http://www.frankfortyotb.blogspot.com/
Check out the church site too!
http://www.frankfortpresbychurch.com/
"Year of the Bible" Q&As and Sunday Sermon
Here's the question and answer from yesterday:
What country is God going to give to Nebuchadnezzar? What country is he king of?
Ezekiel 29:19 19 Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am going to give Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will carry off its wealth.
And here's the question of the day:
Fill in the blanks: “Those who trust in the Lord are like _______________________________.” (Psalm 125)
And here's the Sunday Sermon:
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION: Please pray with me: Holy Spirit, as the Scripture is read, open our hearts and minds to hear the truth; shine your light into our dark places; convict us where our hearts have been hardened; and call us to respond with joy to your Word to us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
SCRIPTURE: 1 Peter 1:3-9
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-- kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
7 These have come so that your faith-- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.
SERMON-INTRO
I don’t know about you, but there are some days when I could really use an “easy button.” You’ve seen the easy button, right, on the Staples commercials? . . . those wonderful, magical commercials where just the touch of a button un-jams the copier and files the papers and makes the coffee and straightens up the office and makes the boss happy.
Especially as the holidays begin their approach in our daily lives and all the things that need to be done start to pile up, it would be so nice to have a little red button to push that would magically accomplish everything on our to-do lists.
I’m sure you can think back over your life and come up with a few places you wished you’d had an easy button—algebra in high school, learning, how to drive, asking the person you like out on a date for the first time, your first job interview. Even today, I’m sure you’d like to have an easy button to get the house clean and the laundry done and the kids to bed and pay bills, and to figure out what to do when the doctor gives you bad news and how to deal with a sick child or an aging parent.
I would LOVE to have an easy button around here at the church: preparing for sermons and Bible Studies and session meetings, finding volunteers, keeping volunteers, moving those dividers around downstairs, finding new elders, meeting the budget, finding new members, and helping our faith in and knowledge of God increase.
‘Staples has an Easy Button. But life does not.
Staples says, “That was easy.” But Jesus says, “This might hurt a little bit.”’
#1
Actually, what he said in John 16:33 was “In this world you will have trouble.” It’s a part of the human condition, this having “trouble.” Jesus also said, in Matthew 6:34, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
I probably don’t need to tell you these things. You’ve probably discovered them on your own. There will be broken relationships and lost jobs and tragic deaths and chronic pain and suffering all the days of our lives.
And it is in these terrible, painful, awful moments when we’re not sure how in the world we’re going to get through another day that we will REALLY want an “easy button.” In these moments, nothing seems better than a magical “easy button” that with one touch can erase all of the trouble and suffering.
It is also in these moments that we are tempted to wish God was like a genie in a bottle. We would love to be able to rub a magic cross to make God appear and grant us our three wishes.
But, as you may have already found out, it doesn’t work that way. At some point in your life, you may have been tempted to think that life would be a little less painful as a Christian. I’m going to guess that by now you’ve given up on that particular fantasy.
God is not an easy button; nor is he a genie in a bottle. Jesus says, “This might hurt a little bit.”
#2
So, recognizing that in this life we will have trouble of all shapes and sizes, Peter tells us, in his letter, that the sooner we learn to deal with the troubles we will all face, the better off we’ll be.
Trials and troubles, Peter says, come so that our “faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result” in God’s praise and glory. Trouble comes so that our faith will grow stronger.
Sometimes the trouble we face is our own fault because we’ve made dumb decisions; sometimes it’s not our fault at all, sometimes there’s just no reason. But we can always find a purpose in our pain—there is always the chance to strengthen our faith and bring glory to God.
We can always find meaning in our suffering because nothing happens apart from the will of God. So when suffering happens, there must be some meaning in it. Trouble and suffering can always be used for good because we know that, in all things, God works for the good of those who believe in him.
Peter says that, for a little while, we may have “to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.” But in the long run, when our faith is purified and refined through troubles and trials, we will be “filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy” because we are working out our salvation, which is the “goal” of our faith.
Jesus says, “This might hurt a little bit, but it will all be worth it in the end.”
#3
I have come to believe that God does not just want us to get through our suffering and get over it. I believe that God wants to transform us through the process of dealing with our suffering.
Though God might not want us to go through the suffering, I think he definitely would want us to use our time of struggling to take a step closer to him. It is when we struggle that we can fully appreciate, as Peter writes, what it feels to be “shielded by God’s power,” like a hiding place in the midst of a storm.
I also have come to believe that from our deepest pain can come our greatest source for ministry. Though we may feel terribly alone while we are suffering, we really are surrounded by other people who have gone through the same exact thing. What a gift we have to be able to share with those in their suffering—to say to someone, “I have walked a mile in your shoes. Let me show you where there is hope.”
And the hope that we have is in Jesus Christ, who conquered death. If Jesus can conquer death, surely the suffering we are enduring is like child’s play to him! We have hope because of his resurrection and the fact that, through him, we have been adopted into God’s family. We are now God’s children! We now have a share in what Peter calls “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for” us. Just as Jesus conquered death, so we too are conquerors, more than conquerors, in fact.
Jesus says, “This might hurt a little, but it will be worth it in the end. I will be right next to you the whole time.”
CONCLUSION
Mother Teresa, who surely knew her fair share of suffering and trouble in this world, is quoted as saying this: “I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish he didn’t trust me so much.”
I think we can all relate to that, especially when the troubles and trials start to pile up. If we can only remember that God has claimed us as his own, given us new birth into his family, and a living hope in Jesus Christ, I think we can begin to see even our most painful suffering as seeds that can bring tremendous growth in our faith.
Jesus says, “Life might hurt a little bit, but it will all be worth it in the end. I will be right next to you the whole time. Believe . . . believe in the the hope I have set before you.”
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Showing posts with label Sunday Sermon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sunday Sermon. Show all posts
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Sunday Sermon: "Going to Paris Man"
www.frankfortyotb.blogspot.com
Check out the church site too!
www.frankfortpresbychurch.com
Sunday Sermon: "Going to Paris Man"
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION: Please pray with me: Holy Spirit, as the Scripture is read, open our hearts and minds to hear the truth; shine your light into our dark places; convict us where our hearts have been hardened; and call us to respond with joy to your Word to us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
SCRIPTURE: James 3:13 - 4:3
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.
16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. 17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.
James 4:1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.
SERMON-INTRO
Last Sunday, my family went out to a TGIFridays to celebrate my grandmother’s 86th birthday. As we were sitting there waiting for the food to arrive, I looked at the sugar container. Fridays has their own brand of sugar packets and each packet has a random question on it.
The first sugar packet had the question “If you could have any superpower, what would it be?” So I asked my dad; and his answer was “super-accounting powers.”
You have to know my dad to get the humor of his answer; let me assure you, it totally makes sense that’s the kind of answer he would give. But it got me thinking about the question of superpowers: suppose you could either be completely invisible OR you could fly. Which would you pick?
Now, before you answer, think about it: even if you are invisible, anything you pick up or move will still be visible. And even though you can fly, that doesn’t make you invincible, so you can still smash into things. So, which would you choose? Who would want to be invisible? And who would choose to fly? (People raise hands.)
#1
So, if you were invisible, what would you do with your powers? What kinds of things could you do with your invisibility superpower? (wait for answers)
And if you could fly, what would you do with YOUR powers? What sorts of things would you do with your flying superpower? (wait for answer)
A guy named John Hodgman hosts the “This American Life” program on NPR. He asked these very questions as an informal poll for his show. And they people were pretty evenly split between wanting to be invisible and wanting to fly, which is not too surprising.
But the answers to the “what would you do with your superpower” question WERE pretty shocking. “No matter which power people chose, they used it in self-serving ways.”
No one seemed to care about fighting crime or finding justice; nobody wanted to work for peace. No one wanted to be merciful or even helpful.
One typical respondent, who had chosen flight, commented, “I don’t think I’d want to spend a lot of my time using my power for good. I mean, if I don’t have super strength and I’m not invulnerable it would be very dangerous. If you had to rescue somebody from a burning building you might catch on fire. Just having the power of flight, I don’t think it’s necessarily quite enough because you don’t have the super strength. I’d still be weak when I got there. I don’t fight crime now.”
He finished with — “I’d go to Paris, I suppose. I could be ‘Going to Paris Man.’”
If we’re honest with ourselves, we will probably admit thinking the same thing. We might not say it out loud, but deep, down, we might agree with “Going to Paris Man.” Even my dad’s “super-accounting power” isn’t something that’s going to benefit society; it will just make him better at his job and help him to move up the corporate ladder. According to this survey and maybe even our own answers to the questions, nobody’s really interested in helping others; we are all selfish.
#2
But you aren’t really all that surprised at the results of that poll, are you? Whether we’re open and honest about our selfishness or keep it hidden inside, we all have oodles of selfishness.
This is what James is talking about in our Scripture reading this morning. We like to follow the wisdom of the world—the kind of wisdom that says do for yourself first and, if you’ve got something leftover, do for someone else.
Hodgman found that the people who answered his survey revealed their true character with how they would USE their superpower. They followed the wisdom of the world . . . people who chose to be invisible talked about sneaking into movies, steal clothes from a store, spy on their coworkers, follow their exes around, or eavesdrop on conversations about them.
People who could fly would give up their cars and buses, fly from bar to bar, they’d hope they find some groupies who’d be glad to follow them around, or they’d fly to Paris or Barcelona or Vegas.
People were the same in James’ time as they are now. Human desires are very earthly and very unspiritual. People are self-serving. Any superpower people have they will use it only for their own good.
We don’t really need to fly—we have planes and helicopters for that. And we don’t need to be invisible—nothing good seems to come from that either. These are superpowers that will probably just make us more selfish.
#3
But the REAL superpower we need is divine wisdom or “wisdom from above,” and NOT the wisdom of the world. The wisdom of the world says look out for #1. Divine wisdom is pure and peaceful and gentle and submissive. Divine wisdom is full of mercy, not showing favoritism or hypocrisy. And true wisdom, divine wisdom, James says, produces a “righteous harvest.”
James tells us that unless our lives bears witness to divine wisdom, we are suffering from “false wisdom.” FALSE wisdom is full of bitter envy and selfish ambition. False wisdom brings disorder and wickedness of every kind. And false wisdom leads to conflicts and disputes.
James says, “You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight.” THIS is false wisdom. Doing whatever you can to get the stuff you want.
James says, “You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” THIS is false wisdom.
And that’s where false wisdom leads us: being at odds with God. Following the wisdom of the world puts us at such odds with God that when we ask, we do not receive because we ask with the wrong motives.
You have heard it said “Ask and you shall receive.” But do you remember the other part of the verse? “Seek FIRST the kingdom of God and all these things will be given to you. Divine wisdom seeks first the kingdom of God. False wisdom seeks first OUR own little kingdoms. Should we really be surprised when we are receive “no” answers from God when our motives are selfish?
When we look to other places or other people for things that only God can supply, we “do not have” because we do not ask God. In a way, we have a hand in answering our own prayers. If we are asking from false motives, should we really be surprised when we get a “no” answer? Which of our prayers might instead be answered by a “yes” instead of a “no” simply because we ask using divine wisdom? It’s something to think about.
CONCLUSION
Without the superpower of divine wisdom, all we are able to do is brag and boast, covet and steal, cause fights and create conflict.
But with divine wisdom, given to us and embodied in the Holy Spirit, with divine wisdom, even in our weakest moments—faced with our very own kryptonite—we can still be people who are filled with mercy and peace and gentleness, which is exactly what
James is telling us disciples need to be.
The superpower of divine wisdom is a gift—a gift which God has given to each one of us. It’s a gift that God expects us to use to make life better for others, not just to make our own lives better.
The wisdom of the world—false wisdom—tells us to love ourselves. But divine wisdom tells us to love one another because God loved us first.
And we won’t need to brag about being wise; our lives will reflect that wisdom. Our lives will be full of “deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”
Thanks be to the God who makes us each into superheroes who sow in peace and raise a harvest of righteousness and whose prayers He is happy to answer because our motives are pure and unselfish.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Check out the church site too!
www.frankfortpresbychurch.com
Sunday Sermon: "Going to Paris Man"
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION: Please pray with me: Holy Spirit, as the Scripture is read, open our hearts and minds to hear the truth; shine your light into our dark places; convict us where our hearts have been hardened; and call us to respond with joy to your Word to us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
SCRIPTURE: James 3:13 - 4:3
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.
16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. 17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.
James 4:1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.
SERMON-INTRO
Last Sunday, my family went out to a TGIFridays to celebrate my grandmother’s 86th birthday. As we were sitting there waiting for the food to arrive, I looked at the sugar container. Fridays has their own brand of sugar packets and each packet has a random question on it.
The first sugar packet had the question “If you could have any superpower, what would it be?” So I asked my dad; and his answer was “super-accounting powers.”
You have to know my dad to get the humor of his answer; let me assure you, it totally makes sense that’s the kind of answer he would give. But it got me thinking about the question of superpowers: suppose you could either be completely invisible OR you could fly. Which would you pick?
Now, before you answer, think about it: even if you are invisible, anything you pick up or move will still be visible. And even though you can fly, that doesn’t make you invincible, so you can still smash into things. So, which would you choose? Who would want to be invisible? And who would choose to fly? (People raise hands.)
#1
So, if you were invisible, what would you do with your powers? What kinds of things could you do with your invisibility superpower? (wait for answers)
And if you could fly, what would you do with YOUR powers? What sorts of things would you do with your flying superpower? (wait for answer)
A guy named John Hodgman hosts the “This American Life” program on NPR. He asked these very questions as an informal poll for his show. And they people were pretty evenly split between wanting to be invisible and wanting to fly, which is not too surprising.
But the answers to the “what would you do with your superpower” question WERE pretty shocking. “No matter which power people chose, they used it in self-serving ways.”
No one seemed to care about fighting crime or finding justice; nobody wanted to work for peace. No one wanted to be merciful or even helpful.
One typical respondent, who had chosen flight, commented, “I don’t think I’d want to spend a lot of my time using my power for good. I mean, if I don’t have super strength and I’m not invulnerable it would be very dangerous. If you had to rescue somebody from a burning building you might catch on fire. Just having the power of flight, I don’t think it’s necessarily quite enough because you don’t have the super strength. I’d still be weak when I got there. I don’t fight crime now.”
He finished with — “I’d go to Paris, I suppose. I could be ‘Going to Paris Man.’”
If we’re honest with ourselves, we will probably admit thinking the same thing. We might not say it out loud, but deep, down, we might agree with “Going to Paris Man.” Even my dad’s “super-accounting power” isn’t something that’s going to benefit society; it will just make him better at his job and help him to move up the corporate ladder. According to this survey and maybe even our own answers to the questions, nobody’s really interested in helping others; we are all selfish.
#2
But you aren’t really all that surprised at the results of that poll, are you? Whether we’re open and honest about our selfishness or keep it hidden inside, we all have oodles of selfishness.
This is what James is talking about in our Scripture reading this morning. We like to follow the wisdom of the world—the kind of wisdom that says do for yourself first and, if you’ve got something leftover, do for someone else.
Hodgman found that the people who answered his survey revealed their true character with how they would USE their superpower. They followed the wisdom of the world . . . people who chose to be invisible talked about sneaking into movies, steal clothes from a store, spy on their coworkers, follow their exes around, or eavesdrop on conversations about them.
People who could fly would give up their cars and buses, fly from bar to bar, they’d hope they find some groupies who’d be glad to follow them around, or they’d fly to Paris or Barcelona or Vegas.
People were the same in James’ time as they are now. Human desires are very earthly and very unspiritual. People are self-serving. Any superpower people have they will use it only for their own good.
We don’t really need to fly—we have planes and helicopters for that. And we don’t need to be invisible—nothing good seems to come from that either. These are superpowers that will probably just make us more selfish.
#3
But the REAL superpower we need is divine wisdom or “wisdom from above,” and NOT the wisdom of the world. The wisdom of the world says look out for #1. Divine wisdom is pure and peaceful and gentle and submissive. Divine wisdom is full of mercy, not showing favoritism or hypocrisy. And true wisdom, divine wisdom, James says, produces a “righteous harvest.”
James tells us that unless our lives bears witness to divine wisdom, we are suffering from “false wisdom.” FALSE wisdom is full of bitter envy and selfish ambition. False wisdom brings disorder and wickedness of every kind. And false wisdom leads to conflicts and disputes.
James says, “You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight.” THIS is false wisdom. Doing whatever you can to get the stuff you want.
James says, “You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” THIS is false wisdom.
And that’s where false wisdom leads us: being at odds with God. Following the wisdom of the world puts us at such odds with God that when we ask, we do not receive because we ask with the wrong motives.
You have heard it said “Ask and you shall receive.” But do you remember the other part of the verse? “Seek FIRST the kingdom of God and all these things will be given to you. Divine wisdom seeks first the kingdom of God. False wisdom seeks first OUR own little kingdoms. Should we really be surprised when we are receive “no” answers from God when our motives are selfish?
When we look to other places or other people for things that only God can supply, we “do not have” because we do not ask God. In a way, we have a hand in answering our own prayers. If we are asking from false motives, should we really be surprised when we get a “no” answer? Which of our prayers might instead be answered by a “yes” instead of a “no” simply because we ask using divine wisdom? It’s something to think about.
CONCLUSION
Without the superpower of divine wisdom, all we are able to do is brag and boast, covet and steal, cause fights and create conflict.
But with divine wisdom, given to us and embodied in the Holy Spirit, with divine wisdom, even in our weakest moments—faced with our very own kryptonite—we can still be people who are filled with mercy and peace and gentleness, which is exactly what
James is telling us disciples need to be.
The superpower of divine wisdom is a gift—a gift which God has given to each one of us. It’s a gift that God expects us to use to make life better for others, not just to make our own lives better.
The wisdom of the world—false wisdom—tells us to love ourselves. But divine wisdom tells us to love one another because God loved us first.
And we won’t need to brag about being wise; our lives will reflect that wisdom. Our lives will be full of “deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”
Thanks be to the God who makes us each into superheroes who sow in peace and raise a harvest of righteousness and whose prayers He is happy to answer because our motives are pure and unselfish.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Sunday Sermon: "Naked Streets"
http://www.frankfortyotb.blogspot.com/
Check out the church site too!
http://www.frankfortpresbychurch.com/
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Please pray with me: Holy Spirit, as the Scripture is read, open our hearts and minds to hear the truth; shine your light into our dark places; convict us where our hearts have been hardened; and call us to respond with joy to your Word to us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE
I think we are all pretty familiar with the first Exodus event—when God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and led them through the wilderness and into the Promised Land. But did you know there was actually a SECOND exodus event? There is a second time that Israel ended up getting kicked out of their homeland and put into slavery in Babylon.
That’s what the book of Isaiah is all about—the second Exodus. In particular, our reading this morning is encouraging the Israelites, who are in the midst of the second Exodus and probably feeling pretty sorry for themselves, to forget about the things in their past and to look ahead to the “new thing” God is doing for them.
SCRIPTURE READING: Isaiah 43:18-25
18 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. 20 The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, 21 the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.
22 "Yet you have not called upon me, O Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel. 23 You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings, nor honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with grain offerings nor wearied you with demands for incense. 24 You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me, or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses.
25 "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.
The grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of the Lord endures forever.
SERMON-INTRO
It’s weird that God is telling the Israelites, through Isaiah, NOT to dwell in the past and remember the former things. God is ALWAYS telling the Israelites to remember their past, right? Before this, He always calls them to remember back to the Exodus . . . to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy . . . to remember the commandments of God.
In fact, forgetting was what got them in so much trouble in the first place. Usually, they are getting yelled at because they have forgotten how faithful God has been to them. When they forget all that God has done for them, they get themselves into hot water.
So, what’s up with God now saying, “Forget the former things; do not dwell in the past.” Why is he suddenly telling them to stop looking backwards.
Apparently, God wants them now to focus on something else. “See, I am doing a new thing,” God is telling them. “I am doing a new thing and I want you to be looking FORWARD now, instead of backwards all the time.”
#1
Essentially God is telling the Israelites this: all those things used to guide your lives, all the signs you counted on in your past—they’re all going to be gone, because now I am doing a new thing.
It’s like this: imagine if one day, someone took down all the road signs. Every stop sign, every traffic light, every speed limit sign, every street name sign, even the lines on the road—all gone overnight. The streets would be naked.
Suddenly all the traffic laws that we had to learn to get our drivers’ licenses, all those rules that we obey to keep us safe on the roads are gone. What do you think would happen? Well, what do YOU think would happen?
City planners in Holland, Germany, and Denmark are actually trying this.[1] It sounds like a recipe for disaster, BUT they are finding it actually makes the roads SAFER and that travel times are actually FASTER than with signs and lights.
They have found that by removing traffic lights and signage, drivers and bike riders and pedestrians are FORCED to make eye contact and adapt to the flow of traffic, rather than just focusing on a red or green light and plowing ahead.
Without lights and signs and lines on the road, everyone SLOWS DOWN. Everyone calms down.
There’s no chaos, no horns honking, no road raging, no obscene hand signals. The selfishness of driving—wanting to be first in line, to go the fastest, not wanting to wait—all those things of the past are gone and a new thing is emerging: civility is emerging. The golden rule is in effect each time a driver gets in the car.
In Holland, Germany, and Denmark, people are taught to forget the things of the past because a new thing is happening. This is exactly what God is trying to tell the Israelites.
#2
How would you feel if you woke up to come to church this morning and there were no signs or lines or speed limits? You’d probably be pretty uncomfortable about it. Maybe even a little afraid. I mean, maybe it would be ok if you were trying to go from here to Burgettstown or Weirton—we don’t need signs to get us to those places. But what if we needed to get to Indiana or Kentucky or Massachusetts?
We’d feel lost! We LIKE directional signs. We don’t want to give them up. We LIKE rules—we get nervous when there aren’t any rules, or when we don’t know the rules.
That’s EXACTLY how the Israelites felt when God told them to forget about the past. All their road signs were gone—“Do not remember the former things, God says, do not dwell in the past.”
But maybe God intends for this lack of signage to actually BE the sign for them. Maybe this lack of signage—this turning away from what is familiar in their past toward what is unfamiliar in their future—is God’s way of helping the Israelites to slow down, making them more careful and more cautious, like driving on a street with no signs.
Maybe we, like the Israelites, are too busy looking for signs that we don’t notice what’s right in front of our faces. Or rather, what’s right inside our own hearts. God has written all we need to know—all the signs we could ever ask for—on each of our hearts. Jeremiah says it like this: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jer 31.33).
And we have Jesus, who is God-with-us, and the Holy Spirit, who is our companion in the journey of faith. The signs we really need for how to live our lives aren’t found out there; we have all we need in here.
CONCLUSION
Christians shouldn’t really need signs from God. We shouldn’t need a sign that says “be kind to this person because they’re having a hard time.” We shouldn’t need a sign that has eight sides and is outlined in red that says, “Forgive.” Or a sign that is shaped like a triangle that says, “Feed the hungry here.”
We know what we should do. We don’t really needs signs telling us what the right thing to do is.
The city planners who have given up signs say that if you treat people like idiots—and plaster a million signs all over the place—people will act like idiots.[2] If you remove the signs and treat people as intelligent and compassionate, they will respond in kind.
God sees us in the same way. God gave us a brain to think and a spirit with which to pray, and hands to reach out to others. It’s not that complicated to figure out how God wants us to live.
If you love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, then you know how to follow God.
Once you get the hang of it, I think you’ll discover that you don’t actually need those signs after all.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
[1] http://www.contextsensitivesolutions.org/news/item?item_id=41000
[2] http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/btl_display.asp?installment_id=93000120
Check out the church site too!
http://www.frankfortpresbychurch.com/
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Please pray with me: Holy Spirit, as the Scripture is read, open our hearts and minds to hear the truth; shine your light into our dark places; convict us where our hearts have been hardened; and call us to respond with joy to your Word to us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE
I think we are all pretty familiar with the first Exodus event—when God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and led them through the wilderness and into the Promised Land. But did you know there was actually a SECOND exodus event? There is a second time that Israel ended up getting kicked out of their homeland and put into slavery in Babylon.
That’s what the book of Isaiah is all about—the second Exodus. In particular, our reading this morning is encouraging the Israelites, who are in the midst of the second Exodus and probably feeling pretty sorry for themselves, to forget about the things in their past and to look ahead to the “new thing” God is doing for them.
SCRIPTURE READING: Isaiah 43:18-25
18 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. 20 The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, 21 the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.
22 "Yet you have not called upon me, O Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel. 23 You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings, nor honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with grain offerings nor wearied you with demands for incense. 24 You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me, or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses.
25 "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.
The grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of the Lord endures forever.
SERMON-INTRO
It’s weird that God is telling the Israelites, through Isaiah, NOT to dwell in the past and remember the former things. God is ALWAYS telling the Israelites to remember their past, right? Before this, He always calls them to remember back to the Exodus . . . to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy . . . to remember the commandments of God.
In fact, forgetting was what got them in so much trouble in the first place. Usually, they are getting yelled at because they have forgotten how faithful God has been to them. When they forget all that God has done for them, they get themselves into hot water.
So, what’s up with God now saying, “Forget the former things; do not dwell in the past.” Why is he suddenly telling them to stop looking backwards.
Apparently, God wants them now to focus on something else. “See, I am doing a new thing,” God is telling them. “I am doing a new thing and I want you to be looking FORWARD now, instead of backwards all the time.”
#1
Essentially God is telling the Israelites this: all those things used to guide your lives, all the signs you counted on in your past—they’re all going to be gone, because now I am doing a new thing.
It’s like this: imagine if one day, someone took down all the road signs. Every stop sign, every traffic light, every speed limit sign, every street name sign, even the lines on the road—all gone overnight. The streets would be naked.
Suddenly all the traffic laws that we had to learn to get our drivers’ licenses, all those rules that we obey to keep us safe on the roads are gone. What do you think would happen? Well, what do YOU think would happen?
City planners in Holland, Germany, and Denmark are actually trying this.[1] It sounds like a recipe for disaster, BUT they are finding it actually makes the roads SAFER and that travel times are actually FASTER than with signs and lights.
They have found that by removing traffic lights and signage, drivers and bike riders and pedestrians are FORCED to make eye contact and adapt to the flow of traffic, rather than just focusing on a red or green light and plowing ahead.
Without lights and signs and lines on the road, everyone SLOWS DOWN. Everyone calms down.
There’s no chaos, no horns honking, no road raging, no obscene hand signals. The selfishness of driving—wanting to be first in line, to go the fastest, not wanting to wait—all those things of the past are gone and a new thing is emerging: civility is emerging. The golden rule is in effect each time a driver gets in the car.
In Holland, Germany, and Denmark, people are taught to forget the things of the past because a new thing is happening. This is exactly what God is trying to tell the Israelites.
#2
How would you feel if you woke up to come to church this morning and there were no signs or lines or speed limits? You’d probably be pretty uncomfortable about it. Maybe even a little afraid. I mean, maybe it would be ok if you were trying to go from here to Burgettstown or Weirton—we don’t need signs to get us to those places. But what if we needed to get to Indiana or Kentucky or Massachusetts?
We’d feel lost! We LIKE directional signs. We don’t want to give them up. We LIKE rules—we get nervous when there aren’t any rules, or when we don’t know the rules.
That’s EXACTLY how the Israelites felt when God told them to forget about the past. All their road signs were gone—“Do not remember the former things, God says, do not dwell in the past.”
But maybe God intends for this lack of signage to actually BE the sign for them. Maybe this lack of signage—this turning away from what is familiar in their past toward what is unfamiliar in their future—is God’s way of helping the Israelites to slow down, making them more careful and more cautious, like driving on a street with no signs.
Maybe we, like the Israelites, are too busy looking for signs that we don’t notice what’s right in front of our faces. Or rather, what’s right inside our own hearts. God has written all we need to know—all the signs we could ever ask for—on each of our hearts. Jeremiah says it like this: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jer 31.33).
And we have Jesus, who is God-with-us, and the Holy Spirit, who is our companion in the journey of faith. The signs we really need for how to live our lives aren’t found out there; we have all we need in here.
CONCLUSION
Christians shouldn’t really need signs from God. We shouldn’t need a sign that says “be kind to this person because they’re having a hard time.” We shouldn’t need a sign that has eight sides and is outlined in red that says, “Forgive.” Or a sign that is shaped like a triangle that says, “Feed the hungry here.”
We know what we should do. We don’t really needs signs telling us what the right thing to do is.
The city planners who have given up signs say that if you treat people like idiots—and plaster a million signs all over the place—people will act like idiots.[2] If you remove the signs and treat people as intelligent and compassionate, they will respond in kind.
God sees us in the same way. God gave us a brain to think and a spirit with which to pray, and hands to reach out to others. It’s not that complicated to figure out how God wants us to live.
If you love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, then you know how to follow God.
Once you get the hang of it, I think you’ll discover that you don’t actually need those signs after all.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
[1] http://www.contextsensitivesolutions.org/news/item?item_id=41000
[2] http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/btl_display.asp?installment_id=93000120
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Sunday Sermon: Ecclesiastes 3 sermon do-over
www.frankfortyotb.blogspot.com
Check out the church site too!
www.frankfortpresbychurch.com
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Please pray with me: Gracious God, you have the words of eternal life. As the Scripture is read and preached, empower us to hear it with humility and openness, so that hearing it, we respond with courage and conviction. Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING: Ecclesiastes 3:1-11
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
The grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of the Lord endures forever.
SERMON-INTRO
For those of you who missed the excitement last week, we didn’t quite get the whole way through the sermon. All week long, I was planning on this being a “do-over” sermon. I was going to enjoy the break from writing another sermon—it’s hard to do this every week, you know. So I was just going to recycle the sermon that never happened from last week.
And then life got in the way.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve had an Ecclesiastes 3 kind of weekend. I’m not exactly sure how to explain what I’m feeling other than to say it’s an Ecclesiastes 3 kind of weekend.
On Friday came the news of a pastor-friend of mine passing away from cancer. He was the father of one of my camp friends and was very kind and welcoming to me when I joined the Presbytery.
Then on Saturday I had the honor of performing a marriage. The bride and groom both cried as they recited the vows they themselves had written. It was a very touching service.
Then came the news of Wyatt’s tragic death and I went through all the emotions you go through when something terrible like that happens.
THEN, I began to prepare for the baptism of Diann’s granddaughter which we will be celebrating right after the sermon. Performing a baptism is one of the privileges of being a pastor that I enjoy the most.
So you can see, it’s been an up and down weekend. It’s been an Ecclesiastes 3 kind of weekend, with a time for everything under heaven. And I can’t just preach the same sermon that I was going to preach last week. Things have changed; life has changed; I have changed.
So I took that sermon from last week, tore it apart, and put it back together again. And I think, because of the last couple of days, I have a better sense of what Ecclesiastes 3 is all about. And because so many of you have been going through the things I have, I think you do too.
#1
This chapter of Ecclesiastes contains fourteen sets of opposites—experiences on the polar opposite ends of the spectrum. If we didn’t know what it felt like to be wounded, we wouldn’t appreciate what healing is all about. And we wouldn’t know the sweetness of peace without seeing the ugliness of war.
So it would seem that though we might prefer the more pleasant halves of these opposites—planting and healing and building—we couldn’t appreciate them without the less pleasant parts of life—the uprooting and the wounding and the tearing down.
What happened to Wyatt was awful, something nobody deserves. And I’m sure the first thing we all did when we heard the news was to say a prayer for his family. And the second thing we all did was to say a prayer of thanksgiving for the safety of our own families. Experiencing death gives us a renewed appreciation for life.
I plan on attending my friend Wayne’s funeral tonight. And I know one of the statements that will be made is that Wayne’s baptism has been made complete in his death. I know they’ll say it because that is a line I regularly use in the funerals I perform. And though you might think it would make me sad, it actually just seems right to celebrate the beginning of Miss Elizabeth’s life with her baptism this morning and the completion of Wayne’s baptism in his death this evening. That’s an Ecclesiastes 3 moment.
#2
Now, surely this list of opposites is not a list of the things God wants to happen. It is a list of things which WILL inevitably happen. I don’t believe God WANTS everything on this list to happen. I don’t believe God wants there to be a time to kill or a time to tear down or even a time for war. I think what the guy who wrote Ecclesiastes is trying to tell us is that all these times are going to happen. They are inevitable. These phrases are simply a part of life. And “there is a time for everything . . . under heaven.”
And sometimes you will have an Ecclesiastes 3 kind of weekend when the weeping and the laughing and the mourning and the dancing all happen at the same time. And you’re left with jumbled up feelings and feeling pretty confused.
As we prepared for the wedding yesterday, talk turned to Wyatt’s situation. And I watched the bride and groom struggle with wanting to be happy on their wedding day but feeling so terrible for his family at the same time. Sometimes, you will have an Ecclesiastes 3 kind of experience and you just have to get through it.
#3
And you get through it by remembering that each of these phrases is a season. Seasons have beginnings and ends. Summer has been great, but now we are coming to its end. Fall will begin just as summer is ending.
So seasons have a beginning and an ending. That means a season of weeping, for example, has a beginning AND an ending. This is important for us to remember because when it is a time for—or a season of weeping—it seems like there will be no end. When it is a time of mourning, it’s hard to believe there will ever be a time to dance and rejoice again.
Here is the hope and comfort hidden in this passage: for every season of sorrow or sadness, there will be an end. And that will be followed by a time of gladness and rejoicing, if we can only hang on until the next season begins.
CONCLUSION
There’s something about Ecclesiastes 3 that makes us take a step back and look at the big picture of our lives. We go so caught up in the little details of our lives that we forget that there is an ending to the season we’re in and the beginning of another, for better or worse.
And we may be in a phrase we don’t understand or that is painful. And we wonder when it is going to end. And we might even wonder why.
But Ecclesiastes also tells us that “God has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” I think there are some things we are not meant to understand. God has given us the ability to understand eternity and all things, but sin has broken us so that we cannot understand it. There are just some things we are not meant to understand.
The writer of Ecclesiastes tells us that 11 “God has made everything beautiful in its time.” It’s hard to see the beauty in the midst of some of the phrases in this chapter, but somehow, somewhere, God will make everything beautiful.
Let that bring you some hope in the middle of darkness. Let that promise bring you hope and comfort during ALL the seasons under heaven.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Check out the church site too!
www.frankfortpresbychurch.com
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Please pray with me: Gracious God, you have the words of eternal life. As the Scripture is read and preached, empower us to hear it with humility and openness, so that hearing it, we respond with courage and conviction. Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING: Ecclesiastes 3:1-11
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
The grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of the Lord endures forever.
SERMON-INTRO
For those of you who missed the excitement last week, we didn’t quite get the whole way through the sermon. All week long, I was planning on this being a “do-over” sermon. I was going to enjoy the break from writing another sermon—it’s hard to do this every week, you know. So I was just going to recycle the sermon that never happened from last week.
And then life got in the way.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve had an Ecclesiastes 3 kind of weekend. I’m not exactly sure how to explain what I’m feeling other than to say it’s an Ecclesiastes 3 kind of weekend.
On Friday came the news of a pastor-friend of mine passing away from cancer. He was the father of one of my camp friends and was very kind and welcoming to me when I joined the Presbytery.
Then on Saturday I had the honor of performing a marriage. The bride and groom both cried as they recited the vows they themselves had written. It was a very touching service.
Then came the news of Wyatt’s tragic death and I went through all the emotions you go through when something terrible like that happens.
THEN, I began to prepare for the baptism of Diann’s granddaughter which we will be celebrating right after the sermon. Performing a baptism is one of the privileges of being a pastor that I enjoy the most.
So you can see, it’s been an up and down weekend. It’s been an Ecclesiastes 3 kind of weekend, with a time for everything under heaven. And I can’t just preach the same sermon that I was going to preach last week. Things have changed; life has changed; I have changed.
So I took that sermon from last week, tore it apart, and put it back together again. And I think, because of the last couple of days, I have a better sense of what Ecclesiastes 3 is all about. And because so many of you have been going through the things I have, I think you do too.
#1
This chapter of Ecclesiastes contains fourteen sets of opposites—experiences on the polar opposite ends of the spectrum. If we didn’t know what it felt like to be wounded, we wouldn’t appreciate what healing is all about. And we wouldn’t know the sweetness of peace without seeing the ugliness of war.
So it would seem that though we might prefer the more pleasant halves of these opposites—planting and healing and building—we couldn’t appreciate them without the less pleasant parts of life—the uprooting and the wounding and the tearing down.
What happened to Wyatt was awful, something nobody deserves. And I’m sure the first thing we all did when we heard the news was to say a prayer for his family. And the second thing we all did was to say a prayer of thanksgiving for the safety of our own families. Experiencing death gives us a renewed appreciation for life.
I plan on attending my friend Wayne’s funeral tonight. And I know one of the statements that will be made is that Wayne’s baptism has been made complete in his death. I know they’ll say it because that is a line I regularly use in the funerals I perform. And though you might think it would make me sad, it actually just seems right to celebrate the beginning of Miss Elizabeth’s life with her baptism this morning and the completion of Wayne’s baptism in his death this evening. That’s an Ecclesiastes 3 moment.
#2
Now, surely this list of opposites is not a list of the things God wants to happen. It is a list of things which WILL inevitably happen. I don’t believe God WANTS everything on this list to happen. I don’t believe God wants there to be a time to kill or a time to tear down or even a time for war. I think what the guy who wrote Ecclesiastes is trying to tell us is that all these times are going to happen. They are inevitable. These phrases are simply a part of life. And “there is a time for everything . . . under heaven.”
And sometimes you will have an Ecclesiastes 3 kind of weekend when the weeping and the laughing and the mourning and the dancing all happen at the same time. And you’re left with jumbled up feelings and feeling pretty confused.
As we prepared for the wedding yesterday, talk turned to Wyatt’s situation. And I watched the bride and groom struggle with wanting to be happy on their wedding day but feeling so terrible for his family at the same time. Sometimes, you will have an Ecclesiastes 3 kind of experience and you just have to get through it.
#3
And you get through it by remembering that each of these phrases is a season. Seasons have beginnings and ends. Summer has been great, but now we are coming to its end. Fall will begin just as summer is ending.
So seasons have a beginning and an ending. That means a season of weeping, for example, has a beginning AND an ending. This is important for us to remember because when it is a time for—or a season of weeping—it seems like there will be no end. When it is a time of mourning, it’s hard to believe there will ever be a time to dance and rejoice again.
Here is the hope and comfort hidden in this passage: for every season of sorrow or sadness, there will be an end. And that will be followed by a time of gladness and rejoicing, if we can only hang on until the next season begins.
CONCLUSION
There’s something about Ecclesiastes 3 that makes us take a step back and look at the big picture of our lives. We go so caught up in the little details of our lives that we forget that there is an ending to the season we’re in and the beginning of another, for better or worse.
And we may be in a phrase we don’t understand or that is painful. And we wonder when it is going to end. And we might even wonder why.
But Ecclesiastes also tells us that “God has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” I think there are some things we are not meant to understand. God has given us the ability to understand eternity and all things, but sin has broken us so that we cannot understand it. There are just some things we are not meant to understand.
The writer of Ecclesiastes tells us that 11 “God has made everything beautiful in its time.” It’s hard to see the beauty in the midst of some of the phrases in this chapter, but somehow, somewhere, God will make everything beautiful.
Let that bring you some hope in the middle of darkness. Let that promise bring you hope and comfort during ALL the seasons under heaven.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Sunday Sermon: Sabbath
www.frankfortyotb.blogspot.com
Check out the church site too! www.frankfortpresbychurch.com
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Please pray with me: Gracious God, you have the words of eternal life. As the Scripture is read and preached, empower us to hear it with humility and openness, so that hearing it, we may respond with courage and conviction. Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING: Psalm 92:1-15 A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day.
It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, 2 to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, 3 to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp. 4 For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of your hands. 5 How great are your works, O LORD, how profound your thoughts! 6 The senseless man does not know, fools do not understand, 7 that though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed. 8 But you, O LORD, are exalted forever. 9 For surely your enemies, O LORD, surely your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered. 10 You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; fine oils have been poured upon me. 11 My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries; my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes. 12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; 13 planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, 15 proclaiming, "The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him."
The grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of the Lord endures forever.
SERMON: INTRODUCTION
Today is the Sabbath day. In the Christian tradition, Sundays are set apart as the Lord’s Day. For six days God created; but on the seventh day, He rested. That is the example God has set for us.
We’ve been reading through the Bible this year, so you probably remember all the strict instructions for observing the Sabbath within the Jewish tradition. There were A LOT of lists of do’s and don’ts for keeping the Sabbath, right?
In fact, by the time Jesus rolls around “there were 1,521 things that a person could not do on the Sabbath. For instance, a person with a toothache couldn't gargle with vinegar but could use a toothbrush dipped in vinegar; a radish could be dipped in salt, but not left too long in the salt, lest it begin to pickle” (Homiletics online, Sabbath illustration).
As a result, it sort of seems like the fourth commandment came to be known not so much as “thou shalt observe the Sabbath and keep it holy” but more like “thou shalt not enjoy life on Sunday” (Joy Davidman, the poet-essayist and wife of C.S. Lewis, Homiletics online, Sabbath illustration).
But I don’t think that’s exactly what God had in mind when He created the Sabbath. The question is: what DID God have in mind for us when it comes to observing the Sabbath?
#1
Our Scripture reading this morning is a psalm that someone—we don’t know who—along the way decided should be used in worship—the subtitle for Psalm 92 says, “A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day.” Surely if we’re looking to learn more about the Sabbath, this psalm, traditionally used in Sabbath day worship, will give us some solid suggestions for doing Sabbath the way God intended.
First of all, Psalm 92 says, “It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night.” The Sabbath is supposed to be a day for worship—a WHOLE day, from morning to night. If you’re here this morning for worship, you’ve got a good start on the worship part of observing the Sabbath and keeping it holy. It is good for Christian brothers and sisters to gather together and pray for each other, to read the Bible together and to hear the Word proclaimed.
BUT this is just an hour—and the psalm tells us to proclaim God’s love from morning to night. We’re not done keeping the Sabbath just because church is done. That leaves plenty of time for families to spend time together and for church families to fellowship and break bread together, like we’re going to do at the church picnic. That is part of our Sabbath time too!
So the Sabbath is about worship, all day long.
#2
The second way God wants us to do the Sabbath is to rest. Now, for those of you who are wondering, sleeping through the sermon does not count as Sabbath rest. BUT, if you, like me, are planning on taking a nap later this afternoon, then you’ve got a good start on the whole “rest” part of the Sabbath down too.
But the Sabbath must be about more than just napping. What kind of rest is Psalm 92 talking about?
In my humble opinion, the kind of rest Psalm 92 is talking about is knowing and believing—deep down inside you—that God is in control. This kind of rest is not just physical rest; it is spiritual rest . . . it is knowing that God is sovereign—the Lord Most High—and holds you in the palm of His hands. It is knowing, as Psalm 92 tells us, that “though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish,” the Lord is “exalted forever.”
Worshiping and resting—that’s what the Sabbath is all about.
#3
Sabbath sounds pretty nice, doesn’t it? It definitely sounds like something to look forward to at the end of a long week. So, that begs the question: why is it so darn hard to follow the fourth commandment—to observe the Sabbath and keep it holy?
The answer seems pretty simple. We have allowed life to get in the way of Sabbath. There are no longer 1500 and some odd things we can’t do on the Sabbath like in biblical times. There’s actually nothing we can’t do on the Sabbath— we can gamble on Sunday and buy alcohol on Sundays . . . but we can also go out to eat on Sunday, we can go shopping on Sunday, we can mow our lawns on Sunday. Family Christian Bookstores is even open on Sundays now. Nothing is off limits for the Sabbath anymore.
No wonder we can’t seem to keep the Sabbath holy. There are too many other opportunities for us to take advantage of! We must all have “spiritual ADD” because we are so easily distracted from what the Sabbath is supposed to be like. Isn’t it handy, then, that we get a chance to practice keeping the Sabbath holy each week?
#4
So, why bother keeping the Sabbath? We don’t really keep the Sabbath too well now and things seem OK. Why should we go through all the trouble of rearranging our lives just for the Sabbath?
Well, first of all, it’s one of the Ten Commandments. Not keeping the Sabbath is just the same as bearing false witness or coveting or even murder. It’s a sin to not keep the Sabbath, plain and simple. Be you never thought of it that way!
The second reason—there’s plenty of reasons, but I’m just going to give you two—the second reason to keep the Sabbath is so that you will, as Psalm 92 says, “flourish like a palm tree” and grow like a “cedar of Lebanon” and that you “will flourish in the courts of our God.” The Sabbath is for our own good. It is a chance for us to reconnect with God and our family and our church family—to stay fresh and green—like verse 14 says.
The Sabbath is a reminder that our job as God’s own beloved children is to proclaim God’s love and faithfulness from morning until night, and to still be bearing fruit for God even in our old age as the psalm says. That’s a long time; without the Sabbath we shrivel up and become useless and worn out. Bu the Sabbath keeps us strong and alive and plugged into God and what He is doing in the world around us.
CONCLUSION
Most of you grew up in a time when the Sabbath day was special—when it was set apart and kept holy. Or, if you didn’t grow up in that time, surely you’ve heard stories about it from people who lived through it. The days of the world around us shutting down for the Sabbath are long over. But just because the world around you doesn’t take a Sabbath, it doesn’t mean you need to follow their lead.
The choice is yours. You can choose to observe the Sabbath—to take a whole day to worship and to rest . . . and I mean “rest” God’s way—or, you can choose not to. But let me remind you of this: the Sabbath is not optional. To observe the Sabbath and keep it holy is God’s command to each one of us. To ignore it is to sin.
There are about 12 more sermons I could preach on how to keep the Sabbath, but they would all be a waste until we decide as individuals and as a community of faith that we want to observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. So, when you get to that point let me know, and we can get started. Until then, think of the pace your life moves at and tell me how much longer you think you can keep it up.
Thanks be to the Lord Most High, who gives us rest and refreshment and energy and strength from His very hand,in the name of the Father and the son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Check out the church site too! www.frankfortpresbychurch.com
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Please pray with me: Gracious God, you have the words of eternal life. As the Scripture is read and preached, empower us to hear it with humility and openness, so that hearing it, we may respond with courage and conviction. Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING: Psalm 92:1-15 A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day.
It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, 2 to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, 3 to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp. 4 For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of your hands. 5 How great are your works, O LORD, how profound your thoughts! 6 The senseless man does not know, fools do not understand, 7 that though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed. 8 But you, O LORD, are exalted forever. 9 For surely your enemies, O LORD, surely your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered. 10 You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; fine oils have been poured upon me. 11 My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries; my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes. 12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; 13 planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, 15 proclaiming, "The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him."
The grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of the Lord endures forever.
SERMON: INTRODUCTION
Today is the Sabbath day. In the Christian tradition, Sundays are set apart as the Lord’s Day. For six days God created; but on the seventh day, He rested. That is the example God has set for us.
We’ve been reading through the Bible this year, so you probably remember all the strict instructions for observing the Sabbath within the Jewish tradition. There were A LOT of lists of do’s and don’ts for keeping the Sabbath, right?
In fact, by the time Jesus rolls around “there were 1,521 things that a person could not do on the Sabbath. For instance, a person with a toothache couldn't gargle with vinegar but could use a toothbrush dipped in vinegar; a radish could be dipped in salt, but not left too long in the salt, lest it begin to pickle” (Homiletics online, Sabbath illustration).
As a result, it sort of seems like the fourth commandment came to be known not so much as “thou shalt observe the Sabbath and keep it holy” but more like “thou shalt not enjoy life on Sunday” (Joy Davidman, the poet-essayist and wife of C.S. Lewis, Homiletics online, Sabbath illustration).
But I don’t think that’s exactly what God had in mind when He created the Sabbath. The question is: what DID God have in mind for us when it comes to observing the Sabbath?
#1
Our Scripture reading this morning is a psalm that someone—we don’t know who—along the way decided should be used in worship—the subtitle for Psalm 92 says, “A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day.” Surely if we’re looking to learn more about the Sabbath, this psalm, traditionally used in Sabbath day worship, will give us some solid suggestions for doing Sabbath the way God intended.
First of all, Psalm 92 says, “It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night.” The Sabbath is supposed to be a day for worship—a WHOLE day, from morning to night. If you’re here this morning for worship, you’ve got a good start on the worship part of observing the Sabbath and keeping it holy. It is good for Christian brothers and sisters to gather together and pray for each other, to read the Bible together and to hear the Word proclaimed.
BUT this is just an hour—and the psalm tells us to proclaim God’s love from morning to night. We’re not done keeping the Sabbath just because church is done. That leaves plenty of time for families to spend time together and for church families to fellowship and break bread together, like we’re going to do at the church picnic. That is part of our Sabbath time too!
So the Sabbath is about worship, all day long.
#2
The second way God wants us to do the Sabbath is to rest. Now, for those of you who are wondering, sleeping through the sermon does not count as Sabbath rest. BUT, if you, like me, are planning on taking a nap later this afternoon, then you’ve got a good start on the whole “rest” part of the Sabbath down too.
But the Sabbath must be about more than just napping. What kind of rest is Psalm 92 talking about?
In my humble opinion, the kind of rest Psalm 92 is talking about is knowing and believing—deep down inside you—that God is in control. This kind of rest is not just physical rest; it is spiritual rest . . . it is knowing that God is sovereign—the Lord Most High—and holds you in the palm of His hands. It is knowing, as Psalm 92 tells us, that “though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish,” the Lord is “exalted forever.”
Worshiping and resting—that’s what the Sabbath is all about.
#3
Sabbath sounds pretty nice, doesn’t it? It definitely sounds like something to look forward to at the end of a long week. So, that begs the question: why is it so darn hard to follow the fourth commandment—to observe the Sabbath and keep it holy?
The answer seems pretty simple. We have allowed life to get in the way of Sabbath. There are no longer 1500 and some odd things we can’t do on the Sabbath like in biblical times. There’s actually nothing we can’t do on the Sabbath— we can gamble on Sunday and buy alcohol on Sundays . . . but we can also go out to eat on Sunday, we can go shopping on Sunday, we can mow our lawns on Sunday. Family Christian Bookstores is even open on Sundays now. Nothing is off limits for the Sabbath anymore.
No wonder we can’t seem to keep the Sabbath holy. There are too many other opportunities for us to take advantage of! We must all have “spiritual ADD” because we are so easily distracted from what the Sabbath is supposed to be like. Isn’t it handy, then, that we get a chance to practice keeping the Sabbath holy each week?
#4
So, why bother keeping the Sabbath? We don’t really keep the Sabbath too well now and things seem OK. Why should we go through all the trouble of rearranging our lives just for the Sabbath?
Well, first of all, it’s one of the Ten Commandments. Not keeping the Sabbath is just the same as bearing false witness or coveting or even murder. It’s a sin to not keep the Sabbath, plain and simple. Be you never thought of it that way!
The second reason—there’s plenty of reasons, but I’m just going to give you two—the second reason to keep the Sabbath is so that you will, as Psalm 92 says, “flourish like a palm tree” and grow like a “cedar of Lebanon” and that you “will flourish in the courts of our God.” The Sabbath is for our own good. It is a chance for us to reconnect with God and our family and our church family—to stay fresh and green—like verse 14 says.
The Sabbath is a reminder that our job as God’s own beloved children is to proclaim God’s love and faithfulness from morning until night, and to still be bearing fruit for God even in our old age as the psalm says. That’s a long time; without the Sabbath we shrivel up and become useless and worn out. Bu the Sabbath keeps us strong and alive and plugged into God and what He is doing in the world around us.
CONCLUSION
Most of you grew up in a time when the Sabbath day was special—when it was set apart and kept holy. Or, if you didn’t grow up in that time, surely you’ve heard stories about it from people who lived through it. The days of the world around us shutting down for the Sabbath are long over. But just because the world around you doesn’t take a Sabbath, it doesn’t mean you need to follow their lead.
The choice is yours. You can choose to observe the Sabbath—to take a whole day to worship and to rest . . . and I mean “rest” God’s way—or, you can choose not to. But let me remind you of this: the Sabbath is not optional. To observe the Sabbath and keep it holy is God’s command to each one of us. To ignore it is to sin.
There are about 12 more sermons I could preach on how to keep the Sabbath, but they would all be a waste until we decide as individuals and as a community of faith that we want to observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. So, when you get to that point let me know, and we can get started. Until then, think of the pace your life moves at and tell me how much longer you think you can keep it up.
Thanks be to the Lord Most High, who gives us rest and refreshment and energy and strength from His very hand,in the name of the Father and the son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Sunday Sermon: "World's Ugliest Dog"
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Let us pray: Gracious God, as we turn to your Word, may the Spirit of God rest upon us. Help us to be steadfast in our hearing, in our speaking, in our believing, and in our living. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 6:17-26
17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all. 20 Looking at his disciples, he said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22 Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. 23 "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. 24 "But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. 25 Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. 26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.
The grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of the Lord endures forever.
SERMON: INTRODUCTION
This week, I’ve been thinking a lot about county fairs. You know I’m from Butler, home of the “Big Butler Fair,” which claims to be the largest county fair in western Pennsylvania. And before that, when we lived up north in Titusville, PA, we always went to the Crawford County Fair. And before THAT, lived in Canfield, OH and were regulars at the Canfield Fair. The Bauer family has never met a fair they didn’t like.
But what really started me thinking about all this county fair stuff is California’s Sonoma-Marin Fair which I read about a few weeks ago. You may have heard about it on the news or read about it in the paper or on-line. The Sonoma-Marin Fair is famous for a particular beauty pageant it holds. Every summer, for seventeen years, the organizers of the Sonoma-Marin Fair have held the “World’s Ugliest Dog” competition.1
You should see the pictures of these doggie contestants. Bald patches, bug eyes, missing teeth and other body parts, tongues hanging out, huge overbites and, this year’s winner had a massive underbite! You name it, one of the contestants has it. The characteristics that would get it laughed out of the ring at the “Eukenuba American Kennel Association Dog Show” are the exact ones that will bring home the prize at the Sonoma-Marin Fair.
Normally, the rules of our culture say that what is beautiful is best and that which is ugly is a failure, which is why the Eukenuba championship is shown on TV and why the Sonoma-Marin “World’s Ugliest Dog” is a contest you probably never heard of. That’s what our culture values. But according to God’s values, being “ugly” or different from the rest of the crowd, means being a smashing success.
#1
If there’s one thing we know about Jesus, it’s that what our culture considers ugly, like these poor little canines, Jesus blesses.
In this passage from Luke, Jesus blesses the ragtag crowd of “ugly” people that keeps hounding him everywhere he goes. These people are poor, dirty, sick, and hungry. Some probably hadn’t bathed in awhile; others were fresh off the fishing boats. You can imagine what the scene must have smelled like.
The space surrounding Jesus is full of people who came “to be healed of their diseases” and so that those “troubled by evil spirits were cured.” It’s a good thing Jesus wasn’t claustrophobic because this mob of humanity seems to be crowding closer and closer to Jesus, trying to touch him with just one little finger tip in hopes of getting some of his healing power. You can just FEEL the crowds leaning closer and closer to him.
This ragamuffin group has gathered from all over the place: from Jerusalem to the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They are apostles and disciples, Jews and Gentiles, and probably even some pagans in the mix, all gathered to catch a glimpse of Jesus. They are a dirty, smelly mass of illness and disease, people declared unclean and ugly. And Jesus blesses them, because what our culture considers ugly, Jesus blesses.
#2
This passage from Luke’s gospel is part of what is known as The Sermon on the Plain. You’ve heard of the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5. Well, this is the same speech, except it’s shorter and preached down at sea level instead of on a mountain. Commentators suggest that although Matthew 5 is prettier, Luke 6 is probably closer to Jesus’ original words.
In Luke’s version of this speech, Jesus says some unexpected things. Jesus CHOOSES to bless the ugly people in the crowd! He BLESSES the poor who beg for change alongside the dusty city streets. He BLESSES the hungry who scrounge for scraps out of garbage cans. He BLESSES those who are unable to contain weeping and mourning. And he BLESSES those who are hated and excluded and insulted and rejected by the rest of society, and maybe even by us. Because what our culture considers ugly, Jesus blesses.
Now, the word “blessed” used here doesn’t mean that they will suddenly attain a supreme level of sublime happiness that will help them to transcend all their problems. It means that the poor, the hungry, those who weep, and those who are rejected will be considered righteous—they will be blessed not in the eyes of the culture, but in the eyes of the Lord. Being blessed doesn’t mean money will never be tight or that there will be food galore on the table, or even that we’ll never be sad or rejected again.
It means that God has chosen to see us through the dry spells. God will always provide enough to get us through the tough times.
#3
Along with the 4 blessings, Jesus also delivers 4 woes: woe to the rich, woe to the well fed, woe to those who laugh, and woe to those who are well-respected by others. There he goes again—Jesus is saying a lot of unexpected things in this passage!
I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’ve been taught that it’s a good thing to have a little money in the bank; that it’s good to have 3 square meals a day and maybe a little snack before bed time. And what’s this nonsense about “woe to those who laugh”—this congregation is in big trouble if laughing turns out to be a bad thing! And isn’t your reputation supposed to be your most important asset, the key to influence and affluence? A little money in the bank, a full belly, a good time, and a good reputation—aren’t these good things? Why does Jesus say "woe" to these things?
Here’s the problem: Mark 10:25 says, “ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Jesus knows that too often the pursuit of money and a comfortable life—being well fed, laughing a lot, and being spoken well of—all too often gets in the way of worshiping God.
We have to remember what our culture blesses, Jesus considers ugly because it becomes an obstacle to God.
CONCLUSION
In the beginning we hear about the crowd that is gathered around Jesus—they were needy, sick, tormented—all desperate for the healing power of Jesus. They had come from every corner of Judea to see Jesus.
But as Jesus begins to preach, the crowd suddenly begins to look like a bunch of disciples. You see, in the middle of this crowd of “World’s Ugliest Dogs,” Jesus sees his disciples: among this crowd of riff-raff, he sees the people who will continue his ministry after his death. Jesus is clear that what the world sees in this crowd of disease and poverty and neediness is the exact opposite of what He sees in them.
Remember what Paul says in 1 Corinthians: “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” God chooses to bless the “ugly dogs” who trust in God and not so much in other people; the “ugly dogs” who depend on God instead on themselves; the “ugly dogs” who persevere in the call God has given to them, even when they’re in the middle of a dry spell.
I hope I don't offend any one by saying I don't think any of us are going to win any beauty contests any time soon. I know I won't! So, let us embrace all those characteristics that would get us laughed out of a beauty contest--like an "ugly" dog out of the Eukenuba championship--and embrace our inner “ugly dog” that turns away from the rules and standards of our culture and chooses to live according to God's standards. And may we all enjoy the hope that comes from being “blessed" by God.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
[1] http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/btl_display.asp?installment_id=93000312
Let us pray: Gracious God, as we turn to your Word, may the Spirit of God rest upon us. Help us to be steadfast in our hearing, in our speaking, in our believing, and in our living. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 6:17-26
17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all. 20 Looking at his disciples, he said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22 Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. 23 "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. 24 "But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. 25 Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. 26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.
The grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of the Lord endures forever.
SERMON: INTRODUCTION
This week, I’ve been thinking a lot about county fairs. You know I’m from Butler, home of the “Big Butler Fair,” which claims to be the largest county fair in western Pennsylvania. And before that, when we lived up north in Titusville, PA, we always went to the Crawford County Fair. And before THAT, lived in Canfield, OH and were regulars at the Canfield Fair. The Bauer family has never met a fair they didn’t like.
But what really started me thinking about all this county fair stuff is California’s Sonoma-Marin Fair which I read about a few weeks ago. You may have heard about it on the news or read about it in the paper or on-line. The Sonoma-Marin Fair is famous for a particular beauty pageant it holds. Every summer, for seventeen years, the organizers of the Sonoma-Marin Fair have held the “World’s Ugliest Dog” competition.1
You should see the pictures of these doggie contestants. Bald patches, bug eyes, missing teeth and other body parts, tongues hanging out, huge overbites and, this year’s winner had a massive underbite! You name it, one of the contestants has it. The characteristics that would get it laughed out of the ring at the “Eukenuba American Kennel Association Dog Show” are the exact ones that will bring home the prize at the Sonoma-Marin Fair.
Normally, the rules of our culture say that what is beautiful is best and that which is ugly is a failure, which is why the Eukenuba championship is shown on TV and why the Sonoma-Marin “World’s Ugliest Dog” is a contest you probably never heard of. That’s what our culture values. But according to God’s values, being “ugly” or different from the rest of the crowd, means being a smashing success.
#1
If there’s one thing we know about Jesus, it’s that what our culture considers ugly, like these poor little canines, Jesus blesses.
In this passage from Luke, Jesus blesses the ragtag crowd of “ugly” people that keeps hounding him everywhere he goes. These people are poor, dirty, sick, and hungry. Some probably hadn’t bathed in awhile; others were fresh off the fishing boats. You can imagine what the scene must have smelled like.
The space surrounding Jesus is full of people who came “to be healed of their diseases” and so that those “troubled by evil spirits were cured.” It’s a good thing Jesus wasn’t claustrophobic because this mob of humanity seems to be crowding closer and closer to Jesus, trying to touch him with just one little finger tip in hopes of getting some of his healing power. You can just FEEL the crowds leaning closer and closer to him.
This ragamuffin group has gathered from all over the place: from Jerusalem to the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They are apostles and disciples, Jews and Gentiles, and probably even some pagans in the mix, all gathered to catch a glimpse of Jesus. They are a dirty, smelly mass of illness and disease, people declared unclean and ugly. And Jesus blesses them, because what our culture considers ugly, Jesus blesses.
#2
This passage from Luke’s gospel is part of what is known as The Sermon on the Plain. You’ve heard of the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5. Well, this is the same speech, except it’s shorter and preached down at sea level instead of on a mountain. Commentators suggest that although Matthew 5 is prettier, Luke 6 is probably closer to Jesus’ original words.
In Luke’s version of this speech, Jesus says some unexpected things. Jesus CHOOSES to bless the ugly people in the crowd! He BLESSES the poor who beg for change alongside the dusty city streets. He BLESSES the hungry who scrounge for scraps out of garbage cans. He BLESSES those who are unable to contain weeping and mourning. And he BLESSES those who are hated and excluded and insulted and rejected by the rest of society, and maybe even by us. Because what our culture considers ugly, Jesus blesses.
Now, the word “blessed” used here doesn’t mean that they will suddenly attain a supreme level of sublime happiness that will help them to transcend all their problems. It means that the poor, the hungry, those who weep, and those who are rejected will be considered righteous—they will be blessed not in the eyes of the culture, but in the eyes of the Lord. Being blessed doesn’t mean money will never be tight or that there will be food galore on the table, or even that we’ll never be sad or rejected again.
It means that God has chosen to see us through the dry spells. God will always provide enough to get us through the tough times.
#3
Along with the 4 blessings, Jesus also delivers 4 woes: woe to the rich, woe to the well fed, woe to those who laugh, and woe to those who are well-respected by others. There he goes again—Jesus is saying a lot of unexpected things in this passage!
I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’ve been taught that it’s a good thing to have a little money in the bank; that it’s good to have 3 square meals a day and maybe a little snack before bed time. And what’s this nonsense about “woe to those who laugh”—this congregation is in big trouble if laughing turns out to be a bad thing! And isn’t your reputation supposed to be your most important asset, the key to influence and affluence? A little money in the bank, a full belly, a good time, and a good reputation—aren’t these good things? Why does Jesus say "woe" to these things?
Here’s the problem: Mark 10:25 says, “ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Jesus knows that too often the pursuit of money and a comfortable life—being well fed, laughing a lot, and being spoken well of—all too often gets in the way of worshiping God.
We have to remember what our culture blesses, Jesus considers ugly because it becomes an obstacle to God.
CONCLUSION
In the beginning we hear about the crowd that is gathered around Jesus—they were needy, sick, tormented—all desperate for the healing power of Jesus. They had come from every corner of Judea to see Jesus.
But as Jesus begins to preach, the crowd suddenly begins to look like a bunch of disciples. You see, in the middle of this crowd of “World’s Ugliest Dogs,” Jesus sees his disciples: among this crowd of riff-raff, he sees the people who will continue his ministry after his death. Jesus is clear that what the world sees in this crowd of disease and poverty and neediness is the exact opposite of what He sees in them.
Remember what Paul says in 1 Corinthians: “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” God chooses to bless the “ugly dogs” who trust in God and not so much in other people; the “ugly dogs” who depend on God instead on themselves; the “ugly dogs” who persevere in the call God has given to them, even when they’re in the middle of a dry spell.
I hope I don't offend any one by saying I don't think any of us are going to win any beauty contests any time soon. I know I won't! So, let us embrace all those characteristics that would get us laughed out of a beauty contest--like an "ugly" dog out of the Eukenuba championship--and embrace our inner “ugly dog” that turns away from the rules and standards of our culture and chooses to live according to God's standards. And may we all enjoy the hope that comes from being “blessed" by God.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
[1] http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/btl_display.asp?installment_id=93000312
Monday, June 8, 2009
Sunday Sermon: The Grace of Giving
Better late than never, right??
Here's the question and answer from yesterday:
What is Paul boasting about to the Macedonians? (2 Cor 9)
2 Kings 20:4-6 4 Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: 5 "Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, 'This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the LORD. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.'"
And here's the question of the day:
Psalm 66:5 “Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man’s behalf.” If you were to invite someone to “come and see what God has done,” what would you show him or her?
And here's Sunday's sermon. . .
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Let us pray: Gracious God, shine the light of your Spirit upon us as we hear these words of Scripture read and proclaimed. Reveal your saving presence in these words, and lead us further down the path of faith. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING 2 Corinthians 8:1-15
1 And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 5 And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will.
6 So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. 7 But just as you excel in everything-- in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us--see that you also excel in this grace of giving. 8 I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. 10 And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so.
11 Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. 12 For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have. 13 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, 15 as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."
The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.
SERMON: INTRODUCTION
In 1987, 7 million children in the United States suddenly disappeared on April 15. 7 million children disappeared on April 15. No, it wasn’t a massive alien abduction and it wasn’t national skip school day. What else could it have been? Any guesses?
Well, before 1987 people were only required to put the names of their dependents on their tax forms. But beginning in 1987, both names AND social security numbers were required for each child listed. SO, overnight seven million kids, who never technically existed, simply vanished.[1]
You see, the risk of getting caught breaking the law outweighed the incentive of the tax break. Incentives can cause us to reach heights we never thought we’d be able to achieve; they can also cause us to stoop to lower levels than we ever thought possible.
People can reach all kinds of goals if the incentive is right. I don’t know about you, but I’ve done some pretty insane things and put in a ridiculous number of hours to reach a certain goal and to earn an incentive. But that’s how economics works, right? We want to acquire enough money and things to live comfortably and securely. And if all we have to do is work a little harder to reach a few more goals in order to be a little more comfortable, then it’s worth it, right?
So like Elmer Fudd teasing Bugs Bunny with a dangling carrot, the companies and bosses we work for dangle incentives in front of our noses, hoping that we will work a little bit harder to reach our goals because of the incentives they are offering.
#1
So, to continue this cartoon analogy, Paul is Elmer Fudd and the Corinthians are Bugs Bunny. Paul is writing to the Corinthians, to encourage them toward a goal, which is to be a part of taking up a collection for the poor and needy in Jerusalem. This is a project he started the year before, and he was blown away that first year by how generous the Corinthians were. In verse 10 he says, “Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so.” Last year, the Corinthians actually exceeded their goal of participation—he even used the Corinthians as a positive example to the Macedonian churches, whose contribution to the collection for the poor was a little lacking.
But that was last year. This year is a different story. Suddenly, it’s the Macedonian churches whose overflowing joy has caused them to give “as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability,” as it says in verse 3. It’s the Macedonian churches who are being held up as a bright and shining example. And the Corinthians are lollygagging behind.
I don’t think they’re unwilling to give; they’ve had a little fight with Paul and they’re not in the giving mood. So Paul is trying to do two things here in this chapter of 2 Corinthians: first, he is trying to encourage them to give to the collection for the poor and needy; and second, he is trying to get back into their good graces. Paul knows he just needs to find the right incentive—just the right kind of carrot—to dangle in front of them as an incentive.
#2
Now, that Paul is one sneaky dude. Listen to what verse 7 says, “But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us. . . .” He’s laying it on kinda thick, don’t you think? Compliment after compliment. It sounds like a pastor trying to talk a parishioner into doing something he or she doesn’t really want to do, doesn’t it? It’s like he’s saying, “because you’re so wonderful and smart and faithful and generous, I’m SURE you’re going to contribute to this collection, right? Right?”
But he doesn’t stop there. Paul is going for the hard sell. He has the audacity to say to the Corinthians, “I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others,” meaning those Macedonian churches. He is not commanding them to give to the collection, but he is saying Macedonians have passed their “faith test” because of their zeal and “grace of giving.”
And now the Corinthians are facing a “faith test” of their own. “Paul wants the Corinthians to test their own love by comparison with the zeal of the Macedonians.”[2]
I have to tell you, I wrestled with this passage because Paul’s tactics seem a little shady. Isn’t he really pitting two parts of the church against each other? Isn’t this likely just to breed jealousy and envy between the two churches?
But I decided it comes down to this: sometimes peer pressure isn’t always a bad thing. There’s nothing like a little healthy competition to provide a little incentive and a little motivation in order to reach a goal.
#3
So, so that is the incentive—being the best givers out of all the churches—but what is the goal? At first, I thought it was to collect as much money as possible to give to the poor and needy in Jerusalem. That’s probably part of it, but I think there’s something else Paul has in mind . . . something bigger . . . something more life-changing.
I think Paul’s real goal is that the Corinthians would become more like Jesus, who as he says, “became poor, so that by poverty you might become rich.” “God has poured himself out for them in Jesus Christ—how can they not do the same for others?”[3]
The goal Paul is talking about is to know the “grace of giving,” which means developing an attitude that focuses on what one what has to give, rather than focusing on what one doesn’t have. Those who have the “grace of giving” know, as verse 12 says, “if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.”
Now hear me when I say this: the “grace of giving” is not so much concerned with the amount of money one may give as much as it is about attitude in which it is giving. . . the “grace of giving” happens with open hands and open hearts.
CONCLUSION
It feels a little awkward to be preaching about giving in the middle of the economy being what it is right now. I know that times are tough for a lot of us. But I think the times will become even worse if we do not learn the “grace of giving”—the grace of being a part of God’s work in the world.
Whether we like it or not, there is a connection between our faith and our giving. Paul tells the Corinthians that their giving is a test of their faith. If they wait until they have something extra to give, they may never give anything because they may never think they have enough to be able to give.
The fact is we are all rich simply because God has shared all things with us and has given us dominion over the earth. God has even given us his only begotten Son to be our Lord and Savior and the Holy Spirit to be our Guide. God has given us life abundant.
Our test, then, is whether our giving matches our faith. Does what we give—in terms of money and time and resources both to the church as well as our favorite charities and non-profit organizations—does all that match the sincerity of our faith? Do we know the “grace of giving” with open hands and open hearts?
The goal is to become more like Jesus Christ. If our giving doesn’t match our faith, then it’s not a money problem . . . it’s a heart problem. Until you think the goal is worthy enough, no carrot is big enough and no incentive is strong enough to motivate you to be more like Jesus.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
[1] http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/btl_display.asp?installment_id=93000147
[2] NIB, 2 Corinthians, Sampley, 8:8.
[3] http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/btl_display.asp?installment_id=93000147
Here's the question and answer from yesterday:
What is Paul boasting about to the Macedonians? (2 Cor 9)
2 Kings 20:4-6 4 Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: 5 "Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, 'This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the LORD. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.'"
And here's the question of the day:
Psalm 66:5 “Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man’s behalf.” If you were to invite someone to “come and see what God has done,” what would you show him or her?
And here's Sunday's sermon. . .
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Let us pray: Gracious God, shine the light of your Spirit upon us as we hear these words of Scripture read and proclaimed. Reveal your saving presence in these words, and lead us further down the path of faith. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING 2 Corinthians 8:1-15
1 And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 5 And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will.
6 So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. 7 But just as you excel in everything-- in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us--see that you also excel in this grace of giving. 8 I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. 10 And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so.
11 Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. 12 For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have. 13 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, 15 as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."
The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.
SERMON: INTRODUCTION
In 1987, 7 million children in the United States suddenly disappeared on April 15. 7 million children disappeared on April 15. No, it wasn’t a massive alien abduction and it wasn’t national skip school day. What else could it have been? Any guesses?
Well, before 1987 people were only required to put the names of their dependents on their tax forms. But beginning in 1987, both names AND social security numbers were required for each child listed. SO, overnight seven million kids, who never technically existed, simply vanished.[1]
You see, the risk of getting caught breaking the law outweighed the incentive of the tax break. Incentives can cause us to reach heights we never thought we’d be able to achieve; they can also cause us to stoop to lower levels than we ever thought possible.
People can reach all kinds of goals if the incentive is right. I don’t know about you, but I’ve done some pretty insane things and put in a ridiculous number of hours to reach a certain goal and to earn an incentive. But that’s how economics works, right? We want to acquire enough money and things to live comfortably and securely. And if all we have to do is work a little harder to reach a few more goals in order to be a little more comfortable, then it’s worth it, right?
So like Elmer Fudd teasing Bugs Bunny with a dangling carrot, the companies and bosses we work for dangle incentives in front of our noses, hoping that we will work a little bit harder to reach our goals because of the incentives they are offering.
#1
So, to continue this cartoon analogy, Paul is Elmer Fudd and the Corinthians are Bugs Bunny. Paul is writing to the Corinthians, to encourage them toward a goal, which is to be a part of taking up a collection for the poor and needy in Jerusalem. This is a project he started the year before, and he was blown away that first year by how generous the Corinthians were. In verse 10 he says, “Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so.” Last year, the Corinthians actually exceeded their goal of participation—he even used the Corinthians as a positive example to the Macedonian churches, whose contribution to the collection for the poor was a little lacking.
But that was last year. This year is a different story. Suddenly, it’s the Macedonian churches whose overflowing joy has caused them to give “as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability,” as it says in verse 3. It’s the Macedonian churches who are being held up as a bright and shining example. And the Corinthians are lollygagging behind.
I don’t think they’re unwilling to give; they’ve had a little fight with Paul and they’re not in the giving mood. So Paul is trying to do two things here in this chapter of 2 Corinthians: first, he is trying to encourage them to give to the collection for the poor and needy; and second, he is trying to get back into their good graces. Paul knows he just needs to find the right incentive—just the right kind of carrot—to dangle in front of them as an incentive.
#2
Now, that Paul is one sneaky dude. Listen to what verse 7 says, “But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us. . . .” He’s laying it on kinda thick, don’t you think? Compliment after compliment. It sounds like a pastor trying to talk a parishioner into doing something he or she doesn’t really want to do, doesn’t it? It’s like he’s saying, “because you’re so wonderful and smart and faithful and generous, I’m SURE you’re going to contribute to this collection, right? Right?”
But he doesn’t stop there. Paul is going for the hard sell. He has the audacity to say to the Corinthians, “I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others,” meaning those Macedonian churches. He is not commanding them to give to the collection, but he is saying Macedonians have passed their “faith test” because of their zeal and “grace of giving.”
And now the Corinthians are facing a “faith test” of their own. “Paul wants the Corinthians to test their own love by comparison with the zeal of the Macedonians.”[2]
I have to tell you, I wrestled with this passage because Paul’s tactics seem a little shady. Isn’t he really pitting two parts of the church against each other? Isn’t this likely just to breed jealousy and envy between the two churches?
But I decided it comes down to this: sometimes peer pressure isn’t always a bad thing. There’s nothing like a little healthy competition to provide a little incentive and a little motivation in order to reach a goal.
#3
So, so that is the incentive—being the best givers out of all the churches—but what is the goal? At first, I thought it was to collect as much money as possible to give to the poor and needy in Jerusalem. That’s probably part of it, but I think there’s something else Paul has in mind . . . something bigger . . . something more life-changing.
I think Paul’s real goal is that the Corinthians would become more like Jesus, who as he says, “became poor, so that by poverty you might become rich.” “God has poured himself out for them in Jesus Christ—how can they not do the same for others?”[3]
The goal Paul is talking about is to know the “grace of giving,” which means developing an attitude that focuses on what one what has to give, rather than focusing on what one doesn’t have. Those who have the “grace of giving” know, as verse 12 says, “if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.”
Now hear me when I say this: the “grace of giving” is not so much concerned with the amount of money one may give as much as it is about attitude in which it is giving. . . the “grace of giving” happens with open hands and open hearts.
CONCLUSION
It feels a little awkward to be preaching about giving in the middle of the economy being what it is right now. I know that times are tough for a lot of us. But I think the times will become even worse if we do not learn the “grace of giving”—the grace of being a part of God’s work in the world.
Whether we like it or not, there is a connection between our faith and our giving. Paul tells the Corinthians that their giving is a test of their faith. If they wait until they have something extra to give, they may never give anything because they may never think they have enough to be able to give.
The fact is we are all rich simply because God has shared all things with us and has given us dominion over the earth. God has even given us his only begotten Son to be our Lord and Savior and the Holy Spirit to be our Guide. God has given us life abundant.
Our test, then, is whether our giving matches our faith. Does what we give—in terms of money and time and resources both to the church as well as our favorite charities and non-profit organizations—does all that match the sincerity of our faith? Do we know the “grace of giving” with open hands and open hearts?
The goal is to become more like Jesus Christ. If our giving doesn’t match our faith, then it’s not a money problem . . . it’s a heart problem. Until you think the goal is worthy enough, no carrot is big enough and no incentive is strong enough to motivate you to be more like Jesus.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
[1] http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/btl_display.asp?installment_id=93000147
[2] NIB, 2 Corinthians, Sampley, 8:8.
[3] http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/btl_display.asp?installment_id=93000147
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Fun with Augustine: Hair cuts and Fingernails. . . What does a resurrected body look like?
And here is the sermon I'll be preaching. . .
SERMON: INTRODUCTION
Last week we talked about Augustine and his fascination with the body, particularly the strange things that some people can DO with their bodies. His fascination with the body fills this whole big book.
And I thought it was rather providential that 1 Corinthians 15 was on our “Year of the Bible” reading schedule this week because that is Paul’s masterpiece about the body, specifically what our bodies might be like in heaven or what Augustine would call our “resurrected bodies.”
I wish I could read to you the whole chapter, but it’s too long. So I’m going to break it down into three parts. Hear this first reading from God’s holy word:
#1
1 Corinthians 15:35-40 35 But someone may ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?" 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another.
Some things never change. During time that Paul and Augustine were writing, people wondered what our bodies will look like in heaven. And today, people are still fixated on that very same thing.
Jesus said that not one hair on our heads would perish when we die. And Augustine took that literally when it came to our heavenly bodies: if you were someone who had lost a hand or a foot, Augustine was sure you would be re-united with it. Your heavenly body would have all its limbs intact. If you were blind on earth, you would have sight in heaven. So that led him to wonder about haircuts and fingernails. Would we be re-united with each strand of hair we ever cut off or every fingernail we ever trimmed?
Eventually, Augustine realized we would all look pretty funky so he decided that probably wasn’t right. So he decided that he hoped, because we can’t know for sure, our resurrected bodies would be a snapshot of ourselves in our prime—when we looked our best and when we felt our best. So everyone will be as thin as we once were, and we’ll all have good hair days for eternity, according to Augustine.
#2
But there was a big problem with this whole resurrection of the body idea. Some of the Christians in Paul and Augustine’s time—remember they lived just a couple hundred years from each other—didn’t believe in the resurrection of the body. They thought the body was bad. The flesh was weak and prone to sin; but the soul was good and didn’t want to sin. So they believed that the soul would go to heaven but that the body would stay dead in the ground. Paul points out the flaws in their thinking in the second reading from 1 Corinthians 15:
1 Corinthians 15:13-17
13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
Remember all those people Jesus appears to after his resurrection? They see his body, they touch his wounds, and they watch him eat. They see his soul AND his body which have been made whole again together. Paul says, if people do not believe in the resurrection of the body—not just Jesus’ body but for ALL bodies—then Jesus is still dead in the ground. If Jesus is still dead in the ground, then those who proclaim his resurrection are liars. . . our faith is futile and we are still in our sins.
Paul and Augustine tell their readers “you can’t have your cake and eat it too.” Either the body and the soul are resurrected together, or there’s no resurrection at all. Needless to say, this was not a terribly popular position for either of them to take. It was a hard line stance about something no one had ever experienced before. And because no one had experienced resurrection, except those who saw Jesus after he had been resurrected, the resurrection of the dead remained a rather mysterious idea which Paul addresses in our final reading from1 Corinthians:
#3
1 Corinthians 15:51-57 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-- 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." 55 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
“We will all be changed. . . in the twinkle of an eye.” Paul says that these physical bodies we have now will pass away and we will inherit a spiritual, imperishable, immortal body but it will still be a body. But you can see that Paul’s main point isn’t so much about what our bodies will look like. It’s that we will HAVE bodies.
And more than that, Paul is saying that we will have LIFE—that we also can say, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” God has given us victory over death in Jesus Christ—we will be resurrected to new life just like Jesus was, body AND soul. For Christian believers, death is not just an end, but it is the beginning of something wonderful—eternal life.
CONCLUSION
We all have our own ideas of what heaven will be like. And we probably all a particular picture in mind of what we hope our resurrected body looks like. But we don’t know for sure; we can’t know for sure.
Resurrection and heaven are part of God’s mysteries. I’m glad we don’t know what heaven will be like because I like to think about it—I like to read what other people think about it too. Imagine, Augustine would have only had a couple of pages of stuff to write instead of 1000s if he knew what the answers were.
But I have a theory about what heaven is going to be like, and I’m not sure you’re going to like my picture of heaven, but I’m going to give you my two cents anyway.
Augustine tells us that God created us to want the very best for ourselves—goodness and happiness and peace. And God is what’s best for us. And since we will be changed and restored to the way God originally created us to be, I think that heaven will be filled with God, which is perhaps rather obvious. But that means it’s not about finding long lost loved ones, it’s not about having dinner with famous people, and it’s not about asking God our long list of questions we want answers to.
I can only imagine that heaven is about worshiping God forever. That seems to be the picture that Revelation paints—the angels and archangels gathered around the Lamb of God who is sitting on the throne, singing and worshiping with the saints of the church from every age.
Revelation tells us this: "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." 5 He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" (Rev 21:3-5).
Thanks be to the God who is making everything new, who gives us new bodies, and who raises us to new life, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
SERMON: INTRODUCTION
Last week we talked about Augustine and his fascination with the body, particularly the strange things that some people can DO with their bodies. His fascination with the body fills this whole big book.
And I thought it was rather providential that 1 Corinthians 15 was on our “Year of the Bible” reading schedule this week because that is Paul’s masterpiece about the body, specifically what our bodies might be like in heaven or what Augustine would call our “resurrected bodies.”
I wish I could read to you the whole chapter, but it’s too long. So I’m going to break it down into three parts. Hear this first reading from God’s holy word:
#1
1 Corinthians 15:35-40 35 But someone may ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?" 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another.
Some things never change. During time that Paul and Augustine were writing, people wondered what our bodies will look like in heaven. And today, people are still fixated on that very same thing.
Jesus said that not one hair on our heads would perish when we die. And Augustine took that literally when it came to our heavenly bodies: if you were someone who had lost a hand or a foot, Augustine was sure you would be re-united with it. Your heavenly body would have all its limbs intact. If you were blind on earth, you would have sight in heaven. So that led him to wonder about haircuts and fingernails. Would we be re-united with each strand of hair we ever cut off or every fingernail we ever trimmed?
Eventually, Augustine realized we would all look pretty funky so he decided that probably wasn’t right. So he decided that he hoped, because we can’t know for sure, our resurrected bodies would be a snapshot of ourselves in our prime—when we looked our best and when we felt our best. So everyone will be as thin as we once were, and we’ll all have good hair days for eternity, according to Augustine.
#2
But there was a big problem with this whole resurrection of the body idea. Some of the Christians in Paul and Augustine’s time—remember they lived just a couple hundred years from each other—didn’t believe in the resurrection of the body. They thought the body was bad. The flesh was weak and prone to sin; but the soul was good and didn’t want to sin. So they believed that the soul would go to heaven but that the body would stay dead in the ground. Paul points out the flaws in their thinking in the second reading from 1 Corinthians 15:
1 Corinthians 15:13-17
13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
Remember all those people Jesus appears to after his resurrection? They see his body, they touch his wounds, and they watch him eat. They see his soul AND his body which have been made whole again together. Paul says, if people do not believe in the resurrection of the body—not just Jesus’ body but for ALL bodies—then Jesus is still dead in the ground. If Jesus is still dead in the ground, then those who proclaim his resurrection are liars. . . our faith is futile and we are still in our sins.
Paul and Augustine tell their readers “you can’t have your cake and eat it too.” Either the body and the soul are resurrected together, or there’s no resurrection at all. Needless to say, this was not a terribly popular position for either of them to take. It was a hard line stance about something no one had ever experienced before. And because no one had experienced resurrection, except those who saw Jesus after he had been resurrected, the resurrection of the dead remained a rather mysterious idea which Paul addresses in our final reading from1 Corinthians:
#3
1 Corinthians 15:51-57 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-- 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." 55 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
“We will all be changed. . . in the twinkle of an eye.” Paul says that these physical bodies we have now will pass away and we will inherit a spiritual, imperishable, immortal body but it will still be a body. But you can see that Paul’s main point isn’t so much about what our bodies will look like. It’s that we will HAVE bodies.
And more than that, Paul is saying that we will have LIFE—that we also can say, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” God has given us victory over death in Jesus Christ—we will be resurrected to new life just like Jesus was, body AND soul. For Christian believers, death is not just an end, but it is the beginning of something wonderful—eternal life.
CONCLUSION
We all have our own ideas of what heaven will be like. And we probably all a particular picture in mind of what we hope our resurrected body looks like. But we don’t know for sure; we can’t know for sure.
Resurrection and heaven are part of God’s mysteries. I’m glad we don’t know what heaven will be like because I like to think about it—I like to read what other people think about it too. Imagine, Augustine would have only had a couple of pages of stuff to write instead of 1000s if he knew what the answers were.
But I have a theory about what heaven is going to be like, and I’m not sure you’re going to like my picture of heaven, but I’m going to give you my two cents anyway.
Augustine tells us that God created us to want the very best for ourselves—goodness and happiness and peace. And God is what’s best for us. And since we will be changed and restored to the way God originally created us to be, I think that heaven will be filled with God, which is perhaps rather obvious. But that means it’s not about finding long lost loved ones, it’s not about having dinner with famous people, and it’s not about asking God our long list of questions we want answers to.
I can only imagine that heaven is about worshiping God forever. That seems to be the picture that Revelation paints—the angels and archangels gathered around the Lamb of God who is sitting on the throne, singing and worshiping with the saints of the church from every age.
Revelation tells us this: "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." 5 He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" (Rev 21:3-5).
Thanks be to the God who is making everything new, who gives us new bodies, and who raises us to new life, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Fun with Augustine: Lust, Food & Gossip. . . When Our Appetites Get the Best of Us
Hello, friends! It's good to be back after several days away. It's been a whirlwind of a weekend (sorry for not posting yesterday!) with a wedding to do, and today promises to be no different. So before this day gets away from me, here are some Qs&As and the Sunday sermon.
Here's the question and answer from Friday:
What did David do when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul? (2 Sam 21)
2 Samuel 22:1 David sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
And here's the question and answer from Saturday:
Will God allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear? (1 Cor 10)
1 Corinthians 10:13 13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
And here's the question for today:
Who declares himself king when David becomes old and feeble? Who was supposed to be the next king? (1 Kings 1)
And here's today's sermon:
"Fun with Augustine: Sex, Food, & Gossip. . .
When Our Appetites Get the Best of Us”
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Let us pray: Gracious God, shine the light of your Spirit upon us as we hear these words of Scripture read and proclaimed. Reveal your saving presence in these words, and lead us further down the path of faith. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
SERMON: INTRODUCTION
Last week, I spent several days with some other alums from my Seminary. Once a year, we get a big book list, we read the books (or rather most of the books!), and then we gather to discuss the things we’ve read. This year, we chose to study a theologian from the fourth century named Augustine. And I wanted to share a brief passage from one of the books we read. It’s called City of God. (Book 14, chapter 12)
Augustine—despite the silly passage I just read—is actually a MAJOR figure in the development of Christianity in the West, and he is, to say the least, an interesting guy. He was a rather lusty young man, and he took a mistress at the tender age of 18 and they lived together for 15 years and had one son together. Later on, he left this woman and his child to marry an heiress. He never saw them again.
Augustine sort of drifted from one philosophy to another, though his mom desperately wanted him to be a Christian. Eventually he converted to Christianity in his 30s. From then on, he used all of his energy that had led him astray in his youth, if you get my drift, and put it into his faith. Shortly after becoming ordained, he was made a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church.
So, I thought we’d have a little fun with Augustine this morning, as I indicate in my sermon title. And if you think the sermon title is a little risqué, just wait ‘til you hear the Scripture passage I picked for today!
SCRIPTURE PASSAGE: 1 Corinthians 6:15-20
15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!
16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh." 17 But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.
19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
The grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of the Lord endures forever.
#1
Augustine was really interested in bodies AND he was very fond of Paul’s writings. So it seems natural that while we’re in 1 Corinthians, we can listen to what Augustine might have to say about what it means to honor God with our bodies which are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Augustine would say that we are made up of three parts—that inside our bodies, we have 3 parts: our intellect, our will, and our appetites. Part #1 is our intellect: our heart, mind, and soul; it is our ability to reason. And our reason tells us what is right and what is wrong. Part #2 inside us is our will, which is our ability to do what our intellect tells us to do. And Part #3 is our appetites or our desires—the urges and yearnings we feel.
God created our bodies with each of these parts—intellect, will, and appetite—and he created each part to want what’s best for us. Because we are made in God’s image, we are wired to want goodness, happiness, and peace. In other words, God created us to want God, who IS goodness, happiness, and peace. God is what’s best for us. And our bodies become temples for the Holy Spirit, so we should want what’s best for our bodies. And our intellect, will, and appetite all work together to do what’s best for us.
Let me give you an example: part of taking care of our temples is to eat things that are good for us. Our physical appetite tells our intellect that our bodies are hungry, our intellect thinks about whether it is time to eat or not and what is best for our bodies, and our wills choose to eat a good meal, with lots of fruits and veggies, instead of having ice cream and birthday cake for breakfast. That’s the way it works for you, right? [:0)
#2
I think you’ve noticed there’s a flaw in this system. And it’s called sin. Sin has entered the world and messed up the image of God He put inside us when He first created us. Because of sin, our appetites and our desires sometimes tell us that it’s OK to want a second dessert or to indulge in sexual immorality or to want to gamble on another hand of poker or to want to crack open another beer or to want to pass along a good piece of gossip or whatever it is that you have a strong desire for and a strong appetite for.
Sin tells our appetites that it’s OK to indulge. Sin tells us it’s OK to do things, to desire things, to be hungry for things that are NOT good for our bodies, which are supposed to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. Sin tells us it’s OK to want what’s NOT best for us.
And suddenly our wills are obeying our appetites instead of our intellects. We become impulsive, and we begin to want the things that are not what’s best for us.
Instead of wanting God, we want to BE God—just like Adam and Eve and that darn fruit tree in the Garden of Eden. When we let our appetites get the best of us, we want TO BE the god of our own lives. We begin to want all the wrong things. And this leads to a decided LACK of goodness and happiness and peace. When we want the wrong things, it leads to chaos, like the chaos that existed before Creation.
But God did not create us to live in chaos. God created us to live in Him, so that we might find the goodness and happiness and peace that He created us to want and to desire.
CONCLUSION
God has blessed us with intellects in order to guide our hearts and our decisions. God has created us to want what is best for us, if we can just manage to listen to our intellects rather than our appetites.
God has created us to desire goodness and happiness and peace. God has created us to desire Him.
Augustine's most famous quote is this: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."[1]
Until our hearts find rest in God, our appetites and our desires for the wrong thing will always win. And even once we find rest in God, our appetites can still get the best of us. But, as 1 Corinthians 6 says, we were bought with a price. We belong to God. And God has given us the ability to resist . . . we are the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us. God has given us the ability to follow our intellect rather than our appetites. We CAN do it, with God’s help.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
[1] http://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/library_article/621/Our_Heart_is_Restless_St_Augustine.html
Here's the question and answer from Friday:
What did David do when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul? (2 Sam 21)
2 Samuel 22:1 David sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
And here's the question and answer from Saturday:
Will God allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear? (1 Cor 10)
1 Corinthians 10:13 13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
And here's the question for today:
Who declares himself king when David becomes old and feeble? Who was supposed to be the next king? (1 Kings 1)
And here's today's sermon:
"Fun with Augustine: Sex, Food, & Gossip. . .
When Our Appetites Get the Best of Us”
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Let us pray: Gracious God, shine the light of your Spirit upon us as we hear these words of Scripture read and proclaimed. Reveal your saving presence in these words, and lead us further down the path of faith. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
SERMON: INTRODUCTION
Last week, I spent several days with some other alums from my Seminary. Once a year, we get a big book list, we read the books (or rather most of the books!), and then we gather to discuss the things we’ve read. This year, we chose to study a theologian from the fourth century named Augustine. And I wanted to share a brief passage from one of the books we read. It’s called City of God. (Book 14, chapter 12)
Augustine—despite the silly passage I just read—is actually a MAJOR figure in the development of Christianity in the West, and he is, to say the least, an interesting guy. He was a rather lusty young man, and he took a mistress at the tender age of 18 and they lived together for 15 years and had one son together. Later on, he left this woman and his child to marry an heiress. He never saw them again.
Augustine sort of drifted from one philosophy to another, though his mom desperately wanted him to be a Christian. Eventually he converted to Christianity in his 30s. From then on, he used all of his energy that had led him astray in his youth, if you get my drift, and put it into his faith. Shortly after becoming ordained, he was made a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church.
So, I thought we’d have a little fun with Augustine this morning, as I indicate in my sermon title. And if you think the sermon title is a little risqué, just wait ‘til you hear the Scripture passage I picked for today!
SCRIPTURE PASSAGE: 1 Corinthians 6:15-20
15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!
16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh." 17 But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.
19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
The grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of the Lord endures forever.
#1
Augustine was really interested in bodies AND he was very fond of Paul’s writings. So it seems natural that while we’re in 1 Corinthians, we can listen to what Augustine might have to say about what it means to honor God with our bodies which are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Augustine would say that we are made up of three parts—that inside our bodies, we have 3 parts: our intellect, our will, and our appetites. Part #1 is our intellect: our heart, mind, and soul; it is our ability to reason. And our reason tells us what is right and what is wrong. Part #2 inside us is our will, which is our ability to do what our intellect tells us to do. And Part #3 is our appetites or our desires—the urges and yearnings we feel.
God created our bodies with each of these parts—intellect, will, and appetite—and he created each part to want what’s best for us. Because we are made in God’s image, we are wired to want goodness, happiness, and peace. In other words, God created us to want God, who IS goodness, happiness, and peace. God is what’s best for us. And our bodies become temples for the Holy Spirit, so we should want what’s best for our bodies. And our intellect, will, and appetite all work together to do what’s best for us.
Let me give you an example: part of taking care of our temples is to eat things that are good for us. Our physical appetite tells our intellect that our bodies are hungry, our intellect thinks about whether it is time to eat or not and what is best for our bodies, and our wills choose to eat a good meal, with lots of fruits and veggies, instead of having ice cream and birthday cake for breakfast. That’s the way it works for you, right? [:0)
#2
I think you’ve noticed there’s a flaw in this system. And it’s called sin. Sin has entered the world and messed up the image of God He put inside us when He first created us. Because of sin, our appetites and our desires sometimes tell us that it’s OK to want a second dessert or to indulge in sexual immorality or to want to gamble on another hand of poker or to want to crack open another beer or to want to pass along a good piece of gossip or whatever it is that you have a strong desire for and a strong appetite for.
Sin tells our appetites that it’s OK to indulge. Sin tells us it’s OK to do things, to desire things, to be hungry for things that are NOT good for our bodies, which are supposed to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. Sin tells us it’s OK to want what’s NOT best for us.
And suddenly our wills are obeying our appetites instead of our intellects. We become impulsive, and we begin to want the things that are not what’s best for us.
Instead of wanting God, we want to BE God—just like Adam and Eve and that darn fruit tree in the Garden of Eden. When we let our appetites get the best of us, we want TO BE the god of our own lives. We begin to want all the wrong things. And this leads to a decided LACK of goodness and happiness and peace. When we want the wrong things, it leads to chaos, like the chaos that existed before Creation.
But God did not create us to live in chaos. God created us to live in Him, so that we might find the goodness and happiness and peace that He created us to want and to desire.
CONCLUSION
God has blessed us with intellects in order to guide our hearts and our decisions. God has created us to want what is best for us, if we can just manage to listen to our intellects rather than our appetites.
God has created us to desire goodness and happiness and peace. God has created us to desire Him.
Augustine's most famous quote is this: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."[1]
Until our hearts find rest in God, our appetites and our desires for the wrong thing will always win. And even once we find rest in God, our appetites can still get the best of us. But, as 1 Corinthians 6 says, we were bought with a price. We belong to God. And God has given us the ability to resist . . . we are the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us. God has given us the ability to follow our intellect rather than our appetites. We CAN do it, with God’s help.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
[1] http://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/library_article/621/Our_Heart_is_Restless_St_Augustine.html
Sunday, May 3, 2009
A Time to Clam Up and a Time to Open Up
Good morning! Here's a little Q&A to get you going this morning and the sermon I'm preaching.
Here's the question and answer from yesterday:
What signs will accompany those who believe? (Mark 16)
Mark 16:17-18 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."
And here's the question of the day:
What is Nabal’s response to David’s request? (I Sam 25)
And here's today's sermon: "A Time to Clam Up and a Time to Open Up"
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Let us pray: Gracious God, shine the light of your Spirit upon us as we hear these words of Scripture read and proclaimed. Reveal your saving presence in these words, and lead us further down the path of faith. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
SCRIPTURE PASSAGE:
Mark 13:9-11 9 "You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
Mark 13:33-37 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It's like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. 35 "Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back-- whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!'"
The grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of the Lord endures forever, Amen.
INTRODUCTION
I have had my fair share of awkward conversations with friends and family and, yes, even strangers. Some well-meaning person politely asks me a simple question which requires a simple answer in return—which I can normally do. Every once in a while, however, I suddenly find myself saying something terribly inappropriate or offensive. And once I realize that I’m saying something I shouldn’t, I can seem to stop. My brain is shouting, “Stop talking! Stop talking!” And yet my mouth thinks that if I can just keep talking, I can eventually talk myself out of the mess I’m in.
I suspect that I’m not the only one who’s found themselves in the middle of a conversation desperately hoping the floor really would open up and swallow me up. Sometimes, when things are going very wrong in a conversation, I desperately pray for the person with whom I’m talking to be stricken suddenly by some strange short-term memory loss in which the entire conversation we just had would be permanently erased from their memories.
Alas, I have never been saved from an embarrassing conversation because the floor swallowed me whole or because of short-term memory loss. It seems the only way to avoid these kinds of awkward and embarrassing conversations is just to keep my mouth shut. That’s one sure-fire way to keep from making a fool of myself. I just wish I didn’t like to talk so much!
#1
In fact, I think we’ve all realize that the more we talk, the closer the ratio of embarrassing versus non-embarrassing conversations becomes. You know what I mean? The more we talk, the better chance we have of saying something really inappropriate or offensive. And we don’t want to cause any trouble.
So when the conversation starts to head down the path of gossip and slander, what do we do? We clam up. We don’t want to upset the people we are talking with, even when their conversation makes us uncomfortable. So, instead of trying to change the subject or telling our friends that gossiping is wrong, we keep our mouths shut.
You have probably been asked to do something you know is wrong. You may have even been ORDERED by your boss to do something that you know is wrong. So what do you do? You keep your mouth shut because you don’t want to get in trouble.
Or, when someone breaks down into tears or begins to talk about suicide or to talk about the grief that comes from missing a loved one, what do we do? We keep our mouths shut, because we don’t know what to say. And we’re afraid that we’ll say the wrong thing. So we say nothing. But surely saying nothing at all is the worst thing we could do in that situation.
I’m willing to bet that, more often than not, when the conversation gets serious, we shut our mouths. When the conversation starts to involve life or death or God, I bet we sometimes we clam up. These are important conversations, and we don’t want to mess things up by saying something stupid, right?
But this is the worst time to keep our mouths shut. When things get serious, this is exactly the time God wants us to open up, not shut up.
#2
In our Scripture reading today, Jesus is giving advice to his followers about when to clam up and when to open up. In Mark 13, Jesus is encouraging his followers that someday He will come again and he tells them about all the things that will lead up to His return. Some of those things include persecution and being dragged into court to testify about their faith.
In those days, the accused party in a court case didn’t get a lawyer, though the person bringing the charge against you did. So imagine standing in a court of law, representing yourself—which, if you’ve ever seen any episode of “LA Law,” “Matlock,” or “Law and Order” you know that’s the kiss of death. Everyone else around you is knowledgeable about the court and the law and the judicial process.
This is the situation the disciples found themselves in: standing alone, in a court of law, uneducated, and overwhelmed. If ever there was a time to shut up, surely this was it, right?
But that’s not what Jesus has mind. He tells them, in verse 11, “Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.”
We may never live to see Jesus return; we may never really suffer much persecution because of our faith; and we may never be dragged into a court of law to testify about God . . . but we will always and forever . . . from now until we ourselves enter Paradise . . . find ourselves in situations where we don’t know what to say. And that’s OK, because what happens in that moment of uncertainty is a chance for the Holy Spirit to speak through us.
That moment of uncertainty is our chance to be God’s vessel, God’s instrument of love or peace or rebuke or whatever is called for in that particular situation. We must put aside our fear of saying the “wrong thing” and instead pray that we might say the “godly thing.” The Holy Spirit is glad to give us the words and the wisdom to use them for every desperate situation. But we can’t be afraid to use that wisdom and those words.
CONCLUSION
Some day, Jesus will come again. It might be tomorrow; it might be 1000 years from now. We’ll never know. And really, it doesn’t matter that we don’t know, as long as each day we are trying to live in such a way that pleases God. And a big part of that is to take those moments of uncertainty during a conversation when we’re tempted to clam up because we’re afraid to say the wrong thing and instead to open up and say the godly thing.
I think you’ll find that the number of awkward or embarrassing you might say during a conversation will significantly decrease. I admit, it’s not a totally foolproof plan, but I think, if we are intentional about putting aside our fears and intentional about relying on the Holy Spirit to give us the words in whatever the situation might be, we’ll spend LESS time praying for the floor to swallow us up and MORE time praying for our friends and family, and maybe even some strangers.
And that, my friends, is how you get ready for Jesus to come again, spending more time thinking about others than you do thinking about yourself.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Here's the question and answer from yesterday:
What signs will accompany those who believe? (Mark 16)
Mark 16:17-18 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."
And here's the question of the day:
What is Nabal’s response to David’s request? (I Sam 25)
And here's today's sermon: "A Time to Clam Up and a Time to Open Up"
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Let us pray: Gracious God, shine the light of your Spirit upon us as we hear these words of Scripture read and proclaimed. Reveal your saving presence in these words, and lead us further down the path of faith. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
SCRIPTURE PASSAGE:
Mark 13:9-11 9 "You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
Mark 13:33-37 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It's like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. 35 "Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back-- whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!'"
The grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of the Lord endures forever, Amen.
INTRODUCTION
I have had my fair share of awkward conversations with friends and family and, yes, even strangers. Some well-meaning person politely asks me a simple question which requires a simple answer in return—which I can normally do. Every once in a while, however, I suddenly find myself saying something terribly inappropriate or offensive. And once I realize that I’m saying something I shouldn’t, I can seem to stop. My brain is shouting, “Stop talking! Stop talking!” And yet my mouth thinks that if I can just keep talking, I can eventually talk myself out of the mess I’m in.
I suspect that I’m not the only one who’s found themselves in the middle of a conversation desperately hoping the floor really would open up and swallow me up. Sometimes, when things are going very wrong in a conversation, I desperately pray for the person with whom I’m talking to be stricken suddenly by some strange short-term memory loss in which the entire conversation we just had would be permanently erased from their memories.
Alas, I have never been saved from an embarrassing conversation because the floor swallowed me whole or because of short-term memory loss. It seems the only way to avoid these kinds of awkward and embarrassing conversations is just to keep my mouth shut. That’s one sure-fire way to keep from making a fool of myself. I just wish I didn’t like to talk so much!
#1
In fact, I think we’ve all realize that the more we talk, the closer the ratio of embarrassing versus non-embarrassing conversations becomes. You know what I mean? The more we talk, the better chance we have of saying something really inappropriate or offensive. And we don’t want to cause any trouble.
So when the conversation starts to head down the path of gossip and slander, what do we do? We clam up. We don’t want to upset the people we are talking with, even when their conversation makes us uncomfortable. So, instead of trying to change the subject or telling our friends that gossiping is wrong, we keep our mouths shut.
You have probably been asked to do something you know is wrong. You may have even been ORDERED by your boss to do something that you know is wrong. So what do you do? You keep your mouth shut because you don’t want to get in trouble.
Or, when someone breaks down into tears or begins to talk about suicide or to talk about the grief that comes from missing a loved one, what do we do? We keep our mouths shut, because we don’t know what to say. And we’re afraid that we’ll say the wrong thing. So we say nothing. But surely saying nothing at all is the worst thing we could do in that situation.
I’m willing to bet that, more often than not, when the conversation gets serious, we shut our mouths. When the conversation starts to involve life or death or God, I bet we sometimes we clam up. These are important conversations, and we don’t want to mess things up by saying something stupid, right?
But this is the worst time to keep our mouths shut. When things get serious, this is exactly the time God wants us to open up, not shut up.
#2
In our Scripture reading today, Jesus is giving advice to his followers about when to clam up and when to open up. In Mark 13, Jesus is encouraging his followers that someday He will come again and he tells them about all the things that will lead up to His return. Some of those things include persecution and being dragged into court to testify about their faith.
In those days, the accused party in a court case didn’t get a lawyer, though the person bringing the charge against you did. So imagine standing in a court of law, representing yourself—which, if you’ve ever seen any episode of “LA Law,” “Matlock,” or “Law and Order” you know that’s the kiss of death. Everyone else around you is knowledgeable about the court and the law and the judicial process.
This is the situation the disciples found themselves in: standing alone, in a court of law, uneducated, and overwhelmed. If ever there was a time to shut up, surely this was it, right?
But that’s not what Jesus has mind. He tells them, in verse 11, “Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.”
We may never live to see Jesus return; we may never really suffer much persecution because of our faith; and we may never be dragged into a court of law to testify about God . . . but we will always and forever . . . from now until we ourselves enter Paradise . . . find ourselves in situations where we don’t know what to say. And that’s OK, because what happens in that moment of uncertainty is a chance for the Holy Spirit to speak through us.
That moment of uncertainty is our chance to be God’s vessel, God’s instrument of love or peace or rebuke or whatever is called for in that particular situation. We must put aside our fear of saying the “wrong thing” and instead pray that we might say the “godly thing.” The Holy Spirit is glad to give us the words and the wisdom to use them for every desperate situation. But we can’t be afraid to use that wisdom and those words.
CONCLUSION
Some day, Jesus will come again. It might be tomorrow; it might be 1000 years from now. We’ll never know. And really, it doesn’t matter that we don’t know, as long as each day we are trying to live in such a way that pleases God. And a big part of that is to take those moments of uncertainty during a conversation when we’re tempted to clam up because we’re afraid to say the wrong thing and instead to open up and say the godly thing.
I think you’ll find that the number of awkward or embarrassing you might say during a conversation will significantly decrease. I admit, it’s not a totally foolproof plan, but I think, if we are intentional about putting aside our fears and intentional about relying on the Holy Spirit to give us the words in whatever the situation might be, we’ll spend LESS time praying for the floor to swallow us up and MORE time praying for our friends and family, and maybe even some strangers.
And that, my friends, is how you get ready for Jesus to come again, spending more time thinking about others than you do thinking about yourself.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Sunday Sermon 04.05.09
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Let us pray: Gracious God, shine the light of your Spirit upon us as we hear these words of Scripture read and proclaimed. Reveal your saving presence in these words, and lead us further down the path of faith. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
SCRIPTURE PASSAGE: Mark 11:1-11
1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2 saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.'"
4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5 some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?" 6 They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go.
7 When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.
9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" 10 "Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!" "Hosanna in the highest!"
11 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
The grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of the Lord endures forever, Amen.
It was a busy day along the road to Jerusalem. It was almost time for the Passover celebration, and most able-bodied families from the country side around the town had set out on their annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The road to Jerusalem was crowded with adults and children and animals, all moving toward the giant walls surrounding the city.
The crowds were headed to the Temple to celebrate the Passover and the Feast of the Unleavened Bread. All these years later, faithful families still made the trip to Jerusalem to celebrate what God had done, and continues to do, for them.
Many generations ago, their ancestors had been enslaved in Egypt by a Pharaoh who was afraid of their ancestors. He was afraid they would rise up against him because they were so numerous. So the Pharaoh forced them to work all day long in the hot sun, making bricks out of mud and hay.
Moses, the leader of the slaves, made many attempts to convince Pharaoh to let his people go, but Pharaoh stubbornly refused. God began to send plagues down on the Egyptians, while sparing the Israelites. Frogs and boils and locusts—all meant to change Pharaoh’s mind. But still he refused.
Then God sent the final plague—the death of the first born. Moses warned the Israelites to sacrifice a lamb and to smear its blood on their doorways so that the angel of the Lord would PASS OVER their houses as they took away the first born of the Egyptians.
Overwhelmed by grief at the loss of his own son, the Pharaoh set the Israelites free. God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, parted the Red Sea, and guided his people through their wilderness wandering—as a pillar of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night—and brought them into to the Promised Land.
It was the most important time of their lives, even if it had had happened so long ago. Their ancestors who were there had died long ago. But the story of what they saw lived on through the generations, handed down from parent to child. And that was why they were on the road today: to tell the story one more time. They were heading toward Jerusalem to celebrate what God had done for them in the past and also what God is doing in the present.
But there was a little disturbance in the road up ahead. They were still pretty far from Jerusalem, but from one of the villages along the road, came a man, riding on a donkey. The crowd around him were taking their coats off and placing them on the ground for the donkey to walk on. They were cutting off palm branches and waving them in the air. As the man on the donkey passed, they threw the palms down on the ground too.
It was strange; the man on the donkey didn’t say anything. He didn’t wave or call out to the crowd. He simply looked at them as the donkey slowly walked along the road to Jerusalem. He didn’t look happy to be the center of attention. In fact, he looked a little sad, like he really didn’t want to be making this trip to Jerusalem for the Passover.
There were some other men with him, but they were hanging back, like they were uncertain of what was going on or embarrassed to be there with him. They stayed some distance behind the man on the donkey, slowly making their way behind him to the temple at Jerusalem.
The crowds knew something was going on. Something big was about to happen.
As the man on the donkey passed, the crowds began to yell. They cried out, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” They threw down their coats and their palm branches and cried out, “Hosanna! Deliver us!” “Hosanna! Save us.” “Hosanna! Save me!”
Who was this man? Was he the Messiah? Was he the Savior? He looked so ordinary. He didn’t look like a messiah or a savior. He looked like an ordinary pilgrim, on his way to Jerusalem, just like the rest of them.
“Hosanna!” they continued to cry. “Save us,” they pleaded with the man on the donkey. But he just kept his eyes straight ahead and kept moving toward Jerusalem.
Today is Palm Sunday. This morning we have also seen the palms being waved and we have watched the parade go by. Just like the crowd, we have watched the man on the donkey walk by and we have also said, “Hosanna! Deliver us! Save us!”
When we see the Savior, we can’t help but ask for deliverance. When we say “hosanna” we are asking God to save us. But save us from what? What is the prayer in your heart when you ask God to “save” you?[1]
Save me from anger. Save me from depression.
Save me from hopelessness. Save me from debt.
Save me from the fighting. Save me from bitterness.
Save me from loneliness. Save me from my fears.
In the middle of this little parade, watching our Savior make his way to the cross, we can’t help but pray. We can’t help but to cry out for what we are most vulnerable to as it bubbles to the surface. We pray that somehow God would take the broken places inside of us and make us whole.
Because that is what Holy Week is all about: what God had to do in order to save us. Holy Week is not pretty; it is not pleasant. What happens in this week shows just how sinful humanity was and is and always will be. And yet it also shows us just how much God loves us.
What better way to begin Holy Week than by asking God, from the deep and honest places inside of us, to save us?
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
[1] http://day1.org/1240-save_us
Let us pray: Gracious God, shine the light of your Spirit upon us as we hear these words of Scripture read and proclaimed. Reveal your saving presence in these words, and lead us further down the path of faith. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
SCRIPTURE PASSAGE: Mark 11:1-11
1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2 saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.'"
4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5 some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?" 6 They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go.
7 When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.
9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" 10 "Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!" "Hosanna in the highest!"
11 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
The grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of the Lord endures forever, Amen.
It was a busy day along the road to Jerusalem. It was almost time for the Passover celebration, and most able-bodied families from the country side around the town had set out on their annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The road to Jerusalem was crowded with adults and children and animals, all moving toward the giant walls surrounding the city.
The crowds were headed to the Temple to celebrate the Passover and the Feast of the Unleavened Bread. All these years later, faithful families still made the trip to Jerusalem to celebrate what God had done, and continues to do, for them.
Many generations ago, their ancestors had been enslaved in Egypt by a Pharaoh who was afraid of their ancestors. He was afraid they would rise up against him because they were so numerous. So the Pharaoh forced them to work all day long in the hot sun, making bricks out of mud and hay.
Moses, the leader of the slaves, made many attempts to convince Pharaoh to let his people go, but Pharaoh stubbornly refused. God began to send plagues down on the Egyptians, while sparing the Israelites. Frogs and boils and locusts—all meant to change Pharaoh’s mind. But still he refused.
Then God sent the final plague—the death of the first born. Moses warned the Israelites to sacrifice a lamb and to smear its blood on their doorways so that the angel of the Lord would PASS OVER their houses as they took away the first born of the Egyptians.
Overwhelmed by grief at the loss of his own son, the Pharaoh set the Israelites free. God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, parted the Red Sea, and guided his people through their wilderness wandering—as a pillar of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night—and brought them into to the Promised Land.
It was the most important time of their lives, even if it had had happened so long ago. Their ancestors who were there had died long ago. But the story of what they saw lived on through the generations, handed down from parent to child. And that was why they were on the road today: to tell the story one more time. They were heading toward Jerusalem to celebrate what God had done for them in the past and also what God is doing in the present.
But there was a little disturbance in the road up ahead. They were still pretty far from Jerusalem, but from one of the villages along the road, came a man, riding on a donkey. The crowd around him were taking their coats off and placing them on the ground for the donkey to walk on. They were cutting off palm branches and waving them in the air. As the man on the donkey passed, they threw the palms down on the ground too.
It was strange; the man on the donkey didn’t say anything. He didn’t wave or call out to the crowd. He simply looked at them as the donkey slowly walked along the road to Jerusalem. He didn’t look happy to be the center of attention. In fact, he looked a little sad, like he really didn’t want to be making this trip to Jerusalem for the Passover.
There were some other men with him, but they were hanging back, like they were uncertain of what was going on or embarrassed to be there with him. They stayed some distance behind the man on the donkey, slowly making their way behind him to the temple at Jerusalem.
The crowds knew something was going on. Something big was about to happen.
As the man on the donkey passed, the crowds began to yell. They cried out, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” They threw down their coats and their palm branches and cried out, “Hosanna! Deliver us!” “Hosanna! Save us.” “Hosanna! Save me!”
Who was this man? Was he the Messiah? Was he the Savior? He looked so ordinary. He didn’t look like a messiah or a savior. He looked like an ordinary pilgrim, on his way to Jerusalem, just like the rest of them.
“Hosanna!” they continued to cry. “Save us,” they pleaded with the man on the donkey. But he just kept his eyes straight ahead and kept moving toward Jerusalem.
Today is Palm Sunday. This morning we have also seen the palms being waved and we have watched the parade go by. Just like the crowd, we have watched the man on the donkey walk by and we have also said, “Hosanna! Deliver us! Save us!”
When we see the Savior, we can’t help but ask for deliverance. When we say “hosanna” we are asking God to save us. But save us from what? What is the prayer in your heart when you ask God to “save” you?[1]
Save me from anger. Save me from depression.
Save me from hopelessness. Save me from debt.
Save me from the fighting. Save me from bitterness.
Save me from loneliness. Save me from my fears.
In the middle of this little parade, watching our Savior make his way to the cross, we can’t help but pray. We can’t help but to cry out for what we are most vulnerable to as it bubbles to the surface. We pray that somehow God would take the broken places inside of us and make us whole.
Because that is what Holy Week is all about: what God had to do in order to save us. Holy Week is not pretty; it is not pleasant. What happens in this week shows just how sinful humanity was and is and always will be. And yet it also shows us just how much God loves us.
What better way to begin Holy Week than by asking God, from the deep and honest places inside of us, to save us?
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
[1] http://day1.org/1240-save_us
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