Lazarus.  In today’s lesson we find the shortest verse in scripture—“Jesus wept.”  Throughout the ages, this story speaks to eternal life and the power of Jesus as God’s anointed.  This being All Saints Day I want to consider why Jesus wept.  Jesus wept because of his great love for Lazarus.  I imagine that Lazarus was one of Jesus’ saints—someone he greatly admired and loved.  He wept because he feels strong empathy for Mary and Martha, Lazarus’ sisters.  It is of vital importance to understand that Jesus wept because  God is always on the side of healing, health, wholeness and life.  

When I used to read this story, I often felt sorry for Lazarus.  Dying is the root cause of all human fear and this chap was going to get to do it twice!  I wondered if Lazarus experienced Paradise only to be yanked out and put back into a world of suffering.

            Jesus wept not only for his personal loss over the death of a close friend or Martha and Mary’s loss over the death of their brother.  He wept because in God’s creation, all life is sacred.  Yes, life is also pain and hurt but life is sacred in the eyes of God.  When I think of the saints in our lives they too viewed life as sacred.  That is why they were so compassionate and caring.  That is why they were so quick to forgive.  That is why they so often opened their heart to others.  And that is why we honor them today.  As we come to the table to remember, let us remember not only Jesus’ great love for all, but let us also remember those people who touched us and help make us who we are.  Amen.

             

October 25, 2009/30^th Sunday in Ordinary/Old Testament Lesson-Job 42: 16, 10-17/Epistle Lesson-Hebrews 7: 23-28/Gospel Lesson—Mark 10: 46-52

                                                                     (The following is the unedited text of the spoken sermon) 

                                                                      WWJD or WIIFM?

             Grace and peace from our brother Jesus, Amen.  I am not much into jingles or catch phrases.  I am not sure what relevance they have in spiritual matters except to cheapen the journey.  I have seen too many people wearing WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) bracelets, tee-shirts, and caps that would seem to indicate that the overriding question in their life is “How do I act and think in order to be like Jesus?”  But their behavior or their words belie their outward appearance.         

            The Gospel Lesson today has Jesus healing a man with vision problems.  But Bartimaeus which means “son of Timaeus” could have been one of hundreds—thousands of marginalized people.  He could have been deaf or suffering from skin problems.  He could have been a crippled beggar.  He could be a poor carpenter or a widow wondering how to feed her children. We see Bartimaeus every day.  He is the homeless man under the bridge or pushing a shopping cart.  He is the elderly person who was dropped off at a nursing home and forgotten.  He is the unemployed, homeless, dirty, and the lonely, forgotten person.

            As Jesus was leaving the city of Jericho, Bartimaeus rushes to Jesus and is screaming at Jesus. “Son of David, have mercy on me!”  His fellow citizens are ashamed of this societal discard and try to pull him back and to quite him but Bartimaeus will have none of that.  Jesus calls to him—a discard and asks what it is that he wants.  “Rabbi, I want to see.”  Jesus says, “On your way.  Your trust has saved and healed you.”  In that very instant he recovered his sight and followed Jesus down the road.

            He trusts Jesus.  He leaves behind probably one of his very few possessions—his coat, and he follows Jesus.  I believe that Bartimaeus would have on his lips from that day forward, “WWJD?”  I imagine that he followed Jesus—not as one of the twelve but as one of the many hangers-on who felt moved to follow and to do as Jesus did.

            The Gospel story has so much to tell us.  It tells of Jesus who knows that God is always on the side of wholeness and healing.  Jesus faith in that idea is complete and total.  The man is cured of his physical blindness.  We can take this miracle story and also see that Jesus is talking about spiritual blindness.  Bartimaeus is given not only his physical sight—he has been given a glimpse into that which is sacred and holy.  This story is also an indictment upon all those people who say they love God. How could people be so blind as to discard Bartimaeus as if he were not a beloved child of the transcendent God?  Good question isn’t it?  Does today’s Gospel Lesson command us to ask ourselves that same question? 

            Now, contrast this man’s deliverance and his total trust in Jesus with last week’s Gospel Lesson that appears in Mark right before the lesson on the blind man.  In last week’s lesson, James and John want Jesus to promise them something.  They want Jesus to agree before they tell him what is on their minds.  What they want is to be Jesus’ trusted advisers when they get to Jerusalem and the God of Angel Armies places Jesus on the throne of David.  They wanted places of highest honor at the left and right of Jesus.  And why not!  They were fierce advocates for their Rabbi.  They believed he was God’s anointed one.  James and John were known as the “Sons of Thunder” for their outspokenness on behalf of their teacher. 

            Jesus doesn’t condemn them but just tells them that they don’t really know what they are asking for.  And we know that at the end of the Gospel, those that were to the left and right of Jesus were two thieves.  James and John loved and trusted Jesus—that is a given—but on that day their question was WIIFM?  Do you know what that stands for?  It stands for “What’s in it for me.”  Contrast that with the blind man.  Contrast that with Jesus.  And then reflect and ponder on how often that is our primary question during our walk upon the earth.

            A young strong worker at a construction site was bragging about his strength and that he could outdo anyone there in a feat of strength.  In his bragging, he poked fun at Morris, an older workman.  Morris finally heard enough and told the man to put his money where his mouth is.  Morris said, “I will bet a week’s wages that I can haul something in a wheelbarrow over to that outbuilding that you won’t be able to wheel back.”  “You are on, old man.  It’s a bet.  Let’s see what you got.”  Morris reached out and grabbed the wheelbarrow by the handles—ready to take off.  Then nodding to the young man, he said, “All right—get in.”  The young man like James and John thought they knew plenty but in actuality they knew very little.

            WIIFM—“What’s in it for me” is too often our primary religious question.  We are called to trust in Jesus.  We are called upon to do on earth what Jesus did while he walked the countryside of Judea.  But have we taken time to ask ourselves if we are able to drink—or even take one tiny sip from the cup that Jesus drank?  Are we really willing to be baptized into the baptism that Jesus plunged himself into?  When we say that we love God what are we saying we love?

            Or are we thinking, “What’s in it for me?”  Eternal life?  Being a child of God—the chosen?  Feeling pious and good about ourselves?  Do we get bragging rights because we have the correct faith?  Are not those things at the forefront of our religious thoughts?  Are we not like James and John?  Jesus didn’t condemn his friends for their thoughts and hopes and he does not condemn us.  But Jesus—like a thorn in our side or a pebble in our shoe is constantly reminding us that we too must take the plunge.  We must empty ourselves of self absorption so we can invite the Christ to dwell in our being. We can’t forget the Beatitudes.  We cannot forget that love of others ranks right up there with love of God.  We can’t forget that Jesus says we are to love our enemies.  We can’t forget that Jesus said if someone insults you, you must turn the other cheek.  When confronted with hatred, prejudice, and injustice, we don’t ask, “What’s in it for me” but “What would Jesus do.”

            Today, during this time of worship and reflection, we come to realize that our hero is a dirty, disabled street person.  Our hero is the poor of the poor and resides at the bottom of the heap.  And from this nobody, we learn that we must learn to trust—not in our own goodness but in the overflowing love of God that Bartimeaus and you and I see in Jesus.  Amen.

 

 

October 18, 2009/29th Sunday in Ordinary/Old Testament Lesson-Job 38: 1-7, 34-41/Epistle Lesson-Hebrews 5: 1-10/Gospel Lesson: Mark 10: 35-45

                                                                     (The following is the unedited text of the spoken sermon) 

                                                   Might As Well Try to Catch the Wind

             Grace and peace from our brother Jesus, Amen.  This week my sermon title is taken from a Donovan song.  Growing up I really liked folk music—I still do.  I worked at a branch of the Dallas Public Library after school in High School.  One of the librarians asked if the “pages” (those who shelved books returned) would like to go to a concert.  It was at SMU and was my very first concert.  We were going to see the folk singer Donovan.  He was great but our seats were so high and so far away that Donovan looked tiny.  He came out with his guitar and sat on this huge bean bag chair.  From up in the cheap seats we thought he looked like a big round marshmallow.

            In the Old Testament Lesson Job finally gets his audience with God.  God came to Job in a whirlwind and God had a few questions for Job.  God did not come as a relief effort but as grace and as an assuring presence.  Not exactly what Job was hoping for but enough.  Needless to say, Job was in awe but he still wanted his day in court.  “I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all first hand—from my own eyes and ears. I’ll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor.  Job paid a high price for his assurance of God.

            Meister Eckhart, preacher, theologian, and philosopher of the twelfth century said, “The most beautiful thing which a person can say about God would be for that person to remain silent from the wisdom of an inner wealth.  So, be silent and quit flapping your gums about God!”  Trying to tame God is like trying to catch the wind—it is not going to be done by mere mortals!

            Job never got to actually confront God because God had a set of questions for Job to answer before he would entertain what Job had to say.  God asks, “Where were you when I created the earth?  Have you ever ordered Morning, ‘Get up?’  Have you ever gotten to the true bottom of things, explored the labyrinthine caves of the deep ocean?  Do you know where light comes from and where Darkness lives?”  The wrestling match between Job and God was over before the match began. 

            I couldn’t help thinking about times I prepared to quarrel with my dad.  I would have my arguments ready and my evidence at hand and yet I can’t think of a time when I was able to out think or out duel my dad.  From the beginning, God changed the debate completely.  The second half of verse 4 is literally “Tell, if you know understanding—wisdom.”  Job didn’t.

            From this confrontation, Job realizes that what he thought he understood—he didn’t.  What he had believed for so long was not truth.  Hebrew rabbis for four thousand years have wrestled with the wisdom of Job and realized that God cannot be domesticated or restricted to our human understandings.  And yet Job shows that our need and desire for God is so great that we continuously reach for that elusive God.

“Out of the emptiness and despair of the secular world;

Out of the hunger and the thirst for the meaning of life;

Out of the weariness and the boredom of daily routine;

Out of the desire and the need to relate to community

Out of the wonder and mystery of our own existence

We search for God.”

            And so our friend Job refused to curse God and die.  And he also began to see that life didn’t fit in neat little boxes.  He began to dismiss the teachings of his day—the priests and the prophets who said that God rewards goodness and punishes those who are bad.  That just isn’t true and Job was proof of that. He began to see the randomness of life and realized that rain and sunshine fell upon the unjust as well as the unjust.  That bad things happened to good people and sometime the evil did prosper.

            He was forced to confront the reality that recognizes the limits of our knowledge and at the same time says we must revere silence and awe.  Out of this acceptance that God transcends all human understanding, Job is willing to let go of what he thought he knew so he could appreciate truths he never dreamed of.

            I am so impressed when I read a story or book that is well written.  When one looks at the brilliance of Shakespeare, Homer, Tolstoy, and other great writers we are in awe of their ability to use language to express so much.  And yet Job and all humanity learned that language has borders that we cannot cross.  And one of those borders is expressing what God is or isn’t.  British critic George Steiner said, “What lies beyond man’s word is the eloquence of God.”

            When I finished reading the Book of Job I wondered what became of Job.  We are told that God blessed him.  We are told that when he died he had lived a full life.  Other than that, we are left to imagine how Job took the wisdom he gained through his trials and his close encounter with God.  Job certainly learned a most valuable lesson about God—because God is infinite, nobody here on earth can ever have the last word. 

            I want to believe that Job realized that quarreling about religion with his friends and family is not productive and certainly does not lead to enlightenment or understanding.  I imagine Job learning to enjoy times of silence that wisdom brought him.  After all that talking with his family and friends I imagined Job enjoyed not flapping his gums about God.    

            Job’s never failing (though often questioned) trust in God helped him to live in his confusing world in a different and more fulfilling way.  Don’t you imagine that many things that Job had taken for granted such as family, health, and contentment became much more central to Job’s living?  I see Job as determined to live with greater kindness and empathy for others after his ordeal.  And finally, I think Job obtained a quite peace that there are elusive, puzzling, and tragic aspects of the human condition that simply lay outside of our ability to reason out.  It is a lesson that we must also embrace.

               Maybe we need to speak less of God and try harder at living Godly.  Jesus spoke of how people who love God should not only think and speak but also how to act.  The prophet Micah put it best when he said “You know what God expects of us—be kind, be just, and walk humbly with God.  Amen.

             

October 11, 2009/28th Sunday in Ordinary/Old Testament Lesson-Job 23: 1-9, 16-17/Epistle Lesson-Hebrews 4: 12-16/Mark 10: 17-31

                                                                (The following is the unedited text of the spoken sermon) 

                                                               Becoming a Rational Mystic

             Grace and peace from our brother Jesus, Amen.  I stole the title of my sermon from another preacher who I greatly admire.  I have come to understand that one can respond and respect both the rational and the mystical in one’s spiritual journey.  When I speak of mystical I am not speaking of magic but of an understanding that there are some things in this world that we can only experience allegorically or symbolically. 

            Methodist believe that each time the Bible is opened and read by anyone, revelation is possible.  A father was reading Bible stories to his young son.  He read, “The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city, but his wife looked back and was turned to salt.”  His son asked, “What happened to the flea?”

            A newly married man asked his new bride, “Would you have married me if my father hadn’t left me a fortune?”  “Honey,” the bride replied sweetly, “I’d have married you no matter who left you a fortune.”

If one reads the Book of Job literally you find yourself having a bad taste in one’s mouth.  If you read these words as historical non-fiction then you feel terrible for Job, but your feel even worse for Job’s family who are all killed.  And you are angry at the character call God for sanctioning all this killing and torture. 

            But we are not called upon to read this story as literal truth even though this story is full of truth.  This drama is man’s drama.  Job, who represents humankind, wants answers to the mysteries that have plagued every human being that thinks.  The Greek philosophers believed that the mystery begins with this question:  Why is there something instead of nothingness?  From that beginning we question our purpose in life, why there is suffering, and does God exist. 

            Martin Luther dealt with this age old question and developed the concept of “deus absconditus.”  For Luther, he came to believe that God is present but hidden.  Our life as a Christian is to discover and experience God. Job, like us gathered in this holy place this morning, believes in God.  But for Job, God is hidden.  Job has looked east and west.  He has gone north and south and has not had a glimpse.  The more he searches, the greater the ache in his heart and soul becomes.  He is in darkness.  “I’m completely in the dark; I can’t see my hand in front of my face.”

            Job is you—Job is me—Job is everyone who has and continues to try to understand the reality of God.  That is one of the great truths contained in the story of Job.  It is why Job has become, for me, the most enlightening and helpful book of the Bible.  This book, which frightened me as a child has become a way for me to become one with all those through out history and those today and tomorrow who search for God. 

            As I have grown older and have spent more of my time in study and contemplation of the scriptures and the theologians of the different ages, many of my youthful ideas and thoughts of God have lost there meaning.  Do not feel that if you question some of your old ideas and thoughts that you are losing your faith or becoming less religious—just the opposite is true.  This is called spiritual growth.  And my friends, you and I are on a pilgrimage—a great life journey into God.  Some theologians call this the “great homecoming.”

            I want to read a few verses from today’s Gospel Lesson—Mark 10: 17-21.  (Read) This man came running after Jesus wanting the answer to the Great Question.  He was Job—he was us!  How do we come to know God?  What must we do to gain eternal life?  And Christ gave him the answer.  After Jesus spoke the scriptures say “The man’s face clouded over.  This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart.  He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go.”

            I noticed something I never noticed before this week as I studied the lessons.  The man did not ask what he had to “believe” to obtain eternal life.  He asked what he must do!  People of the ancient world did not think of religion as a series of beliefs.  Religion required doing.  The Hebrews would make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and they would present an animal for sacrifice.  The Jews would participate in rituals and festivals.  They would give alms to the poor.

            Only recently has the emphasis changed from doing to believing.  Not only that, the word believing does not mean what it used to mean.  The King James Bible was the first translation that used the word “believe.”  The original Greek used a word that meant “to trust.”  Even the Old English word for “believe” was more about trusting and not about believing these three things or those four ideas.

            From the earliest Christian writers on, emphasis is placed on the need to empty ourselves of those things that keep us from a genuine search for God.  In our Gospel Lesson today it was the love of wealth that came between the young man and the eternal.  The process of emptying ourselves of possessions, ideas, thoughts, and prejudices that hinder our spirituality is a painful and difficult process.  It takes great trust—trust that God Eternal will show us a way to fulfillment and contentment.  I am hoping that our new Bible Study can serve as a catalyst for us to rid ourselves of things that prevent us from completely embracing God.

            Jesus of Nazareth had that complete trust in God.  In years of study, days in the wilderness, fasting, meditating, and prayer, Jesus completely emptied himself of other so that God could completely fill him with holiness and Godness.  He was truly God in human form.  The Christ, who trusted completely, calls upon us to empty ourselves and to follow him.  We, who can never quite trust without reservations are being shown the path to that transcendent, unknowing, and hidden God.  Let us go forth even though, like Job, we shudder at the thought of Almighty God. Amen.         

             

October 4, 2009/27th Sunday in Ordinary Time /Old Testament-Job 1: 1; 2: 1-10/Epsitle Lesson-Hebrews 1: 1-4; 2: 5-11/Gospel—Mark 10: 2-26           

                                                                   (The following is the unedited text of the spoken sermon) 

                                                                            Our Soul’s Desire

            Grace and peace from our brother Jesus, Amen.  Talk to any Pre-K or Kindergarten student and one of their greatest fears is to go to the bulletin board and move an apple.  Removing and apple or bell means the teacher caught you doing something wrong.  All is not right in the world of four and five year olds!

            Even when I taught the fourth graders we had a chart with a baseball theme.  Three strikes and you were out!  When we had our recess time after lunch, if you “stuck out” you had to stand by the wall and just watch everyone having a good time.

            Another lesson you learn at school if not before is that sometimes you get blamed or you get punished for something you did not do!  The injustice of it all!  Back in the days when I was a school principal we had vending machines in the hall.  Cokes and candy bars and other unhealthy fattening things were available for anyone with fifty cents.  I am sorry to say that the school made good money off those machines! 

            If litter became a problem, I would announce that the machines were to be locked and closed for business.  The howls from students needing their caffeine or snickers fix could be heard throughout the school.  Many times I was told that it was unfair to punish everyone become a few sloppy kids!

            Today’s Old Testament Lesson deals with poor Job.  The Book of Job is the eighteenth book in the Hebrew Scriptures.  It is part of the Testament referred to as wisdom literature.  Many scholars believe it may very well be the oldest book in the Hebrew Bible.  We know the Job story predates the Hebrew Scriptures. We know that many other ancient religions had similar stories in their holy books to deal with the mystery of suffering.

            The questions raised by Job are much older than Job—they are as old as the human race. Why do humans suffer?  Where do the slings and arrows of life come from?  Who can rescue us from the randomness of life?  These unanswerable conundrums of our shared humanity are as old as life itself and as current as the morning news. 

            The wisdom of the Book of Job challenges the religious ideas that are expressed in the Torah and many other books of the Hebrew Scriptures.  Job is presented in this drama as the ideal man.  He had an ideal wife and an ideal family.  Job was successful and very wealthy.  Everything is going Job’s way.

            To Job and to people of his time this was the way of the world.  Job was righteous and therefore God rewarded him for righteousness.  We see the folly of such thinking but health and wealth theology made a great comeback in the 1980s.  Television evangelists and preachers told their listeners that if they would make a vow of faith then God would reward that faithfulness.  And that vow was often to be made in the form of money.

            One of the most powerful religious and political groups in America is the shadowy group called “The Family.”  This group believes that God has already elected the faithful that he wants with him and they are the wealthy and the powerful of our world.  God has awarded great wealth and power upon these people because they are righteous.  In many religious writings and traditions we see the idea of God rewarding the righteous.

            But in the Job Story, things go terribly wrong don’t they?  Satan of the Old Testament is not the devil of the New Testament.  Satan is part of the Heavenly Court whose job it is to accuse people of not being righteous—or at least not as righteous as they think.  He is a prosecutor.  God grants Satan wide latitude to try to get Job to lose his integrity and his faith in God.  And we know that regardless of the trials sent to Job, Job maintained that integrity. 

            Some of the Wisdom literature of the Hebrew Testament is at odds with the idea that the righteous are rewarded.  One idea of Torah is that the more lives in accordance with the Law, the more favor a person receives from God.  And yet in Job, we are witnesses to Job’s unmerited suffering.  On the surface we are left to wonder why there are these opposite ideas in these sacred texts. 

            The ancient rabbis believed that God was transcendent and that human understanding of God was limited.  That regardless of the number of sacred texts our understanding of God will always be inadequate.  What we must understand is that we will never be able to tame or domesticate God.  Revelation is a continuous thread that has run throughout human history. So to have contrary ideas in different texts only promoted thought, study, and hopefully, revelation.

            People of pre-modern times did not look upon religion as something that must be figured out and digested.  Religion was to be lived.  Events and the ancient religious stories are laden with meaning, but only as we live them and experience them not as we try to decode them.  That is why rituals were so vital to earlier generations but looked at strangely by our technological and rational ways. 

            Job, despite the onslaughts upon all that he held to be just and righteous. refused to curse God.  I would like to read part of D. H. Lawrence’s poem, “There are no Gods.”

There are no gods, and you can please yourself—

Go and please yourself.

But leave me alone, leave me alone to myself!

And then in the room, whose is the presence

That makes the air so still and lovely to me?

Who is it that softly touches my side

And touches me over the heart

So that my heart beats soothed, soothed, soothed and at peace?

Who is it that clasps and kneads my feet, till they unfold.

Till all is well, till all is utterly well?

I tell you, it is no woman, it is no man, for I am alone.

And I fall asleep with the gods, the gods

That are not, or that are

According to the soul’s desire

Like a pool into which we plunge, or do not plunge.

            Job saw his world crash around him.  He suffered and there seemed no end in sight.  And yet, despite it all Job had faith.  He was angry at the injustice of it all and he wanted to confront the God he loved.  Like all of us, he wanted answers—he wanted to understand.

            As the poet says according to our soul’s desire, like a pool into which we can plunge or choose not to plunge.  Job had long ago taken the plunge.  He knew who had held him and touched his heart.  Despite the slings and arrows that we will most assuredly suffer, shall we take the plunge—that uncertain leap of faith? 

September 27, 2009/24th Sunday in Ordinary Time /Old Testament-Esther 7: 1-6, 9-10; 9: 20-22/Epsitle Lesson-James 5: 13-20/Gospel—Mark 9: 38-50           

                                                                           (The following is the unedited text of the spoken sermon) 

                                                                                     The Essentials: Part 3  Developing a Faith

            Grace and peace from our brother Jesus, Amen.  An elementary age girl is late for supper.  Her father scolds her and asks why she is late.  She explains that her friend fell and broke her favorite toy.  The father asked if she stopped to help pick up the broken pieces.  “No,” the little girl said, “I stopped to help her cry.”  This is what the church does when it is at its Christ-like best.  The words of James are for hurting people—are you hurting?  James says to pray.  Do you feel great?  Then sing! And if you know someone has wandered off from God’s truth, go after them. These verses spell out our role when someone is wandering the valley of lost souls.  Churches are about acceptance, reaching out, and providing a safe place to heal and hear the heartbeat of God. 

            Karen Armstrong’s newest book, The Case for God was released this week.  Her most famous of her nineteen books is The History of God.  She is a former Catholic nun who has become one of the world’s greatest philosophers and theologians.  I have ordered the book on CD so that I can listen to the words and maybe understand more than I usually do when I try to tackle such a book

            She doesn’t think faith and reason are polar opposites.  The ancient Greeks called these two ideas logos and mythos—the knowable and the unknowable.  I think the ancient Greeks understood that one could study science and at the same time be a great person of faith. Armstrong rightly understands that belief in God requires uncertainty as much as certainty.  She also explains that revelation is not an event that happened in the long distant past, revelation is an ongoing, creative process.  We Methodists believe that faith needs scripture, tradition, experience, and yes reason to be fulfilling.

            Public school teachers are required to go to many workshops in order to stay current and learn the newest ideas in education, technology, and the science of dealing with kids!  Some of the workshops are no more than tests of one’s endurance and ability to stay seated and stay awake.  But one workshop I went to dealt with what to do on that first day of school.  The presenter strongly suggested that elementary teachers think really hard of a few rules—three or four, that are essential for learning to take place.  Too many rules are simply too many rules.

            I don’t think I could survive in some denominations because there are too many rules.  I still have a rebellious spirit and I don’t like rules.  Maybe that is why I became a Methodist.  In the last two issues of the Methodist paper, Cross Connection & The United Methodist Reporter, Professor Donald Haynes wrote about six things he thinks is essential to our faith.  These six fundamentals are not the fundamentals of the Christian faith but Wesleyan fundamentals of our denomination.

            I have not met too many people who agree 100% with what their denomination or faith teaches.  It is hard to get two people to agree 100% of the time and next to impossible to get thousands or millions of people to agree.  In my two previous sermons, I said that there is something within us that causes us to yearn for the divine—for purpose.  I also said that I think that a spiritual or faith system has to take into account that joys and sorrows are part of the human-divine experience.

            I believe that the root of our salvation is found in the character of God which is love.  It is God’s love, not our sin that is eternal.  The church father who determined which books would go into the New Testament, Athanasius, said, “God become like us so we could become like God.”  And even though we are broken creatures, there resides in the human soul that Divine Light that yearns for God’s love.  Jesus made that love of God real—salvation became liberation from those internal forces that put our selfish interests above God. 

            I don’t think we will ever know the full meaning of God and God’s love for humankind.  One writer, speaking of us humans says, “We are like an old hen scratching in the corner of a 10-acre field.  Just because we can find a few nutritious worms and bugs, we think we have explored and comprehended the whole field. 

            In her new book, Karen Armstrong surprised many readers when she stressed that becoming engage with God requires reading, studying, singing, chanting, meditating, and praying.  Becoming engage with the Eternal is not for the lazy but requires a disciplined spiritual life.  One must make time for God.  If we pursue this type of spiritual life, at the very least, Mythos (unknown) will have a positive, real effect on logos (our understanding of the world) 

            Religious/Spiritual people must be ambitious people as we try to honor the mystery of God and begin to see that divine spark in each human being.  It doesn’t always work that way but our faith says it is worth a try. 

            It is my hope that faith not belief will become the defining quality of Christian life.  That we honor our past traditions—liturgy, confessions, and creeds but don’t allow them to separate us from God’s love and the love of our fellow human beings.  I hope that we will honor and accept others who experiences have been different and remember we have been scratching at a very small piece of the spiritual landscape. 

            If I were to write a personal creed I would say that I believe in God—the Eternal—the Divine.  I believe that in Jesus of Nazareth I see the character of God.  And I believe that to follow in Jesus’ divine path I need to love God and love my neighbor.  Those are my three rules.  Those are my essentials. Amen.

 

September 13, 2009/24th Sunday in Ordinary Time /Old Testament-Proverbs 1: 20-33/Epsitle Lesson-James 3: 1-12/Gospel—Mark 8: 27-38           

                                                                   (The following is the unedited text of the spoken sermon) 

                                                                            The Essentials: Part 2—Joys & Sorrows  

            Jesus wants to be alone with his closest friends so that he may teach them.  In the Galilee Jesus was a celebrity and finding time to be alone was hard to do.  Jesus and his weary band went to their home base of Capernaum.  It was there that Jesus began to expand on his role as Messiah. 

            I really don’t fault the disciples for not getting it.  I am pretty sure I wouldn’t get it either.  I try to imagine what the disciples were thinking—what they thought of Jesus.  They were twelve individuals and I am sure each had differing ideas on Jesus’ teachings just as theologians and scholars find different meaning in Jesus’ words and have for two thousand years.

            There were many cities and towns in the Galilee where the predominate culture was the Greco-Roman culture.  Even among most Jews who practiced the faith of Moses, they operated in the culture of their time.  The predominate religion was pagan with many gods and among the Romans, the worship of the emperor as a God. 

            In the Galilee you would find Jews whose practice of their ancient religion differed in intensity and purpose.  Just like Christianity today, there were many sects and branches of Judaism.  I imagine that among the twelve there was lively debate and discussions about their rabbi and what the future held.

            Let’s face it—people often get things wrong—just plain, flat out wrong.  I read about this middle-aged Methodist couple that went on a Marriage Retreat.  Walter and his wife, Ann listen as the instructor told the couples that it is essential that husbands and wives know the things that are important to each other.  The instructor turned to the husbands and said, “Can you name and describe your wife’s favorite flower?”  Walter leaned over, touched Ann’s arm gently, and whispered, “Gold Medal-All Purpose, isn’t it?  Walter was clueless.

            Tradition tells us that Judas saw Jesus as a Messiah that would free the people from the Romans and reestablished David’s Kingdom.  He was among a group referred to as the Zealots.  To differing degrees I think this is what most of the disciples thought.  In the faith, traditions, and epic writings of the people, a new king, a messiah, a Christ would come to reestablish the kingdom.  Maybe to some, the messiah was going to tackle the corrupt Temple system and bring back a revival of the faith of Yahweh. 

            The disciples didn’t have a clue how Jesus would pull this off but they trusted Jesus when called them to follow him.  They wanted to be there when the changes were made.  So they really didn’t want to hear Jesus speaking of the messiah as the suffering servant spoken of in Isaiah.  They didn’t want to hear about betrayal and murder.

            What the disciples wanted to focus on was what was going to be their position in the new order.  They were ready to jockey for positions of influence and power.  How very human of the disciples.  They really didn’t want to hear about the first being last and the last being first. 

            We know that the disciples did experience betrayal and murder.  And we also know that the disciples came to understand what Jesus meant and they were all created anew by resurrection power.  We can look upon the disciples and we see the close connection between sorrow and joy.

            In The Prophet, Kahil Gibran says,

“Then a woman said, Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow.

And he answered:

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.”

            What we see in the Gospel of Jesus is that there are no tidy endings, quick-fix cures, clichéd meanings, or glib-solutions.  This was not true for Jesus’ friends then or now.  The German pastor who opposed Hitler, Dietrich Bonhoeffer called those things “cheap grace.”  Bonhoeffer understood sorrow and joy.  Instead of escaping Nazi Germany, Bonhoeffer refused to leave and became the conscience of those Christians who spoke out against the regime.  He wrote a poem called Sorrow and Joy.

“Sorrow and joy,

striking suddenly on our startled senses,

seem, at the first approach, all but impossible

of just distinction one for the other.

Joy is rich in fears:

Sorrow has its sweetness.

Indistinguishable from each other

they approach us from eternity,

equally potent in their power and terror.

What then, is joy?  What then, is sorrow?

Time alone can decide between them.”

            Growing up Lutheran I often heard these words of Paul found In Ephesians 2: 8-9:  “For by grace are ye saved through faith:  and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.  Not of works, lest any man or woman should boast.” 

            Grace begins with recognition that loss can be very real.  Loss must not be glossed over or dressed up pretending it is something else.  This is an issue that has plagued all religious thoughts and is examined in the ancient books of Job and Ecclesiastes.  In these words is the age old question of why bad things happen to good people. 

            What Job finally realized is that no one can presume to tell God what to do.  That is not the way things work.  I have come to understand that yes indeed, bad things happen to good people.  Things happen that are awful and terrible and to say simply well that is God’s will or the tragedy is part of God’s secret plan is cheap grace.

            Grace is life given.  Grace often comes to someone beyond what they expected.  It is sometimes seen as a sudden unfolding of new possibilities.  And as John Lennon alluded to in one of his songs grace comes in the midst of all our planning and lets us know it is not all up to us.  Life is grace.  Grace is God’s gift.

            I am sure the disciples wanted easy answers and the cheap grace of position and power.  But that kind of thinking is shallow. 

            The world—both the Greco-Roman and also the Jewish Temple-Elite system built a structure of condemnation of others and hypocrisy.  Those very people who were to bring good news of God’s love to the masses brought only words of judgment and despair.  Jesus’ words were a mirror to such talk.  Jesus knew it was the will of his Father that grace enter the lives of all humanity.  And nothing—not hatred, repression, or even death was able to stop the Christ from declaring to all ages, “Grace and Peace unto you.”  Amen.

 

September 13, 2009/24th Sunday in Ordinary Time /Old Testament-Proverbs 1: 20-33/Epsitle Lesson-James 3: 1-12/Gospel—Mark 8: 27-38           

                                                                  (The following is the unedited text of the spoken sermon) 

                                                                          The Essentials: Part 1—Is God a Christian?  

            When I was a school principal I used to accuse a wayward child of not being hard of hearing but hard of understanding.  That was Peter’s problem in our Gospel Lesson.  Last week’s Gospel we heard about Jesus healing a man of his deafness.  I read about a man whose hearing got so bad that he finally broke down and bought hearing aides.  They have digital hearing aides that can be programmed for just about any situation.  The man was so pleased with his hearing aides that he shared his news with his neighbor.  He explained that he bought the most expensive—top of the line hearing aides and he could hear perfectly.  His neighbor asked, “What kind is it?”  The man replied, “About 11:30.”

John Wesley believed that there were a few essentials that people who call themselves Christians must believe in order to be Christians.  On all other issues, Wesley said we should be tolerant and understanding and not judgmental.  The essentials—what are they for you?  Have what you considered to be essential to your faith changed over the years?  Or have you been like Martin Luther when he said, “Here I stand, I cannot move.”

            I was raised in a Lutheran Church and the idea was that we are right and you are wrong.  I much prefer the Wesleyan way.  John Wesley spoke of the “marrow” of Christian life that can be identified.  He believed that our faith is revealed in Scripture, illuminated by tradition, lived in personal and group experience, and confirmed by reason. 

            In my sermon, I speak of the essentials.  I could just as easily use the word “fundamentals” but I don’t want anyone to get the idea that to be Christian one must be a fundamentalist.  In fundamentalist thinking, they are always right, they have had all answers revealed, and anyone who disagrees with them disagrees with God.  That doesn’t work for me and it doesn’t work for you. 

            Wesley said, “In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; and in all things charity.”  He realizes the limits of human understanding.  “To be ignorant of many things and to be mistaken in some is the necessary condition of humanity.”  For Wesley, what is crucial—what is fundamental—what is essential is steadfast love for God and neighbor, empowered by the redeeming and sanctifying work of God’s Spirit.”  That is why we are here this morning.  As individuals and as a group we want to feel and be redeemed by God’s Holy Spirit.

            I would like to read part of a poem by Raneir Maria Rilke.

         “You, neighbor God, if sometimes in the night

            I rouse you with loud knocking, I do so

            Only because I seldom hear you breathe;

            I know: you are alone.

            Always I hearken.  Give but a small sign.

            I am quite near.”

            The defining moment for John Wesley and a pivotal point in Methodist theology was when John Wesley finally—finally got that small sign.  Wesley called this small sign “a warming of my heart.”  He knew that neighbor God loved him.

            My question, “Is God a Christian?” isn’t something I thought to ask.  But it surfaced often this week.  There is no simple answer.  I know people are religious.  We are the ones who light candles, tell stories, read scriptures, and say prayers.  Religion is a very human enterprise.  The ancient creed we read today was adopted first in 325 AD and then reaffirmed in 381 AD.  It was an attempt to get all Christians everywhere on the same page as to what is essential.  It was the definitive answer to “Was Jesus God?”  It was a definitive answer to Jesus; question in the Gospel Lesson when he asked who people said he was.” In the ancient creed Christians affirm that the Jesus of history was “God of God, light of light, very God of very God.”  This ancient creed is recited by Roman Catholics after the sermon in every Mass held.

            In my past I’ve tried to not be religious, but I can’t do it.  I like the ancient creeds but I am not so narrow to understand these words were written by people over a thousand years ago with different understanding.  I like the rituals and banners, and the colors of Christian year.  But beyond the pomp or literalism, all the misuse of religion there is something inside the human soul that yearns for meaning, for purpose, for a way to relate to the Divine.

            In her book, Teaching a Stone to Talk, Annie Dillard says, “What have we been doing all these centuries but trying to raise a peep out of anything that isn’t us.”  We have tried to communicate with whales and dolphins.  We have sent interstellar recordings out of our galaxy hoping to raise a peep.  And we pray, we worship, and we hope to hear that small voice or feel that warming of the heart.

            And how does the Divine say hello?  How does the Ground Being of our existence communicate with us?  He gave us a child wiser than anyone we have ever known.  This child grew up to be a great teacher, a teller of stories that carried great meaning.  He showed us new ways to live.  He showed us new ways to look at life beyond rules and laws.  He said God is like a father, the church like a Bride, and everyone is Brother and Sister.  He spoke of images understood not far-away ideas or abstract thoughts.  After centuries of calling out, of shouting ‘hello’ to emptiness--God had answered in human form.

            I don’t know if God is a Christian.  When asked repeatedly by Elijah just who He was, God responded, “I am who I am.”  I wish our relationship with God—the center of existence was easily understood and could be known through one simple lens.  But, I don’t think that is the way it is.  Paul says the best we will be able to do is to look through a cloudy lens.  But maybe that is enough.  Amen.

September 6, 2009/23^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time /Old Testament-Proverbs 22: 1-2, 8-9, 22-23/Epsitle Lesson-James 2: 1-10, 14-17/Gospel—Mark 7: 24-27          

                                                                          (The following is the unedited text of the spoken sermon) 

                                                                                                The Royal Rule  

A pastor was greeting folks at the door after the service, similar to what I do, and a woman enthusiastically shook his hand and said, “Pastor, that was a great sermon!”  The pastor flushed with pride but wanting to appear humble said, “Oh it wan’t me.  I have to give the credit to the Lord.”  The lady looked at him straight in the eyes and said, “It wasn’t that good!”

As I was working on my sermon this week I came across these words—“Need transcends custom; grace transcends prejudice; the way of God transcends any other way.”  I hope that is true today in the United States—but I am not sure.

 In the Holy Gospel, we find Jesus in the Gentile city of Tyre. Jesus is visiting the region of the Decapolis—the Ten Greek Cities scattered around the Sea of Galilee. The Jewish historian, Josephus said that the people of Tyre were among the bitterest enemies of the Jews.  The Gentiles of Tyre looked upon the Jews as backward and really not civilized—Jews were dirty, smelly, and despised.  And the Jewish people of the Galilee were very resentful that much of their produce went to Greek coastal cities even in times of famine.  During these times, food was literally taken from the tables of the Galilee to feed the Tyreans.

These were not unusual times—no festivals or holy days.  These were ordinary times and Jesus needed to rest. No wonder Jesus didn’t really want everyone to know that he was in town.  He would face the same hate and ridicule that Jews faced when they came to culturally Roman/Greek cities.  But even in this Gentile city, Jesus fame as a healer—an exorcist had preceded him. Remember that in the first century most disease or health problems were considered a spiritual or demon affliction.  A sick person was much more likely to seek out a holy man than a doctor.

A tired Jesus wanted to avoid the people who despised him because of his race as well as to avoid those people who wanted to experience his healing power.  In today’s Gospel Lesson, Jesus heals a little girl and a deaf man who also couldn’t speak clearly.  Jesus, a man of great love and compassion heals both of them despite being run down and tired.

We are taken aback when the mother comes in search of Jesus to heal her daughter.  She falls to her knees and begs for help.  Jesus says, “The children get fed first.  If there’s any left over, the dogs get it.”  The mother replies, “Of course, Master.  But don’t dogs under the table get scraps dropped by the children.”  Jesus replied, “You’re right.  On your way!  Your daughter is healed.”   

Both the woman and Jesus have an epiphany—a God moment.   The woman believes that Jesus is of God and overlooks the fact that he is one of the despised and begs him for his help.  In this Jew, this woman senses the presence of holiness.  And Jesus ends up not turning her away because she is not Jewish and praises the women and grants her request.

Both Jesus and the woman are forced to leave their zone of comfort and to react to each other as children of God.  Those who try to follow in the Ways of the Christ know that being open to people and trying to be accepting of people challenges our prejudices and confronts our established ideas and thoughts.  What we must remember is that our priority is not always to be right but to always be in search of what is right and just. 

Jesus broke onto the world scene as someone who could heal the sick.  Jesus’ compassion and desire to help people opened the doors for people to hear the Good News—to hear the teachings and wisdom sayings of Jesus. 

Jesus walked and lived among the people because he was one of them.  The unique theology of our faith is that Jesus is not only divine he is also fully human.  Jesus knew what hunger was.  He knew what pain was.  He knew what prejudice and hate was.  He had seen up close the brutal power of the Roman Empire.  We know that the young Jesus had witnessed the violence of crucifixion when the Romans cracked down on Jews in neighboring cities. 

By the time the epistle of James was written, Jesus had been tortured and killed.  Jesus left no written instructions or how-to-manual.  What we have are some stories of Jesus—a handful of miracle stories and healing stories.  We have a few parables and wisdom sayings of Jesus.  Very little is known about the historical Jesus.  And so we depend on letters and sermons written by early Christians to help guide us in our faith journey.

Martin Luther and most of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation disliked the James letter.  Martin Luther was very blunt in his absolute disdain for the letter.  But Methodists find the letter full of wisdom and instruction in taking the faith of the Christ and putting that faith into action.  Wesleyan Theology is about practical faith. 

James speaks of the “Royal Rule” of the scriptures.  He uses the word “royal” to attach great importance to the rule.  “Love others as you love yourself.”  I agree with James when he wonders how someone can boldly proclaim themselves a follower—a Christian but ignore the “Royal Rule.”  I know that there is much that is expected of us that have chosen the Jesus path.  But to even get out of the starting gate down the spiritual journey of faith one must love their fellow humans.  Again, I marvel at how people boldly proclaim themselves saved by the blood of the lamb and are filled with hate and disdain for others who occupy our planet.

James says, “Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything?  Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it?”  Whenever one begins to learn a new skill—a new way of doing something, the teacher starts them out slowly—baby steps.  I believe with all my heart that the first step of our faith—the great secret to all that is divine and holy begins with the sometimes very difficult and hard work—love one another.  The best place to begin is at the beginning.  So let us begin anew and start by living by the “Royal Rule.” Amen.  

August 16, 2009/22^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time /Old Testament-Song of Solomon 2: 8-13/Epistle Lesson-James 1: 17-27/Gospel—Mark 7: 1-8

                                                                        (The following is the unedited text of the spoken sermon) 

                                                                                      THINK about What You Do and Say  

Grace and peace from our brother Jesus, Amen.  It has been many years since Sue and I ventured to Austin.  I really appreciate Mona for bringing the message last week as Sue and I attended the memorial service for our friend, Emily.  We saw so many friends and were reminded about the goodness that made Emily a fierce defender of the poor and the marginalized. 

It was also hot and very dry in central Texas.  We saw many county signs that also had a burn ban sign.  But just how dry is it in the Hill Country.  It is so dry that Baptists are starting to baptize by sprinkling and Methodists are using wet-wipes.  Presbyterians have gone even farther and are giving out rain-checks.  And the Catholics are praying for the wine to turn back into water.  That is how dry it is.

Several denominations that used the ancient lectionary opt out today’s Old Testament Lesson.  It is simply too sexy for many fundamentalists.  The Methodists include the verses from the Song of Solomon because the poetry is beautiful and we Methodist embrace Wesley’s “Grace Theology” which has as its cornerstone the idea that God is love.  Many of my professors said that not only should we view God’s love as a parental kind of love but also as a deep love that a new husband and new wife have for one another.  So I want to read from the Song of Solomon, Chapter 2: 8-13.

The Epistle Lesson from James has traditionally been attributed to James, Jesus’ brother.  James was the head of the Jerusalem Church and a stanch opponent of Paul.  Even in the earliest Jesus communities there were differences of theology, ideas, and personalities.  The writer of this letter wasn’t James but an educated Greek Follower of the Way.  The writer may have been a scribe for James or a student of James.

Those who followed James saw way too much hypocrisy in the early Jesus movement.  In fact, James says anyone who claims to be religious only by talking a good game deceives themselves.  He says that such religion is nothing but hot air.  I know that this letter was speaking to the first century communities but it is right on target for so many churches and communities who talk know the talking points and say the right things at the same time they trash the ways of Jesus Christ.

James says, real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.”  Our denominations founder, John Wesley believed that if one’s faith in the ways of the Christ does not move your heart, soul, and body to action then one’s faith is hallow and without much meaning. 

In the Gospel Lesson today, Jesus was confronted by hypocrisy from the very people who held themselves up as examples for everyone else.  The Gospel Lesson says that the Pharisees and some religious scholars came from Jerusalem looking to find fault with Jesus.  I can visualize these pompous, pious people bustling down the dirt roads and paths ready to take on this so call Rabbi and champion of the poor.  Armed with all the outside trappings of faith, they were ready to set this Jesus straight.

And when they caught up with Jesus and his entourage they were really outraged.  No, it wasn’t what Jesus said.  No, it wasn’t that he didn’t know the Hebrew Scriptures.  What set these good religious folks off was that Jesus’ disciples shared a meal with people they were visiting and failed to follow the correct hand-washing rituals as set out in law.

Their countrymen and women often did not have bread to eat.  Widows and orphans, the sick, and the elderly were ignored and expected to take care of themselves or to go quietly somewhere and die.  The Romans made their already impoverished lives even more difficult.  The priest and scholars at the Temple were content with their lavish lifestyles and gave only lip service to justice and mercy.  None of this seemed to bother the Pharisees and scholars.  Where was their outrage?  Where was their mercy and their compassion?  It was no where to be found.

But, boy or boy, they were mad and knew this Jesus was up to no good because his disciples did not go through the motions of ritual hand washing before they broke bread.  Can’t you just envision these fussy, self-important religious folks just puffed up with self-righteous indignation?  These sort of religious folks are alive and well in the 21^st Century.  Unfortunately they populate many of our churches and talk at us via television, radio, and Internet.  No wonder so many people are turned away from religion and the church.  No wonder so many people take their deep-seeded spiritual faith and hopes and desires and decide they will continue their faith journey without the “help” of a church.

Jesus showed those good church people who came to find fault with him to be nothing but frauds.  And then Jesus looks at us—all of us and says that it is what comes out of us that is the source of our spiritual pollution.  It is our greed and arrogance and foolishness that keeps us from surrendering our lives to the Ways of the Christ and to begin a real—honest to God journey of faith.

If Jesus walked his human walk today in our world, I think he would be very leery of religious people.  I think he would speak to everyone—churched and unchurched and urge them to follow him—to follow in his ways.  If we as Followers of the Way are not willing to embrace the hope, the compassion, the forgiveness, and the mercy of Jesus then we have already failed in our mission. Then our promise to be a people with open hearts, minds, and doors is nothing more than a slogan. 

There is so much to do.  There is so much good that we can do.  Let us a family—a community of faith and as individuals strive each day to keep the love of God alive—not only in our little world—but to bring the love of God into the world each day. Amen.

August 16, 2009/22^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time /Old Testament-Song of Solomon 2: 8-13/Epistle Lesson-James 1: 17-27/Gospel—Mark 7: 1-8

                                                                   (The following is the unedited text of the spoken sermon) 

                                                                             THINK about What You Do and Say  

Grace and peace from our brother Jesus, Amen.  It has been many years since Sue and I ventured to Austin.  I really appreciate Mona for bringing the message last week as Sue and I attended the memorial service for our friend, Emily.  We saw so many friends and were reminded about the goodness that made Emily a fierce defender of the poor and the marginalized. 

It was also hot and very dry in central Texas.  We saw many county signs that also had a burn ban sign.  But just how dry is it in the Hill Country.  It is so dry that Baptists are starting to baptize by sprinkling and Methodists are using wet-wipes.  Presbyterians have gone even farther and are giving out rain-checks.  And the Catholics are praying for the wine to turn back into water.  That is how dry it is.

Several denominations that used the ancient lectionary opt out today’s Old Testament Lesson.  It is simply too sexy for many fundamentalists.  The Methodists include the verses from the Song of Solomon because the poetry is beautiful and we Methodist embrace Wesley’s “Grace Theology” which has as its cornerstone the idea that God is love.  Many of my professors said that not only should we view God’s love as a parental kind of love but also as a deep love that a new husband and new wife have for one another.  So I want to read from the Song of Solomon, Chapter 2: 8-13.

The Epistle Lesson from James has traditionally been attributed to James, Jesus’ brother.  James was the head of the Jerusalem Church and a stanch opponent of Paul.  Even in the earliest Jesus communities there were differences of theology, ideas, and personalities.  The writer of this letter wasn’t James but an educated Greek Follower of the Way.  The writer may have been a scribe for James or a student of James.

Those who followed James saw way too much hypocrisy in the early Jesus movement.  In fact, James says anyone who claims to be religious only by talking a good game deceives themselves.  He says that such religion is nothing but hot air.  I know that this letter was speaking to the first century communities but it is right on target for so many churches and communities who talk know the talking points and say the right things at the same time they trash the ways of Jesus Christ.

James says, real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.”  Our denominations founder, John Wesley believed that if one’s faith in the ways of the Christ does not move your heart, soul, and body to action then one’s faith is hallow and without much meaning. 

In the Gospel Lesson today, Jesus was confronted by hypocrisy from the very people who held themselves up as examples for everyone else.  The Gospel Lesson says that the Pharisees and some religious scholars came from Jerusalem looking to find fault with Jesus.  I can visualize these pompous, pious people bustling down the dirt roads and paths ready to take on this so call Rabbi and champion of the poor.  Armed with all the outside trappings of faith, they were ready to set this Jesus straight.

And when they caught up with Jesus and his entourage they were really outraged.  No, it wasn’t what Jesus said.  No, it wasn’t that he didn’t know the Hebrew Scriptures.  What set these good religious folks off was that Jesus’ disciples shared a meal with people they were visiting and failed to follow the correct hand-washing rituals as set out in law.

Their countrymen and women often did not have bread to eat.  Widows and orphans, the sick, and the elderly were ignored and expected to take care of themselves or to go quietly somewhere and die.  The Romans made their already impoverished lives even more difficult.  The priest and scholars at the Temple were content with their lavish lifestyles and gave only lip service to justice and mercy.  None of this seemed to bother the Pharisees and scholars.  Where was their outrage?  Where was their mercy and their compassion?  It was no where to be found.

But, boy or boy, they were mad and knew this Jesus was up to no good because his disciples did not go through the motions of ritual hand washing before they broke bread.  Can’t you just envision these fussy, self-important religious folks just puffed up with self-righteous indignation?  These sort of religious folks are alive and well in the 21^st Century.  Unfortunately they populate many of our churches and talk at us via television, radio, and Internet.  No wonder so many people are turned away from religion and the church.  No wonder so many people take their deep-seeded spiritual faith and hopes and desires and decide they will continue their faith journey without the “help” of a church.

Jesus showed those good church people who came to find fault with him to be nothing but frauds.  And then Jesus looks at us—all of us and says that it is what comes out of us that is the source of our spiritual pollution.  It is our greed and arrogance and foolishness that keeps us from surrendering our lives to the Ways of the Christ and to begin a real—honest to God journey of faith.

If Jesus walked his human walk today in our world, I think he would be very leery of religious people.  I think he would speak to everyone—churched and unchurched and urge them to follow him—to follow in his ways.  If we as Followers of the Way are not willing to embrace the hope, the compassion, the forgiveness, and the mercy of Jesus then we have already failed in our mission. Then our promise to be a people with open hearts, minds, and doors is nothing more than a slogan. 

There is so much to do.  There is so much good that we can do.  Let us a family—a community of faith and as individuals strive each day to keep the love of God alive—not only in our little world—but to bring the love of God into the world each day. Amen.

 

August 16, 2009/20^th Sunday in Ordinary Time /Old Testament-1 Kings 2: 10-12; 3: 3-14/Epistle Lesson-Ephesians 5:15-20/Gospel—John 6: 35, 51-58

                                                              (The following is the unedited text of the spoken sermon) 

                                                                                         Seize the Moment

Peace, love, hope, and joy from our brother, Jesus, Amen. “Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise making the most of the time, because the days are evil.” “Be wise” is pretty good advice to anyone anytime.  And I don’t think it matters when someone lived, there will always be bad but tempting choices out there that will tempt us.  Our faith tells us that in our world we need guidance and we need to able to call upon a wisdom that is far beyond our own wits.  Our faith and the faith of Paul says look to Jesus and imitate him.

Throughout Ephesians we are reminded to watch the unfolding of God’s purposes and God’s timing revealed through Jesus’ life and the workings of God’s Spirit.  We are told to make the most of those times.  If one read Ephesians in the Greek they would notice that the author used the word “kairos” for the word “time.”  The writer didn’t use “chronos” which is the Greek word for “time” like clock time.  Kairos means a significant moment like an unexpected opportunity or a critical turning point in one’s life.  When you read it that way making most of the time has an even greater meaning.

I read about a man who had been driving all night and by morning was still a good distance from his destination.  So he picked a quiet street, pulled over, tilted his chair way back and decided to take a quick nap.  It happened that the quiet street was a very popular jogging route and no sooner did the driver close his eyes when someone knocked on his window and asked what time was it.  He looked at his watch and told the jogger it was 7:15.  The man settled back again and was just dozing off when there was another knock on the window and another jogger needing to know the time.  The man told him it was 7:25.  To avoid being bothered so he could get some shut eye, the man wrote a note that said, “I do not know the time” and put the sign on his window.  He leaned back and began to doze.  Suddenly there was another knock on the window.  A jogger said, “Sir, sir, its 7:45!”

Albert Einstein said that the only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.  Sue has once again become concerned with time since she has started back to work.  She has been setting two alarm clocks to make sure she gets us!  I read that a man with one watch knows what time it is but a man with two watches is never sure.  In preparing this week I read an article about scientist that study the internal rhythms in animals and the effects of time and rhythmical phenomena on life processes.  These scientists, Chronobiologist say that all living organisms have certain free-running rhythms that are close to a 24-hour cycle—called a “circadian” cycle.  Some have rhythms tied to an annual, lunar cycle or “intertidal” cycle. 

We humans have particular rhythm patterns.  Our body temperature, blood pressure and heart rate are lower at night than during the day.  Heart attacks and births most occur most often between the hours of 4:00 AM and 6:00 AM.  Chronobiologist tell us that organisms synchronize themselves based on light reaching the organism.  This processes called entrainment is the aligning of the inner-clock and calendars to the light-dark cycle.  There are other factors but light is nature’s primary entrainer. 

In our theology, Jesus is spoken of as the light of the world.  Paul was reminding the Ephesians that because they lived in a pagan culture that was often antagonistic to the Followers, the Followers had to make wise use of those significant moments that would come their way.  Our situation is different today.  There is no shortage of opportunities to share the good news and to live the good news.  Paul reminds us all that we are the children of light and we must learn to keep our spiritual eyes and ears open so that we can make wise use of “God moments” when the occur.

Paul tells us that we should at all times give thanks to God for everything.  But in today’s scripture, I think the emphasis is on those times that might be rare and might be life altering.  Our scripture today is talking about significant moments like that unexpected opportunity or a critical turning point in our life.  We are to be wise in our use of these special moments. 

Paul wrote to and visited many of the growing Jesus communities in the empire.  And the questions often dealt with how to live faithful to the ways of the Christ in a world that seems very vulnerable to the forces of evil and terror.  Then as today we live in a time where the only certainty is that there is no certainty. 

The passage of time from day to day, year to year, generation to generation is neither seamless or predictable.  But we do not have to face these uncertainties alone or without guidance.  Today as in the past, we can rely on one another and rely upon the wisdom of God—the wisdom of still waters and green pastures, the wisdom of new life and the hope that kingdom-time is on its way.  Amen.

 

 

 August 9, 2009/19^th Sunday in Ordinary Time /Old Testament-2 Samuel 18: 5-9, 31-33/Epistle Lesson-Ephesians 4: 25-5:2/Gospel—John 6: 35, 41-51

                                                           (The following is the unedited text of the spoken sermon) 

                                                                        Grieving God’s Holy Spirit

Peace, love, hope, and joy from our brother, Jesus, Amen.  This letter to the people of Ephesus is a real pastoral letter.  We get the wrong idea that in the early days the followers of Jesus—Followers of the Way were all uniform in their beliefs and how they should think and act.  Not true—not true at all!  Just look at the four gospels that made it into the Christian Testament and you will see different thoughts and different emphasis.  Everything was new and no one really knew how to proceed.

    Ever have one of those days when you are really looking forward to a good day but then events conspire against you and your day begins to spiral downward?  We all have.  I imagine that St. Paul had days like that.  We know he was fervent believer in Christ’s Ways and I am sure he faced most days with confidence and hope.  But then he is told by words or letter that the community in Ephesus is acting crazy.  They are doubting the faith in face of society and a government that tells them they are cursed and they are the enemy.  They are squabbling amongst each other and many who feel that Christ’s return is eminent have just stopped doing anything useful.  Paul was going to have to sue all his pastoral pow2ers to bring people back together.

Here is story from the paper awhile back which describes a truly bad—horrible day.  A man pushed his motorcycle from the patio into his living room, where he began to clean the engine with some rags and a bowl of gasoline.  When he finished, he sat on the motorcycle and decided to start her up.  Unfortunately, the bike started in gear and crashed through the glass patio window with him still cling to the handlebars. 

His wife came running from the kitchen to see her husband badly cut and bleeding.  She called paramedics who took him to the ER for stitches.  Then the wife took him home and put him to bed.  She tried to clean up the mess as best she could.  She dumped the bowl of gasoline into the toilet.  Later, the husband woke up let a cigarette then disposed of it in the toilet as he began to sit down.  The toilet exploded because the wife had not flushed the toilet. 

The wife came running down the hall to find her husband sprawled out in the hall, his pants and rear end badly burned.  Once again she called 911 and the same two paramedics came to the rescue.  As they were carrying the man to the ambulance the paramedics asked how this happened and when the wife told the story, the paramedics were laughing so hard that they dropped the man and broke the guy’s collarbone.  What a truly awful day!

St. Paul must have been really stressed out when he wrote his letter to the followers in Ephesus.  There was much dissention among the ranks.  There were many angry words that fueled more division and the desire to get revenge.  Some believers just knew that the end was near and that Christ was coming back any minute and had stopped working and were mooching off others and even stealing from people.  Paul had the daunting task of facing down all kinds of problems.

Basically Paul said, “Stop it!  Everybody, stop it”  He complained that they were not acting in the ways of Christ and people who are truly moved by God’s Spirit couldn’t act the way they did.  Their actions were grieving the Spirit of God.  In the Message, Paul says, “Don’t grieve God.  Don’t break his heart.”  He urges them to stop their petty, cutting, and backbiting ways.  He told the people to get honest jobs and help those who truly can’t work.  Paul told them that self-centeredness had to give way to concerns for others.

Don’t you ever wonder why even though we are Christians, we Christians can act contrary and bitter and given the opportunity we too can grieve God?  In Psalm 130, the pilgrim poet says his soul waits for the Lord just like the night watchman waits for the morning—the dawn.  Some of the most beautiful words found in the Christian Testament are found at the beginning of John’s Gospel.  Speaking of Jesus, John says, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” I have read or heard this passage hundreds of times.  But it was this week while reading Psalm 130 and reading the introduction to John that I realized that it doesn’t say that the light will vanquish darkness.  The promise is that the light of God shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it. 

According to the teachings of the ancient Zoroastrian religion there is a great cosmic battle between light and dark.  They believe that from the beginning of creation, the light has been attacked by darkness—war, violence, and destruction.  Zoroastrians believe that all beings can affect the outcome of this battle between light and dark by their actions.  That good words and deeds help the light to shine brighter.  Some scholars believe that the wise men from the East were from Persia and were Zoroastrians following the promise of the great, bright star.

We Christians believe that God through Jesus Christ allows the light of God to illuminate us with mercy and redemption.  We believe that the light will overcome the darkness.  But we also know that just like those first followers in Ephesus, the dark ways are powerful and it is easy to fall into darkness.  The pilgrim poet of Psalm 130 knows of the struggle.  But he also knows of the great hope of God.  That is why he waits—his soul waits like the watchmen waiting for the morning sun. 

“Stop it.  Don’t grieve God.  Don’t break his heart.”  That is Paul’s advice not just to the Ephesians but to all who struggle toward the light and the promise of God.  Amen.

  

  
August 2, 2009/18^th Sunday in Ordinary Time /Gospel—Matthew 28: 19-20

 (The following is the unedited text of the spoken sermon) 

                                                                Not Just a Washing Up

Peace, love, hope, and joy from our brother, Jesus, Amen.    The ancient church came to believe there were seven sacraments including baptism and communion but also penance, extreme unction, orders, confirmation, and matrimony. In the Methodist expression of our catholic and apostolic faith there are only two sacraments—communion and baptism.

The word “sacrament” in the Roman world referred to money both sides of a lawsuit gave.  The person who lost the suit forfeited the money for a sacred cause.  In the Roman military it refers to the oath taken by new recruits.  And I guess, in a way, baptism is a sacrament in which one pledges him/herself to the faith.  The word sacrament has a mysterious, almost magical tone to its use.

Christian baptism differs from Jewish practices of baptism.  In the ancient Jewish faith, baptism was a ceremonial washing away—a cleansing when converting to Judaism or prior to temple sacrifice.  John the Baptist baptized people for forgiveness of past transgressions and a cleansing that prepares one for new life.  In Exodus 40: 12, it says, “Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water.”  In Jeremiah 4: 14, God says, “O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your hearts and be saved.”  In Isaiah 1: 16-17, God says, “Wash and make yourselves clean.  Take your evil deeds out of my sight!  Stop doing wrong!”

Christian baptism is not just a ceremonial washing away of our past it is an initiation into Christ Consciousness.  Baptism is an outward sign of the indwelling of God in one’s own spirit.  As Methodists, we believe that God’s love and grace is and has always been present.  As we become spiritually aware of God’s presence we then make a conscious choice to embrace the love and grace of God and to make God’s love the centerpiece for our living.

As Christians, when we ask God to dwell in us and we become more and more aware of God’s ways through Christ, we either are baptized or we confirm an earlier baptism.

In Matthew 28: 19-20, it is Jesus who commands us to be marked as his own in baptism.  “Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

In baptism, we commit ourselves to the Christ journey.  In Ephesians 4: 4-6, Paul says, “You were called to travel the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all.  Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.”

Christian Baptism has a different and more far reaching meaning than the Jewish Rite of Baptism.  Probably the closest Jewish rite to Christian Baptism is the Rite of Circumcision in which a Jew is initiated into the ancient Jewish faith.  Acts 19 1-7 illustrates this difference.  “^1-2 Now, it happened that while Apollos was away in Corinth, Paul made his way down through the mountains, came to Ephesus, and happened on some disciples there. The first thing he said was, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? Did you take God into your mind only, or did you also embrace him with your heart? Did he get inside you?"

   "We've never even heard of that—a Holy Spirit? God within us?"

 ³"How were you baptized, then?" asked Paul.

   "In John's baptism."

 ⁴"That explains it," said Paul. "John preached a baptism of radical life-change so that people would be ready to receive the One coming after him, who turned out to be Jesus. If you've been baptized in John's baptism, you're ready now for the real thing, for Jesus."

 ^5-7And they were. As soon as they heard of it, they were baptized in the name of the Master Jesus. Paul put his hands on their heads and the oly Spirit entered them. From that moment on, they were praising God in tongues and talking about God's actions. Altogether there were about twelve people there that day. “

            Christian Baptism is not only you embracing God, it is God embracing you.  In baptism you acknowledge that your life cannot be whole without God’s Spirit.  But it is also God telling you that he is not complete without you.  Remember, this is the God who left the 99 in search of the lost one.

            This morning we come together to celebrate two sacraments.  We celebrate with Teddy and his family the sacrament of Holy Baptism.  We now come together held together by great love, to take part in the second sacrament of the church.  I am going to close with these words from St. Paul found in Galatians 3: 27.  “Bu now you have arrived at your destination:  By faith in Christ you are in direct relationship with God.  Your baptism in Christ was not just washing you for a fresh start.  It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe—Christ’s life, the fulfillment of God’s original purpose.”  Amen.