from my sermon on 1/29/12 from II Cor. 9:6-15
God loves a cheerful giver. My prayer is this: God send me a church full of cheerful givers. This is the 4th wk of a 6 week series on the Treasures of the Transformed Life. We are going over the vows we United Methodists make: prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness. Today it is on gifts, being generous, tossing pennies in the fountain to do Christ's work upon this earth. I hope you laugh a lot. I hope you are cheerful.
Do you know the Greek word for cheerful here? I know that you love it when I become Mr. Language Person, and that it has been several weeks since I have inflicted language on you, so here goes. The Greek word for cheerful is hilaros. Do you get it...we get our English word hilarious straight from the Greek. Our children's ministry director is named, Hilary. She is literally cheerful. This is only the first of 3 Greek words you are going to get today. Isn't this fun?
I have a hilarious story about giving for you that comes from former speaker of the house Tip O'neill. Henry Ford was visiting a Catholic hospital in Ireland. Three priests cornered him and invited him to support the work of healing. Henry Ford said that he would give 2,000 pounds (this was a number of years ago when that was a lot of money). The next day the newspaper came out with a headline that read, Henry Ford pledges to give 20,000 pounds to local hospital. Henry went to the priests and said, "there's been a mistake. I was going to give 2,000 pounds." "We're sorry," said the priests, "we will print a retraction, saying you are now only going to give 2,000." (pause for gasps) "No, no, no, I'll give 20,000, but on one condition, and that is you put an inscription above one of the doors to the hospital." Tip O'Neill says that above one of the doors is the following: I was a stranger, and you took me in. (laughter)
You may have felt this way about the church and giving....mislead, used, manipulated. So let me be clear, upfront, honest with you: in 2 weeks on Feb. 12, we will have a commitment Sunday, at which time you get to make a pledge to continue Christ's work through this congregation. If you can't be there then, we will have a second chance on Feb. 19. (laughter)
Paul says that God loves a cheerful giver. We don't give reluctantly or under compulsion. The motivation for our giving is the important thing. It is a heart matter.
You may find it hilarious that we are talking about giving at the first of the year. For the past 3 years, we have been trying something different in this church to teach about stewardship.
Instead of making it about giving money.....we are trying to make a spiritual exercise
instead of making it about only giving....we are trying to make it about prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness
instead of making it about the budget....we are trying to make it about a relationship with Christ
instead of making it about what the church needs....we are trying to make it about our need to give
instead of making it a "have-to"....we are trying to make it about a "get-to"
instead of making it about law....we are trying to make it about love
It's funny how things change when you change the motivation. Paul says that each of you much decide in your own mind what you are going to give.
Paul is in his first stewardship campaign. Read all of the 8th & 9th chapters here to get the full impact. Paul is inviting Gentile Christians in Corinth to support Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. If you are getting this, he is saying that the offering is for others.
Four plus years ago, I challenged this church to become a 50/50 church, that is, we would spend 50% on ministries here and 50% on ministries outside of us. It has never been adopted as official policy. No vote has ever been taken. But it has become part of the vocabulary of this church. At meetings from time to time someone will ask, How does this fit in with 50/50. Before I came, we had a missions committee, but no missions budget. It has grown tremendously. Our service committee which does local missions has doubled and tripled its budget items. I am so proud of you for the ways you have embraced giving for others. Even when we bought Bldg M some 3 years ago, 50/50 came into play. We have rented space to 2 non-profits there at less than 1/2 of the going rental rate. One of those is Mobile Loaves & Fishes which feed the homeless who live on the streets. Hear an email from Bruk who had successful knee surgery last week. "Working for ML &F is perfect for me because I strongly feel that I need to give something back. Being homeless myself fof a period of time, I ate from the food trucks as matter of necessity, and it was there that I got the only dignity I knew at the time. I want to freely give the gifts of food, clothing, shelter, and most importantly the promotion of dignity to our brothers and sisters in need. I feel that the most effective, efficient way to do this is by bringing my gifts to the table as a staff member at ML & F." We are a part of that ministry in our giving.
All of this generosity, sharing of abundance is in the language of Paul, the rendering of our service. Now comes the 2nd Greek word. I know you have been waiting for it. The word service is the Greek word liturgy. It is what we do in worship, the work of the people, honoring God, praising God. Our motivation for giving does not come simply from doing good; it comes from connecting with God. We find our motivation by praying, reading the Bible, singing, hearing good news in worship.
What's that worth to you? I hope you find this a bit funny. How much is your baptism worth? $100, $1000, maybe $100,000? Can we buy baptism? Can we buy our identity in Christ? How about prayer? What's that worth, to be able to talk with God, anytime, anywhere, about anything? How about Christian friends, what's that worth? When you go to the hospital and there's someone to visit you, pray with you, encourage you? Or when you have a birthday or an anniversary, someone with which to celebrate? How about the ability to earn money, did you manufacture that or is it a God-given gift?
How about doing good in the world, being a part of God's eternal purposes? I have a hilarious story to tell you. Thursday evening, Cathy and I are debriefing the day, walking in the park behind our house. It is beautiful winter's day, bright sunshine, pleasant temperature. I asked Cathy about her day. She said, "I had this one girl in my English class that was going, 'ewww'. We were doing an exercise on what our names meant or where they came from, and this girl kept going, 'ewww." I went over to her and said, 'what's the matter.' 'I don't like my name,'she said, 'it means ewww.' Cathy looked over her shoulder at the computer screen. The girl's name is Rachel. The website said her name means 'ewe.' Your name means 'ewe,' a female sheep." Isn't this the holy work we have been given, to help people find that their real name doesn't mean 'ewww", but that they are a sheep in the fold of God their shepherd.
What is salvation worth? You know you can't buy your way into heaven. But how much is forgiveness of sins, or having peace in your heart, or being able to sleep at night, or having the assurance of faith that you can live abundant life starting right now?
We now come to the 3rd Greek term. I will keep you in suspense no longer. Paul says to sow bountifully so that you may reap bountifully. It can be translated as to sow for a blessing so you may reap for a blessing. The Greek word is literally eulogy. It means good word. It is what is hopefully said at your funeral, a good word. It is funny how we try to hang onto money and possessions, and we wont be able to take any of it with us. What do we take? All the love you've shown, all the generosity you've shown, all that you have given away cheerfully. This life of giving is practice for eternity. May you hear God say a good word about you.
The good news I have to share is that God loves cheerful givers.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
thunder & lightning
1/25/12 Last night we had a major storm move through the Austin area. I was awake, or sleeping fitfully for 2 hours or more. Some of the lightning strikes seemed so close that they could have been in the back yard. The thunder was booming louder than African drums. The wind howled. This morning we looked in the rain guage, and it was full....5 inches. We haven't had that much in a long time. I walked down to Slaughter Creek, and it was a raging river, with debris floating down the middle.
My breath prayer for the day is from Psalm 111:10, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever." As Cathy and I prayed this morning she remarked that it is storms like this that help us remember that we are not in control. We "fear" the Lord, that is, we worship God, we humble ourselves before God, we reverence God. We remember that we are not God....that is the beginning of wisdom.
Love,
Lynn
My breath prayer for the day is from Psalm 111:10, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever." As Cathy and I prayed this morning she remarked that it is storms like this that help us remember that we are not in control. We "fear" the Lord, that is, we worship God, we humble ourselves before God, we reverence God. We remember that we are not God....that is the beginning of wisdom.
Love,
Lynn
Monday, January 23, 2012
jumping in with both feet: Christian community
from my sermon on 1/22/12 from Romans 12:4-8
S'more's....you know what I am talking about? You can find a recipe for them on a box of Graham crackers ( I read all of the world's great literature). You take a graham cracker. You put a Hershey's chocolate bar on that (I don't know why it has to be a Hershey's bar but that's the recipe). You melt a marshmellow over a campfire ( if you don't have a campfire, a microwave will work). You put that on the chocolate bar and finish it off with another graham cracker on top. You smush that all together, and it is a s'more. Now I like graham crackers all by themselves. I like Hershey's chocolate bars all by themselves. I like marshmellows all by themselves. But they are really good when put together. They are each good individually, but they are better together. So are we! There's s'more to us when we get all put together.
The passage from Romans says, so we though we are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. The phrase one another or each other is used 50 times in the New Testament to talk about Christian community. YOu think it is a pretty important topic? Yes. Join with me in litany. Each time I point to you, say "one another." Here are a few:
Confess your sins to ONE ANOTHER
Do not grumble against ONE ANOTHER
Live in harmony with ONE ANOTHER
Don't be puffed up against ONE ANOTHER
Admonish ONE ANOTHER
Pray for ONE ANOTHER
Love ONE ANOTHER
Fellowship with ONE ANOTHER
Accept ONE ANOTHER
Fellowship with ONE ANOTHER
Accept ONE ANOTHER
Depend on ONE ANOTHER
We are in the 3 week of a 6 week sermon series on the Treasures of the Transformed Life. Today the focus is on Christian community: Jumping in with both feet. Didn't the youth do a great job with the skit. We sometimes are afraid to invite someone to join us in the pool. We sometimes are afraid to respond to an invitation. We think that we are just making a commitment to Christ, but really He is making a commitment to us, to show up in our midst, when we gather in His name, looking out for ONE ANOTHER. Christ meets us wherever 2 or 3 gather in His name.
Which leads me to my haircut. Did you notice? Did you even know I have hair? So we had some neighbors move in across the street. We will call them Julio and Holly, not their real names. We did the friendly neighbor thing, taking over a lemon pie and our business cards with telephone numbers on them. Now my card says pastor of Westlake UMC on it. But you need to know that I am real reluctant to push my faith on other people, especially neighbors. I am afraid that I will turn someone against the Christian faith. I am overly sensitive in this area. I know I am the only who feels this way! So in meeting our neighbors, Julio mentions he works as a respiratory therapist, and Holly cuts hair from home. So what happens next is that the Disciple Bible Study lesson last week challenges us to go beyond our comfort zone to reach out to persons and situations where we feel uncomfortable. I made the commitment to get to know my neighbors. So sure enough, on Wednesday, Julio and I find ourselves at the mail box at the same time. I asked him about his wife cutting my hair. We got it set up for Friday at 10 a.m. So there is a point to this story. On Friday, I sit in their dining room looking at a wall of crosses. This is not going to be that hard, I say to myself. As Holly gets out her equipment, she immediately starts to talk about her faith. She told me about growing up in Bertram, TX, and being part of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. I know that church, I say, because my grandmother used to be a member there. And here's the point: she said when I went back there for Christmas Eve service, it took me 10 minutes to sit down. One by one, these older men and women came up to me and hugged me. Not once did they use that accusing voice, "Where have you been?" Each one of them said, "Remember me, I taught you in 3rd grade Sunday School." They asked how I was doing. They said, it is good to see you.
This is what we are thirsty for: Christian community, to be known, to be loved, to be prayed for. We live in a culture of rugged individualism, of self-made people.....but also tremendous loneliness. This is not God's intent for us. The gift is that we were made for One Another, for Christian community.
I have 2 confessions to make now. The first is I have often offered less to people than true Christian community. I will illustrate. Are you a member of a club? Service club like Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis, Optimists? Are you a member of AAA, or AARP? Are you a member of a fitness club or a country club? Sometimes, I have offered people only being a member of the church, like it was simply another club, maybe one with even less expectations that these other ones. In my reading this past week the following struck me: not once in the New Testament does it ever use the words "church member." We have another metaphor: being a member of the body of Christ. This is what people really are thirsty for, not just a congregation or a denomination, but a relationship with Christ. They want to be a part of a larger purpose, something lasting, life-changing.
Which leads to what happened last Sunday. We have a new movement in this congregation called the Point. Sometimes they gather on Sunday night for worship called Point Praise. Sometimes they go out to serve called Point in the World. Last Sunday while we were in here, they were sorting clothes in our clothes closet. In the afternoon, they distributed some 500 - 600 articles of clothing to the homeless at Church under the Bridge. Here's the punch line 20 of the 29 persons who passed out the clothing had had no prior association with our congregation. Pastor Jim and Tonya Creamer had posted on an internet site our movement, and 20 people, families with children said that they wanted to be part of something like that. People want to belong to something that matters in the world. They want to use their spiritual gifts, remember that list from Romans, about giving, serving, teaching, healing.....they want to use them for the betterment of the world. I remind you that when the Bible says "Body of Christ," it is code language for the life, passion, death, and resurrection of Christ. We enact, we carrying on his ministry. We love, we live, we sacrifice, we bring hope, we offer holiness like He did.
I have a 2nd confession. The body of Christ is much larger than this congregation, or this denomination. Sometimes I have not acted this way. We join with members of St. John Neuman across the street, St. Michael's Episcopal, Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran, Westlake Pres., Austin Ridge, Lake Hills, Promiseland West, and many more to become the Body of Christ. I confess our divisions and competitiveness. Even United Methodists aren't United. In my book on American Christianity, there are more than 20 denominations that have Methodist or Wesleyan in their names. I live out this fragmentation sometimes when I am typing, and instead of United Methodist it comes out Untied Methodist.
Sometimes we get it right, about Christian community. Fred Craddock tells the story of his hardest convert, his dad. His father had a drinking problem, which means he had an anger problem, which means he had a problem keeping a job. In country talk, it was a hard scrabble life. His mother kept the family together. Going to church was a part of the coping. Fred loved it, the stories, the fellowship, the caring. His dad didn't go. When Fred would ask him why, his dad would say, "all those church people care about is getting your name on the roll and getting your money." Fred went on to become a pastor in the Disciples of Christ Church, and a seminary professor. He continued to invite his dad to life of faith. You know his father's response: all those church people care about is getting your name on the roll and getting your money. At the end of his father's life, Fred went to see him, all 73 lbs. in a VA hospital. His dad couldn't talk because of mouth/throat cancer. All he could do is write his responses. The room was full of cards and flowers. His dad wrote that church people had come by. They would visit. They would sit quietly. They brought food. They brought prayers. They brought hope. They brought no judgment. When Fred asked his dad about the church, his dad wrote, "Tell people I was wrong!"
We were made for community, for one another.
S'more's....you know what I am talking about? You can find a recipe for them on a box of Graham crackers ( I read all of the world's great literature). You take a graham cracker. You put a Hershey's chocolate bar on that (I don't know why it has to be a Hershey's bar but that's the recipe). You melt a marshmellow over a campfire ( if you don't have a campfire, a microwave will work). You put that on the chocolate bar and finish it off with another graham cracker on top. You smush that all together, and it is a s'more. Now I like graham crackers all by themselves. I like Hershey's chocolate bars all by themselves. I like marshmellows all by themselves. But they are really good when put together. They are each good individually, but they are better together. So are we! There's s'more to us when we get all put together.
The passage from Romans says, so we though we are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. The phrase one another or each other is used 50 times in the New Testament to talk about Christian community. YOu think it is a pretty important topic? Yes. Join with me in litany. Each time I point to you, say "one another." Here are a few:
Confess your sins to ONE ANOTHER
Do not grumble against ONE ANOTHER
Live in harmony with ONE ANOTHER
Don't be puffed up against ONE ANOTHER
Admonish ONE ANOTHER
Pray for ONE ANOTHER
Love ONE ANOTHER
Fellowship with ONE ANOTHER
Accept ONE ANOTHER
Fellowship with ONE ANOTHER
Accept ONE ANOTHER
Depend on ONE ANOTHER
We are in the 3 week of a 6 week sermon series on the Treasures of the Transformed Life. Today the focus is on Christian community: Jumping in with both feet. Didn't the youth do a great job with the skit. We sometimes are afraid to invite someone to join us in the pool. We sometimes are afraid to respond to an invitation. We think that we are just making a commitment to Christ, but really He is making a commitment to us, to show up in our midst, when we gather in His name, looking out for ONE ANOTHER. Christ meets us wherever 2 or 3 gather in His name.
Which leads me to my haircut. Did you notice? Did you even know I have hair? So we had some neighbors move in across the street. We will call them Julio and Holly, not their real names. We did the friendly neighbor thing, taking over a lemon pie and our business cards with telephone numbers on them. Now my card says pastor of Westlake UMC on it. But you need to know that I am real reluctant to push my faith on other people, especially neighbors. I am afraid that I will turn someone against the Christian faith. I am overly sensitive in this area. I know I am the only who feels this way! So in meeting our neighbors, Julio mentions he works as a respiratory therapist, and Holly cuts hair from home. So what happens next is that the Disciple Bible Study lesson last week challenges us to go beyond our comfort zone to reach out to persons and situations where we feel uncomfortable. I made the commitment to get to know my neighbors. So sure enough, on Wednesday, Julio and I find ourselves at the mail box at the same time. I asked him about his wife cutting my hair. We got it set up for Friday at 10 a.m. So there is a point to this story. On Friday, I sit in their dining room looking at a wall of crosses. This is not going to be that hard, I say to myself. As Holly gets out her equipment, she immediately starts to talk about her faith. She told me about growing up in Bertram, TX, and being part of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. I know that church, I say, because my grandmother used to be a member there. And here's the point: she said when I went back there for Christmas Eve service, it took me 10 minutes to sit down. One by one, these older men and women came up to me and hugged me. Not once did they use that accusing voice, "Where have you been?" Each one of them said, "Remember me, I taught you in 3rd grade Sunday School." They asked how I was doing. They said, it is good to see you.
This is what we are thirsty for: Christian community, to be known, to be loved, to be prayed for. We live in a culture of rugged individualism, of self-made people.....but also tremendous loneliness. This is not God's intent for us. The gift is that we were made for One Another, for Christian community.
I have 2 confessions to make now. The first is I have often offered less to people than true Christian community. I will illustrate. Are you a member of a club? Service club like Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis, Optimists? Are you a member of AAA, or AARP? Are you a member of a fitness club or a country club? Sometimes, I have offered people only being a member of the church, like it was simply another club, maybe one with even less expectations that these other ones. In my reading this past week the following struck me: not once in the New Testament does it ever use the words "church member." We have another metaphor: being a member of the body of Christ. This is what people really are thirsty for, not just a congregation or a denomination, but a relationship with Christ. They want to be a part of a larger purpose, something lasting, life-changing.
Which leads to what happened last Sunday. We have a new movement in this congregation called the Point. Sometimes they gather on Sunday night for worship called Point Praise. Sometimes they go out to serve called Point in the World. Last Sunday while we were in here, they were sorting clothes in our clothes closet. In the afternoon, they distributed some 500 - 600 articles of clothing to the homeless at Church under the Bridge. Here's the punch line 20 of the 29 persons who passed out the clothing had had no prior association with our congregation. Pastor Jim and Tonya Creamer had posted on an internet site our movement, and 20 people, families with children said that they wanted to be part of something like that. People want to belong to something that matters in the world. They want to use their spiritual gifts, remember that list from Romans, about giving, serving, teaching, healing.....they want to use them for the betterment of the world. I remind you that when the Bible says "Body of Christ," it is code language for the life, passion, death, and resurrection of Christ. We enact, we carrying on his ministry. We love, we live, we sacrifice, we bring hope, we offer holiness like He did.
I have a 2nd confession. The body of Christ is much larger than this congregation, or this denomination. Sometimes I have not acted this way. We join with members of St. John Neuman across the street, St. Michael's Episcopal, Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran, Westlake Pres., Austin Ridge, Lake Hills, Promiseland West, and many more to become the Body of Christ. I confess our divisions and competitiveness. Even United Methodists aren't United. In my book on American Christianity, there are more than 20 denominations that have Methodist or Wesleyan in their names. I live out this fragmentation sometimes when I am typing, and instead of United Methodist it comes out Untied Methodist.
Sometimes we get it right, about Christian community. Fred Craddock tells the story of his hardest convert, his dad. His father had a drinking problem, which means he had an anger problem, which means he had a problem keeping a job. In country talk, it was a hard scrabble life. His mother kept the family together. Going to church was a part of the coping. Fred loved it, the stories, the fellowship, the caring. His dad didn't go. When Fred would ask him why, his dad would say, "all those church people care about is getting your name on the roll and getting your money." Fred went on to become a pastor in the Disciples of Christ Church, and a seminary professor. He continued to invite his dad to life of faith. You know his father's response: all those church people care about is getting your name on the roll and getting your money. At the end of his father's life, Fred went to see him, all 73 lbs. in a VA hospital. His dad couldn't talk because of mouth/throat cancer. All he could do is write his responses. The room was full of cards and flowers. His dad wrote that church people had come by. They would visit. They would sit quietly. They brought food. They brought prayers. They brought hope. They brought no judgment. When Fred asked his dad about the church, his dad wrote, "Tell people I was wrong!"
We were made for community, for one another.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Prayer: drawing water
from my message on 1/15/12 from Matthew 6:5-15
Prayer...it's really very simple. It's like this story (most of the stories are from Richard Foster's book, Prayer). Father was going through the mall with his 2 year old son. The boy was being a typical 2 year old, acting out, rebelluous, fussy. The dad grew exasperated...what to do? So he began to make up a song....it didn't rhyme, the dad sang off-key...it was silly. As they went from store to store, the dad took his son in his arms and sang, "I am so glad that you are my son, I love your curly hair, I like the way you put pureed carrots in your hair, it's great that you learned to poop, you are so good with the dog..." On and on the dad sang, from store to store, without rhyme and off key. The little boy grew quiet. He was fascinated by this song. As the dad was buckling his son into the car seat, the little boy said, "Sing it over again to me, Daddy, sing it again!"
This is prayer, our desire to hear our Daddy sing a love song to us. We want to be wrapped in the arms of our God and hear how much we are loved. In the model prayer, Jesus gives us, he addresses God as Daddy, Abba. I read a quote this past week from an imminent Jewish scholar who said that in all of Jewish literature, not once is God addressed as Daddy. Now we know that God is neither male nor female, that God is beyond gender, but to call God Daddy is know that God is personal and intimate.
We are in our second week of 6 week study on the Treasures of the Transformed Life. We make our commitment to pray. God makes a commitment to meet us in prayer. We have been using water imagery for this study. A quote I came across this past week captures prayer well by saying, God thirsts to be thirsted after.
I got these quotes from a book called Prayer by Richard Foster, a Quaker pastor. He talks about a social worker who kept pestering him to come to her city to lead a workshop on healing prayer. He kept putting her off, saying he didn't have time, there were plenty of resource people in her city, etc. She kept after him. Finally, he said, let's make it a matter of prayer, and if 6 people came to her asking for such a workshop in the next week, unsolicited, then he would know that it supposed to be. Frankly, he said, he was not trying to be spiritual. He was merely trying to get her to go away. Four days later, she called to say that 12 people had asked for such a workshop. So Richard Foster went very unwillingly to lead a weekend workshop for some 15 social workers on healing prayer at this woman's house. The first meeting on Friday evening, one man said, "I am not one of you." Which is to say, that he was not a Christian, he was not a follower of Jesus as Lord and Savior. The group assured him that it was ok. The Holy Spirit fell gently on the gathering for the whole weekend, opening layers of healing. Finally, on Sunday afternoon, the man who had confessed that he was not a Christian, said, "I want to know Jesus the way you know Jesus." Richard didn't know what to do...he was surprised. One young man filled in the gap. He came and laid hands on the seeking man. Richard Foster said it was a holy moment, as the young man prayed the Nestea commercial! He said, "Dear God, let your child fall back into your loving embrace like it says on the Nestea commercial and go 'Ahhhh.'" The seeking man wept at all the love washing over him. He said he felt a connection with his baptism as a child and that he was being healed. All we want is to have our Daddy pick us up and sing us a love song.
This book I mention by Richard Foster, I found on my shelf this past week, because I was teaching another class, for Stephen Ministry. I thought that I had finished it, but I hadn't. When I looked to where I had left off, guess what the chapter was? It was on the Lord's Prayer. I was reminded that it really is the Disciple's Prayer, the Lord's gift to us. When we don't have the words, there are words waiting for us. I was reminded that it is a prayer of simplicity. Basically, we are going to our Daddy and expressing our needs. Now I know what Jesus says, that the Father knows what we need before we ask. But you parents know that we still like to have our children ask for what they need. It deepens the bond, strengthens the relationship.
One more water imagery from Foster's book, a quote from an old saint in the Church. He says, in prayer it is better to be a reservoir than a canal. A canal simply has water flowing through it. A reservoir waits until it is filled to overflowing, receives until it has a superabundance from which to draw. May it be so for us. May you fill up on your Daddy telling you how much you are loved. Amen.
Invitation to prayer. Once upon a time, I attended a prayer lunch in another city hosted by another denomination, which shall remain nameless. We ate a lot. We talked a lot around the tables, but we prayed very little. It was an afterthought, as we were about to leave.
Today, I want us to pray. We will take time in worship to pray, not just talk about prayer. You may stay right where you are in the pew. You may be silent. You may pray out loud. You can use the blue prayer insert. You can pray from your heart. You can sing. You can dance. You can go to one of the prayer stations around the worship center and write a prayer to place on the wall. If you are a child or a child at heart, you can come down front here and draw a picture of your prayer. You can touch the water of baptism and be thankful. You can come here to the altar rail to kneel and pray and perhaps be anointed with oil. Youth may want to form a prayer huddle around the sound board and pray with our new assistant, Diane. There are many right ways to pray. Let's take time to do that now.
Prayer...it's really very simple. It's like this story (most of the stories are from Richard Foster's book, Prayer). Father was going through the mall with his 2 year old son. The boy was being a typical 2 year old, acting out, rebelluous, fussy. The dad grew exasperated...what to do? So he began to make up a song....it didn't rhyme, the dad sang off-key...it was silly. As they went from store to store, the dad took his son in his arms and sang, "I am so glad that you are my son, I love your curly hair, I like the way you put pureed carrots in your hair, it's great that you learned to poop, you are so good with the dog..." On and on the dad sang, from store to store, without rhyme and off key. The little boy grew quiet. He was fascinated by this song. As the dad was buckling his son into the car seat, the little boy said, "Sing it over again to me, Daddy, sing it again!"
This is prayer, our desire to hear our Daddy sing a love song to us. We want to be wrapped in the arms of our God and hear how much we are loved. In the model prayer, Jesus gives us, he addresses God as Daddy, Abba. I read a quote this past week from an imminent Jewish scholar who said that in all of Jewish literature, not once is God addressed as Daddy. Now we know that God is neither male nor female, that God is beyond gender, but to call God Daddy is know that God is personal and intimate.
We are in our second week of 6 week study on the Treasures of the Transformed Life. We make our commitment to pray. God makes a commitment to meet us in prayer. We have been using water imagery for this study. A quote I came across this past week captures prayer well by saying, God thirsts to be thirsted after.
I got these quotes from a book called Prayer by Richard Foster, a Quaker pastor. He talks about a social worker who kept pestering him to come to her city to lead a workshop on healing prayer. He kept putting her off, saying he didn't have time, there were plenty of resource people in her city, etc. She kept after him. Finally, he said, let's make it a matter of prayer, and if 6 people came to her asking for such a workshop in the next week, unsolicited, then he would know that it supposed to be. Frankly, he said, he was not trying to be spiritual. He was merely trying to get her to go away. Four days later, she called to say that 12 people had asked for such a workshop. So Richard Foster went very unwillingly to lead a weekend workshop for some 15 social workers on healing prayer at this woman's house. The first meeting on Friday evening, one man said, "I am not one of you." Which is to say, that he was not a Christian, he was not a follower of Jesus as Lord and Savior. The group assured him that it was ok. The Holy Spirit fell gently on the gathering for the whole weekend, opening layers of healing. Finally, on Sunday afternoon, the man who had confessed that he was not a Christian, said, "I want to know Jesus the way you know Jesus." Richard didn't know what to do...he was surprised. One young man filled in the gap. He came and laid hands on the seeking man. Richard Foster said it was a holy moment, as the young man prayed the Nestea commercial! He said, "Dear God, let your child fall back into your loving embrace like it says on the Nestea commercial and go 'Ahhhh.'" The seeking man wept at all the love washing over him. He said he felt a connection with his baptism as a child and that he was being healed. All we want is to have our Daddy pick us up and sing us a love song.
This book I mention by Richard Foster, I found on my shelf this past week, because I was teaching another class, for Stephen Ministry. I thought that I had finished it, but I hadn't. When I looked to where I had left off, guess what the chapter was? It was on the Lord's Prayer. I was reminded that it really is the Disciple's Prayer, the Lord's gift to us. When we don't have the words, there are words waiting for us. I was reminded that it is a prayer of simplicity. Basically, we are going to our Daddy and expressing our needs. Now I know what Jesus says, that the Father knows what we need before we ask. But you parents know that we still like to have our children ask for what they need. It deepens the bond, strengthens the relationship.
One more water imagery from Foster's book, a quote from an old saint in the Church. He says, in prayer it is better to be a reservoir than a canal. A canal simply has water flowing through it. A reservoir waits until it is filled to overflowing, receives until it has a superabundance from which to draw. May it be so for us. May you fill up on your Daddy telling you how much you are loved. Amen.
Invitation to prayer. Once upon a time, I attended a prayer lunch in another city hosted by another denomination, which shall remain nameless. We ate a lot. We talked a lot around the tables, but we prayed very little. It was an afterthought, as we were about to leave.
Today, I want us to pray. We will take time in worship to pray, not just talk about prayer. You may stay right where you are in the pew. You may be silent. You may pray out loud. You can use the blue prayer insert. You can pray from your heart. You can sing. You can dance. You can go to one of the prayer stations around the worship center and write a prayer to place on the wall. If you are a child or a child at heart, you can come down front here and draw a picture of your prayer. You can touch the water of baptism and be thankful. You can come here to the altar rail to kneel and pray and perhaps be anointed with oil. Youth may want to form a prayer huddle around the sound board and pray with our new assistant, Diane. There are many right ways to pray. Let's take time to do that now.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
speak
1/12/12 My breath prayer for the day has particular significance for me. Nine years ago, I was writing an application to enroll in a program for spiritual direction at Boston College and to take a sabbatical summer there. I was 50 years old, had been a pastor for 25 of those years, and I was tired. This verse from I Samuel 3:9c summed up the hunger in my soul, "Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening." The context is this: the boy Samuel had been sleeping the house of the LORD, when the LORD came to him in a voice. Three times, the LORD came to Samuel, and 3 times Samuel went to his mentor Eli, thinking that it was Eli who had called. Finally, Eli gives Samuel the correct response. The next time you hear the voice, say, "Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening." Nine years ago, I started listening in a whole new way, as I deepened my life in prayer through the practice of spiritual direction. Today, I still hunger for that voice, as I walk and pray in the mornings. The good news is that God is still speaking. Will we take the initiative and say, "Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening?"
Love,
Lynn
Love,
Lynn
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
sum
1/11/12 My breath prayer for the day comes from Psalm 139:11, "How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!" My undergraduate degree is in mathematics...a B.S. degree, not a B.A., in math from Texas A & M. I am quick to point out that it is pure math, not business math, or applied math, or computer math....simply pure math. I was drawn to the mathematical word in the text today....sum. To consider the sum of God's thoughts is overwhelming. Mathematicians have a symbol for infinity; it looks like the number 8 laid on its side. That's the sum of God's thoughts. I am humbled.
Love,
Lynn
Love,
Lynn
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
found
1/10/12 My breath prayer for the day comes from John 1:45b, where Philip says to Nathaniel, "We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth." I remember when I was attending college that the Southern Baptists had a huge evangelistic campaign, running ads in all the media channels, that said, "I found it." "It" could mean salvation. "It" could mean Jesus. I had problems with the phrasing. I didn't like the impersonal pronoun "it", especially if "it" meant Jesus. I didn't like the campaign for a second reason, namely, that it seemed to emphasize our effort. Isn't it true in our faith journey when we think that we have found the Savior that He has actually found us?
Love,
Lynn
Love,
Lynn
Monday, January 9, 2012
the water always wins
from my sermon on 1/8/12 from Mark 1:4-11
Sometimes life is hard, as hard as a rock (hold up a large stone). You know the stone cold loneliness of depression, being cut off from everyone. You know the stone cold loneliness of divorce as you reach across to the empty side of the bed. You know the stone cold loneliness of grief as you have lost someone you loved. You know the stone cold loneliness of addiction where your only companions are guilt and shame. Sometimes life gets hard. We have a saying, I'm between a rock...and a hard place.
The water seems so soft (pour water into baptismal font). But I am here to tell you incredible good news: The Water Always Wins. Watch this video (drop of water falls from an icicle that goes into creek, into stream, into river, into mighty river, which ends in the Grand Canyon!). I know that life can get hard, hard as a rock, but the water always wins.
Today, we start a 6 week series, a church wide study on the Treasures of the Transformed Life. The study has a major metaphor of water. Here's the 1st treasure, The Water Always Wins. Today, in the scripture we have Jesus getting baptized. We have only 2 stories of Jesus' birth in Matthew and Luke. How many stories do we have of Jesus baptism? Six! In all 4 gospels, Mt, Mk, Lk, and Jn, plus Acts and Romans. Do you think the baptism of Jesus is at least as important as his birth? We are baptized because Jesus was baptized and asked us to continue this practice. We are baptized because Jesus continues to show up in this sacrament in the power of the Holy Spirit and changes lives. This is our sacrament of identity and belonging. The Water Always Wins.
Our Hebrew forebearers in the faith had a healthy respect for water. They were not a great seafaring people like their Phoenician neighbors. Therefore, our Bible begins in Genesis 1:2 with the Spirit of God brooding over the face of the chaotic waters (pour some water into baptismal font). In Genesis 6 when the creation is in the process of, to quote an AMC series, Breaking Bad, God wipes out all evil by a flood (pour more water). Later when the Hebrew people are leaving captivity in Egypt, they find the way to liberation through the parted waters (pour more water). In the wilderness the LORD provides for his children water from a rock (pour more water). When they enter the promised land, it is through the water of the Jordan River (pour more water). So water has an awesome power that overcomes evil, leads to liberation, sustains life, and opens to a promised land. The water overcomes the hardness of life. The water always wins.
I want to tell a story that I think I have told you before, but maybe you weren't here that Sunday or maybe you have forgotten. I had a friend in seminary named Dave Mosser. We played soccer together. I was a midfielder; he was a stricker, one who scored goals. Dave was a risk taker. I did my internship in ministry in Mason, Texas. He did his in Liberia, on the west coast of Africa. He liked pushing the boundaries. At the close of his year in Liberia, he decided to take a day off at the beach. He wanted to do some body surfing, letting his body become a surf board, sliding down the face of the waves. Now these were not Corpus Chrisit waves. They were huge waves. But Dave is a risk taker, and was having a great time. The really big waves you learn to dive under the crest so it doesn't overwhelm you. Dave did this, and found himself really far from shore. No problem. He is a superb athlete and strong swimmer. He starts to swim to shore.....only to find himself further from shore. He swims all out....and is still further from shore...Can you say riptide? He is getting tired. All of his effort results in him being swept further out to sea. He rolls over on his back to catch his breath. He is floating there looking up at the blue sky and the seabirds. He thinks, Now this is just great. I spend a year in Liberia where I don't catch some fatal disease, or drink bad water or eat harmful food or get caught in political strife because I am a pastor....and what happens is that I die as a tourist while body surfing. After a few minutes, Dave hears the sounds of waves crashing on the shore. He looks up and in just a minute more of relaxing, the waves deposit him on the beach. The water always wins. Now you can fight against the tide of God's movement in your life. You can even drown and die trying to go your own way, but the flow of God's love is always to deliver you safely home. God only wants to save. Can you go with the flow? The water always wins.
Water has the power to create community. All the people were coming to John the Baptist to confess their sins, to repent and be forgiven. Jesus came too to join in that movement. But more, Jesus was baptized to create a new community. People need more than just forgiveness; they need relationship with God and with one another. Water has a wonderful way of connecting us.
There was a woman you may have heard of. Her name was Helen Keller, born in Alabama. She had a normal childhood until about 19 months of age when she was struck with probably scarlet fever. She lost her hearing and her eyesight. She became a wild child. Unruly. Unmanagable. The family got a teacher for her, a Miss Sullivan. But no breakthroughs until this scene from the film, The Miracle Worker, with Ann Bancroft as Teacher, and Patty Duke as Helen. (video clip of Helen finally understanding the word "water" as Teacher pumps the hand pump on the well. This starts an amazing connection as Helen realizes the ground, pump, tree, mommy, daddy). The water always wins.
As you see baptism is not something we do for ourselves, by ourselves, to ourselves. It is a gift...from God...from the community. It is our sacrament of identity. We know that we belong to God and God's people. Have you ever wondered why Jesus was baptized? He had no sin. Maybe he was baptized because he needed to remember who he was from time to time. When things got hard, as hard as a rock, he could remember what the Father said to him, You are my child, the beloved one, with you I am well pleased.
Jesus may have needed to hear these words, because in the very next scene in Mark's gospel, he is driven into the wilderness to be tempted/tested by Satan. Now, I know you are educated, sophisticated people. You may believe in a Satan. You may think evil is simply a philosophical concept. I know the power of evil. It...and I choose that impersonal pronound intentionally is subtle, conniving, uncaring, driving us apart.
I tell you a story about evil. I was in a meeting recently with a pastor friend named Don. At the close of the meeting, we were telling preacher stories. Don said, I had a woman come to me who was going through a divorce. She asked me if I would baptize her 9 month old son. Now we pastors have been trained to teach, interpret, and protect the sacraments, to do them decently and in order. My funny line is that we don't do drive through baptisms. But this woman seems anxious, desperate to have her son baptized. Don asks the standard question we have been trained to ask, Has this child been baptized before? The woman replies, Kinda. Don't you love that Texas word, Kinda. Don says, What do you mean kinda baptized? The woman says, The man I am divorcing had our son when he was 4 months old baptized in the church of Satan. Don said, Absolutely we will have your child baptized in our church. He formed a prayer team to surround the woman and her son. He had the whole church in prayer on the day of his baptism. And Don performed the baptism in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. We need to hear God say, This is MY CHILD, the beloved one, with whom I am well pleased.
The good news I have to share with you today is that The Water Always Wins.
Sometimes life is hard, as hard as a rock (hold up a large stone). You know the stone cold loneliness of depression, being cut off from everyone. You know the stone cold loneliness of divorce as you reach across to the empty side of the bed. You know the stone cold loneliness of grief as you have lost someone you loved. You know the stone cold loneliness of addiction where your only companions are guilt and shame. Sometimes life gets hard. We have a saying, I'm between a rock...and a hard place.
The water seems so soft (pour water into baptismal font). But I am here to tell you incredible good news: The Water Always Wins. Watch this video (drop of water falls from an icicle that goes into creek, into stream, into river, into mighty river, which ends in the Grand Canyon!). I know that life can get hard, hard as a rock, but the water always wins.
Today, we start a 6 week series, a church wide study on the Treasures of the Transformed Life. The study has a major metaphor of water. Here's the 1st treasure, The Water Always Wins. Today, in the scripture we have Jesus getting baptized. We have only 2 stories of Jesus' birth in Matthew and Luke. How many stories do we have of Jesus baptism? Six! In all 4 gospels, Mt, Mk, Lk, and Jn, plus Acts and Romans. Do you think the baptism of Jesus is at least as important as his birth? We are baptized because Jesus was baptized and asked us to continue this practice. We are baptized because Jesus continues to show up in this sacrament in the power of the Holy Spirit and changes lives. This is our sacrament of identity and belonging. The Water Always Wins.
Our Hebrew forebearers in the faith had a healthy respect for water. They were not a great seafaring people like their Phoenician neighbors. Therefore, our Bible begins in Genesis 1:2 with the Spirit of God brooding over the face of the chaotic waters (pour some water into baptismal font). In Genesis 6 when the creation is in the process of, to quote an AMC series, Breaking Bad, God wipes out all evil by a flood (pour more water). Later when the Hebrew people are leaving captivity in Egypt, they find the way to liberation through the parted waters (pour more water). In the wilderness the LORD provides for his children water from a rock (pour more water). When they enter the promised land, it is through the water of the Jordan River (pour more water). So water has an awesome power that overcomes evil, leads to liberation, sustains life, and opens to a promised land. The water overcomes the hardness of life. The water always wins.
I want to tell a story that I think I have told you before, but maybe you weren't here that Sunday or maybe you have forgotten. I had a friend in seminary named Dave Mosser. We played soccer together. I was a midfielder; he was a stricker, one who scored goals. Dave was a risk taker. I did my internship in ministry in Mason, Texas. He did his in Liberia, on the west coast of Africa. He liked pushing the boundaries. At the close of his year in Liberia, he decided to take a day off at the beach. He wanted to do some body surfing, letting his body become a surf board, sliding down the face of the waves. Now these were not Corpus Chrisit waves. They were huge waves. But Dave is a risk taker, and was having a great time. The really big waves you learn to dive under the crest so it doesn't overwhelm you. Dave did this, and found himself really far from shore. No problem. He is a superb athlete and strong swimmer. He starts to swim to shore.....only to find himself further from shore. He swims all out....and is still further from shore...Can you say riptide? He is getting tired. All of his effort results in him being swept further out to sea. He rolls over on his back to catch his breath. He is floating there looking up at the blue sky and the seabirds. He thinks, Now this is just great. I spend a year in Liberia where I don't catch some fatal disease, or drink bad water or eat harmful food or get caught in political strife because I am a pastor....and what happens is that I die as a tourist while body surfing. After a few minutes, Dave hears the sounds of waves crashing on the shore. He looks up and in just a minute more of relaxing, the waves deposit him on the beach. The water always wins. Now you can fight against the tide of God's movement in your life. You can even drown and die trying to go your own way, but the flow of God's love is always to deliver you safely home. God only wants to save. Can you go with the flow? The water always wins.
Water has the power to create community. All the people were coming to John the Baptist to confess their sins, to repent and be forgiven. Jesus came too to join in that movement. But more, Jesus was baptized to create a new community. People need more than just forgiveness; they need relationship with God and with one another. Water has a wonderful way of connecting us.
There was a woman you may have heard of. Her name was Helen Keller, born in Alabama. She had a normal childhood until about 19 months of age when she was struck with probably scarlet fever. She lost her hearing and her eyesight. She became a wild child. Unruly. Unmanagable. The family got a teacher for her, a Miss Sullivan. But no breakthroughs until this scene from the film, The Miracle Worker, with Ann Bancroft as Teacher, and Patty Duke as Helen. (video clip of Helen finally understanding the word "water" as Teacher pumps the hand pump on the well. This starts an amazing connection as Helen realizes the ground, pump, tree, mommy, daddy). The water always wins.
As you see baptism is not something we do for ourselves, by ourselves, to ourselves. It is a gift...from God...from the community. It is our sacrament of identity. We know that we belong to God and God's people. Have you ever wondered why Jesus was baptized? He had no sin. Maybe he was baptized because he needed to remember who he was from time to time. When things got hard, as hard as a rock, he could remember what the Father said to him, You are my child, the beloved one, with you I am well pleased.
Jesus may have needed to hear these words, because in the very next scene in Mark's gospel, he is driven into the wilderness to be tempted/tested by Satan. Now, I know you are educated, sophisticated people. You may believe in a Satan. You may think evil is simply a philosophical concept. I know the power of evil. It...and I choose that impersonal pronound intentionally is subtle, conniving, uncaring, driving us apart.
I tell you a story about evil. I was in a meeting recently with a pastor friend named Don. At the close of the meeting, we were telling preacher stories. Don said, I had a woman come to me who was going through a divorce. She asked me if I would baptize her 9 month old son. Now we pastors have been trained to teach, interpret, and protect the sacraments, to do them decently and in order. My funny line is that we don't do drive through baptisms. But this woman seems anxious, desperate to have her son baptized. Don asks the standard question we have been trained to ask, Has this child been baptized before? The woman replies, Kinda. Don't you love that Texas word, Kinda. Don says, What do you mean kinda baptized? The woman says, The man I am divorcing had our son when he was 4 months old baptized in the church of Satan. Don said, Absolutely we will have your child baptized in our church. He formed a prayer team to surround the woman and her son. He had the whole church in prayer on the day of his baptism. And Don performed the baptism in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. We need to hear God say, This is MY CHILD, the beloved one, with whom I am well pleased.
The good news I have to share with you today is that The Water Always Wins.
Friday, January 6, 2012
new & improved
from my sermon on Jan 1, 2012 from Rev. 21:1-6a
I had a good message going...until yesterday. I had the message all done before I took all of this week off, picking it yesterday evening. I wanted to talk to you about New & Improved. Where have you heard that phrase before? Only in every single advertisment for every new product! We have used New & Improved so much that it has become OLD & STALE. I wanted to talk to you about New Year's Resolutions.....I know, I know, you are going to lose weight, you are going to diet and going to exercise more...or you are going to attend worship more or read the Bible this year. I applaud you who make these resolutions; it is a noble and worthy endeavor for you to take responsibility for your lives, for you to become more personally accountable. It is like you are becomig a New & Improved YOu.
It was a good message, but I have a God message for you today. God's message to you on this first day of the new year is "I am making all things new." Hear this: Our God is making all things new. Say it in your soul: Our God is making all things new. Say it our loud with me: Our God is making all things new.
You see, it is not just your making some New Year's resolutions, it is God making a resolution to show how much God loves you. I am asking you to be open to what God desires for you....what is God's heart for you. Listen to what the scripture says, God's resolution is for you to have no more tears, no more death, no more mourning, no more crying, no more pain. That is God's ultimate desire for you. I know at this time of year, your pain may be intensified. People say Merry Christmas to you, and you don't feel so merry. People say, Happy New Year, and you don't feel so happy. The days are the shortest, and the nights are the longest. Please know that sadness and grief and depression are not God's ultimate desire for you. You may need to come to the altar rail today and kneel with your hands upraised so that one of us pastors may pray with you and anoint you with oil. You may need to come here in order to hear God's heart for you. You may need to hear God say to you, I am making all things new.
In the church, God is making all things new too. God's intent is for our healing. In one week we will be launching Stephen Ministry training where some 10 laypeople will get 50+ hours of training in listening and caring for persons who are hurting. Caring ministry is not just for clergy. Our Point service is catching on. The first family to become members of our congregation joined two weeks ago through that service. Other folks are catching the vision of kingdom work through the Point. We found a social network site that lets people volunteer for projects. The Point is on there, advertising their going to distribute clothes to folks who live on the street and go to Church under the Bridge. We have already had some 5 families of 13 people sign up. These are people who have not come to worship but have caught the vision of service to others. Our Long Range Planning Group is helping us to get focus in fulfilling our vision statement of Serving All. We know that we have to discern and prioritize those we need to reach first. Our God is making all things new.
God is working in the wider world too, making all things new. The scripture talks about a new heaven and a new earth. Who would have ever guessed we would have had an Arab Spring? Tunisa...Tunisa of all places on the earth started off questioning the dictatorship...then Egypt...Libya....Yemen...now Syria..Who saw this coming? The passage talks about a new Jerusalem. We remember that the word Jerusalem means "city of peace." We pray it may be so. We pray that God is making all things new.
The Rev. to John is a book about hope....not fear. It was written to 1st Century Christians undergoing persecution. The message is one of enduring, being patient, looking for the inbreaking of God's rule. It is not just about last things, but about things that last, ultimate things. It is about keeping the faith, doing justice, especially when it is hard to do it.
New & Improved comes not by our effort, or our effort alone. It is God's desire to transform you, the church, the whole creation.
This may be scary to you, to be made new means change. What is even scarier....that God is not able to do this...that God doesn't make all things new. That God is distant, uncaring, impotent. Then we would be stuck. I pray that God is the one who camps out with us, literally tabernacles with us, goes the journey with us, makes all things new.
I had a good message going...until yesterday. I had the message all done before I took all of this week off, picking it yesterday evening. I wanted to talk to you about New & Improved. Where have you heard that phrase before? Only in every single advertisment for every new product! We have used New & Improved so much that it has become OLD & STALE. I wanted to talk to you about New Year's Resolutions.....I know, I know, you are going to lose weight, you are going to diet and going to exercise more...or you are going to attend worship more or read the Bible this year. I applaud you who make these resolutions; it is a noble and worthy endeavor for you to take responsibility for your lives, for you to become more personally accountable. It is like you are becomig a New & Improved YOu.
It was a good message, but I have a God message for you today. God's message to you on this first day of the new year is "I am making all things new." Hear this: Our God is making all things new. Say it in your soul: Our God is making all things new. Say it our loud with me: Our God is making all things new.
You see, it is not just your making some New Year's resolutions, it is God making a resolution to show how much God loves you. I am asking you to be open to what God desires for you....what is God's heart for you. Listen to what the scripture says, God's resolution is for you to have no more tears, no more death, no more mourning, no more crying, no more pain. That is God's ultimate desire for you. I know at this time of year, your pain may be intensified. People say Merry Christmas to you, and you don't feel so merry. People say, Happy New Year, and you don't feel so happy. The days are the shortest, and the nights are the longest. Please know that sadness and grief and depression are not God's ultimate desire for you. You may need to come to the altar rail today and kneel with your hands upraised so that one of us pastors may pray with you and anoint you with oil. You may need to come here in order to hear God's heart for you. You may need to hear God say to you, I am making all things new.
In the church, God is making all things new too. God's intent is for our healing. In one week we will be launching Stephen Ministry training where some 10 laypeople will get 50+ hours of training in listening and caring for persons who are hurting. Caring ministry is not just for clergy. Our Point service is catching on. The first family to become members of our congregation joined two weeks ago through that service. Other folks are catching the vision of kingdom work through the Point. We found a social network site that lets people volunteer for projects. The Point is on there, advertising their going to distribute clothes to folks who live on the street and go to Church under the Bridge. We have already had some 5 families of 13 people sign up. These are people who have not come to worship but have caught the vision of service to others. Our Long Range Planning Group is helping us to get focus in fulfilling our vision statement of Serving All. We know that we have to discern and prioritize those we need to reach first. Our God is making all things new.
God is working in the wider world too, making all things new. The scripture talks about a new heaven and a new earth. Who would have ever guessed we would have had an Arab Spring? Tunisa...Tunisa of all places on the earth started off questioning the dictatorship...then Egypt...Libya....Yemen...now Syria..Who saw this coming? The passage talks about a new Jerusalem. We remember that the word Jerusalem means "city of peace." We pray it may be so. We pray that God is making all things new.
The Rev. to John is a book about hope....not fear. It was written to 1st Century Christians undergoing persecution. The message is one of enduring, being patient, looking for the inbreaking of God's rule. It is not just about last things, but about things that last, ultimate things. It is about keeping the faith, doing justice, especially when it is hard to do it.
New & Improved comes not by our effort, or our effort alone. It is God's desire to transform you, the church, the whole creation.
This may be scary to you, to be made new means change. What is even scarier....that God is not able to do this...that God doesn't make all things new. That God is distant, uncaring, impotent. Then we would be stuck. I pray that God is the one who camps out with us, literally tabernacles with us, goes the journey with us, makes all things new.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
camping with God
my message on Christmas Day came from John 1:1-14
We had an informal worship setting in our gym, with folks eating brunch around tables. Children came in their pj's. I asked the people to tell stories of camping experiences.
I grew up in Littlefield, Texas, not too far from the mountains of New Mexico. We could be at campgrounds near Tres Ritos in about half a day's drive. It was inexpensive, close, fun, beautiful. Sometimes our family pulled a little trailer, or we put a camper shell on the back of the pickup, or we borrowed tents from the scout troup.
I loved camping. All of the senses were more alive. The smell of wood smoke today still effects me deeply. Food tastes better when cooked outdoors. Ah, the taste of S'mores. You can hear further. The air smells cleaner, fresher.
I loved being with family, having time apart. We often camped with other families, and we enjoyed playing board games, and going fishing and hiking.
What I loved most about camping was the telling of stories around the campfire. My dad would say something like this:
You remember old Bill. He used to be a sure enough cowboy. He rode the rodeo circuit. Tried to stay on the backs of those bucking broncs. One day he was thrown from a bull. Hurt him bad. Got him in his back. Old Bill lived, but the stay in the hospital was long. The injury was severe. Bill would never be able to stand straight up again. He would always be bent over forever. He couldn't be a cowboy anymore.
Well, little towns take care of their own. When Bill came back to Littlefield, the good folks got him a job with the school. Bill would no longer be riding a horse; he would be pushing a broom. Bill became the school janitor. Bill did his job well. He was on time. He took care to clean up well. Most of all he was kind...to everyone....the staff, the teachers, and especially the children. Everybody loved Bill. He did his job faithfully for years.
Finally, Bill died. Now the funeral director had a problem when he put Bill in the casket. If he put Bill chest down, the legs stuck up. If he put the legs down the chest stuck up. What to do? The funeral director came up with the answer. He put a strap across Bill's chest and thighs so that Bill's body could lie flat in the casket.
Now Bill belonged to a Pentecostal church...Hallelujah, praise the Lord, thank you Jesus. On the day of the funeral, the church was filled to capacity, standing room only. Everybody loved Bill. The preacher started out quietly enough. He talked of Bill's good qualities, his overcoming his accident, his hard work, his faithfulness, and most of all his love of all people. Lots of amen's and that's right were heard. Then the preacher really went to preaching. He asked, "Do you believe in the resurrection of the dead?" Yes, the people said. The preacher got down out of the pulpit and stood behind the casket. "Do you believe that we will rise again?" Yes, the people said. The preacher started to pound on the casket, "DO you believe that Bill will be raised from the dead?" As he pounded on the casket, the chest strap broke, and Bill's head and chest popped up.
The church emptied out so fast!
We kids would then ask, "Daddy, did that really happen?" And dad would say, "Well, it could have."
You are wondering how I am going to make a connection to the scripture. We have a story in the church that says that God loves us so much that God came to live among us as one of us. The
Church celebrates the birth of this one known as Jesus on this day. Our story goes that Jesus even died for us while we were yet sinners. And even more amazing, he rose again from the dead. Now we believe that he is with us forever and that he brings all things to their fulfillment.
Daddy, did that really happen? Well, it could have. We pray as Christians that it did. This is our story, unique in all the world. No other religion has a God like this.
The connection to camping? Well that word in John 1:14, where it says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, the word dwelt or lived is literally, tented or tabernacled or camped out. You remember when the Hebrew children were wandering across the wilderness after leaving the bondage of Egypt? You remember how God desired to go with his people where ever they went, so God told them to build a portable sanctuary or tabernacle? That is the word used here. God wants to go with us wherever we go. God won't be tamed or domesticated or located. God will camp out with us.
Is there anyplace you can go that God can't go? Sickness, depression, chemical dependency, divorce, grief....even hell. Our scriptures say that Jesus descended into hell. Is there anyplace you can go where Jesus won't go? The good news I have to share with you on this Christmas day is that our God revealed in Jesus Christ camps out with us.
We had an informal worship setting in our gym, with folks eating brunch around tables. Children came in their pj's. I asked the people to tell stories of camping experiences.
I grew up in Littlefield, Texas, not too far from the mountains of New Mexico. We could be at campgrounds near Tres Ritos in about half a day's drive. It was inexpensive, close, fun, beautiful. Sometimes our family pulled a little trailer, or we put a camper shell on the back of the pickup, or we borrowed tents from the scout troup.
I loved camping. All of the senses were more alive. The smell of wood smoke today still effects me deeply. Food tastes better when cooked outdoors. Ah, the taste of S'mores. You can hear further. The air smells cleaner, fresher.
I loved being with family, having time apart. We often camped with other families, and we enjoyed playing board games, and going fishing and hiking.
What I loved most about camping was the telling of stories around the campfire. My dad would say something like this:
You remember old Bill. He used to be a sure enough cowboy. He rode the rodeo circuit. Tried to stay on the backs of those bucking broncs. One day he was thrown from a bull. Hurt him bad. Got him in his back. Old Bill lived, but the stay in the hospital was long. The injury was severe. Bill would never be able to stand straight up again. He would always be bent over forever. He couldn't be a cowboy anymore.
Well, little towns take care of their own. When Bill came back to Littlefield, the good folks got him a job with the school. Bill would no longer be riding a horse; he would be pushing a broom. Bill became the school janitor. Bill did his job well. He was on time. He took care to clean up well. Most of all he was kind...to everyone....the staff, the teachers, and especially the children. Everybody loved Bill. He did his job faithfully for years.
Finally, Bill died. Now the funeral director had a problem when he put Bill in the casket. If he put Bill chest down, the legs stuck up. If he put the legs down the chest stuck up. What to do? The funeral director came up with the answer. He put a strap across Bill's chest and thighs so that Bill's body could lie flat in the casket.
Now Bill belonged to a Pentecostal church...Hallelujah, praise the Lord, thank you Jesus. On the day of the funeral, the church was filled to capacity, standing room only. Everybody loved Bill. The preacher started out quietly enough. He talked of Bill's good qualities, his overcoming his accident, his hard work, his faithfulness, and most of all his love of all people. Lots of amen's and that's right were heard. Then the preacher really went to preaching. He asked, "Do you believe in the resurrection of the dead?" Yes, the people said. The preacher got down out of the pulpit and stood behind the casket. "Do you believe that we will rise again?" Yes, the people said. The preacher started to pound on the casket, "DO you believe that Bill will be raised from the dead?" As he pounded on the casket, the chest strap broke, and Bill's head and chest popped up.
The church emptied out so fast!
We kids would then ask, "Daddy, did that really happen?" And dad would say, "Well, it could have."
You are wondering how I am going to make a connection to the scripture. We have a story in the church that says that God loves us so much that God came to live among us as one of us. The
Church celebrates the birth of this one known as Jesus on this day. Our story goes that Jesus even died for us while we were yet sinners. And even more amazing, he rose again from the dead. Now we believe that he is with us forever and that he brings all things to their fulfillment.
Daddy, did that really happen? Well, it could have. We pray as Christians that it did. This is our story, unique in all the world. No other religion has a God like this.
The connection to camping? Well that word in John 1:14, where it says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, the word dwelt or lived is literally, tented or tabernacled or camped out. You remember when the Hebrew children were wandering across the wilderness after leaving the bondage of Egypt? You remember how God desired to go with his people where ever they went, so God told them to build a portable sanctuary or tabernacle? That is the word used here. God wants to go with us wherever we go. God won't be tamed or domesticated or located. God will camp out with us.
Is there anyplace you can go that God can't go? Sickness, depression, chemical dependency, divorce, grief....even hell. Our scriptures say that Jesus descended into hell. Is there anyplace you can go where Jesus won't go? The good news I have to share with you on this Christmas day is that our God revealed in Jesus Christ camps out with us.
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