Wilderness Grumblings:
http://www.zshare.net/download/946931767576ae0c/ To Listen
I so love the book of Exodus. Reading it so closely parallels my Christian walk and I imagine the walk of many Christians. The nation of Israel is rescued by God, get comfortable, began straying from God, need rescuing again, call on God and then are again rescued by God. Isn’t that a common story? How easy it is to forget God’s presence with us when things are going well, when things get comfortable. How quickly we remember who is in charge of it all when things become uncomfortable and hard. Such is this story today. If you have been following the Exodus story you know that God used Moses to deliver the nation of Israel, who were serving as slaves in Egypt, out of Egypt. It is in this story that persons get an up close and personal look at the intervention of God in our world. It begins with the deliverance from the Egyptian Army as the red sea is parted for Israel to go through and then returns to cover and drown the Egyptian army who is in pursuit of Israel. It continues at Horeb when there is no water in the wilderness and God provides water. It continues on into our story today. The Israelite have been wandering through the desert for about 47 days now. There provisions have run out. They are worried that they will die here in the desert. They begin grumbling and complaining to and about Moses and Aaron. “We were better off enslaved in Egypt at least there we had plenty to eat.” Their growling stomachs overtake the memory of oppression in Egypt. They forget the promise of Cannan. They question whether they should be following Moses. Moses seeks God’s help. God provides. He provides enough for each day and on the 6th day he provides enough for two days so that the Sabbath can be observed.
When I read this scripture yesterday I was immediately struck by it’s immediate application to my own journey right now. 9 years ago I awoke in the middle of the night with a message from God. Revelation 3:2-3 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. For me the message was clear. Since a little girl, baptizing my brothers and my sister in the bath-tub, I knew that God had a call on my life. Funny that my sister sent me this face-book message this morning: Happy preachin'! Funny that the gal who used to baptize me in the bathtub, wheelbarrow, toilet, or whatever water she could find is preaching at the Methodist churches! Could have saved me alot of trauma if you woulda just sprinkled!
On that night 8 years into my Social work career God said “Kelly, renew that; remember it, it’s time to do what I asked you to do.” I’ve spent the last 9 years continuing in that career and trying to find an easy and comfortable route to answer that call. I’ve never denied that my promised land was right here, behind a pulpit or in a hospital room, or in the funeral home. However, I kept looking for the easy way out. I kept trying to find a route that wouldn’t take me through the wilderness. Would it really be the financially responsible thing to do to leave a good paying job where I do serve people and go blindly toward this promised land not knowing how I would pay my bills? In December I took a 2 month mental health sabbatical from my job. During those two months I said to a friend “I’m done with Social Work and I know why. I go in these peoples houses everyday trying to help them find solutions for getting out of these hard places they find themselves in. The one answer that I have for them I can’t give them because I work for the government. Jesus is the answer, I can’t give them Jesus. I had this revelation yet I returned to the bondage of Social Work and I continued on. Over the past few weeks our church has been doing a church wide challenge of reading the Bible in 90 days. The first couple of weeks were purely focused on God’s call not always being the easy thing, on God’s call sometimes meaning to choose what is hard rather than what is easy. Too many times we want to stay where it is comfortable. Moses didn’t want to answer God’s call. He was plenty comfortable where he was. Sometimes God has to push us. I got pushed very hard on Friday of this week when my Social Work career of 17 years in child welfare ended. I had known for a couple of weeks this was a real possibility. The demands of keeping up with a caseload and meeting the mandates of the State had finally taken a toll on me. I couldn’t keep up. I’ve told others I felt like I was riding a stationary bicycle. I would work and work and work and at the end of the day, my caseload would look the same. As I faced the possibility of being dismissed from my job I prayed that God would lead the decision. I put my trust in that decision, knowing that God had a plan. During that couple of weeks songs of encouragement continually flowed into my space. God sent messengers along the way to affirm me. God sent scriptures to encourage me. I grieved a lot. I fought to stay in Midian, or in Egypt. I fought not to be kicked out into the wilderness. The wilderness: where I wouldn’t be assured of making my house payments, paying my light bill, putting food on the table. The wilderness: where I would have to be fully and totally dependent on God. As I sat in my car the morning I was to make my final plea. I received a call from the pastor of a church in Arden that I sometimes fill in for, asking me to preach for him in October. Later that same day, I received a facebook message from your pastor asking me to preach at Longs for him on Oct 2. Yesterday I received the call from your pastor asking me to preach today. In 48 hours God sent me 5 preaching assignments and in essence said “follow me, I will provide.” So, here I am, in the wilderness, looking toward the Promised Land and trusting in God for my daily provisions. That is exactly where the Hebrews stood. Let’s take a closer look.
In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” Isn’t it our nature that when things go wrong. When bad things start to happen, we always have to find someone to blame. Much of the time we blame our leaders. It’s much easier to do that than to look within and see what we could do differently. Complaining is contagious and thus we have the whole nation complaining about Moses and Aaron. There is chaos. Rather than putting their corporate minds together to come up with a solution to the problem, they put they corporate minds together to fuel anger against Moses and Aaron. We have the makings here of a coup, of an uprising from the people against their leaders. I remember sitting in the stands at my brother’s high school basketball game one time. The coach’s mother was behind me and the boys were not playing well that night. She would holler come on boys and she would turn to the person next to her and say don’t they understand his job is at stake. I found that absurd but learned that it was true. If the team doesn’t do well it is the coach’s fault. It doesn’t matter what talent he has or doesn’t have in the group he’s been given. When things go bad in the corporate world, the blame ultimately lies on the CEO and when things go wrong with our nation, it is ultimately the fault of the President. And here in the desert, the fact that they are out of food becomes the fault of Moses and Aaron.
They have forgotten that it was Moses who heard their cries and pleas in Egypt. It was Moses that interceded with God on their behalf. They forget the horrid conditions of their slavery in Egypt. They exaggerate the “good” in Egypt. They long to go back. They would have rather died by the plagues and had a full belly. They also forget all that God has already brought them through. They forget the parting of the sea. They forget the provisions of water. Name your bondage. What keeps you captive? What keeps you from making that first step of faith toward your promised land? Is it fear? Have you forgotten the number of times that God has made provisions for you? Who are you grumbling against? Who are you blaming? Is it your pastor, Your Boss, Your county commissioners, your senators?
Moving on: in the next few verses we see that God hears the grumbling and as is the Nature of God, God graciously hears the grumblings and responds, assuring Moses that provisions will be made for the people. At the same time he wants to make sure they understand where these provisions are coming from. He wants them to understand who is really in charge. Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.” God spells out to Moses how the provisions are to be handled. Each person is to gather 3 pounds of Manna when it appears for each person that is with them. They are to gather no more that that. Why is that do you think? Well reading on we see this. So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” 8 Moses also said, “You will know that it was the LORD when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the LORD.”
9 Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.’”
10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud.
11 The LORD said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.’”
Moses tells the people, you know what, your deliverance from Egypt was not my plan, it was God’s plan. When you grumble against us, you are grumbling against God. God is going to reveal himself to the people, once again. They have taken for Granted the presence of God in the cloud that is leading them every day. They have forgotten that God is with them. They have quit trusting. They have lost faith. And as Aaron tells them of the provisions God is going to make for them God appears to them by making the cloud brighter or altering it in some magnificent way to remind them of God’s presence with them. What has God placed in your life to assure you of his presence. Have you forgotten it? Have you taken it for granted? Have you forgotten who is in control of your life? Have you forgotten who is leading you? God has a promise for you. He will provide. You have to trust in his presence. You have to trust that he is intimately aware of your circumstances and he is leading you to the Promised Land.
The provisions are not the only lesson to be learned in the desert that day though. Let’s look at the rest of the story: The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18 And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.
19 Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.”
20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.
The other lesson in here is one of disobedience, of greed, and again of lack of trust. God had told them. I will provide for you daily. Only gather enough for one day. Some of them have to put them to the test. What id the fine. They couldn’t do this by their on means, on their own. The extra food turned into maggot infested food. God is sending a message. Quit depending on your selves for your provisions. You need to recognize that you can’t do this on your own. You must trust in me.
Friends what has you in bondage this morning? Is it an addiction? Is it a grudge against someone? Is it a job? Is it an unhealthy relationship? Is it material things? Is it the way you’ve always done things. Change, even good change is difficult for us. We get comfortable in the familiar, even when the familiar is not good for us. Letting go is not easy. Sometimes we hold on to our bondage so tight that it threatens our very lives. We have to make that first step. We have to put our toe in the red sea, heading toward the desert and many times we have to go through the desert to get to the Promised Land. What this story tells us today is that God is with us in that desert, we have to trust though. We are so tempted to try to figure it out on ourselves, to be self-reliant. But our own plans, our own efforts; like the manna, spoils. Remember the story of Peter walking on water. Jesus calls to Peter to get out of the comfort of the boat and to step out into the sea. Peter does. He fixes his eyes on Jesus and steps out of the boat and begins walking on water toward Jesus. But the moment he takes his eyes off Jesus he begins to sink. Jesus rescues him. “Oh ye of little faith.” Is God calling you to step out of the comfort of the boat this morning? Well fix your eyes on him, he will sustain you. He will provide you with your daily bread.
This morning you are called out of bondage. You are called into the desert of the unknown. You are called into the presence of God. You are called to Trust and Obey. Step out. Take that step of faith God has been urging you to take. Depend on Him. He will not fail you and He will bring you to the Promised Land.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Let the Master Teach You How to Multiply
Matthew 14:13-23
I am preaching this sermon on July 31, 2011, the day that the descendents of Charles and Annie Mae Wilson Dotson converge upon Asheville for an afternoon of sharing memories, breaking bread together, playing music together and just plain enjoying each other. That’s right; this is the weekend of the annual Dotson family reunion. Anyone who knows my family knows that there are two weekends that are sacred. Our companions and friends know not to ask us to do anything other than be with the cousins the weekend of Thanksgiving and the last weekend in July. Our first cousins Damien and Jessica are extensions of our sibling group and we don’t dare miss a second of our available time with them. The weekend is generally spent up on our family mountain just being together. We eat, we sit on the deck, we talk, we laugh, and sometimes we might even cry. We play games, we play music. On Saturday we play golf and on Sunday morning we enjoy a church service together and a meal with the whole extended family. So, the people of Cruso UMC and Longs UMC must know how dearly they are loved and have been missed for when their pastor called and told me he needed me on July 31st, I didn’t hesitate one moment to say yes. Fitting that today’s story has to do with Jesus’ love for his first cousin and with eating. Let’s delve in…..
Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing unto you Oh God. Empty me of all of me, fill me with all of you as I share your word for these great people this morning.
Sermon:
As the scripture was read to you today, it was a familiar one, Jesus using a lad’s lunch to feed 5000 people. I put the word out on facebook to get people’s reaction to the story, looking for where people connect with the story. Many went with the obvious: Jesus can do the impossible. Some connected with the crowd in the story, some connected with the boy, some connected with disciples, some even connected with the boys mother imagining her reaction when her son comes home and tells her his lunch provided food for 5,000 people. It was so much fun to have this discussion with my uncle, a distant cousin, an old high school class mate, an old church friend/mentor, and a current church member. It was fun to watch the conversation between persons who didn’t know each other and to see them learn from each other as they wrestled with this scripture. My friend Kay Free summed it up well when she said “Isn't it awesome how God's word is relevant for each person and touches each one in a different way depending where they are in life? Some relate to the crowd, some the feedings, some the disciples or the child. It is truly the Living Word!” As we go through this familiar story may you see some things with fresh eyes today. May the living word touch you in the place where it is needed today.
The story today begins with the news to Jesus from the disciples that John the Baptist has been murdered. Jesus’s response was to get away. He got in a boat and begin leaving the shore. However, the crowd followed on foot having heard of and experienced the previous miracles/healings Jesus had performed they were all bringing their sick and ailing loved ones to him. This is the first stop on our journey through the story today. John the Baptist was Jesus’s first cousin. He was the one who leaped in the womb when Mary came to tell his mother she was with child. He was the one who prepared the way for Jesus to come. He was the one who was there for the beginning of Jesus’ ministry by baptizing him. Jesus is certainly grieved at the news of his murder. Matthew records this story as Jesus getting in the boat and going to a solitary place. John records Jesus taking the disciples with him. Nonetheless, as Jesus does many times throughout the stories of scripture-----he retreats. He needs time to commune with the Father and with his closest friends. Jesus rows through the waters probably discussing his grief with his friends, anxious to get to a solitary place, only to find that it is not so solitary at all because the crowd has followed. He looks up and there on the shore are thousands of people expecting something from him. I’m trying to imagine that. I remember last year when my nephew was born only to die the first call I made was to my boss telling her I would not be at work. Work was the last place I wanted to be. I wanted to soak up my family, stay close to them and receive the love of my friends and I wanted to sleep. Then again, I think of a preaching engagement I had on April 9th and 10th at a retirement village in Arden. On April 8th my grandfather went into a coma. The person responsible for scheduling the preachers for those services texted me and called me several times letting me know that I could cancel, they would understand. I couldn’t though, God had given me a word and I needed to do it. I knew my grandfather would want me to and I did. In a way it was healing to me.
Jesus looked out at that crowd in the midst of his grief and compassion came over him. Compassion: Accoriding to wikkipedia it means to suffer together with. It is also listed as more than empathy, it is an active desire to alleviate ones suffering. So, Jesus while even in his on suffering had an active desire to alleviate the suffering of that multitude of people. That is who Jesus is. Are you suffering in any part of your life right now. Suffering with grief, sickness, worry, pain, addiction…….Jesus enters into your suffering with you and desires greatly to alleviate it. Do you, like Jesus in this story, have your own grief and suffering that consumes you…..perhaps compassion for others is just the healing you need right now.
Moving forward, Jesus spends all day healing the sick and speaking with the multitude. The disciples, likely hungry themselves, come to him and tell him that he needs to wind it up, the people need time to get back to the villages and eat. When Jesus was ministering there was no clock on the back wall, or outside the sound booth to signal him that time was up. There was no wife or husband pointing to a watch or giving a cut signal. So, the disciples play timekeeper and approach. Jesus’s response, nonsense, we will feed them. Not only does Jesus care about the crowds’ spiritual needs, their needs of healing. He cares about there basic need of food. He supplies that too. Everytime I hear this story I’m reminded of one of my favorite childhood memories. It was participating in a children’s musical written by Dottie Rambo: Down by the Creek Bank. The sanctuary of Gashes Creek Baptist church was transformed into a creek bank with fishing poles, lunch buckets. One of my favorite lines in the whole musical, I got to say. “When Jesus fed those 5000 people it must have been with Tuna fish cause Tuna goes a loooooooong way.” Then the song that went along with it. “Little barefoot boy walking through the land, what you got in that basket in your hand. There’s 5,000 people waiting to be fed, what you gonna do with that fish and bread. You’ve got to give it away, pass it around, turn your baskets upside down. I can tell by the smile and the twinkle in your eye, the master has taught you how to multiply, Let the master teach you how to multiply.
That is exactly what happened. The disciples doubt. Really Jesus, all we have is 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. We can’t feed all those people with that. Let me make it just a little more amazing. We’re not talking about some great big Whale fish or 5 big loaves of bread like we think of today. It was small enough that a boy was carrying it for lunch. The loaves are thought to be barley loaves and were more like little cakes. It is thought the fish were probably like sardines. Really Jesus? How often do we do just what the disciples did. You want me to do what Jesus? But…….I can’t, what about, I don’t have. Take the I out of it folks. With Jesus all things are possible. Jesus told the disciples. Tell the crowd to sit down in the grass, you will serve them. Then Jesus took all the boy had and he held it up, he blessed it and the disciples began to distribute it. There is a lot packed into those few words. #1. Jesus used a little boy to provide a meal to the crowd. Again God is using the unsuspected to accomplish a great thing. #2. The little boy gave all that he had without question. Oh that we all had the faith of a child. While the disciples question Jesus the little boy hands all he has over to God and lets it be used to further God’s kingdom. Reminds you somewhat of the story of the widows mite doesn’t it? Do we trust God with all that we’ve got. Do we have the faith of this little boy? I was interested in finding out what kind of difference kids are making in our own world. I found Oprah’s Angel Network where there were several stories of young children having compassion and acting on it with what they have. Here is just one of those stories:
"My name is Zach and I started walking to help homeless youth two years ago. November 2007 was the first ever National Homeless Youth Awareness month and I wanted to do something huge that would bring a lot of awareness to the 1.3 million homeless kids living in this country. I decided to walk from my hometown in Florida 280 miles to the capitol of Florida (Tallahassee). It was a huge success and I raised $25,000 in cash and supplies that I was able to use to help the Katrina victims.
In November 2008 I decided to continue my journey and walk from state capitol to state capitol, until I made it to Washington, D.C. So, I walked from Tallahassee to Atlanta. I raised around $17,000. Of that, $7,000 stays in Florida to help homeless kids and $10,000 will go to Habitat for Humanity in Macon, Ga., to help a family get their own house.
In May 2009 I plan on going all the way, 680 miles, from Atlanta to Washington, D.C., stopping in two more state capitols along the way. I hope that I can get 1,000 people to walk my last mile in Washington, D.C., from the White House to the steps of the capitol. I hope I can continue to talk to school groups, clubs and churches along the way to raise awareness. I hope to be a positive role model to kids who are interested in doing community service. I hope kids see me and see that they can do anything they put their mind to." Borrowed from Oprah Angel Network website
Is that not amazing?
I wonder what you have in your pocket right now. I am not going to really do this exercise but I did ponder it. Imagine it in your head. What if I got the offering plate and sent it around with the instruction of taking whatever money you have in your wallet right now and putting it in the offering plate. I wonder how many people God could feed with that. Then I wonder if we added that to what the folks at Longs would have. How many people could we feed. I passed xx churches or signs to churches from my house to this church this morning . I wonder how many people we could feed if everyone in all of those churches did that? Then I pondered more: forget everything you have in your wallet. What if everyone sitting in a pew in Haywood County today gave everything in their wallet/pocket up to 1.00. How many people would that feed. The Open Door in Waynesville serves 20,000 meals a year to hungry persons. They operate on a budget of 100,000. We have the community kitchen in Canton as well. 38.00 a month will provide for 1 child through compassion international. What if when spiral hams go on sale instead of just buying one, you buy two and take one to one of these kitchens. Folks we don’t have to be Millionaires to make a difference. We can be the holder of 2 little sardines. We can be the holder of just one mite. If we give what we have to God he will multiply it. Let the Master teach you how to multiply! In fact God takes the little we give him and he multiplies it in excess. There were 12 basketfuls leftover.
After this was done Jesus dismissed the disciples and told them to go on ahead. He dismissed the crowd and then he went on the mountainside to pray. This is the final lesson of todays story. Jesus earlier prayer time, retreat time, time of solitude was interrupted by the needs of the crowd. Jesus does not forget his need for communication with God, alone time, a time of retreat. Immediately afterwards he does just that. How often do we sit down and commune with god in a solitary place. For Jesus it’s almost always a mountainside where he finds retreat. Where do you find retreat? Is it in a garden outside your house, is it in a sacred space, it is reclining on your couch, is it in your car on your commute to work. The place is irrelevant. What iw relavant though is the need to find time to self and create consistent time with God. It will make a difference, I promise.
In closing Out of this story we are called to:
Come out of ourselves and have Compassion for those who crowd us, to have a deep desire to alleviate the suffering of those around us.
Speak our doubts and frustrations to God but to still obey with the faith of a child.
To give what we have to God and let God multiply it.
Have solitary, meditative time with God to heal our own broken spirits.
What action do you need to take this week to live out the lessons of this story. Do you know this God of compassion who enters into your suffering world? As we sing this final hymn think about how you are to respond to this word today. You may want to use the prayer rail to meditate on this for a while. I open it up to you.
I am preaching this sermon on July 31, 2011, the day that the descendents of Charles and Annie Mae Wilson Dotson converge upon Asheville for an afternoon of sharing memories, breaking bread together, playing music together and just plain enjoying each other. That’s right; this is the weekend of the annual Dotson family reunion. Anyone who knows my family knows that there are two weekends that are sacred. Our companions and friends know not to ask us to do anything other than be with the cousins the weekend of Thanksgiving and the last weekend in July. Our first cousins Damien and Jessica are extensions of our sibling group and we don’t dare miss a second of our available time with them. The weekend is generally spent up on our family mountain just being together. We eat, we sit on the deck, we talk, we laugh, and sometimes we might even cry. We play games, we play music. On Saturday we play golf and on Sunday morning we enjoy a church service together and a meal with the whole extended family. So, the people of Cruso UMC and Longs UMC must know how dearly they are loved and have been missed for when their pastor called and told me he needed me on July 31st, I didn’t hesitate one moment to say yes. Fitting that today’s story has to do with Jesus’ love for his first cousin and with eating. Let’s delve in…..
Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing unto you Oh God. Empty me of all of me, fill me with all of you as I share your word for these great people this morning.
Sermon:
As the scripture was read to you today, it was a familiar one, Jesus using a lad’s lunch to feed 5000 people. I put the word out on facebook to get people’s reaction to the story, looking for where people connect with the story. Many went with the obvious: Jesus can do the impossible. Some connected with the crowd in the story, some connected with the boy, some connected with disciples, some even connected with the boys mother imagining her reaction when her son comes home and tells her his lunch provided food for 5,000 people. It was so much fun to have this discussion with my uncle, a distant cousin, an old high school class mate, an old church friend/mentor, and a current church member. It was fun to watch the conversation between persons who didn’t know each other and to see them learn from each other as they wrestled with this scripture. My friend Kay Free summed it up well when she said “Isn't it awesome how God's word is relevant for each person and touches each one in a different way depending where they are in life? Some relate to the crowd, some the feedings, some the disciples or the child. It is truly the Living Word!” As we go through this familiar story may you see some things with fresh eyes today. May the living word touch you in the place where it is needed today.
The story today begins with the news to Jesus from the disciples that John the Baptist has been murdered. Jesus’s response was to get away. He got in a boat and begin leaving the shore. However, the crowd followed on foot having heard of and experienced the previous miracles/healings Jesus had performed they were all bringing their sick and ailing loved ones to him. This is the first stop on our journey through the story today. John the Baptist was Jesus’s first cousin. He was the one who leaped in the womb when Mary came to tell his mother she was with child. He was the one who prepared the way for Jesus to come. He was the one who was there for the beginning of Jesus’ ministry by baptizing him. Jesus is certainly grieved at the news of his murder. Matthew records this story as Jesus getting in the boat and going to a solitary place. John records Jesus taking the disciples with him. Nonetheless, as Jesus does many times throughout the stories of scripture-----he retreats. He needs time to commune with the Father and with his closest friends. Jesus rows through the waters probably discussing his grief with his friends, anxious to get to a solitary place, only to find that it is not so solitary at all because the crowd has followed. He looks up and there on the shore are thousands of people expecting something from him. I’m trying to imagine that. I remember last year when my nephew was born only to die the first call I made was to my boss telling her I would not be at work. Work was the last place I wanted to be. I wanted to soak up my family, stay close to them and receive the love of my friends and I wanted to sleep. Then again, I think of a preaching engagement I had on April 9th and 10th at a retirement village in Arden. On April 8th my grandfather went into a coma. The person responsible for scheduling the preachers for those services texted me and called me several times letting me know that I could cancel, they would understand. I couldn’t though, God had given me a word and I needed to do it. I knew my grandfather would want me to and I did. In a way it was healing to me.
Jesus looked out at that crowd in the midst of his grief and compassion came over him. Compassion: Accoriding to wikkipedia it means to suffer together with. It is also listed as more than empathy, it is an active desire to alleviate ones suffering. So, Jesus while even in his on suffering had an active desire to alleviate the suffering of that multitude of people. That is who Jesus is. Are you suffering in any part of your life right now. Suffering with grief, sickness, worry, pain, addiction…….Jesus enters into your suffering with you and desires greatly to alleviate it. Do you, like Jesus in this story, have your own grief and suffering that consumes you…..perhaps compassion for others is just the healing you need right now.
Moving forward, Jesus spends all day healing the sick and speaking with the multitude. The disciples, likely hungry themselves, come to him and tell him that he needs to wind it up, the people need time to get back to the villages and eat. When Jesus was ministering there was no clock on the back wall, or outside the sound booth to signal him that time was up. There was no wife or husband pointing to a watch or giving a cut signal. So, the disciples play timekeeper and approach. Jesus’s response, nonsense, we will feed them. Not only does Jesus care about the crowds’ spiritual needs, their needs of healing. He cares about there basic need of food. He supplies that too. Everytime I hear this story I’m reminded of one of my favorite childhood memories. It was participating in a children’s musical written by Dottie Rambo: Down by the Creek Bank. The sanctuary of Gashes Creek Baptist church was transformed into a creek bank with fishing poles, lunch buckets. One of my favorite lines in the whole musical, I got to say. “When Jesus fed those 5000 people it must have been with Tuna fish cause Tuna goes a loooooooong way.” Then the song that went along with it. “Little barefoot boy walking through the land, what you got in that basket in your hand. There’s 5,000 people waiting to be fed, what you gonna do with that fish and bread. You’ve got to give it away, pass it around, turn your baskets upside down. I can tell by the smile and the twinkle in your eye, the master has taught you how to multiply, Let the master teach you how to multiply.
That is exactly what happened. The disciples doubt. Really Jesus, all we have is 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. We can’t feed all those people with that. Let me make it just a little more amazing. We’re not talking about some great big Whale fish or 5 big loaves of bread like we think of today. It was small enough that a boy was carrying it for lunch. The loaves are thought to be barley loaves and were more like little cakes. It is thought the fish were probably like sardines. Really Jesus? How often do we do just what the disciples did. You want me to do what Jesus? But…….I can’t, what about, I don’t have. Take the I out of it folks. With Jesus all things are possible. Jesus told the disciples. Tell the crowd to sit down in the grass, you will serve them. Then Jesus took all the boy had and he held it up, he blessed it and the disciples began to distribute it. There is a lot packed into those few words. #1. Jesus used a little boy to provide a meal to the crowd. Again God is using the unsuspected to accomplish a great thing. #2. The little boy gave all that he had without question. Oh that we all had the faith of a child. While the disciples question Jesus the little boy hands all he has over to God and lets it be used to further God’s kingdom. Reminds you somewhat of the story of the widows mite doesn’t it? Do we trust God with all that we’ve got. Do we have the faith of this little boy? I was interested in finding out what kind of difference kids are making in our own world. I found Oprah’s Angel Network where there were several stories of young children having compassion and acting on it with what they have. Here is just one of those stories:
"My name is Zach and I started walking to help homeless youth two years ago. November 2007 was the first ever National Homeless Youth Awareness month and I wanted to do something huge that would bring a lot of awareness to the 1.3 million homeless kids living in this country. I decided to walk from my hometown in Florida 280 miles to the capitol of Florida (Tallahassee). It was a huge success and I raised $25,000 in cash and supplies that I was able to use to help the Katrina victims.
In November 2008 I decided to continue my journey and walk from state capitol to state capitol, until I made it to Washington, D.C. So, I walked from Tallahassee to Atlanta. I raised around $17,000. Of that, $7,000 stays in Florida to help homeless kids and $10,000 will go to Habitat for Humanity in Macon, Ga., to help a family get their own house.
In May 2009 I plan on going all the way, 680 miles, from Atlanta to Washington, D.C., stopping in two more state capitols along the way. I hope that I can get 1,000 people to walk my last mile in Washington, D.C., from the White House to the steps of the capitol. I hope I can continue to talk to school groups, clubs and churches along the way to raise awareness. I hope to be a positive role model to kids who are interested in doing community service. I hope kids see me and see that they can do anything they put their mind to." Borrowed from Oprah Angel Network website
Is that not amazing?
I wonder what you have in your pocket right now. I am not going to really do this exercise but I did ponder it. Imagine it in your head. What if I got the offering plate and sent it around with the instruction of taking whatever money you have in your wallet right now and putting it in the offering plate. I wonder how many people God could feed with that. Then I wonder if we added that to what the folks at Longs would have. How many people could we feed. I passed xx churches or signs to churches from my house to this church this morning . I wonder how many people we could feed if everyone in all of those churches did that? Then I pondered more: forget everything you have in your wallet. What if everyone sitting in a pew in Haywood County today gave everything in their wallet/pocket up to 1.00. How many people would that feed. The Open Door in Waynesville serves 20,000 meals a year to hungry persons. They operate on a budget of 100,000. We have the community kitchen in Canton as well. 38.00 a month will provide for 1 child through compassion international. What if when spiral hams go on sale instead of just buying one, you buy two and take one to one of these kitchens. Folks we don’t have to be Millionaires to make a difference. We can be the holder of 2 little sardines. We can be the holder of just one mite. If we give what we have to God he will multiply it. Let the Master teach you how to multiply! In fact God takes the little we give him and he multiplies it in excess. There were 12 basketfuls leftover.
After this was done Jesus dismissed the disciples and told them to go on ahead. He dismissed the crowd and then he went on the mountainside to pray. This is the final lesson of todays story. Jesus earlier prayer time, retreat time, time of solitude was interrupted by the needs of the crowd. Jesus does not forget his need for communication with God, alone time, a time of retreat. Immediately afterwards he does just that. How often do we sit down and commune with god in a solitary place. For Jesus it’s almost always a mountainside where he finds retreat. Where do you find retreat? Is it in a garden outside your house, is it in a sacred space, it is reclining on your couch, is it in your car on your commute to work. The place is irrelevant. What iw relavant though is the need to find time to self and create consistent time with God. It will make a difference, I promise.
In closing Out of this story we are called to:
Come out of ourselves and have Compassion for those who crowd us, to have a deep desire to alleviate the suffering of those around us.
Speak our doubts and frustrations to God but to still obey with the faith of a child.
To give what we have to God and let God multiply it.
Have solitary, meditative time with God to heal our own broken spirits.
What action do you need to take this week to live out the lessons of this story. Do you know this God of compassion who enters into your suffering world? As we sing this final hymn think about how you are to respond to this word today. You may want to use the prayer rail to meditate on this for a while. I open it up to you.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Growing Together in Fields of Grace
Matthew 13:24-43
Our passage of scripture this morning places us right in the thick of Jesus’s Ministry. He has been going about teaching his disciples, speaking in the synagogues, addressing the Pharisees questions, walking through grain fields, teaching when questions arise. As I prepared for this sermon one thing that struck me as new was how Jesus was ever ready for “teachable moments.” This reminded me of my Uncle Stan, on of the more patient persons I know. Stan spent 12 years as the Dean of the Lifeworks partnership at Mars Hill College. One part of his job was working with students in the Bonner scholarship program, a scholarship that required community service projects. My brother was an upperclassman at Mars Hill and the recipient of one of the scholarships. As am upperclassman he was in a leadership role and the driver of one of the vans. The freshman class of Bonner scholars had arrived on campus and they were having their orientation retreat. They had completed a service project in the morning, had broken for lunch and were to meet back at a designated time and place for their afternoon community service project. My brother took his group of anxious freshmen back to campus to see their dorms and such and they ended up sitting around, talking, cutting up and getting to the after lunch meeting destination VERY late. Stan stood their waiting. He was driving another van but gave the keys to another person able to drive and got in the passengers seat of the van Kris was driving where he quietly as they drove to the next destination explained to my brother the responsibilities of a leader, of making sure that his group remained together, of making sure that they were on time. He pointed out that there were people depending on them to get a job done today at a certain time and the tardiness could really affect them. My brother, ashamed that he had disappointed his uncle, began apologizing profusely. My Uncles response, “no, no, no, let’s just consider this a teachable moment. Thus was the first of many teachable moments. I wonder if Stan didn’t learn this teachable moment technique from his studies of the life of Jesus; for in reading through Matthew we find Jesus walking through grain fields, being asked questions, using the moment and the setting to teach a new lesson about “the Way”---about the Kingdom. Right at the end of chapter 12 he gets word that his mother and brothers want to speak to him. He says: “who are my mother and brother?” He then says, as he points to his disciples, “For whoever does the will of my Father in Heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” Jesus uses this moment to teach the crowd something else about “The Way.” People who are followers of Christ treat each other as family. They take care of each other; they take this journey called life together. Imagine what that might mean to the person whose family has rejected them, or to the orphan, or to the widow. Don’t worry my friends, you follow God’s way that I am showing you, you accept all of this love that’s being offered to you and you have inherited yourself a family. Does that mean Jesus has rejected his biological family? Does that mean those of us who are part of a strong family are supposed to reject our families in order to follow Jesus? No! Jesus is very clear to us about the responsibility we have for our parents, the responsibility parents have for their children. Jesus shows us on the cross that he has not rejected his family when he looks down from the cross at his mother and his beloved friend John and says: John, your mother, Mama, your son. As he is dying he makes sure he gives instruction for his mother and his friend to be taken care of. Why a whole sermon could be written just on that little nugget right there. But…..we have only just begun.
It is at that point that we enter into chapter 13, where our text is found today. Jesus has left the house where he is staying with his disciples. As soon as he walks out the door a crowd begins to gather, anxious to hear more about this Kingdom way of living. There are so many that Jesus has to get on a boat so everyone can see and hear. From the boat he begins to tell stories. What! Don’t you mean he preaches? No, he begins to tell stories. What! He doesn’t start reading from the scriptures? He doesn’t start telling them all about God and salvation? He doesn’t hand them tracts pointing them to the Roman Road? He doesn’t paint a gruesome picture of hell? What he talks about planting and farmers, and helpers, and seeds and harvesting, and cooking? Well, if you are wondering this, you are not alone for the disciples wondered this as well…..and they ask him. See, here is another lesson, a teachable moment for the disciples. Jesus explains to them that while they have been with him all along and witnessed all these miraculous things, the people out there, they haven’t. Would they even begin to understand if he spoke to them in the language of The Way, in Religionese. I’m reminded of the first time I had the opportunity to preach as a lay speaker. I was so excited and invited one of my best friends and her 8 year old daughter to come. My friend is not a Christian but I knew that she cared enough about me that she would come support me in this new endeavor. She was excited for me. After the service she was there waiting with a huge hug telling me how proud of me she was. Later, as we talked more about the experience she shared with me that as we told the congregation that we were singing hymn # whatever, her daughter said “What’s a hymn book.” When I said “turn in your bibles to…..her daughter said mama what’s a bible?” I grew up going to church so it had never occurred to me in my 40 years there would be anyone who didn’t know what a bible was or what a hymn book is. Those of us who grow up “in the know.” Don’t think about that very much and what seems to us to be perfectly clear is very muddy and confusing to those who aren’t Christians. Basically Jesus says “if I start talking to them the way I talk to you, their ears are going to shut, their hearts are going to shut. I have to connect with them through what they understand. This crowd understands agriculture, this crowd understands cooking. Tell the stories. The stories are the vehicle through which we connect others to this saving message of the extravagant love of Jesus. Wow yet another sermon in and of itself. Yet, we are only part way there.
After Jesus explains this to the disciples he goes back to the crowd and begins telling more stories. This series of stories is about what the kingdom of heaven really is. It is in this series of stories that our focal passage is placed. Hear it again……The kingdom of heaven in like a man who sowed good seed in his field but while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads,, the weeds also appeared. The owner’s servants came to him and said, Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from? An enemy did this he replied. The servants asked him do you want us to go and pull them up. No, he answered because while you are pulling the weeds, you man root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: first collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned: then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn. Skipping down a little ways after Jesus finished speaking to the crowd, he went back into the house where his disciples came to him and said “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.
Do you see that. This reminds me of Sunday afternoons at my grandparents’ house. We returned from church to a home cooked meal my grandmother had prepared and put in the oven before church, with timer set and food ready when we got home. We would sit around the table and the kids would get to listen to the grownups rehash the Sunday school lesson and the sermon from the morning. They would share with each other what they got out of it, what they heard, what they understood, what they didn’t understand. The discussion would move to the living room or the front porch after the meal was done. It is a great memory. Here the disciples are doing the same thing. They were eager to understand completely, not afraid to ask. Jesus goes on to explain it to them: The one who sowed the good seed is the son of Man. The field is the world and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age and the harvesters are angels. As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The son of Man will send out his angels and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. There is much to glean from this story.
Let me first explain about the weed. The word here in Greek is a word for a specific weed that looks just like wheat. It is almost impossible in the early stages of growth to tell the difference between the two. When the farmhand notices there are weeds he questions what kind of seed the farmer planted and if he planted pure seed why are there weeds? Isn’t that the never ending question? Why is there bad here? The answer someone snuck in and put it there. Well let me get rid of it. No, you might ruin the whole crop. Have you ever sent a child to weed a flower garden? What happens…..the whole garden, flowers and all disappear. Let them coexist. Let me be the judge of what is good and what is bad at harvest time…..the end.
It is tempting to want everyone to think and believe the same. After all our way is the right way. Isn’t it. I am reminded of the cafeteria line at Campbell University. On one side of the cafeteria are those who are in the Baptist Student Union. The other side are those who are not, the heathens. If a member of the Baptist Student Union went through the other line, their faith was called into question. I kid you not. The belief was that if we mixed with those who were not Christians (not in the BSU) then we would become corrupt ourselves. We stayed to ourselves. We ate together, went to church together, did activities together and roomed together. Let me tell you what opportunities were missed living in such a segregated way. We missed opportunities to share our stories. We missed opportunities to learn from others. We missed out on relationships. I have since become facebook friends with some of those “heathens” and oh how I wish I had taken time to get to know them in person back then. I know now what I missed out on. How do we show people the love of Christ when we won’t even eat with them? That isn’t love. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. There are tons of debates going on in the world about who is going to make it to heaven. Will the Buddhist be there, will the Methodists be there, will the Muslim be there, and will the Baptist be there. Who am I to make that decision? Who am I to be the judge. To me, Jesus is saying here you need to live together in this great field of grace I have created for you. In the end good gains victory over evil, let me be the judge. Do we really limit the power of God by thinking that we have to remain with “like kind” to remain pure. How do you suppose others learn about the love of God? By going to church? By having someone knock on their door? By listening to Christian radio? No, others learn about the love of God because someone who has experienced the love of God has chosen to remain in the field with them and to share the stories of their lives with them, and has shown them. The going to church, the listening to Christian radio, the going to Bible studies, that is what follows.
My uncle shared something on facebook that I read right before coming in to deliver this word to you today. I found it very relevant. Isaiah 58:9-10 reads.
Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
So my challenge to you this week is to:
1. Look for those teachable moments.
2. Resist the temptation to do finger pointing
3. Tell your story
4. Enter relationship with someone outside your comfortable circle, someone different then you.
Jesus didn’t go door to door. Jesus lived his life and the crowds came to him because they saw something different in him that they wanted to learn about. Live a life that draws people’s interest in what is different about you, and then Share your stories.
Our passage of scripture this morning places us right in the thick of Jesus’s Ministry. He has been going about teaching his disciples, speaking in the synagogues, addressing the Pharisees questions, walking through grain fields, teaching when questions arise. As I prepared for this sermon one thing that struck me as new was how Jesus was ever ready for “teachable moments.” This reminded me of my Uncle Stan, on of the more patient persons I know. Stan spent 12 years as the Dean of the Lifeworks partnership at Mars Hill College. One part of his job was working with students in the Bonner scholarship program, a scholarship that required community service projects. My brother was an upperclassman at Mars Hill and the recipient of one of the scholarships. As am upperclassman he was in a leadership role and the driver of one of the vans. The freshman class of Bonner scholars had arrived on campus and they were having their orientation retreat. They had completed a service project in the morning, had broken for lunch and were to meet back at a designated time and place for their afternoon community service project. My brother took his group of anxious freshmen back to campus to see their dorms and such and they ended up sitting around, talking, cutting up and getting to the after lunch meeting destination VERY late. Stan stood their waiting. He was driving another van but gave the keys to another person able to drive and got in the passengers seat of the van Kris was driving where he quietly as they drove to the next destination explained to my brother the responsibilities of a leader, of making sure that his group remained together, of making sure that they were on time. He pointed out that there were people depending on them to get a job done today at a certain time and the tardiness could really affect them. My brother, ashamed that he had disappointed his uncle, began apologizing profusely. My Uncles response, “no, no, no, let’s just consider this a teachable moment. Thus was the first of many teachable moments. I wonder if Stan didn’t learn this teachable moment technique from his studies of the life of Jesus; for in reading through Matthew we find Jesus walking through grain fields, being asked questions, using the moment and the setting to teach a new lesson about “the Way”---about the Kingdom. Right at the end of chapter 12 he gets word that his mother and brothers want to speak to him. He says: “who are my mother and brother?” He then says, as he points to his disciples, “For whoever does the will of my Father in Heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” Jesus uses this moment to teach the crowd something else about “The Way.” People who are followers of Christ treat each other as family. They take care of each other; they take this journey called life together. Imagine what that might mean to the person whose family has rejected them, or to the orphan, or to the widow. Don’t worry my friends, you follow God’s way that I am showing you, you accept all of this love that’s being offered to you and you have inherited yourself a family. Does that mean Jesus has rejected his biological family? Does that mean those of us who are part of a strong family are supposed to reject our families in order to follow Jesus? No! Jesus is very clear to us about the responsibility we have for our parents, the responsibility parents have for their children. Jesus shows us on the cross that he has not rejected his family when he looks down from the cross at his mother and his beloved friend John and says: John, your mother, Mama, your son. As he is dying he makes sure he gives instruction for his mother and his friend to be taken care of. Why a whole sermon could be written just on that little nugget right there. But…..we have only just begun.
It is at that point that we enter into chapter 13, where our text is found today. Jesus has left the house where he is staying with his disciples. As soon as he walks out the door a crowd begins to gather, anxious to hear more about this Kingdom way of living. There are so many that Jesus has to get on a boat so everyone can see and hear. From the boat he begins to tell stories. What! Don’t you mean he preaches? No, he begins to tell stories. What! He doesn’t start reading from the scriptures? He doesn’t start telling them all about God and salvation? He doesn’t hand them tracts pointing them to the Roman Road? He doesn’t paint a gruesome picture of hell? What he talks about planting and farmers, and helpers, and seeds and harvesting, and cooking? Well, if you are wondering this, you are not alone for the disciples wondered this as well…..and they ask him. See, here is another lesson, a teachable moment for the disciples. Jesus explains to them that while they have been with him all along and witnessed all these miraculous things, the people out there, they haven’t. Would they even begin to understand if he spoke to them in the language of The Way, in Religionese. I’m reminded of the first time I had the opportunity to preach as a lay speaker. I was so excited and invited one of my best friends and her 8 year old daughter to come. My friend is not a Christian but I knew that she cared enough about me that she would come support me in this new endeavor. She was excited for me. After the service she was there waiting with a huge hug telling me how proud of me she was. Later, as we talked more about the experience she shared with me that as we told the congregation that we were singing hymn # whatever, her daughter said “What’s a hymn book.” When I said “turn in your bibles to…..her daughter said mama what’s a bible?” I grew up going to church so it had never occurred to me in my 40 years there would be anyone who didn’t know what a bible was or what a hymn book is. Those of us who grow up “in the know.” Don’t think about that very much and what seems to us to be perfectly clear is very muddy and confusing to those who aren’t Christians. Basically Jesus says “if I start talking to them the way I talk to you, their ears are going to shut, their hearts are going to shut. I have to connect with them through what they understand. This crowd understands agriculture, this crowd understands cooking. Tell the stories. The stories are the vehicle through which we connect others to this saving message of the extravagant love of Jesus. Wow yet another sermon in and of itself. Yet, we are only part way there.
After Jesus explains this to the disciples he goes back to the crowd and begins telling more stories. This series of stories is about what the kingdom of heaven really is. It is in this series of stories that our focal passage is placed. Hear it again……The kingdom of heaven in like a man who sowed good seed in his field but while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads,, the weeds also appeared. The owner’s servants came to him and said, Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from? An enemy did this he replied. The servants asked him do you want us to go and pull them up. No, he answered because while you are pulling the weeds, you man root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: first collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned: then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn. Skipping down a little ways after Jesus finished speaking to the crowd, he went back into the house where his disciples came to him and said “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.
Do you see that. This reminds me of Sunday afternoons at my grandparents’ house. We returned from church to a home cooked meal my grandmother had prepared and put in the oven before church, with timer set and food ready when we got home. We would sit around the table and the kids would get to listen to the grownups rehash the Sunday school lesson and the sermon from the morning. They would share with each other what they got out of it, what they heard, what they understood, what they didn’t understand. The discussion would move to the living room or the front porch after the meal was done. It is a great memory. Here the disciples are doing the same thing. They were eager to understand completely, not afraid to ask. Jesus goes on to explain it to them: The one who sowed the good seed is the son of Man. The field is the world and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age and the harvesters are angels. As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The son of Man will send out his angels and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. There is much to glean from this story.
Let me first explain about the weed. The word here in Greek is a word for a specific weed that looks just like wheat. It is almost impossible in the early stages of growth to tell the difference between the two. When the farmhand notices there are weeds he questions what kind of seed the farmer planted and if he planted pure seed why are there weeds? Isn’t that the never ending question? Why is there bad here? The answer someone snuck in and put it there. Well let me get rid of it. No, you might ruin the whole crop. Have you ever sent a child to weed a flower garden? What happens…..the whole garden, flowers and all disappear. Let them coexist. Let me be the judge of what is good and what is bad at harvest time…..the end.
It is tempting to want everyone to think and believe the same. After all our way is the right way. Isn’t it. I am reminded of the cafeteria line at Campbell University. On one side of the cafeteria are those who are in the Baptist Student Union. The other side are those who are not, the heathens. If a member of the Baptist Student Union went through the other line, their faith was called into question. I kid you not. The belief was that if we mixed with those who were not Christians (not in the BSU) then we would become corrupt ourselves. We stayed to ourselves. We ate together, went to church together, did activities together and roomed together. Let me tell you what opportunities were missed living in such a segregated way. We missed opportunities to share our stories. We missed opportunities to learn from others. We missed out on relationships. I have since become facebook friends with some of those “heathens” and oh how I wish I had taken time to get to know them in person back then. I know now what I missed out on. How do we show people the love of Christ when we won’t even eat with them? That isn’t love. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. There are tons of debates going on in the world about who is going to make it to heaven. Will the Buddhist be there, will the Methodists be there, will the Muslim be there, and will the Baptist be there. Who am I to make that decision? Who am I to be the judge. To me, Jesus is saying here you need to live together in this great field of grace I have created for you. In the end good gains victory over evil, let me be the judge. Do we really limit the power of God by thinking that we have to remain with “like kind” to remain pure. How do you suppose others learn about the love of God? By going to church? By having someone knock on their door? By listening to Christian radio? No, others learn about the love of God because someone who has experienced the love of God has chosen to remain in the field with them and to share the stories of their lives with them, and has shown them. The going to church, the listening to Christian radio, the going to Bible studies, that is what follows.
My uncle shared something on facebook that I read right before coming in to deliver this word to you today. I found it very relevant. Isaiah 58:9-10 reads.
Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
So my challenge to you this week is to:
1. Look for those teachable moments.
2. Resist the temptation to do finger pointing
3. Tell your story
4. Enter relationship with someone outside your comfortable circle, someone different then you.
Jesus didn’t go door to door. Jesus lived his life and the crowds came to him because they saw something different in him that they wanted to learn about. Live a life that draws people’s interest in what is different about you, and then Share your stories.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Dancing with My Father in Fields of Grace
I got the honor of being a guest blogger on my Uncle's website inourelements.com. Below is my submission:
Today’s promise passage transports me to the late 70s early 80s to the children’s department of Gashes Creek Baptist church. I was always an awkward young girl, never fitting exactly within any group. Not academic enough to be in with the brainiacs, not athletic enough to fit in with the athletes, not quite social enough to fit in with the popular crowd. At Gashes Creek, however, among the tweens, I found acceptance and love from a group of kids that didn’t mind this awkward, slow, tomboyish girl. It was during that time that I first read the book of Ruth. My best Friend Donna and I used to love to write stories. We mostly wrote stories of adventure and romance. I wanted to use these skills to write a play though. I just loved plays. I suppose Ruth got chosen for its brevity. I typed it out, the whole book of Ruth, line by line; stage directions and all. I had not a clue of its meaning but it was a nice story that was easy to put to script. Years later I would hear it quoted again in one of my favorite movies of all time, Fried Green Tomatoes. The character Ruth would send Iggie a letter signaling her that she was ready to leave the abusive relationship she was in with her husband. The message in the letter was cryptic, using the book of Ruth. “Ruth said to Naomi, entreat me not to leave you, wherever you go, I will go. Your people will be my people; My God will be your God.” Iggie came to the rescue and saved Ruth from her destitute circumstances. Years later I found my Iggie or Boaz in a little church of about 30 people, Sweet Fellowship Baptist Church. I was a young adult with broken dreams, I was depressed, I was searching for who I was, I was divorced and at one of the lowest points in my life. I had felt rejected by the church. Again I found myself this awkward young lady with no where to really fit. One morning I stepped into the doors of that little church in Clyde where Rev. Nancy Sehested was the pastor and I immediately was showered with love. In that little place I found refuge, I was given the nourishment I needed to go forward, to heal, and to live.
Such is what Ruth and Naomi found in the field of Boaz. Naomi had previously fled Israel with her family due to lack of food and resources. settled in the Moabite nation where her sons married two Moabite Women, one being Ruth. While there Naomi’s husband and sons all died and she found herself destitute. She remembered the promise of God that widows were to be cared for by their kinsman and she set out on the journey back to Israel. One daughter in law went back to her people, Ruth stayed with Naomi giving those famous words, your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Ruth goes to the fields of Boaz who happened to be her father in law’s kinsman and gleans in the field. This practice of gleaning was to go behind the harvesters picking up what they had picked over or thrown out. Boaz tells the harvesters to keep her safe, He tells them to leave her some good stuff to glean and he tells Ruth that she is welcome in his field and needs not go to any other field. He honors God’s direction to care for the widows. Out of this relationship was born the ancestral line that would bring another kind of kinsman-redeemer---Jesus. In Jesus we find redemption once and for all. In Jesus we find acceptance, radical Love and radical Grace. We are all welcome in God’s field……we need not go anywhere else.
Today’s promise passage transports me to the late 70s early 80s to the children’s department of Gashes Creek Baptist church. I was always an awkward young girl, never fitting exactly within any group. Not academic enough to be in with the brainiacs, not athletic enough to fit in with the athletes, not quite social enough to fit in with the popular crowd. At Gashes Creek, however, among the tweens, I found acceptance and love from a group of kids that didn’t mind this awkward, slow, tomboyish girl. It was during that time that I first read the book of Ruth. My best Friend Donna and I used to love to write stories. We mostly wrote stories of adventure and romance. I wanted to use these skills to write a play though. I just loved plays. I suppose Ruth got chosen for its brevity. I typed it out, the whole book of Ruth, line by line; stage directions and all. I had not a clue of its meaning but it was a nice story that was easy to put to script. Years later I would hear it quoted again in one of my favorite movies of all time, Fried Green Tomatoes. The character Ruth would send Iggie a letter signaling her that she was ready to leave the abusive relationship she was in with her husband. The message in the letter was cryptic, using the book of Ruth. “Ruth said to Naomi, entreat me not to leave you, wherever you go, I will go. Your people will be my people; My God will be your God.” Iggie came to the rescue and saved Ruth from her destitute circumstances. Years later I found my Iggie or Boaz in a little church of about 30 people, Sweet Fellowship Baptist Church. I was a young adult with broken dreams, I was depressed, I was searching for who I was, I was divorced and at one of the lowest points in my life. I had felt rejected by the church. Again I found myself this awkward young lady with no where to really fit. One morning I stepped into the doors of that little church in Clyde where Rev. Nancy Sehested was the pastor and I immediately was showered with love. In that little place I found refuge, I was given the nourishment I needed to go forward, to heal, and to live.
Such is what Ruth and Naomi found in the field of Boaz. Naomi had previously fled Israel with her family due to lack of food and resources. settled in the Moabite nation where her sons married two Moabite Women, one being Ruth. While there Naomi’s husband and sons all died and she found herself destitute. She remembered the promise of God that widows were to be cared for by their kinsman and she set out on the journey back to Israel. One daughter in law went back to her people, Ruth stayed with Naomi giving those famous words, your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Ruth goes to the fields of Boaz who happened to be her father in law’s kinsman and gleans in the field. This practice of gleaning was to go behind the harvesters picking up what they had picked over or thrown out. Boaz tells the harvesters to keep her safe, He tells them to leave her some good stuff to glean and he tells Ruth that she is welcome in his field and needs not go to any other field. He honors God’s direction to care for the widows. Out of this relationship was born the ancestral line that would bring another kind of kinsman-redeemer---Jesus. In Jesus we find redemption once and for all. In Jesus we find acceptance, radical Love and radical Grace. We are all welcome in God’s field……we need not go anywhere else.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Surviving the Storm
This morning on my way to work, Greg Laurie with New Beginning was preaching a sermon titled “Following Jesus through the Storm” using Matthew 8:23-27, which is the story of Jesus commanding the storm to stop. During his sermon he pointed out that not all storms stop using Joni Erikson Tada as an example. Joni is a paraplegic from a diving accident she had years ago. Recently she has been diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Her storm has never stopped but she has had a thriving ministry through it all, speaking and encouraging others. As I listened to him I was reminded of the scripture I read this morning: Acts 27:13-16, The Storm that didn’t stop. It reads as follows:
13 When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. 14 Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. 15 The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. 16 As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure, 17 so the men hoisted it aboard. Then they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Because they were afraid they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor[a] and let the ship be driven along. 18 We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. 19 On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.
21 After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23 Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ 25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. 26 Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”
I then began thinking about my own ongoing storm. I knew going into adopting my son that it was going to be hard. He had more diagnoses at 2 than I will have in a lifetime. I didn’t know however that everyday would there would be storm waters to bear and that life would be lived moment to moment in anticipation of the next blow up or the next set back. I sit here reflecting 13 years later about the most recent set back and about what my life has been for the last 13 years and wonder, just how am I still standing. How have I not drowned. How can I get phone call after phone call and still keep my composure and go on with my day. How am I not in the hospital? This storm does not quit.
In this passage of scripture, despite Paul’s warnings, the sailors acted on their feelings (“obtained what they wanted.”, acted impulsively, “began throwing everything overboard.” And then they gave up, resolved they would die. After days of them going without food Paul intervened again encouraging the sailors and letting them know that they were not going to perish that only the ship would perish. Things can be replaced, life can not. God’s priority is people, not things. (See Proverbs 15:16.) God’s presence was there with the people on that boat, in that storm. He assures Paul that he still has a purpose in mind for him. God gives us promises and He honors those promises. God showed Paul that they would run aground on an island and they would be spared. The storm didn’t end but their lives continued on through the storm.
Back to Greg Laurie’s sermon: He shared that Joni Erikson’s response to her cancer was” God has something big in store, I can’t wait to see what it is.” In her storm she began the same as she had when she found herself paralyzed, finding where she could give God glory in the storm. She began encouraging others who were taking chemo treatments beside her. She took every opportunity she could to present God’s love to whoever she came in contact with.
As I reflect I realize that to survive my storm I must:
1. Not act impulsively on the feeling of the moment.
2. I must resolve not to give up.
3. I must keep God ever in my presence
4. I must use this gift God gave me named David, to encourage and lift up others in similar situations and to point them to Jesus.
5. I must give constant thanksgiving for those who have chosen not to bail off the side of the ship but to travel this journey with me wherever it takes me.
Thanks be to God for the whispers and prodding of this day.
13 When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. 14 Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. 15 The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. 16 As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure, 17 so the men hoisted it aboard. Then they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Because they were afraid they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor[a] and let the ship be driven along. 18 We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. 19 On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.
21 After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23 Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ 25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. 26 Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”
I then began thinking about my own ongoing storm. I knew going into adopting my son that it was going to be hard. He had more diagnoses at 2 than I will have in a lifetime. I didn’t know however that everyday would there would be storm waters to bear and that life would be lived moment to moment in anticipation of the next blow up or the next set back. I sit here reflecting 13 years later about the most recent set back and about what my life has been for the last 13 years and wonder, just how am I still standing. How have I not drowned. How can I get phone call after phone call and still keep my composure and go on with my day. How am I not in the hospital? This storm does not quit.
In this passage of scripture, despite Paul’s warnings, the sailors acted on their feelings (“obtained what they wanted.”, acted impulsively, “began throwing everything overboard.” And then they gave up, resolved they would die. After days of them going without food Paul intervened again encouraging the sailors and letting them know that they were not going to perish that only the ship would perish. Things can be replaced, life can not. God’s priority is people, not things. (See Proverbs 15:16.) God’s presence was there with the people on that boat, in that storm. He assures Paul that he still has a purpose in mind for him. God gives us promises and He honors those promises. God showed Paul that they would run aground on an island and they would be spared. The storm didn’t end but their lives continued on through the storm.
Back to Greg Laurie’s sermon: He shared that Joni Erikson’s response to her cancer was” God has something big in store, I can’t wait to see what it is.” In her storm she began the same as she had when she found herself paralyzed, finding where she could give God glory in the storm. She began encouraging others who were taking chemo treatments beside her. She took every opportunity she could to present God’s love to whoever she came in contact with.
As I reflect I realize that to survive my storm I must:
1. Not act impulsively on the feeling of the moment.
2. I must resolve not to give up.
3. I must keep God ever in my presence
4. I must use this gift God gave me named David, to encourage and lift up others in similar situations and to point them to Jesus.
5. I must give constant thanksgiving for those who have chosen not to bail off the side of the ship but to travel this journey with me wherever it takes me.
Thanks be to God for the whispers and prodding of this day.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Just What Is This Worth Dying For: Sermon Preached at Oakley UMC 5-22-2011
Acts 7 Monologue
Hey, did you hear what has happened outside of Jerusalem today. Gather in closely, I’m kind of old and my vocal chords don’t let me speak too loudly. What’s that, oh who am I? My name is Lysandra. I’m really not all that important. I am Just a widow. But I’ve got to tell you what happened to that dear boy Stephen today? Who is he? Well he was my deacon. He brought my food distribution every week, like clockwork. Those preachers, Peter and John and all of them, they got too busy to keep up with the food distribution so they had this idea to set apart 7 other men for this task. I got lucky. I got Stephen. He was such a nice, sweet boy. You could just see God radiate in his face. He did more than just give out food. Why my cousin was visiting one day and he laid hands on him and prayed for him in Jesus’ name and he got to feeling better real quick like. I just can’t believe this has happened to him. I just don’t understand those people over there at the Freemason synagogue, spreading all those rumors about him. Well, don’t they know that they are Greek just like Stephen was? They weren’t born Jews and they want to get all high and mighty about their laws and traditions. I just don’t get it. Stephen had some wonderful stories about Jesus, how he rose from the dead and sits at the right hand of God the father in heaven now. He is so excited about all he has learned being a follower of Jesus. He says this is the new way, the way to salvation, the way to live life. Why he even says if we follow the way of Jesus we could have heaven right here on earth. I always enjoyed hearing these stories and learning more about this man who healed the sick, made the lame to walk again, why he even turned water into wine at a wedding banquet one time so the reception wouldn’t run out before it was over. It seems no worry was too small or too trivial for him. He wasn’t too much for the laws and traditions though, Jesus wasn’t. Why he would heal on the Sabbath, he would eat with sinners; he was good friends with a prostitute. But Stephen says that is what he came to do, he came to teach us to Love everyone. He says there are no Jew and No Greek, no male and no female. Why Stephen said before he died Jesus told Peter and John and all those boys to go into the world and share this good news of his resurrection of his kingdom. He isn’t like any king those Jews were expecting. What? Oh, you want me to get on with the story. Well, you know Peter and John have already had to go before the Sanhedrin about teaching in Jesus name. They were not too happy about it but ended up not being able to find them guilty of anything and had to let them go. They told them not to be teaching in this name again but Peter and John were straight up with them and told them that they had to share the news, they couldn’t keep it bottled up. Well, those people down there at the temple of the freemasons. You know all those Roman Slaves that were set free and those Greek Jews from Asia Minor and from Africa. Those guys didn’t like what Steven was doing either so they made up some stuff about Stephen opposing the temple and opposing Moses’ law. They went to the Sanhedrin with these charges and the Sanhedrin brought Stephen in to be tried for these charges. Do you know what he did when they asked him if the charges were true? Why he wouldn’t say yes or no, guilty or not guilty he had to go and preach a sermon. He covered everything from Adam and Eve to Abraham, to Moses to David. He didn’t leave anything out. He reminded those Jews that their forefathers have been opposing God from the very beginning and persecuting God’s messengers. When things would get tough they went with their old ways. And then Steven basically said obviously the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. He told them they were so busy worried about the law that they don’t even obey it themselves. Oh, that made the crowd mad, the next thing you know a riot broke out. People were screaming and yelling and gnashing their teeth and growling. Steven just said, “look I see the heavens open and there sitting at the right hand of God is Jesus.” Wow what a vision. Oh and did that just incite the crowd that much more. They charged at Stephen, found him guilty right on the spot and drug him out to the rock quarry and stoned him to death. Those people laid their coats at Saul’s feet. You know what that means don’t you. They were assigning responsibility for this stoning to Saul. Why Saul even congratulated them on the kill. Can you imagine that? Poor Stephen. I am going to miss him so. But here is the crazy part. You want to hear this……He prayed right during his stoning. He asked God to receive him and you know what else he did. He asked God to forgive those people that were executing him. Unbelievable. Oh, I am going to miss him so.
END OF MONALOGUE
Focal Passage: Acts 7:54-60
And that is the background and story that we enter into today. Just what is this that is worth dying for? I have a confession to make, what I am about to tell you is not something I am proud of but it goes to prove a point. I was fortunate to be born into a family that values family highly. Both of my grandfathers set a grand example of family loyalty and unconditional love. With those kinds of roots it is of no surprise that my brothers, my sister and my parents I consider my best friends. About 15 years ago my best friend was playing in a co-ed ball tournament and asked my baby brother to play with her. He was catching and there was a play at the plate. The runner was a big man; he was 250-300 pounds of solid muscle. As the ball came into the plate and he ran into beat it, rather than sliding he just ran right through my brother, knocking him down and knocking him out. Without a single thought I ran onto the field to check on my brother only to hear the man defend his action saying, well if I would have slid, I would have gotten hurt. Once again with out thought I charged this 300 pound man of solid muscle, shouted some things that aren’t appropriate and began punching him. Thank goodness he just stood there. The only thing that snapped me out of this rage was my brother’s voice. He had woken to see this action and was calling me off so to speak. I am generally a very peace filled person but that day on that ball field when this person that I love so deeply was hurt, with no thought for my own safety, I took action. I am not endorsing violence here but what I am saying is that we have people and passions that we would die for and one of mine is family. We have thousands of men and women deployed in the Middle East right now who are risking lives for their country. We have police officers and firefighters that risk their lives daily to protect the citizens of their communities. In today’s story we have one who is willing and does die for his passion for the Way of Jesus Christ. Just what is this Way that he has died for?
1. Jesus is the way to the Father. (John 14)
2. Jesus calls us to submit to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, a spirit that we can not see, we can not touch, and we can not feel.
3. Jesus is the cornerstone of our life, if we don’t allow ourselves to be tripped up worrying about the things of Jesus that go against the popular belief. (I Peter 2)
4. The Way of Jesus can be summed up in a word……Love. (I John 4:7-8)
5. The Way of Jesus is a call to discipleship, a call to go to Samaria, to Judea and to the ends of the earth to share this love.
6. The Way of Jesus is a call to “feed his sheep” In one interaction with Peter Jesus says Peter do you love me? Yes, Lord, of course I love you. Then feed my sheep. He repeats this 3 times.
7. The Way of Jesus is a call to interact with “the least of these” To feed the hungry, to give water to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, to visit the sick, to visit those in prison.
8. The Way of Jesus is to open the doors to all with no regards to male or female, Black or white, Jew or Gentile, rich or poor, the list can go on; you fill in the blanks.
9. The Way of Jesus is to reach out to those who have felt rejected or oppressed by the very institution that claims to be the followers of Christ. Have you seen the bumper sticker that says, Jesus please save me……..from your followers. How did that come to be?
What is the return for following this WAY? It is a promise from Jesus to never leave us nor forsake us. It is being taken care of, protected, comforted, healed, accepted, pushed to grow beyond what we could do ourselves. Those things, my friends, are what Stephen died for, what he yearned to share with whoever he met.
Stephen gives us another attribute of Jesus. Jesus is present with us even unto death. Maybe, especially in death. Steven knows he is facing death and what does he say? He says I see the heavens opened up and God with Jesus on his right side. My first job as a social worker was with Hospice. I learned a lot about death and dying during that time. I am pretty in tune with when a person is facing their final days. Recently the time came for us to bid farewell to my grandfather. The last week of his life I am certain we were standing on Holy Ground whenever in his presence. It radiated on his face. What a comfort it is to know that Jesus will never leave us or forsake us. Bad things happen in this world. Bad things happen to good people. We don’t know why. We don’t have those answers but the one thing we can be sure of is that through it all God is there with us, crying with us, carrying us, and working to bring out the good in bad situations.
So how do we follow Jesus, how do we make him the cornerstone of our lives? Stephen gives us another clue with his final words before Death. “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Where have we heard similar words? As Jesus hangs, dying on the cross, his words are “forgive them father for they know not what they do.” Stephen emulates Jesus. He knows that living the kingdom way, is to live as Jesus taught. Not only through his words but through his very life. Spend time in this word, get to know Jesus and his Way then practice it, and walk in the Way that Jesus walked.
Thanks be to God for this word today. Thanks to you for allowing me to share it with you!
Hey, did you hear what has happened outside of Jerusalem today. Gather in closely, I’m kind of old and my vocal chords don’t let me speak too loudly. What’s that, oh who am I? My name is Lysandra. I’m really not all that important. I am Just a widow. But I’ve got to tell you what happened to that dear boy Stephen today? Who is he? Well he was my deacon. He brought my food distribution every week, like clockwork. Those preachers, Peter and John and all of them, they got too busy to keep up with the food distribution so they had this idea to set apart 7 other men for this task. I got lucky. I got Stephen. He was such a nice, sweet boy. You could just see God radiate in his face. He did more than just give out food. Why my cousin was visiting one day and he laid hands on him and prayed for him in Jesus’ name and he got to feeling better real quick like. I just can’t believe this has happened to him. I just don’t understand those people over there at the Freemason synagogue, spreading all those rumors about him. Well, don’t they know that they are Greek just like Stephen was? They weren’t born Jews and they want to get all high and mighty about their laws and traditions. I just don’t get it. Stephen had some wonderful stories about Jesus, how he rose from the dead and sits at the right hand of God the father in heaven now. He is so excited about all he has learned being a follower of Jesus. He says this is the new way, the way to salvation, the way to live life. Why he even says if we follow the way of Jesus we could have heaven right here on earth. I always enjoyed hearing these stories and learning more about this man who healed the sick, made the lame to walk again, why he even turned water into wine at a wedding banquet one time so the reception wouldn’t run out before it was over. It seems no worry was too small or too trivial for him. He wasn’t too much for the laws and traditions though, Jesus wasn’t. Why he would heal on the Sabbath, he would eat with sinners; he was good friends with a prostitute. But Stephen says that is what he came to do, he came to teach us to Love everyone. He says there are no Jew and No Greek, no male and no female. Why Stephen said before he died Jesus told Peter and John and all those boys to go into the world and share this good news of his resurrection of his kingdom. He isn’t like any king those Jews were expecting. What? Oh, you want me to get on with the story. Well, you know Peter and John have already had to go before the Sanhedrin about teaching in Jesus name. They were not too happy about it but ended up not being able to find them guilty of anything and had to let them go. They told them not to be teaching in this name again but Peter and John were straight up with them and told them that they had to share the news, they couldn’t keep it bottled up. Well, those people down there at the temple of the freemasons. You know all those Roman Slaves that were set free and those Greek Jews from Asia Minor and from Africa. Those guys didn’t like what Steven was doing either so they made up some stuff about Stephen opposing the temple and opposing Moses’ law. They went to the Sanhedrin with these charges and the Sanhedrin brought Stephen in to be tried for these charges. Do you know what he did when they asked him if the charges were true? Why he wouldn’t say yes or no, guilty or not guilty he had to go and preach a sermon. He covered everything from Adam and Eve to Abraham, to Moses to David. He didn’t leave anything out. He reminded those Jews that their forefathers have been opposing God from the very beginning and persecuting God’s messengers. When things would get tough they went with their old ways. And then Steven basically said obviously the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. He told them they were so busy worried about the law that they don’t even obey it themselves. Oh, that made the crowd mad, the next thing you know a riot broke out. People were screaming and yelling and gnashing their teeth and growling. Steven just said, “look I see the heavens open and there sitting at the right hand of God is Jesus.” Wow what a vision. Oh and did that just incite the crowd that much more. They charged at Stephen, found him guilty right on the spot and drug him out to the rock quarry and stoned him to death. Those people laid their coats at Saul’s feet. You know what that means don’t you. They were assigning responsibility for this stoning to Saul. Why Saul even congratulated them on the kill. Can you imagine that? Poor Stephen. I am going to miss him so. But here is the crazy part. You want to hear this……He prayed right during his stoning. He asked God to receive him and you know what else he did. He asked God to forgive those people that were executing him. Unbelievable. Oh, I am going to miss him so.
END OF MONALOGUE
Focal Passage: Acts 7:54-60
And that is the background and story that we enter into today. Just what is this that is worth dying for? I have a confession to make, what I am about to tell you is not something I am proud of but it goes to prove a point. I was fortunate to be born into a family that values family highly. Both of my grandfathers set a grand example of family loyalty and unconditional love. With those kinds of roots it is of no surprise that my brothers, my sister and my parents I consider my best friends. About 15 years ago my best friend was playing in a co-ed ball tournament and asked my baby brother to play with her. He was catching and there was a play at the plate. The runner was a big man; he was 250-300 pounds of solid muscle. As the ball came into the plate and he ran into beat it, rather than sliding he just ran right through my brother, knocking him down and knocking him out. Without a single thought I ran onto the field to check on my brother only to hear the man defend his action saying, well if I would have slid, I would have gotten hurt. Once again with out thought I charged this 300 pound man of solid muscle, shouted some things that aren’t appropriate and began punching him. Thank goodness he just stood there. The only thing that snapped me out of this rage was my brother’s voice. He had woken to see this action and was calling me off so to speak. I am generally a very peace filled person but that day on that ball field when this person that I love so deeply was hurt, with no thought for my own safety, I took action. I am not endorsing violence here but what I am saying is that we have people and passions that we would die for and one of mine is family. We have thousands of men and women deployed in the Middle East right now who are risking lives for their country. We have police officers and firefighters that risk their lives daily to protect the citizens of their communities. In today’s story we have one who is willing and does die for his passion for the Way of Jesus Christ. Just what is this Way that he has died for?
1. Jesus is the way to the Father. (John 14)
2. Jesus calls us to submit to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, a spirit that we can not see, we can not touch, and we can not feel.
3. Jesus is the cornerstone of our life, if we don’t allow ourselves to be tripped up worrying about the things of Jesus that go against the popular belief. (I Peter 2)
4. The Way of Jesus can be summed up in a word……Love. (I John 4:7-8)
5. The Way of Jesus is a call to discipleship, a call to go to Samaria, to Judea and to the ends of the earth to share this love.
6. The Way of Jesus is a call to “feed his sheep” In one interaction with Peter Jesus says Peter do you love me? Yes, Lord, of course I love you. Then feed my sheep. He repeats this 3 times.
7. The Way of Jesus is a call to interact with “the least of these” To feed the hungry, to give water to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, to visit the sick, to visit those in prison.
8. The Way of Jesus is to open the doors to all with no regards to male or female, Black or white, Jew or Gentile, rich or poor, the list can go on; you fill in the blanks.
9. The Way of Jesus is to reach out to those who have felt rejected or oppressed by the very institution that claims to be the followers of Christ. Have you seen the bumper sticker that says, Jesus please save me……..from your followers. How did that come to be?
What is the return for following this WAY? It is a promise from Jesus to never leave us nor forsake us. It is being taken care of, protected, comforted, healed, accepted, pushed to grow beyond what we could do ourselves. Those things, my friends, are what Stephen died for, what he yearned to share with whoever he met.
Stephen gives us another attribute of Jesus. Jesus is present with us even unto death. Maybe, especially in death. Steven knows he is facing death and what does he say? He says I see the heavens opened up and God with Jesus on his right side. My first job as a social worker was with Hospice. I learned a lot about death and dying during that time. I am pretty in tune with when a person is facing their final days. Recently the time came for us to bid farewell to my grandfather. The last week of his life I am certain we were standing on Holy Ground whenever in his presence. It radiated on his face. What a comfort it is to know that Jesus will never leave us or forsake us. Bad things happen in this world. Bad things happen to good people. We don’t know why. We don’t have those answers but the one thing we can be sure of is that through it all God is there with us, crying with us, carrying us, and working to bring out the good in bad situations.
So how do we follow Jesus, how do we make him the cornerstone of our lives? Stephen gives us another clue with his final words before Death. “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Where have we heard similar words? As Jesus hangs, dying on the cross, his words are “forgive them father for they know not what they do.” Stephen emulates Jesus. He knows that living the kingdom way, is to live as Jesus taught. Not only through his words but through his very life. Spend time in this word, get to know Jesus and his Way then practice it, and walk in the Way that Jesus walked.
Thanks be to God for this word today. Thanks to you for allowing me to share it with you!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Hope for the Hopeless
Hope for the Hopeless
Ezekiel 37:1-14 and John 11
When I read this passage of scripture I couldn’t help but think of the recent devastation of the Tsunami in Japan. The pictures and stories reach you in the pit of your stomach. You ask where God is in these situations. The Tsunami, the Earthquake in Haiti, the earthquake in China, Aids infected Africa, starving children in Ethiopia and right here at home the memories of 9/11 still haunt us. Our technology today brings us images like we have never been able to see. Horrific images of death and of desperation. I imagine the scene there in the Valley of Dry Bones was very similar. Here we have Ezekiel, an Israelite Prophet who is in exile. He has been having all kinds of visions as we see in previous chapters. The script is the kind of stuff that Sci fi movies are made of. Let me take you there for just a moment. At the time of the writing of Ezekiel Israel and Judah had been overtaken by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and Ezekiel was on of thousand of Jews exiled to Babylon. Perhaps the bones were those laid waste that didn’t make it to Babylon. This reminds me of the trail of tears of the Cherokee nation to Oklahoma. Israel wondered if they would ever regain their land. Was this the end for them? This is the setting in which Ezekiel has this vision. So, there he is in the middle of all these dead, sun bleached, scattered, bones. Who knows which leg goes to which hip joint? The scene is nothing less then devastating and gruesome. The left overs from a war savaged land. The scene appears very hopeless. One can hardly bear to look at it. Then God says “Do you think these bones can live again.” You have to wonder if this is where the phrase “Lord only knows” comes from because that is the exact reply Ezekiel gives. You see the natural answer here would be “of course not.” These are scattered, dead bones. Death is final, it’s the end.” However, Ezekiel had experienced God enough to know better than to give the obvious answer. His answer is this: God, only you know.” Ezekiel knew that with God all things were possible. He just waited in anticipation to see what God had in store this time. God commanded him:
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
Can you imagine that scene? Right there before Ezekiel’s eyes, legs were finding hip joints, arms were finding shoulders, all these bones start clanging together and flesh begins being painted upon them…….He notices though, they are not yet alive….Here is what God tells him next:
“Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
The Hebrew word used here for Breath also can be translated spirit. Ezekiel, things look hopeless here in the Valley. But call on the Holy Spirit, The Holy spirit will breathe Hope into hopelessness. The Holy spirit will bring hope to life.
So, why did Ezekiel have this vision? What does all of this mean? Remember the situation we said Israel was in? The nation of Israel laid waste in a hopeless and desperate situation. God was using Ezekiel to be his messenger of hope to a hopeless people. Listen again:
11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.’”
Israel had not been a faithful people. They easily became discouraged. When things didn’t go as they wished they would turn to idols and pagan worship. They were always searching for something better. They would not find it. Instead they find themselves in an even worse situation that they have created through their faithlessness. At this point they believe that God has finally had enough and has cut them off from his grace and mercy. God sends a word to them through Ezekiel though. I do not give up on my children. What Grave have you dug for yourself my children. I am going to bring you from it. God promises for Israel to be reborn! God resurrects a dead Israel. The Holy spirit breathes life into Israel just as God breathed life into that form made from the clay of the ground and called him Adam!
God is in the resurrection, life giving, business my friends. Take a look at another resurrection story more than 500 years later. Jesus is thick into his earthly ministry and is across the Jordon where he had gone after leaving Jerusalem following conflict there where he had been threatened with a stoning. His dear friend Lazarus is sick and Mary and Martha, his sisters, send for Jesus. The story is a familiar one and it is rich with lessons for us to glean. Jesus stays for two days where he is and then decides it is time to go to Lazarus. They learn that he has already died. The disciples worry about Jesus going to Lazarus because there is much adversity to Jesus there and the fear for his life if he goes. Jesus dismisses these worries and he and the disciples head to Bethany, to Lazarus. Meanwhile many Jewish brothers and sisters (the congregation so to speak) have gathered at Mary and Martha’s house to sit with them and comfort them. Martha hears Jesus is approaching and she rushes out to him. “Jesus if only you had been here our brother would still be alive.” Does that sound familiar? In the face of tragedy, grief, unspeakable devastation it is so easy to fall into the role of seeking blame, of wondering where God is, of feeling abandoned. When Martha goes to tell Mary that Jesus wants to see her, she has the same response. Jesus, she weeps, if only you had been here. When Mary leaves the congregation thinks she is leaving to go to the tomb to grieve so they get up and follow. Her weeping hurts them in the depths of their hearts and they weep with her. Jesus is moved by the love he has for Mary, Martha and the congregation and here we have the shortest verse in the Bible. “Jesus Wept.” Jesus did not weep out of guilt…..He wept out of a deep, loving compassion! So, they go to the tomb. Jesus tells the congregation to roll the stone away and then he commands Lazarus, “’Come forth” and Lazarus does, resurrection happens, people are astonished. Jesus then tells the people to free him from his burial clothes, to unbind him. Lazarus lives. Can you imagine that scene? Word spreads to the Sanhedrin and while many persons came to believe Jesus as Messiah, there were those who were just angered by these actions. It was at that moment that the plot to kill Jesus began…….leading to the ultimate resurrection of all; the resurrection of Jesus Christ! Yes, friends: God is in the business of resurrection. God breathes life into the ravages of Japan through the kindness of strangers, through stories of love and hope as we hear of a woman who puts a sign out that says “my toilet works, please use it”, as we hear of a rescued dog reunited with its owner, as we hear of complete strangers helping one another. No longer are there divisions of male or female, democrat or republican, lower class or upper class, Asian, or American or the number of other things that divide humanity. It is in these times that we see glimpses of the Kingdom, glimpses of common regard for all life by all persons. For you see in each of these stories God partners with humanity to bring life. He used Ezekiel to speak the words; The Holy spirit Breathed the life. He used the Jews to roll the stone away from the tomb and unbind Lazarus; He breathed life back into Lazarus.
We are living in desperate times these days. It’s easy to feel hopeless sometimes and wonder where God is. Where is God when a family member has a devastating car crash, breaking her neck and leaving the family waiting for arrival, fearful of what this will all mean for her young daughter? God is there breathing hope through paramedics and ambulance drivers who are skilled enough to keep her stable on the long journey to the hospital, he is there breathing hope through skilled surgeons, and He is there through grandparents who briefly take over the care of their grandchild. Where is God when a young man sits by the side of the love of his life cradling their baby who was born without life, feeling like his world has come crashing in around him. He is there in that room breathing hope through the large family that surrounds them, breathing hope through the visits of caring friends, breathing hope through the love that can only be described if one has experienced that, breathing hope through the wise words of a pastor at the funeral, through the words of a song sung. Where is God when a loved one begins to lose their memory and you only get to see glimpses of who they once were? He is there breathing hope through the stories you get to here, through the precious time you get to spend in caring for them and giving back to them just a little of what they’ve given you. Where is God when you have to leave the home that you’ve known for years to live amongst strangers? He is there, breathing hope through caring nurses, a kind card, and unexpected visits from volunteers. Sometimes just sometimes he is there in our tears, weeping with us as we ride those rivers of tears through the storms till we got on the other side and wonder how we got there. I can tell you how we get there; we get there on the wings of the spirit, breathing hope into our hopeless situations.
Perhaps you can not connect with those feelings of hopelessness. Perhaps you’re gifted at seeing the positive in things and you’ve well learned that God can and does bring good out of the worst of situations. What do these stories have to say to you? Well, you could be the congregation of people who are sent to be there and sit with those who are in hopeless situations just as the Jews sat with Mary and Martha. Perhaps you are one of those that Jesus commands to remove the stone and take off the bindings. How can you assist someone out of the ties that are binding them and keeping them in a hopeless situation? Perhaps, like Ezekiel, God needs for you to be a messenger of hope to someone feeling hopeless. Look for opportunities in your daily life to be instruments of God’s hope in this world.
Perhaps like the Israelites, you feel all dried up and separated from God’s Grace and Mercy. Today the message for you is to open yourself up to the Breath of God and recognize that God is still with you.
Surrender it all dear friends. Surrender the hopeless moments. Breathe out the hopelessness and breathe in the breath of our life giving savior.
Ezekiel 37:1-14 and John 11
When I read this passage of scripture I couldn’t help but think of the recent devastation of the Tsunami in Japan. The pictures and stories reach you in the pit of your stomach. You ask where God is in these situations. The Tsunami, the Earthquake in Haiti, the earthquake in China, Aids infected Africa, starving children in Ethiopia and right here at home the memories of 9/11 still haunt us. Our technology today brings us images like we have never been able to see. Horrific images of death and of desperation. I imagine the scene there in the Valley of Dry Bones was very similar. Here we have Ezekiel, an Israelite Prophet who is in exile. He has been having all kinds of visions as we see in previous chapters. The script is the kind of stuff that Sci fi movies are made of. Let me take you there for just a moment. At the time of the writing of Ezekiel Israel and Judah had been overtaken by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and Ezekiel was on of thousand of Jews exiled to Babylon. Perhaps the bones were those laid waste that didn’t make it to Babylon. This reminds me of the trail of tears of the Cherokee nation to Oklahoma. Israel wondered if they would ever regain their land. Was this the end for them? This is the setting in which Ezekiel has this vision. So, there he is in the middle of all these dead, sun bleached, scattered, bones. Who knows which leg goes to which hip joint? The scene is nothing less then devastating and gruesome. The left overs from a war savaged land. The scene appears very hopeless. One can hardly bear to look at it. Then God says “Do you think these bones can live again.” You have to wonder if this is where the phrase “Lord only knows” comes from because that is the exact reply Ezekiel gives. You see the natural answer here would be “of course not.” These are scattered, dead bones. Death is final, it’s the end.” However, Ezekiel had experienced God enough to know better than to give the obvious answer. His answer is this: God, only you know.” Ezekiel knew that with God all things were possible. He just waited in anticipation to see what God had in store this time. God commanded him:
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
Can you imagine that scene? Right there before Ezekiel’s eyes, legs were finding hip joints, arms were finding shoulders, all these bones start clanging together and flesh begins being painted upon them…….He notices though, they are not yet alive….Here is what God tells him next:
“Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
The Hebrew word used here for Breath also can be translated spirit. Ezekiel, things look hopeless here in the Valley. But call on the Holy Spirit, The Holy spirit will breathe Hope into hopelessness. The Holy spirit will bring hope to life.
So, why did Ezekiel have this vision? What does all of this mean? Remember the situation we said Israel was in? The nation of Israel laid waste in a hopeless and desperate situation. God was using Ezekiel to be his messenger of hope to a hopeless people. Listen again:
11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.’”
Israel had not been a faithful people. They easily became discouraged. When things didn’t go as they wished they would turn to idols and pagan worship. They were always searching for something better. They would not find it. Instead they find themselves in an even worse situation that they have created through their faithlessness. At this point they believe that God has finally had enough and has cut them off from his grace and mercy. God sends a word to them through Ezekiel though. I do not give up on my children. What Grave have you dug for yourself my children. I am going to bring you from it. God promises for Israel to be reborn! God resurrects a dead Israel. The Holy spirit breathes life into Israel just as God breathed life into that form made from the clay of the ground and called him Adam!
God is in the resurrection, life giving, business my friends. Take a look at another resurrection story more than 500 years later. Jesus is thick into his earthly ministry and is across the Jordon where he had gone after leaving Jerusalem following conflict there where he had been threatened with a stoning. His dear friend Lazarus is sick and Mary and Martha, his sisters, send for Jesus. The story is a familiar one and it is rich with lessons for us to glean. Jesus stays for two days where he is and then decides it is time to go to Lazarus. They learn that he has already died. The disciples worry about Jesus going to Lazarus because there is much adversity to Jesus there and the fear for his life if he goes. Jesus dismisses these worries and he and the disciples head to Bethany, to Lazarus. Meanwhile many Jewish brothers and sisters (the congregation so to speak) have gathered at Mary and Martha’s house to sit with them and comfort them. Martha hears Jesus is approaching and she rushes out to him. “Jesus if only you had been here our brother would still be alive.” Does that sound familiar? In the face of tragedy, grief, unspeakable devastation it is so easy to fall into the role of seeking blame, of wondering where God is, of feeling abandoned. When Martha goes to tell Mary that Jesus wants to see her, she has the same response. Jesus, she weeps, if only you had been here. When Mary leaves the congregation thinks she is leaving to go to the tomb to grieve so they get up and follow. Her weeping hurts them in the depths of their hearts and they weep with her. Jesus is moved by the love he has for Mary, Martha and the congregation and here we have the shortest verse in the Bible. “Jesus Wept.” Jesus did not weep out of guilt…..He wept out of a deep, loving compassion! So, they go to the tomb. Jesus tells the congregation to roll the stone away and then he commands Lazarus, “’Come forth” and Lazarus does, resurrection happens, people are astonished. Jesus then tells the people to free him from his burial clothes, to unbind him. Lazarus lives. Can you imagine that scene? Word spreads to the Sanhedrin and while many persons came to believe Jesus as Messiah, there were those who were just angered by these actions. It was at that moment that the plot to kill Jesus began…….leading to the ultimate resurrection of all; the resurrection of Jesus Christ! Yes, friends: God is in the business of resurrection. God breathes life into the ravages of Japan through the kindness of strangers, through stories of love and hope as we hear of a woman who puts a sign out that says “my toilet works, please use it”, as we hear of a rescued dog reunited with its owner, as we hear of complete strangers helping one another. No longer are there divisions of male or female, democrat or republican, lower class or upper class, Asian, or American or the number of other things that divide humanity. It is in these times that we see glimpses of the Kingdom, glimpses of common regard for all life by all persons. For you see in each of these stories God partners with humanity to bring life. He used Ezekiel to speak the words; The Holy spirit Breathed the life. He used the Jews to roll the stone away from the tomb and unbind Lazarus; He breathed life back into Lazarus.
We are living in desperate times these days. It’s easy to feel hopeless sometimes and wonder where God is. Where is God when a family member has a devastating car crash, breaking her neck and leaving the family waiting for arrival, fearful of what this will all mean for her young daughter? God is there breathing hope through paramedics and ambulance drivers who are skilled enough to keep her stable on the long journey to the hospital, he is there breathing hope through skilled surgeons, and He is there through grandparents who briefly take over the care of their grandchild. Where is God when a young man sits by the side of the love of his life cradling their baby who was born without life, feeling like his world has come crashing in around him. He is there in that room breathing hope through the large family that surrounds them, breathing hope through the visits of caring friends, breathing hope through the love that can only be described if one has experienced that, breathing hope through the wise words of a pastor at the funeral, through the words of a song sung. Where is God when a loved one begins to lose their memory and you only get to see glimpses of who they once were? He is there breathing hope through the stories you get to here, through the precious time you get to spend in caring for them and giving back to them just a little of what they’ve given you. Where is God when you have to leave the home that you’ve known for years to live amongst strangers? He is there, breathing hope through caring nurses, a kind card, and unexpected visits from volunteers. Sometimes just sometimes he is there in our tears, weeping with us as we ride those rivers of tears through the storms till we got on the other side and wonder how we got there. I can tell you how we get there; we get there on the wings of the spirit, breathing hope into our hopeless situations.
Perhaps you can not connect with those feelings of hopelessness. Perhaps you’re gifted at seeing the positive in things and you’ve well learned that God can and does bring good out of the worst of situations. What do these stories have to say to you? Well, you could be the congregation of people who are sent to be there and sit with those who are in hopeless situations just as the Jews sat with Mary and Martha. Perhaps you are one of those that Jesus commands to remove the stone and take off the bindings. How can you assist someone out of the ties that are binding them and keeping them in a hopeless situation? Perhaps, like Ezekiel, God needs for you to be a messenger of hope to someone feeling hopeless. Look for opportunities in your daily life to be instruments of God’s hope in this world.
Perhaps like the Israelites, you feel all dried up and separated from God’s Grace and Mercy. Today the message for you is to open yourself up to the Breath of God and recognize that God is still with you.
Surrender it all dear friends. Surrender the hopeless moments. Breathe out the hopelessness and breathe in the breath of our life giving savior.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)