Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Strange Faith: Revealed from Luke 9:28-36 on August 9
One of the great mysteries of life is how some people we think of as being just plain old people like us, goofballs as it were, granola, fruits, flakes and nuts, can be so remarkable, capable and successful in parts of their lives that we are unfamiliar with.
Sue and I have often remarked about people we grew up with who seemed fairly odd at the time, but who now are responsible human beings.
I hung out with a bunch of friends, several of whom are now medical doctors! I often wonder who forgot to call me and ask what I thought of their High School shenanigans.
And we’ve marveled at Sue’s brother Pete, who in his younger years seemed unlikely to be a grand success in life, who when we visited him on a U. S. Navy base a few years ago was a big shot of sorts.
Here we are with high security planes all around us and he seems right at home.
I even asked him, “how come we can wander around with you and nobody asks any questions?” He looked at me and kind of laughed and said, “that’s because they can see what my security badge says!”
As Sue said later, “who forgot to call me and ask about him?”
And the stories could go on forever about people we have known and hung out with, kids from the Youth Groups here at church, folks we thought were a little special, who later in life turn out to be wiser and smarter and more capable than we ever knew.
Obviously, our estimates of their capabilities were way off! As were the disciples of Jesus!
These disciples have figured out that Jesus is amazing.
They have figured out that he is capable of miracles.
They have figured out that he teaches like he’s the author of the book.
And they have figured out that he has this amazing gift for taking people where they are and elevating them to a new level.
Some of them even figured out that he was the Messiah.
In Luke 9:18-20 just a few verses before this story, Jesus says, “What do people say about me?” They answered, “Some say that you are John the Baptist or Elijah or a prophet from long ago who has come back to life.” Jesus then asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah sent from God.”
It's all good!
But they can’t see the forest for the trees. They can’t see that this Jesus who they have hung out with, learned from, eaten with, even gone out on mission trips for, is God present right there, right now.
What they see is what they know, just like Sue and I seeing Brian and Katie as the little children they were and the crazy teenagers they became and not the highly capable and highly respected specialists in Emergency Management and Forensic Auditing that they have become.
They are just Katie and Brian.
And he was just Jesus, you know special, but just Jesus.
And then, just before the passion begins, before that final trip to Jerusalem, just like before Jesus beginning his ministry after rising up out of the baptismal waters of the Jordan, there is a reminder that he is not just Jesus, he is God present!
A couple of months back, Brian took me in for a few minutes to see where he works in an underground bomb shelter with a two-foot-thick steel door.
Back then he showed me a copy machine he had bought for work that was at least twelve feet long. It made books. In comparison with the church computer it was like comparing my kayak with an aircraft carrier.
His responsibilities have changed since then. Most recently he put together a mission dollar order for vehicles for his department since someone made him in change of the department’s fleet.
No one asked me or his mother whether he was allowed to do that!
And Katie, who would have imagined her journey from working at group homes to where she is today, doing things as a professional that makes Sue and I so proud of her, even as we shake our heads in disbelief!
We know them as Brian and as Katie, the kids from Otisville.
And they knew him as Jesus, the guy from Bethlehem.
But at both the water’s edge and here on the mountain top, everyone who was paying attention was reminded, that this Jesus was God’s beloved son!
They needed to hear that! They needed to see that! Not because when they went down off the mountain it would all become clear, because, let’s face it, it wasn’t!
But because what was about to take place needed to be set in context for them!
And to be honest, it needed to be reminded to Jesus as well, that all that was ahead was God’s plan, that it was all going to matter, that his suffering would change everything, and that it was worth it.
Moses, the representative, the symbol of the Old Testament law and Elijah, the representative and symbol of the prophets, even the Shekinah, the glory cloud covering God’s presence, stood in agreement that the death and resurrection of God’s son would change everything.
Now Peter, James, and John saw the truth, even if they didn’t understand it, that the Jesus they knew and loved was God incarnate. He was so much more than anything they could have imagined of their friend from Galilee, now who they saw in the transformed light of the glory cloud!
It is a revelation that should transform our thinking too, not only about Jesus, but about each other.
Because we are not who so many of the folks around us think we are. We are so much more!
We are even more than we often think ourselves to be. We are the daughters and sons of the Most High God, and are always capable of much more than we imagine.
We, through Christ can change the world, as Jesus did, going and sharing and caring, making a difference, touching lives, raising folks up, healing, feeding and loving others in Jesus name.
We are all gloriously and wonderfully made in God image.
Now we just need to live like it.
Jesus did! And his life, and death, and resurrection makes everything possible.
So, go and make a difference in Jesus’ name!
Amen.
Monday, August 03, 2020
Strange Faith: Feeding others from August 2 and Luke 9:1-17
So,
In case you were unaware, I like food!
I like all kinds of food! I like meat, I like vegetables, I like fruit, I like dairy, and based on a book being read to Noah, it is possible I may even like Green Eggs and Ham.
The idea that Jesus would be so concerned about the hungry crowd around him moves me! Not just because I think eating is a great idea! No, it moves me because of the amazing compassion Jesus shows when he feeds those hungry folks.
Feeding the hungry is also why I am so excited by our food pantry program and am so thankful for Kathy Card’s leadership along with all our Deacons and volunteers!
Feeding hungry people is the essence of the gospel I think, whether that be physical or spiritual hunger.
Now there is a wrinkle or two in the story.
Jesus, faced with the reality that these people he was initially trying to get away from so that he could teach his disciples in some peace and quiet, now need to be fed is one.
And here he once again proves he is some much better than I!
He’s not frustrated, angry, disturbed; I would be going crazy!
Nope he is moved with compassion. And so, he teaches them, he heals them, and then, at the suggestion of his astute disciples, who have seen that it is the end of the day and people need to eat, now feeds them.
Kind of. Sort of.
Because while at first glance this story just seems to be just about Jesus miraculous power to feed people, it has occurred to me that there is another important and subtle lesson here.
At least as the story is told in Luke.
If you listened carefully to the beginning of the Scripture lesson today, you heard another story about Jesus disciples. Then, in between the two some intrigue about Herod that will matter later in the gospel.
But what I really need you to notice is the first story about the sent disciples, and then the second story about the sent disciples.
Yes, they are sent in ministry twice. Sometimes, in order to learn a lesson we have to do it more than once.
In September, I’m going to begin a series of sermons on the Acts of the Apostles. There is some amazing stuff in Luke’s recording of what the Apostles did after Jesus ascension and then Pentecost. But Luke’s story actually starts here.
Did you know that the word apostle, means “sent one”? That an apostle is one who is sent to do something. It has a very different meaning than a disciple, who is basically a student learning from a master.
The Twelve, were disciples.
But you see here in these two stories Jesus in the process of taking his disciples and making apostles out of them, the very thing he is doing to us! In story one, sent. In story two sent!
Now the difference between the two is I think ironic. In the first story, the disciples are sent out, go all over the place, staying at people’s houses, rely on the hospitality of others, teaching about Jesus, and then healing people.
When was the last time you went out into your neighborhood, stayed at other people’s houses, ate their food, taught them about Jesus, and healed them?
Is it possible, just asking, that it is because you are still a disciple and not yet an apostle? Not yet a sent one? Not ready ready, willing and empowered?
Why not?
According to the other gospels telling of this adventure and of the disciples and other followers going in ministry, they saw on this adventure amazing things happen! They were brave and bold and driven and focused and they made the kingdom of God come alive.
Jesus said go, and they went!
But, for some reason faced with this hungry crowd, they got nothing! They are completely set back on their heels, stymied, lost, powerless. No longer out on their own, safely back in Jesus presence, they fold.
To their credit, they noticed that the people were hungry. It was either that or Peter’s stomach that keep growling. In either case they noticed.
And that is not a bad thing. Noticing the needs of others is always the first step to dynamic ministry, noticing what is wrong, what is needed and then looking for a solution.
The church would do well to always be thinking about what is needed in our community and looking for ways to help provide or enable a solution. If, this fall, parents need to go back to work, but also need to help their kids learn, is there anything we can do?
Even in the time of COVID, what can we do about what needs to be done? How can we use what we have? Maybe we can’t solve the whole problem, but how can we make sure that those who are in need get help?
And seeing the problem, that they are hungry, is a first step.
But they missed the second step. Yes, they went to Jesus, which would normally have been the best idea.
But Jesus has already commissioned and sent them to make a difference so…
Jesus tells them “you feed them”!
Actually the pew bibles say, “you give them something to eat”, but the point was clear! You all just came back from a mission trip where you ate at other people’s houses and saw miracles. “you feed them!”
What the disciples see is what they don’t have, or what little they have. What they don’t see is what they do have! They are missing the point! They ate at other people’s houses so they didn’t have any food. But…
They also saw miracles. They healed folks! “You feed them!”
So often, we focus on limitations, instead of seeing God’s wonderful provision!
Jesus was hoping for a quiet time to teach them. Instead it was going to be a noisy time to teach them right in the midst of a famished crowd.
Jesus showed them how to use what they did have, five loaves of bread and two fish (why they had that – who knows) and to rely on God to do whatever miracle God had in mind.
Jesus seems to say, “You went in ministry with nothing and God provided. Why now do you doubt that God will do the same?”
We need to open our minds and our hearts to the presence of God and God’s amazing kingdom and doing what we can let God use our faithfulness to do miracles!
Feeding others, like caring for others at any time and in any way, is a privilege and an honor and clear evidence of the Kingdom of God’s presence among us.
Hospitality is what God expects us to offer to others because it is what God offers us!
Grace and love, made real in Jesus, in bread & fish, and at the Lord Table in bread & wine, the active presence of the God in the lives of people in need!
Come to the table of mercy
Prepared with the wine and the bread
All who are hungry and thirsty
Come and your soul will be fed.
Come at the Lord’s invitation
Receive from His nail-scarred hand
Eat of the bread of salvation
Drink of the blood of the Lamb.
Amen.
In case you were unaware, I like food!
I like all kinds of food! I like meat, I like vegetables, I like fruit, I like dairy, and based on a book being read to Noah, it is possible I may even like Green Eggs and Ham.
The idea that Jesus would be so concerned about the hungry crowd around him moves me! Not just because I think eating is a great idea! No, it moves me because of the amazing compassion Jesus shows when he feeds those hungry folks.
Feeding the hungry is also why I am so excited by our food pantry program and am so thankful for Kathy Card’s leadership along with all our Deacons and volunteers!
Feeding hungry people is the essence of the gospel I think, whether that be physical or spiritual hunger.
Now there is a wrinkle or two in the story.
Jesus, faced with the reality that these people he was initially trying to get away from so that he could teach his disciples in some peace and quiet, now need to be fed is one.
And here he once again proves he is some much better than I!
He’s not frustrated, angry, disturbed; I would be going crazy!
Nope he is moved with compassion. And so, he teaches them, he heals them, and then, at the suggestion of his astute disciples, who have seen that it is the end of the day and people need to eat, now feeds them.
Kind of. Sort of.
Because while at first glance this story just seems to be just about Jesus miraculous power to feed people, it has occurred to me that there is another important and subtle lesson here.
At least as the story is told in Luke.
If you listened carefully to the beginning of the Scripture lesson today, you heard another story about Jesus disciples. Then, in between the two some intrigue about Herod that will matter later in the gospel.
But what I really need you to notice is the first story about the sent disciples, and then the second story about the sent disciples.
Yes, they are sent in ministry twice. Sometimes, in order to learn a lesson we have to do it more than once.
In September, I’m going to begin a series of sermons on the Acts of the Apostles. There is some amazing stuff in Luke’s recording of what the Apostles did after Jesus ascension and then Pentecost. But Luke’s story actually starts here.
Did you know that the word apostle, means “sent one”? That an apostle is one who is sent to do something. It has a very different meaning than a disciple, who is basically a student learning from a master.
The Twelve, were disciples.
But you see here in these two stories Jesus in the process of taking his disciples and making apostles out of them, the very thing he is doing to us! In story one, sent. In story two sent!
Now the difference between the two is I think ironic. In the first story, the disciples are sent out, go all over the place, staying at people’s houses, rely on the hospitality of others, teaching about Jesus, and then healing people.
When was the last time you went out into your neighborhood, stayed at other people’s houses, ate their food, taught them about Jesus, and healed them?
Is it possible, just asking, that it is because you are still a disciple and not yet an apostle? Not yet a sent one? Not ready ready, willing and empowered?
Why not?
According to the other gospels telling of this adventure and of the disciples and other followers going in ministry, they saw on this adventure amazing things happen! They were brave and bold and driven and focused and they made the kingdom of God come alive.
Jesus said go, and they went!
But, for some reason faced with this hungry crowd, they got nothing! They are completely set back on their heels, stymied, lost, powerless. No longer out on their own, safely back in Jesus presence, they fold.
To their credit, they noticed that the people were hungry. It was either that or Peter’s stomach that keep growling. In either case they noticed.
And that is not a bad thing. Noticing the needs of others is always the first step to dynamic ministry, noticing what is wrong, what is needed and then looking for a solution.
The church would do well to always be thinking about what is needed in our community and looking for ways to help provide or enable a solution. If, this fall, parents need to go back to work, but also need to help their kids learn, is there anything we can do?
Even in the time of COVID, what can we do about what needs to be done? How can we use what we have? Maybe we can’t solve the whole problem, but how can we make sure that those who are in need get help?
And seeing the problem, that they are hungry, is a first step.
But they missed the second step. Yes, they went to Jesus, which would normally have been the best idea.
But Jesus has already commissioned and sent them to make a difference so…
Jesus tells them “you feed them”!
Actually the pew bibles say, “you give them something to eat”, but the point was clear! You all just came back from a mission trip where you ate at other people’s houses and saw miracles. “you feed them!”
What the disciples see is what they don’t have, or what little they have. What they don’t see is what they do have! They are missing the point! They ate at other people’s houses so they didn’t have any food. But…
They also saw miracles. They healed folks! “You feed them!”
So often, we focus on limitations, instead of seeing God’s wonderful provision!
Jesus was hoping for a quiet time to teach them. Instead it was going to be a noisy time to teach them right in the midst of a famished crowd.
Jesus showed them how to use what they did have, five loaves of bread and two fish (why they had that – who knows) and to rely on God to do whatever miracle God had in mind.
Jesus seems to say, “You went in ministry with nothing and God provided. Why now do you doubt that God will do the same?”
We need to open our minds and our hearts to the presence of God and God’s amazing kingdom and doing what we can let God use our faithfulness to do miracles!
Feeding others, like caring for others at any time and in any way, is a privilege and an honor and clear evidence of the Kingdom of God’s presence among us.
Hospitality is what God expects us to offer to others because it is what God offers us!
Grace and love, made real in Jesus, in bread & fish, and at the Lord Table in bread & wine, the active presence of the God in the lives of people in need!
Come to the table of mercy
Prepared with the wine and the bread
All who are hungry and thirsty
Come and your soul will be fed.
Come at the Lord’s invitation
Receive from His nail-scarred hand
Eat of the bread of salvation
Drink of the blood of the Lamb.
Amen.
Tuesday, July 28, 2020
The Monster on July 26 a Sermon by Edgar Hat=yes
Other than comic books, I hadn’t read many
personal books growing up. I had an
explosion of reading at the end of HS/beginning of college. I took a liking to Steven King’s writings. I got so engrossed in a character while I was
riding on the subway train. After
exiting the train, as I approached the turnstile, I felt as if I couldn’t talk. The character I was reading about was
mute. I quickly came to my senses but oh
the joy of a good book. There was a lull
in my reading frenzy followed by another explosion when JK Rowling’s Harry
Potter series hit the stands. I couldn’t
wait to get to the next one but was always sad to get to the end, because I
didn’t want the book to end. When our
children were born, we made sure we read to them every day. They loved books and one in particular is The
monster at the end of this book.
This book and my up and down book reading
reminded me of how I read the Bible. A
lot of people read, know, and love the beginning story of creation. In the beginning God created (that was my
sad attempt at James Earl Jones impersonation (Star Wars fans will know who he
is)...the seventh day He rested...God walked and talked with Adam in the cool
of day...the setting was picturesque, pure, and pleasing to the senses...throw
in vegetarian eating (an awesome start to a book)...enter the serpent...the
apple...the fall and exile...birth and murder...a created people...the
flood...a rainbow and a new beginning.
Genesis provides all the makings of a movie
blockbuster... intrigue, death, conniving, love, action. It’s a good read that captivates you to keep
going. But by the time Leviticus and Numbers rolls around, the rollercoaster
rides on a downhill swing. It picks up
again around Deuteronomy, coast for a little bit before making upward and
downward swings again. And if you are
like me, I never wanted to read the end of the Bible because there was a
monster, quite a few actually, at the end of the book. I dabbled but relatively stayed away from the
book of Revelations way into my adult years.
Many folks are scared to read Revelations because of God’s judgement on
His people.
Many people are scared because it involves the
devil, spiritual warfare in real life, is characterized with dragons, death,
plagues, scorpion like creatures...Because of my fear, I never knew the very
end of the Bible that Isaiah foretold chapters and centuries before.
“For behold, I create new heavens and a new
earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be
glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem
to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and
be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the
cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few
days, or an old man who does not fill out his days...my chosen shall long enjoy
the work of their hands. In other words,
our swords, our weapons of war are beaten into plowshares, because no more will
there be war over each other’s land and possessions. The old things, the old ways gone, never to
return. Yet because of my fear, I never
really knew this.”
Nor my favorite part of the whole bible, which
happens to be in Revelations, where it says:
“The angel showed me a
river that was crystal clear, and its waters gave life. The river came from the
throne where God and the Lamb were seated. Then it flowed down the middle of
the city’s main street. On each side of the river are trees that grow a different
kind of fruit each month of the year. The fruit gives life, and the leaves are
used as medicine to heal the nations.”
-Revelation 22:1-2
The Bible as a whole is a story of God’s love
and a strong desire to be with, closely work in and through the lives of His
creation. We can see this theme
happening throughout the book. As we
change lenses to get a closer perspective (Star Wars fans will know what I’m
referencing), today’s reading comes from the gospel book of Matthew.
He wrote to a specific audience around 85-90
AD.
Jewish Christians were living in a period of
post-temple destruction, which occurred in 70 AD. Temple worship was no longer central for Jews
who followed the old faith traditions and Rome still occupied the nation. Jews and Jewish Christians faced high taxes,
exile, persecution from Rome, and many were killed during the war years or fled
to other nations around the world.
Jewish Christians were also harassed by Jews
because of their new faith. Matthew’s
main purpose in writing the gospel was to show his audience that Jesus was the
promised Messiah. He was the one talked
about in the stories and written about in the “Old” scriptures, and that God’s
promises had been, were being, and will continue to be fulfilled.
So as we read and try to understand scripture,
it is imperative that we see it from the lens of the people, time, culture, and
setting, for which it was written. The
trouble occurs when we replace our own time, culture, language, and
understanding with the setting of the writer.
We will miss out on a lot of what God has to offer
if we fail to recognize who the book was it written to, when was it written,
what was going on at the time, and what was God’s active, sovereign work over
creation in that particular setting.
So that’s Matthew as a whole. Now we can change the lens again (Star Wars
fans) to go deeper into today’s scripture.
What was Matthew talking about when he mentions so many times the
kingdom of heaven. If we compare
Matthews gospel to the other two Synoptics, we see that they use kingdom of God
instead. Matthew is not referring to
God’s dwelling place heaven. Some
scholars believe it was just a way to circumvent the use of saying the name for
God.
The phrase, kingdom of heaven/God, was never
really defined but rather used as a simile or metaphor by Jesus in His parables
to describe God’s ever present, ever working in and through, sovereign reign
over His creation. The Christian readers
of Matthew’s time knew this language and discussed what it meant for them in
their time. How can we Christians today
make sense of the language? Parables are
confusing in themselves let alone try to figure out what the kingdom of heaven
is. So let’s take a closer look at what
the scripture is saying. The kingdom of heaven is like:
· What
happens when a farmer plants a mustard seed in a field? What happens when a woman adds
a little yeast to a large amount of flour?
·
These two
speaks of the abundance of God’s kingdom
· What
happens when someone finds treasure hidden? What happens when a shop owner is
looking for fine pearls?
· These two speaks of giving up all you have for
the one treasure - eternal life.
· What
happens when a net is thrown into a lake?
· This one talks about the time of judgment. The end of the age. The monster at the end of
the book. It also speaks to the beauty
of God’s grace and love for those who choose Him.
Matthew uses many other parables in reference
to God’s kingdom. Who will and will not
get in, people keeping others from entering, inheriting the kingdom, being
childlike, the least in the kingdom, people from everywhere enjoying the feast
in the kingdom with the patriarchs, and with Jesus. The kingdom of heaven is near. The kingdom of God is here. The kingdom of heaven is future looking. The kingdom of God is never static or central
but always moving yet ever present with time and outside of time.
It is also revealed through the Holy Spirit to
those who are willing to see and hear God’s truth. Jesus spoke about the kingdom in parables to
the people, but explained their meaning only to the disciples. He told them- the prophets of old longed to
see and hear what you witnessed. The
mysteries of the kingdom were being revealed to them when most were “seeing but
could not see and hearing but could not hear”.
So, I ask you Christian, if the Holy Spirit is
allowing you to see while others are blind and hear while others are deaf, what
are you doing today with the knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom. What are you doing today in the face of
racism in America?
I shared yesterday in a zoom meeting how white
women clutch their purse when they see me walking down the street towards
them. When they do that subconsciously
or consciously, they are not seeing Edgar the preacher, fireman, teacher,
farmer, father, husband, human being and child of God. What they see is the stereotypical image of a
black man as thief.
What are you doing today Christian as the 1st
and second wave of Corona virus cases are increasing? Are you recognizing the harvest in the
fields? Are you continuing to do the work
of God, safely, while not allowing fear and/or isolation govern your life? Jesus says the “harvest is plenty, but the
workers are few.” So what are you doing
today Christian in the face of hunger, mental illness, understanding systemic
racism in all its forms , opioid addiction, jobless rate increase, health
crisis, depression, homelessness, misogyny, or human trafficking? More and more people are in need of help
these days.
What are you doing today, Christian?
If we were to write up a parable for our time
today, it could be: The kingdom of heaven is like when a Christian allowed the
Holy Spirit to open their eyes and open their ears. People were not seen as objects or lesser
than and everyone fought together against the spiritual forces waging war
against the soul. Lord we pray that your
kingdom come soon in order for your Will to be done on this earth as it is in
heaven. Amen.
Monday, July 13, 2020
Strange Faith: Healing from Luke 8 on July 12
What is it that you love most about worship? And what is it that you miss the most?
Les Kirby’s sister stopped by on Wednesday and was telling me about her church.
Like us haven’t met in person, but they have figured out that when they do, they won’t be able to sing, and they won’t be able to hug. She said, “so what’s the point, we can get the rest watching the service on the computer!”
I think that is a pretty understandable expression of what we want and need in our worship experiences, not just the transcendence of God with us, but the fellowship of us being together.
The faith community gathered has its own power for us! In being together we feel healed, redirected, encouraged to go back into the world and be like Christ.
So, while online worship is good and helpful especially when we just can’t safely gather, being together feels better. It is a visible expression of the body of Christ, and in the gathered crowd our faith grows.
Sheila Moore said the other day that she hurried back from shopping so she could be at home for the Friday Zoom Prayer meeting, because in that space the power flows and we all feel energized.
So, it’s not that God can’t move over the wires connecting us by Zoom or Facebook or Youtube, just like this morning. It’s just that we yearn for more!
And in these two stories from Luke’s gospel, we see the power of the gathered faith community for what it is in that context, then and now. In community, God does miracles!
Now you may be surprised by that idea, that this crowd on the shore of Lake Galilee is a faith community!
Sometimes I think we a bit arrogantly assume that the Jewish communities and even some of the Gentile communities Jesus encountered were without faith, but clearly that isn’t true.
Sometimes, like us, there was more faith or less faith, but often, Jesus saw faith and called on that faith to strengthen it and invite it to step up to a new level!
Unlike the story before it on the other shore of Galilee with the man possessed by a demon, and the pig farmers, this community is not only is excited to see Jesus, but they want to see God’s power at work through Jesus.
But as is often the case, they were not necessarily ready for how that power was going to play out, just as I suspect we aren’t ready for God’s power today.
We want God to come among us. We want God to touch our lives. But there is always some trepidation when God’s power is unleashed in that it will change things, and well, we don’t like change very much!
We’re nervous about what God will do and how God will change things and change us. And what God does may challenge us to live in bold ways like we never have before!
So, it’s into this faith community gathered on Galilee’s shores that the President of the Synagogue comes and kneels at Jesus’ feet.
It turns out that his only daughter, just 12, is gravely sick.
He comes full of faith and hope to ask Jesus to come to his house and heal the child. He hopes that Jesus will come quickly and that the healing process will come quickly as well.
This is a big moment for Jesus, because if the healing takes place, the Synagogue’s president is in a position to make Jesus even more famous and renown than he already is! And the crowd heads to the leader’s house!
But, we know a bit more about Jesus than perhaps the President of the Synagogue or the crowd did. Perhaps even more than the disciples, because we know that while meeting the President of the Synagogue may have been nice, Jesus had no interest in fame, or renown.
His interest was only in doing the work God had called him to, a gentle reminder that Jesus has little interest in many of the things we often worry about, focused instead on calling us to great faith, often the opposite of fame and power and money!
Our calling, like Jesus’, is to be focused on the kingdom, focused on God’s work in this world, and focused on growing disciples.
And then Jesus stops dead to ask who touched him!
If it wasn’t such an important moment one could almost see this as written for a Monty Python sketch, as the disciples look around hopelessly and in absolute disbelief that Jesus wants to know who of the hundreds of people around him touched him.
It could have been the synagogue guy. It could have been one of them. Everyone is in close, jostling for a place near the master and he wants to know who!
Because it matters! The who!
Because in the next moment he takes a lowly terrified woman, who by ritual standards because of her bleeding should never have been allowed anywhere near Jesus, in fact anywhere near the crowd, because she was unclean…
And Jesus, caring not a whit about her ritual uncleanness, restores her not only to health, but almost more importantly, to her community, so that no one can ever question if she belongs as part of them.
Though the scripture makes it sound as if she only touched the hem of his garment, Jesus makes clear she has touched him, that healing power has moved and has healed her, and that he now wants to meet the person of faith who simply believing, has been set free.
She bows at his feet in abject fear.
The penalty for her audacity could be permanent, painful and swift. Instead, Jesus raises her up publicly to full communion in the house of faith, as a person who is whole, holy, restored, and an example of what faith is all about!
“You are now well because of your faith. May God give you peace!”
The child of the man of renown waits while the outcast women is healed. In the kingdom of God, the first shall be last, and the last shall be first.
God does not care about fame or power or money. What God cares about is your faith.
And in a quiet room, with only a child, her faithful parents, and just three of the disciples, he raises the dead girl to life, telling the parents to say nothing.
Because faith brings no fame or power or money.
What it brings is restoration.
A woman to her community. A child to her parents. And you and I to God and each other.
And every person of faith, be they black or white, Canadian or Swede, gay or straight, young or old, handsome or rugged, working or unemployed, healthy or ill, restored to full communion in the Kingdom of God!
You and I have been restored!
And now we are invited to go and find others to invite back home! Amen
Les Kirby’s sister stopped by on Wednesday and was telling me about her church.
Like us haven’t met in person, but they have figured out that when they do, they won’t be able to sing, and they won’t be able to hug. She said, “so what’s the point, we can get the rest watching the service on the computer!”
I think that is a pretty understandable expression of what we want and need in our worship experiences, not just the transcendence of God with us, but the fellowship of us being together.
The faith community gathered has its own power for us! In being together we feel healed, redirected, encouraged to go back into the world and be like Christ.
So, while online worship is good and helpful especially when we just can’t safely gather, being together feels better. It is a visible expression of the body of Christ, and in the gathered crowd our faith grows.
Sheila Moore said the other day that she hurried back from shopping so she could be at home for the Friday Zoom Prayer meeting, because in that space the power flows and we all feel energized.
So, it’s not that God can’t move over the wires connecting us by Zoom or Facebook or Youtube, just like this morning. It’s just that we yearn for more!
And in these two stories from Luke’s gospel, we see the power of the gathered faith community for what it is in that context, then and now. In community, God does miracles!
Now you may be surprised by that idea, that this crowd on the shore of Lake Galilee is a faith community!
Sometimes I think we a bit arrogantly assume that the Jewish communities and even some of the Gentile communities Jesus encountered were without faith, but clearly that isn’t true.
Sometimes, like us, there was more faith or less faith, but often, Jesus saw faith and called on that faith to strengthen it and invite it to step up to a new level!
Unlike the story before it on the other shore of Galilee with the man possessed by a demon, and the pig farmers, this community is not only is excited to see Jesus, but they want to see God’s power at work through Jesus.
But as is often the case, they were not necessarily ready for how that power was going to play out, just as I suspect we aren’t ready for God’s power today.
We want God to come among us. We want God to touch our lives. But there is always some trepidation when God’s power is unleashed in that it will change things, and well, we don’t like change very much!
We’re nervous about what God will do and how God will change things and change us. And what God does may challenge us to live in bold ways like we never have before!
So, it’s into this faith community gathered on Galilee’s shores that the President of the Synagogue comes and kneels at Jesus’ feet.
It turns out that his only daughter, just 12, is gravely sick.
He comes full of faith and hope to ask Jesus to come to his house and heal the child. He hopes that Jesus will come quickly and that the healing process will come quickly as well.
This is a big moment for Jesus, because if the healing takes place, the Synagogue’s president is in a position to make Jesus even more famous and renown than he already is! And the crowd heads to the leader’s house!
But, we know a bit more about Jesus than perhaps the President of the Synagogue or the crowd did. Perhaps even more than the disciples, because we know that while meeting the President of the Synagogue may have been nice, Jesus had no interest in fame, or renown.
His interest was only in doing the work God had called him to, a gentle reminder that Jesus has little interest in many of the things we often worry about, focused instead on calling us to great faith, often the opposite of fame and power and money!
Our calling, like Jesus’, is to be focused on the kingdom, focused on God’s work in this world, and focused on growing disciples.
And then Jesus stops dead to ask who touched him!
If it wasn’t such an important moment one could almost see this as written for a Monty Python sketch, as the disciples look around hopelessly and in absolute disbelief that Jesus wants to know who of the hundreds of people around him touched him.
It could have been the synagogue guy. It could have been one of them. Everyone is in close, jostling for a place near the master and he wants to know who!
Because it matters! The who!
Because in the next moment he takes a lowly terrified woman, who by ritual standards because of her bleeding should never have been allowed anywhere near Jesus, in fact anywhere near the crowd, because she was unclean…
And Jesus, caring not a whit about her ritual uncleanness, restores her not only to health, but almost more importantly, to her community, so that no one can ever question if she belongs as part of them.
Though the scripture makes it sound as if she only touched the hem of his garment, Jesus makes clear she has touched him, that healing power has moved and has healed her, and that he now wants to meet the person of faith who simply believing, has been set free.
She bows at his feet in abject fear.
The penalty for her audacity could be permanent, painful and swift. Instead, Jesus raises her up publicly to full communion in the house of faith, as a person who is whole, holy, restored, and an example of what faith is all about!
“You are now well because of your faith. May God give you peace!”
The child of the man of renown waits while the outcast women is healed. In the kingdom of God, the first shall be last, and the last shall be first.
God does not care about fame or power or money. What God cares about is your faith.
And in a quiet room, with only a child, her faithful parents, and just three of the disciples, he raises the dead girl to life, telling the parents to say nothing.
Because faith brings no fame or power or money.
What it brings is restoration.
A woman to her community. A child to her parents. And you and I to God and each other.
And every person of faith, be they black or white, Canadian or Swede, gay or straight, young or old, handsome or rugged, working or unemployed, healthy or ill, restored to full communion in the Kingdom of God!
You and I have been restored!
And now we are invited to go and find others to invite back home! Amen
Tuesday, July 07, 2020
The Struggle is Real from July 5
The Struggle is Real by Elizabeth Orengo
Today’s passage shows us the very human side of the Apostle Paul. He is considered one of the most influential leaders of the early Christian church. He was crucial in spreading the gospel to the gentiles during the first century through is missionary journeys. And he started dozens of churches. That’s not a bad resume. Some would say, he’s someone we should look up to as an example of a good Christian, right?
Let’s see – he was influential, he could preach the gospel so good speaker, he was a self-starter or entrepreneur, definitely a leader, so yeah, by those qualifications, he’s pretty good.
But let’s not forget before he met Jesus, he was Saul of Tarsus and his primary occupation was persecuting Christians. Hey, nobody’s perfect.
That’s why today’s passage always strikes home with me. Because it’s REAL! I see myself in this passage. I know the sermon title is cliché but it’s true – the struggle is real! What struggle? Well, life!
As I’ve mentioned before, I was born and raised in the church. I’ve never really strayed or rebelled against the church. I may have gone a few months over the course of my [ahem] years of not attending because I was “in between” churches but I never considered myself “unchurched”. So when I read this passage and see that someone like Paul who commands with such authority, who starts churches, who calls people out, who is bold and confident to preach the gospel anywhere his feet takes him actually STRUGGLES with SIN then I think to myself – WOW, if this guy who in some religions is known as a Saint can have issues, then I‘m not in bad company!
That’s why this passage in Romans is often referred to as the Christian Experience because it talks about the Christian life. It talks about the struggle only Christians have – that push and pull between wanting to do what is good (following God) and doing what is bad (sin). You see, non-believers don’t have this struggle. Because of sin (through Adam), we were already at odds with God – so sin is not the non-believers problem. Once we are converted, once we change and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, that’s when our struggle with sin begins. We are now fighting between doing what we know we should do as followers of Christ and fighting against what our flesh wants us to do. This is what Paul is talking about in chapter 7.
What I like is that he’s not talking about it from a lofty, pulpit, preachy place – he’s talking in the first-person. He’s speaking of his experience as a Christian in verses 14-25. Paul is describing his own personal struggle with sin. What?? Paul struggles with sin? The Apostle Paul?? That can’t be right!? Me, yes? I can’t speak for you, but ask yourself, do you struggle with sin?
Now you may think, “I’m a good person. I may make little mistakes, tell the occasional white lie, but I don’t SIN.” Well, look at this way. The fact that you categorize them as “mistakes” and “lies” already means you know they are wrong – you are already struggling with yourself. That means the Holy Spirit is working in you, course correcting you to stay on the right path. That inner voice – that’s the struggle. If you weren’t a believer, that inner voice wouldn’t be there, that struggle wouldn’t be there.
Let’s go to the text. Verses 14-17:
14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
Like all good leaders, Paul is trying to problem solve. Is the law (the Law of Moses) the problem or is it me? Let’s get to the root of the problem. Well, it can’t be the Law – that’s holy, righteous and good. It came directly from God! So, I have to be the problem! Then we see his frustration with himself! And this is where I see myself so often! I know what I’m supposed to do and yet I don’t do it!!
It’s like exercising. We all know we should exercise daily. And we may start off with good intentions on January 1. We get our gym memberships or buy some home equipment and new workout clothes and we’re excited and motivated. Week one we’re feeling good, the endorphins are in high gear. Week two we skipped a few days because we worked late, we went out, we wanted pizza for dinner, or [insert your own excuse here]. Week three we find more excuses and our struggle continues.
That’s how I see this inner struggle we have with sin. But Paul does something in this text that adds a new element and kind of takes the guilt off our shoulders.
Our desire as Christians is to want to do that which God’s Law defines as good. We don’t want to do what the Law calls sin. I picture this like a tennis match where I’m the ball bouncing from one side of the court to the other – I want to do the right thing (whack), but I don’t (return), but I want to do right (whack), but I mess up again (return)…how do we stop the insanity?!
Paul describes this as being weak in the flesh which is why we are overpowered by our sinful nature! Verses 18-20:
18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
If Paul struggled with his sinful nature, what hope do the rest of us have of conquering it? This problem is serious! So much so that Paul refers to himself as “a miserable person” or in some translations “wretched.” He even likens his struggles to being a slave to sin. This nature is so powerful, he’s being controlled by it! Have you ever felt controlled by your sins? Verses 21-24:
21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?
Let’s step back for a minute. Have you noticed a theme throughout the text? There’s a whole lot of “I” going on in here!
“I want to do”
“but I don’t”
“I do what I really”
“I, I, I, I, I”!
Where is God in all this struggling?
Where is there some Proverbs 3:5 trust & understanding?
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
I do this a lot, too. I try to solve my issues on my own. I think too often that God has bigger things to deal with that I should be able to deal with my own issues. Since I know I’m doing wrong, I should be able to course correct on my own. I know that causes a lot of the struggles I face and it’s not necessary.
The desperate struggle in our life as Christians to do what is right under our own power – I’ll say that again – under our own power – leads to complete frustration and failure – even the Apostle Paul says this is his experience! So, I ask again, is there hope? Are we meant to keep struggling endlessly? No, we are not; there is HOPE! That hope can be found in Jesus Christ!
Verse 25:
25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.
My friends, until Christ comes again and we are transformed, we are going to struggle between doing what is right because we have become children of God and what is wrong because of sin. But don’t despair. Look to the Cross. This is where we will find forgiveness and strength and healing. Remember, when you struggle and fail – not if, but when – you’ll be in good company. His name is the Apostle Paul and he didn’t do so badly. Amen.
Today’s passage shows us the very human side of the Apostle Paul. He is considered one of the most influential leaders of the early Christian church. He was crucial in spreading the gospel to the gentiles during the first century through is missionary journeys. And he started dozens of churches. That’s not a bad resume. Some would say, he’s someone we should look up to as an example of a good Christian, right?
Let’s see – he was influential, he could preach the gospel so good speaker, he was a self-starter or entrepreneur, definitely a leader, so yeah, by those qualifications, he’s pretty good.
But let’s not forget before he met Jesus, he was Saul of Tarsus and his primary occupation was persecuting Christians. Hey, nobody’s perfect.
That’s why today’s passage always strikes home with me. Because it’s REAL! I see myself in this passage. I know the sermon title is cliché but it’s true – the struggle is real! What struggle? Well, life!
As I’ve mentioned before, I was born and raised in the church. I’ve never really strayed or rebelled against the church. I may have gone a few months over the course of my [ahem] years of not attending because I was “in between” churches but I never considered myself “unchurched”. So when I read this passage and see that someone like Paul who commands with such authority, who starts churches, who calls people out, who is bold and confident to preach the gospel anywhere his feet takes him actually STRUGGLES with SIN then I think to myself – WOW, if this guy who in some religions is known as a Saint can have issues, then I‘m not in bad company!
That’s why this passage in Romans is often referred to as the Christian Experience because it talks about the Christian life. It talks about the struggle only Christians have – that push and pull between wanting to do what is good (following God) and doing what is bad (sin). You see, non-believers don’t have this struggle. Because of sin (through Adam), we were already at odds with God – so sin is not the non-believers problem. Once we are converted, once we change and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, that’s when our struggle with sin begins. We are now fighting between doing what we know we should do as followers of Christ and fighting against what our flesh wants us to do. This is what Paul is talking about in chapter 7.
What I like is that he’s not talking about it from a lofty, pulpit, preachy place – he’s talking in the first-person. He’s speaking of his experience as a Christian in verses 14-25. Paul is describing his own personal struggle with sin. What?? Paul struggles with sin? The Apostle Paul?? That can’t be right!? Me, yes? I can’t speak for you, but ask yourself, do you struggle with sin?
Now you may think, “I’m a good person. I may make little mistakes, tell the occasional white lie, but I don’t SIN.” Well, look at this way. The fact that you categorize them as “mistakes” and “lies” already means you know they are wrong – you are already struggling with yourself. That means the Holy Spirit is working in you, course correcting you to stay on the right path. That inner voice – that’s the struggle. If you weren’t a believer, that inner voice wouldn’t be there, that struggle wouldn’t be there.
Let’s go to the text. Verses 14-17:
14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
Like all good leaders, Paul is trying to problem solve. Is the law (the Law of Moses) the problem or is it me? Let’s get to the root of the problem. Well, it can’t be the Law – that’s holy, righteous and good. It came directly from God! So, I have to be the problem! Then we see his frustration with himself! And this is where I see myself so often! I know what I’m supposed to do and yet I don’t do it!!
It’s like exercising. We all know we should exercise daily. And we may start off with good intentions on January 1. We get our gym memberships or buy some home equipment and new workout clothes and we’re excited and motivated. Week one we’re feeling good, the endorphins are in high gear. Week two we skipped a few days because we worked late, we went out, we wanted pizza for dinner, or [insert your own excuse here]. Week three we find more excuses and our struggle continues.
That’s how I see this inner struggle we have with sin. But Paul does something in this text that adds a new element and kind of takes the guilt off our shoulders.
Our desire as Christians is to want to do that which God’s Law defines as good. We don’t want to do what the Law calls sin. I picture this like a tennis match where I’m the ball bouncing from one side of the court to the other – I want to do the right thing (whack), but I don’t (return), but I want to do right (whack), but I mess up again (return)…how do we stop the insanity?!
Paul describes this as being weak in the flesh which is why we are overpowered by our sinful nature! Verses 18-20:
18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
If Paul struggled with his sinful nature, what hope do the rest of us have of conquering it? This problem is serious! So much so that Paul refers to himself as “a miserable person” or in some translations “wretched.” He even likens his struggles to being a slave to sin. This nature is so powerful, he’s being controlled by it! Have you ever felt controlled by your sins? Verses 21-24:
21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?
Let’s step back for a minute. Have you noticed a theme throughout the text? There’s a whole lot of “I” going on in here!
“I want to do”
“but I don’t”
“I do what I really”
“I, I, I, I, I”!
Where is God in all this struggling?
Where is there some Proverbs 3:5 trust & understanding?
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
I do this a lot, too. I try to solve my issues on my own. I think too often that God has bigger things to deal with that I should be able to deal with my own issues. Since I know I’m doing wrong, I should be able to course correct on my own. I know that causes a lot of the struggles I face and it’s not necessary.
The desperate struggle in our life as Christians to do what is right under our own power – I’ll say that again – under our own power – leads to complete frustration and failure – even the Apostle Paul says this is his experience! So, I ask again, is there hope? Are we meant to keep struggling endlessly? No, we are not; there is HOPE! That hope can be found in Jesus Christ!
Verse 25:
25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.
My friends, until Christ comes again and we are transformed, we are going to struggle between doing what is right because we have become children of God and what is wrong because of sin. But don’t despair. Look to the Cross. This is where we will find forgiveness and strength and healing. Remember, when you struggle and fail – not if, but when – you’ll be in good company. His name is the Apostle Paul and he didn’t do so badly. Amen.
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