So…
If the resurrection is true, what are you doing about it?
The Sabbath was over. The sun was up and a new day had dawned, and the women decided to go and make a difference.
It wasn’t really a big surprise. They were the ones up all the time early to see to household chores. This day, once the Sabbath restriction on travel was lifted, they gathered together and wandered off to find Jesus gave.
Other gospel writers tell us that the women wanted to anoint Jesus body and I’m sure that was part of the mission they had chosen for themselves.
But Matthew didn’t seem to care much about that!
Rather, what mattered to Matthew was what they saw, what they experienced, what they became the very first witnesses to, the resurrection!
Women in the first century didn’t get a lot of credit.
In court, women were not considered reliable witness. But here, Matthew wants us to get it straight. They went, they saw, they testified; and in the church, the Christian community has always believed the testimony of the women, because in Christ there is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female.
They felt the ground treble and shake. They saw the stone roll away. They saw the angel and heard his words. They saw the big, strong, rugged soldiers faint and fall. They ran to tell the other disciples.
And they saw Jesus and hugged him, alive!
Make no mistake, they knew, Jesus was raised from death by the power of God and now they needed to get busy making a difference.
No more hiding. No more worrying. No more wondering if it was all real and if Jesus’ teachings were God’s word to them and to us. He was alive! And it changed everything!
So…
If the resurrection is true, what are you doing about it?
The resurrection, you see, completely disrupted everyone’s understand of how death was to work. Death was unstoppable. If the situation was grim, you prayed, but you stopped doing. It was like a huge mudslide headed down the ravine. You got out of the way. You didn’t try to stop it.
But now, knowing that death wasn’t the only option meant that the struggle for life, a full life was part of what following Jesus was all about!
The resurrection completely blew the doors off the disciples thinking!
I mean, do you see what I mean?
They couldn’t keep living in a way that suggested that death had the upper hand. Instead, they needed to live and love boldly, because that is exactly what God had done through Jesus, even when faced with what appeared to be insurmountable odds, even when facing death itself.
A deathly point of view is one that looks at the problems and gives up
A resurrection point of view sees that there are always ways to bring new life, to make things better, to alleviate suffering, to bring healing and dignity to folks who are weighed down by death.
But the power of death is broken!
We can love boldly!
Living resurrection means not giving in to the status quo, but rather always looking for a way to bring God’s power into the lives of others.
Always seeing possibilities. Always moving forward. Never giving up.
Because for three days they all had thought it was over.
But he is risen. He is risen indeed!
Turn to someone in the pew and say, God wants you to make a difference!
That’s it!
God wants you to Love Bold, Care Boldly. Hope Boldly, and Give Boldly.
Don’t be scared. God has your back. And so do all we who believe.
Because…
He is risen!
So…
If the resurrection is true, what are you doing about it?
Amen.
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Monday, April 15, 2019
Sermon for April 14 Palm Sunday
The good news is Jesus is coming! Hooray!
The bad news is Jesus is coming! Hooray?
Hooray for the Son of David, is what our scripture reading says today, and as a translation it’s okay. It gets at the meaning of what was happening in Jerusalem. The people were attending a rally of sorts and they were cheering on their team!
And as Jesus rode into the city astride the donkey or donkeys, depending on which of the gospels you read, folks sang the traditional songs that accompanied the annual pilgrimage up the streets from Jericho to Jerusalem.
The songs were the Psalms of Ascent from the book of Psalms. They reminded the people of the power and wonder of their God and of God’s great provision for his people in the Exodus, the story at the center of Passover.
But this Passover was, as it was so often, a story of deliverance smack dab in the midst of Jerusalem once again being an occupied city, a place of dynamic and dangerous struggle, a place where faith was hard, and so, sometimes celebration had to be harder!
And as he came, some noticed that Jesus entered the city much like the scriptures talked about the Messiah himself coming home to Jerusalem, astride not the armor plated white charger of the occupiers, but on the back of that ages pickup truck.
And they cheered with the traditional cheers of the Jewish people, not so loud that the soldiers came, but just loud enough that the disciples remembered.
For many of us, Hosanna is the word we want to hear. It is the traditional bible rendering of the words written long ago in Aramaic and transliterated into Greek as an expression of joy, for God’s deliverance, and hopped for deliverance once again.
But understand, while it sounds good and right to our ears, Hosanna, it was for the people gathering that day just a shout of delight, like hooray!
It was the disciples much more than the people gathered, and then for the most part after Jesus death and resurrection, that came to understand the amazing thing they had seen and experienced. God had brought deliverance, just not in the way any of them expected!
The Messiah finally had come to that great city!
And they almost missed it!
It was the beginning of God’s great moment. But in that great moment, the crowd mostly just saw the prophet from Galilee riding a donkey and they cheered because, well, because they wanted to cheer.
And it was good news!
It was good that Jesus had come to celebrate Passover. It was good news that he could be with his disciples. It was good news that they could eat that powerful an important meal together…
One last time.
The good news is Jesus is coming! Hooray!
The bad news is Jesus is coming! Hooray!
Because this Messiah also has come Matthew tells us, to start something big, to light a fire, to burn down the house, to begin the change, to upset the apple cart!
Which is why, we all need to note, that inviting Jesus into your life is wildly risky. He is delighted to come and to share a meal with you anytime (which is why, by-the-way, you might want to say a blessing at every meal).
But don’t be surprised if he also flips a few tables.
Palm Sunday is one of those great celebrations of the church that seems a bit odd. Yes, it is good news that Jesus is coming to Jerusalem as Messiah, but…
The bad news is Jesus is coming! Hooray?
Hooray for the Son of David, is what our scripture reading says today, and as a translation it’s okay. It gets at the meaning of what was happening in Jerusalem. The people were attending a rally of sorts and they were cheering on their team!
And as Jesus rode into the city astride the donkey or donkeys, depending on which of the gospels you read, folks sang the traditional songs that accompanied the annual pilgrimage up the streets from Jericho to Jerusalem.
The songs were the Psalms of Ascent from the book of Psalms. They reminded the people of the power and wonder of their God and of God’s great provision for his people in the Exodus, the story at the center of Passover.
But this Passover was, as it was so often, a story of deliverance smack dab in the midst of Jerusalem once again being an occupied city, a place of dynamic and dangerous struggle, a place where faith was hard, and so, sometimes celebration had to be harder!
And as he came, some noticed that Jesus entered the city much like the scriptures talked about the Messiah himself coming home to Jerusalem, astride not the armor plated white charger of the occupiers, but on the back of that ages pickup truck.
And they cheered with the traditional cheers of the Jewish people, not so loud that the soldiers came, but just loud enough that the disciples remembered.
For many of us, Hosanna is the word we want to hear. It is the traditional bible rendering of the words written long ago in Aramaic and transliterated into Greek as an expression of joy, for God’s deliverance, and hopped for deliverance once again.
But understand, while it sounds good and right to our ears, Hosanna, it was for the people gathering that day just a shout of delight, like hooray!
It was the disciples much more than the people gathered, and then for the most part after Jesus death and resurrection, that came to understand the amazing thing they had seen and experienced. God had brought deliverance, just not in the way any of them expected!
The Messiah finally had come to that great city!
And they almost missed it!
It was the beginning of God’s great moment. But in that great moment, the crowd mostly just saw the prophet from Galilee riding a donkey and they cheered because, well, because they wanted to cheer.
And it was good news!
It was good that Jesus had come to celebrate Passover. It was good news that he could be with his disciples. It was good news that they could eat that powerful an important meal together…
One last time.
The good news is Jesus is coming! Hooray!
The bad news is Jesus is coming! Hooray!
Because this Messiah also has come Matthew tells us, to start something big, to light a fire, to burn down the house, to begin the change, to upset the apple cart!
Which is why, we all need to note, that inviting Jesus into your life is wildly risky. He is delighted to come and to share a meal with you anytime (which is why, by-the-way, you might want to say a blessing at every meal).
But don’t be surprised if he also flips a few tables.
Palm Sunday is one of those great celebrations of the church that seems a bit odd. Yes, it is good news that Jesus is coming to Jerusalem as Messiah, but…
He is also coming to Jerusalem to make serious changes and to issue some serious challenges! This is not Jesus’ victory celebration feast! Rather it is a gathering of the storm clouds from which lightning is about to emanate.
Into the Temple he goes, tables are flipped, folks are chased out with a whip, and we are reminded that treating what is sacred in a profane way is unacceptable to God.
A stark reminder that treating what is God’s, including those made in God’s image, in a way that minimizes them or harms the beauty and dignity of God’s handiwork in them, places us all directly behind the tables Jesus plans to flip, with those Jesus will chase out of God’s presence.
The good news is Jesus is coming! Hooray!
The bad news is Jesus is coming! Hooray!
The best news…
Is just ahead….
Amen.
Into the Temple he goes, tables are flipped, folks are chased out with a whip, and we are reminded that treating what is sacred in a profane way is unacceptable to God.
A stark reminder that treating what is God’s, including those made in God’s image, in a way that minimizes them or harms the beauty and dignity of God’s handiwork in them, places us all directly behind the tables Jesus plans to flip, with those Jesus will chase out of God’s presence.
The good news is Jesus is coming! Hooray!
The bad news is Jesus is coming! Hooray!
The best news…
Is just ahead….
Amen.
Monday, April 08, 2019
Sermon for April 7 from Matthew 6:25-34
So…
Do you ever worry?
Isn’t that like asking if you breathe?
We all worry, at different levels and in different ways.
We worry about our health sometimes, about our children, about our jobs, how we are going to pay the bills, climate change, about a test we have to take, whether we are feeding our families good food, even whether our faith and spiritual practice is in the right place.
And because we are special this way, we also worry about worrying!
Do any of you do that? Worry that you worry too much!
And then Jesus comes along and drops the hammer on worrying!
I mean really Jesus!
But I get it!
Jesus is explaining Kingdom values and he wants to make sure we see the big picture, so Jesus intensifies everything! He turn up the volume! Uses a highlighter! Spotlights it! It’s in bold type, with italics, plus underlined.
He says. if you are struggling with life and you think the struggle sucks, remember, this process is making you blessed, making you holy!
And if you think that not having killed anyone gets you off the hook breaking the commandment not to murder anyone, think again, because if you have called someone an idiot, say today, perhaps in this room, then you are ready for the pit of despair, with lava!
And if you think that not having committed adultery, like some other people we know, makes you safe from living in the fiery furnace, but you have looked lustfully at anyone on Game of Thrones or anywhere else, you are, and let me make this completely clear, toast!
We are to keep our promises. We are to love everyone, even our enemies. We are to give generously, giving not until hurts, but until it thrills. And we are to do so in a way that God knows what we are up to and God approves, but other people, not so much.
We are to be for this world salty, spicy, bright lights, changing this world into God’s Kingdom and making it amazing!
And while at it, we aren’t to worry about how it will all come together, where the resources will come from, even whether we have what we need inside of us to do it! We are to just do it!
We are to do what we have been called to do and not look back.
We are not to worry about what we have and if we have enough. Instead we are to focus on using the resources entrusted to our care to make the Kingdom of God flourish, in just the same way as God uses his own resources to make the birds chirp and the flowers glow and his people amazing?
So, don’t worry, be happy.
But…
We complain, Lord, it’s so hard!!!!
And…
Lord, I don’t know how not to worry?
Subaru has an advertisement on TV that shows parents worrying as their teenagers drive their cars. They sit and wait and then are so relived when the teenager comes home safe.
And a study I saw the other day says that worrying about your kids is a lifelong process. Even when they are adults and have children of their own, we worry.
And why wouldn’t we!
Just last week a 36-year-old mother of three children was walking along the street here in town at 11:00pm at night and was struck from behind by a dark colored pickup truck that police estimate was going 50 mph in 30 mph zone. They found her dead at 7:00am the following morning.
How can you not worry!
But that is not exactly what Jesus meant! He wasn’t asking you not to be concerned for those you love. Because he was concerned for those he loved. That’s exactly why he was there!
God was worried about his children.
What we are not to worry about is being God’s children, acting like God’s children, doing what God’s children are supposed to do!
We are to get busy being the Kingdom, living like Kingdom people, practicing Kingdom values, and…
God will supply what we need to make it happen!
Fill the flood buckets.
Build a garden in Namibia.
Invite people to celebrate the resurrection.
Feed the children.
Open the doors of the church and let people in, just as we are headed out into the world to make sure we make the difference God intended us to make in this world.
Walking for Habitat, walking and running for the Ronald Macdonald House, going to New Bern North Carolina to rehab houses, doing it all…
And not worrying one bit! Because God will provide what you need.
It is just as Jesus said, “But more than anything else, put God’s work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well.”
Don’t worry, get busy!
Amen.
Do you ever worry?
Isn’t that like asking if you breathe?
We all worry, at different levels and in different ways.
We worry about our health sometimes, about our children, about our jobs, how we are going to pay the bills, climate change, about a test we have to take, whether we are feeding our families good food, even whether our faith and spiritual practice is in the right place.
And because we are special this way, we also worry about worrying!
Do any of you do that? Worry that you worry too much!
And then Jesus comes along and drops the hammer on worrying!
I mean really Jesus!
But I get it!
Jesus is explaining Kingdom values and he wants to make sure we see the big picture, so Jesus intensifies everything! He turn up the volume! Uses a highlighter! Spotlights it! It’s in bold type, with italics, plus underlined.
He says. if you are struggling with life and you think the struggle sucks, remember, this process is making you blessed, making you holy!
And if you think that not having killed anyone gets you off the hook breaking the commandment not to murder anyone, think again, because if you have called someone an idiot, say today, perhaps in this room, then you are ready for the pit of despair, with lava!
And if you think that not having committed adultery, like some other people we know, makes you safe from living in the fiery furnace, but you have looked lustfully at anyone on Game of Thrones or anywhere else, you are, and let me make this completely clear, toast!
We are to keep our promises. We are to love everyone, even our enemies. We are to give generously, giving not until hurts, but until it thrills. And we are to do so in a way that God knows what we are up to and God approves, but other people, not so much.
We are to be for this world salty, spicy, bright lights, changing this world into God’s Kingdom and making it amazing!
And while at it, we aren’t to worry about how it will all come together, where the resources will come from, even whether we have what we need inside of us to do it! We are to just do it!
We are to do what we have been called to do and not look back.
We are not to worry about what we have and if we have enough. Instead we are to focus on using the resources entrusted to our care to make the Kingdom of God flourish, in just the same way as God uses his own resources to make the birds chirp and the flowers glow and his people amazing?
So, don’t worry, be happy.
But…
We complain, Lord, it’s so hard!!!!
And…
Lord, I don’t know how not to worry?
Subaru has an advertisement on TV that shows parents worrying as their teenagers drive their cars. They sit and wait and then are so relived when the teenager comes home safe.
And a study I saw the other day says that worrying about your kids is a lifelong process. Even when they are adults and have children of their own, we worry.
And why wouldn’t we!
Just last week a 36-year-old mother of three children was walking along the street here in town at 11:00pm at night and was struck from behind by a dark colored pickup truck that police estimate was going 50 mph in 30 mph zone. They found her dead at 7:00am the following morning.
How can you not worry!
But that is not exactly what Jesus meant! He wasn’t asking you not to be concerned for those you love. Because he was concerned for those he loved. That’s exactly why he was there!
Jesus says in John’s gospel, “That God loved the world so much that he sent his only son, so that anyone who believed in him might not perish, but have eternal life.
God was worried about his children.
What we are not to worry about is being God’s children, acting like God’s children, doing what God’s children are supposed to do!
We are to get busy being the Kingdom, living like Kingdom people, practicing Kingdom values, and…
God will supply what we need to make it happen!
Fill the flood buckets.
Build a garden in Namibia.
Invite people to celebrate the resurrection.
Feed the children.
Open the doors of the church and let people in, just as we are headed out into the world to make sure we make the difference God intended us to make in this world.
Walking for Habitat, walking and running for the Ronald Macdonald House, going to New Bern North Carolina to rehab houses, doing it all…
And not worrying one bit! Because God will provide what you need.
It is just as Jesus said, “But more than anything else, put God’s work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well.”
Don’t worry, get busy!
Amen.
Monday, April 01, 2019
Sermon for Sunday March 31 from Matthew 6:16-24
This week there are no trumpets, no bike horns.
Sorry about that! You’ll just have to show off your intense religiosity in some other way: Easter bonnet, white gloves, fancy robe…
But don’t worry, Jesus, as always has you covered.
Instead of tooting your own horn when you give and when you pray, you could just look miserable when you are suffering.
Yep! Jesus says if instead of giving and praying you instead decide to fast or maybe do all those things and fast, you may not act all righteously crabby!!
You hear that you God loving fuss budgets! No crabby Jesus freaks allowed!
Fasting, of course is the idea of giving up eating so that you can devote yourself to prayer.
It is not so much the denial, as some people seem to think, but much more about dedication.
The idea was to carve out time from a busy schedule to dedicate oneself to prayer by not spending all the energy to shopping, preparing, cooking, eating and cleaning up from a meal.
Jesus reminds us that the idea is not to be miserable, but to be joyous as you chose to spend your precious time with God, satisfying your hearts needs, rather than spending your time satisfying your bodies needs.
Now Jesus also said, that we should ask for our daily bread in the Lord’s prayer from last week, reminding us that God is very concerned about us having what we need to eat. God created these wonderful bodies and knows we need to eat, but sometimes, prayer is more important, at least for a time, and so, we stop eating and pray.
But if you are looking miserable every time you make a sacrifice for God, whether it be fasting, or giving up time, energy, talents, and money, you have once again missed the point!
This is not about you! This is not about you getting a big “hurrah” from the crowd because you are so wonderfully holy.
This is all about us being God’s delightful and delighted people.
You understand, you are one of God’s delighted and delightful children!
Look in the pews around you, and if you see a delighted and delightful child of God, tell them so! Give them a high five! Remind them that what they are doing, they are doing to delight’s God’s heart!
Because where your time, energy, talents, and money are, there is your heart.
And that’s what Jesus says next. If you want a big heart, and if you want God’s heart to be burst with delight in you, you need to be storing up your treasures in heaven!
Have you ever seen that picture of a hearse going down the street with a trailer hitched to the back? It’s captioned, “It turns out you really can take it all with you!”
And we all laugh, because we know it isn’t true. You heard the saying “He who has the most toys wins”. Not true.
It turns out that she or he with the biggest heart wins! Always and forever!
So, Jesus suggests you invest in what matters; in the Kingdom of God, in bringing joy and peace and love to the world you live in now, so that in the world to come, you will be welcomed home by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who sees in you his Spirit, his presence, his heart.
So, where are your riches, whatever they may be?
Are they invested in sending folks to North Carolina to rehab houses? Or in helping CWS buy flood buckets to send to the Midwest?
Are they invested in getting houses built for struggling families in Newburgh by sponsoring a walker in the Walk for Housing in April, or actually walking or running in the Deacon’s 5K for the Ronald MacDonald house or being a sponsor?
Or are you into gardening.
Kelly Dolson is home from Namibia and our delightful sister Rachel has an idea. The girl is a whirlwind!
It turns out her village there in Namibia used to have a vegetable garden 60’ x 60’, but it got ruined when the goats pushed through the fence and ate vegetables and it didn’t have enough water either because, well, the village is in a desert, and it has a water tank, and the tank pump guy…
It’s a long story!
In any case, she wants to build a better garden, with real fencing, because you also have to keep the wild elephants out by planting chilies I think, and a steady supply of drip irrigation water.
Where are your riches invested?
And are they bringing a smile to God’s face?
Here’s your opportunity to join the faithful and put away the trumpets, get those gloomy looks off our faces, and together do what we can to make a difference…
Because Kingdom people do just that…
Make a Difference. To the joy and glory of our Heavenly Father.
Amen.
But don’t worry, Jesus, as always has you covered.
Instead of tooting your own horn when you give and when you pray, you could just look miserable when you are suffering.
Yep! Jesus says if instead of giving and praying you instead decide to fast or maybe do all those things and fast, you may not act all righteously crabby!!
You hear that you God loving fuss budgets! No crabby Jesus freaks allowed!
Fasting, of course is the idea of giving up eating so that you can devote yourself to prayer.
It is not so much the denial, as some people seem to think, but much more about dedication.
The idea was to carve out time from a busy schedule to dedicate oneself to prayer by not spending all the energy to shopping, preparing, cooking, eating and cleaning up from a meal.
Jesus reminds us that the idea is not to be miserable, but to be joyous as you chose to spend your precious time with God, satisfying your hearts needs, rather than spending your time satisfying your bodies needs.
Now Jesus also said, that we should ask for our daily bread in the Lord’s prayer from last week, reminding us that God is very concerned about us having what we need to eat. God created these wonderful bodies and knows we need to eat, but sometimes, prayer is more important, at least for a time, and so, we stop eating and pray.
But if you are looking miserable every time you make a sacrifice for God, whether it be fasting, or giving up time, energy, talents, and money, you have once again missed the point!
This is not about you! This is not about you getting a big “hurrah” from the crowd because you are so wonderfully holy.
This is all about us being God’s delightful and delighted people.
You understand, you are one of God’s delighted and delightful children!
Look in the pews around you, and if you see a delighted and delightful child of God, tell them so! Give them a high five! Remind them that what they are doing, they are doing to delight’s God’s heart!
Because where your time, energy, talents, and money are, there is your heart.
And that’s what Jesus says next. If you want a big heart, and if you want God’s heart to be burst with delight in you, you need to be storing up your treasures in heaven!
Have you ever seen that picture of a hearse going down the street with a trailer hitched to the back? It’s captioned, “It turns out you really can take it all with you!”
And we all laugh, because we know it isn’t true. You heard the saying “He who has the most toys wins”. Not true.
It turns out that she or he with the biggest heart wins! Always and forever!
So, Jesus suggests you invest in what matters; in the Kingdom of God, in bringing joy and peace and love to the world you live in now, so that in the world to come, you will be welcomed home by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who sees in you his Spirit, his presence, his heart.
So, where are your riches, whatever they may be?
Are they invested in sending folks to North Carolina to rehab houses? Or in helping CWS buy flood buckets to send to the Midwest?
Are they invested in getting houses built for struggling families in Newburgh by sponsoring a walker in the Walk for Housing in April, or actually walking or running in the Deacon’s 5K for the Ronald MacDonald house or being a sponsor?
Or are you into gardening.
Kelly Dolson is home from Namibia and our delightful sister Rachel has an idea. The girl is a whirlwind!
It turns out her village there in Namibia used to have a vegetable garden 60’ x 60’, but it got ruined when the goats pushed through the fence and ate vegetables and it didn’t have enough water either because, well, the village is in a desert, and it has a water tank, and the tank pump guy…
It’s a long story!
In any case, she wants to build a better garden, with real fencing, because you also have to keep the wild elephants out by planting chilies I think, and a steady supply of drip irrigation water.
Where are your riches invested?
And are they bringing a smile to God’s face?
Here’s your opportunity to join the faithful and put away the trumpets, get those gloomy looks off our faces, and together do what we can to make a difference…
Because Kingdom people do just that…
Make a Difference. To the joy and glory of our Heavenly Father.
Amen.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)