from my message on April 21, 2013, from John 21:15-19
Rough week, huh. First there was Monday, a day not just known as IRS turn-in-your-taxes day, but in New England, a day known as Patriot Day, a holiday, a day when schools are out, and people don't go to work. It was also the day for the running of the Boston Marathon, for over 100 years. Talk about a crowd-friendly sport, there is hardly any barrier between the runners and those along the route. Twenty-six point two miles of people cheering. Then there are two bombs that go off near the finnish line. Three person killed, including an 8 year old. Scores are wounded. There are images of 2 perpatrators.
Before we get over that, just up the road, there is another explosion, in the town of West, Texas. This is a place where we usually stop for kolaches as we travel up I-35 to Dallas. There is a fire, then an explosion at the fertilizer plant, and people are killed. In this small Czech community, everybody knows everybody else, every person is affected.
Before we get over that, in Boston, there is a man hunt, then a shoot out where one of the bombers is killed, a lock down and intense search for the other bomber.
Before we get over that, Adam dies. It should not be this way. He is too young, just 22 years old.
Then there is whatever else is going on in your lives. Rough week.
Why relive all of this? Why rehash here today? This is exactly what Jesus does with Peter. He goes back over what Peter has experienced. Remember Peter? How many times did he deny Jesus? Three. So how many times does Jesus ask Peter if he loves him? Three. And how many times does Jesus give Peter something to do? Three. Worship is slowing down and holding things before Jesus. We relive it with Jesus. Jesus can redeem any situation. Any person. In worship, Jesus can reclaim and restore us. In worship we get a new perspective on what happened, even the roughest weeks.
Let me pause here to say that the God I believe in, the God revealed in Jesus, did not cause these tragic events to happen. The God I believe in, the God revealed in Jesus, is always on the side of healing and restoration. I reject any theology that says these things were God's will, that God intended these things.
God gives us something to do in the midst of tragedy, to bring redemption to others. Jesus says, if you love me, then feed my sheep, tend my flock. We are to nurture, to nourish, to guide, to protect.
So when people ask, Where was God in this past week? We answer, God was in the first responders, fire, police, EMT's, and others in Boston, who, when the bombs went off, did not run away, but ran in to help. So many ordinary folks were binding up wounds, opening their homes. In West, it was the same. So many of those who died were firefighters, were volunters. We put ourselves out on behalf of Jesus' flock. We will continue to give blood, to give food, to offer comfort, to offer a listening ear, to offer a hug.
Some people will ask, Why? Why did this happen? I am not sure we will always get the answer to that question. The God I believe in, the God revealed in Jesus, answers the How question. How do we respond? We take care of His flock.
Whose sheep are they? Jesus always says, My sheep. They belong to him. We take care of them knowing whose they are. We show love to them.
What kind of love? In the English translation, there is only one word for love here. In the Greek, there are two words for love. I have preached on these different words for love before. The first 2 times Jesus asks Peter if he has agape love, self-sacrificing, godly love, for him. Peter replies that he has philia, friendship love for Jesus. The third time, Jesus asks if Peter has philia for him, and Peter replies with philia. Many words in many commentaries have been written about this. Here is the thing: the English version got it just right. In John's Gospel, the two words for love are used interchangeably. Take this home, to show love for other persons, for Jesus' sheep, is to show love for Jesus. There is no difference in the two loves. It is one love.
There are some ways for you to show this love this next weekend. The Gospel Accordin' to Texas is one of them. Invite folks to it. Help behind the scenes taking tickets, being a greeter, etc. Taking part in ReThink Church, in one of the mission projects is another. Sign up today as we take our worship out into the world.
The message is simple today. When Jesus asks us if we love him and it's not just for Peter, is it? The question comes to us too. And we answer that we do. Then we are called to tend His flock. There are a lot of needs out there, a lot of sheep. We can't meet all of them, but we can meet some of them. We have been called and equipped just for this ministry. If you say you love Jesus, then tend His sheep. That's the good news I have to share today.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Monday, April 15, 2013
After Easter: Fishing with Jesus
from my message on 4/14/13, from John 21:1-14
Fishing. Who here likes to go fishing? I have several quotes about fishing in this message. Here's the first one: A bad day of fishing is better than any good day at work. Can I get an "Amen?"
Peter said, "I'm going fishing." Six other disciples, Jesus' closest friends, said, "We will go with you." They had all seen the resurrected Jesus. More than once. Why are they going back? Hadn't Easter happened for them? We look around us today in the sanctuary. Where are all the Easter lilies, the trumpets, the crowds? I am glad that you are here. But how easily we fall back into old patterns, as if Easter had never happened. We never do this, right? We don't say, "I'll never take another drink," and then find ourselves addicted to alcohol again. We don't say, "I'll never be part of an abusive relationship," and then find ourselves trying to rescue someone who only hurts us. Ah, we can understand how these disciples can easily slip back to their former ways. Those ways are comfortable, no, familiar. We have grown used to them, in spite of Easter.
They fished all night and caught nothing. Frustration. I found a lot of good quotes when it comes to experiencing frustration while fishing. "Fishing is the sport of drowning worms." "All the romance of trout fishing is solely in the mind of the angler and is in no way shared by the fish." "The fishing was good; it was the catching that was bad." And this last one is not quite on the subject, but is too good to miss, "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day." Frustration. No results after hard work.
Jesus is there on the shore. They don't know that it is Jesus. He is incognito. He doesn't say classic lines like, "Any luck? Caught anything? They bitin'?" No, he asks a question expecting a negative answer. "Lads, you haven't caught anything, have you?" "No," they say.
"Cast the net on the right side," the stranger says. Don't we just love to get unsolicited advice. "Let me show you where you are going wrong in your marriage." "Here's how you should raise your kids." "This is the way you should run your business." Here are professional fisherman, and some yahoo on the shore is saying, "You should try the bassmaster 3000, set at a depth of 2 feet, and reeled in with a jerking motion." Don't we just love unsolicited advice?
We preachers get a lot of unsolicited advice. Especially in the area of evangelism. That's what this passage is about, witnessing, sharing the Christian faith, telling the good news in Christ. "You should follow the Willow Creek model." "You ought to go through the Purpose-Driven Church."
I am in a continuing education course where 12 of us pastors read a book a month and then get together to talk about it. Last month the book was Breaking the Missional Code. It was about evangelism. The premise was that we needed to exeget the culture, in other words, we needed to find out what was going on in people's lives and hearts around us. In the fishing language, we needed to find out what the fish were biting, and use that kind of bait. In the book, there was a report on studies of church that had training programs on evangelism. They would present courses on witnessing. The report showed that such churches had poorer results than churches that did nothing at all! Why, because it was not genuine. It was rote, a cookie cutter approach. What people want is a credible Christian, a person who genuinely cares about them.
The disciples cast the net on the right side. They are not able to haul it up. I know you love it when I do the Greek, so here goes. The word "haul" is the same word that Jesus uses when he says that when he is lifted up he will "draw" all person to himself. This story is not just about fishing for fish. It is about fishing for people. Jesus wants to haul, to draw all persons to himself.
There are so many fish in the nets now. It is interesting in reading the commentaries on this passage. Never once in the gospel stories do the disciples, these professional fishermen, ever catch any fish except at the direction of Jesus. It is never a technique, a program, 4 spiritual laws, or Roman road of salvation. It is always about Jesus. Our relationship with him, our following his directions is the most important thing.
At this point, the disciple whom Jesus loved (I can preach a whole sermon just on this character), says, "It is the Lord!" Peter, ever impetuous, swims to shore. Now the Greek can help us here. It says he was naked. Another translation of that word is "poorly dressed." Most likely Peter was in a simple smock, lightly dressed for hard work. When he heard the news, he tucked his smock in and swam ashore. He couldn't wait for the boat to row in.
The other disciples bring the boat in with the nets full of fish. Peter at the instruction of Jesus brings the net upon shore. It has 153 fish in it. People over the years have tried to understand what the number 153 stands for. Is it the number of varieties of fish known at that time? Is is the number of countries known at that time? Augustine back in the 4th century, said, "It is a great mystery." Here's what I think the point is: Jesus wants all people to come to him; he doesn't want to lose a single one.
The passage says the net was not torn. The word for torn in Greek is "schizo," from which we get schism. How we in the church can tear each other down. Doesn't that make a great witness? Don't people say, "I would just love to be part of a conflict where I can get further bruised by life? That is so attractive to me." We can hurt each other in this congregation, in this denomination, in the many denominations that make up the Church. We hurl out theologies at each other. We tear each other down. Jesus doesn't want any holes in the nets. There are many congregations, many denominations who are working to catch as many people as possbile.
After Easter, Jesus provides for His Church, a mission, to catch as many fish as possible, at his direction. Who is on your heart? Friends, relatives, associates, neighbors. With whom do you have a relationship that Jesus might move within to bring good news. Isn't the world dying to hear good news?
You have some ways to go fishing with Jesus in 2 weeks. Invite someone to the Gospel Accordin' To Texas. Invite someone to join on ReThink Church on April 28. Go to our website, www.westlake-umc.org, to find out more information or to sign up.
I want to close with one more quote, an Irish blessing: May the holes in your nets be no larger than the fish in it. May it be so. That's the good news I have to share.
Fishing. Who here likes to go fishing? I have several quotes about fishing in this message. Here's the first one: A bad day of fishing is better than any good day at work. Can I get an "Amen?"
Peter said, "I'm going fishing." Six other disciples, Jesus' closest friends, said, "We will go with you." They had all seen the resurrected Jesus. More than once. Why are they going back? Hadn't Easter happened for them? We look around us today in the sanctuary. Where are all the Easter lilies, the trumpets, the crowds? I am glad that you are here. But how easily we fall back into old patterns, as if Easter had never happened. We never do this, right? We don't say, "I'll never take another drink," and then find ourselves addicted to alcohol again. We don't say, "I'll never be part of an abusive relationship," and then find ourselves trying to rescue someone who only hurts us. Ah, we can understand how these disciples can easily slip back to their former ways. Those ways are comfortable, no, familiar. We have grown used to them, in spite of Easter.
They fished all night and caught nothing. Frustration. I found a lot of good quotes when it comes to experiencing frustration while fishing. "Fishing is the sport of drowning worms." "All the romance of trout fishing is solely in the mind of the angler and is in no way shared by the fish." "The fishing was good; it was the catching that was bad." And this last one is not quite on the subject, but is too good to miss, "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day." Frustration. No results after hard work.
Jesus is there on the shore. They don't know that it is Jesus. He is incognito. He doesn't say classic lines like, "Any luck? Caught anything? They bitin'?" No, he asks a question expecting a negative answer. "Lads, you haven't caught anything, have you?" "No," they say.
"Cast the net on the right side," the stranger says. Don't we just love to get unsolicited advice. "Let me show you where you are going wrong in your marriage." "Here's how you should raise your kids." "This is the way you should run your business." Here are professional fisherman, and some yahoo on the shore is saying, "You should try the bassmaster 3000, set at a depth of 2 feet, and reeled in with a jerking motion." Don't we just love unsolicited advice?
We preachers get a lot of unsolicited advice. Especially in the area of evangelism. That's what this passage is about, witnessing, sharing the Christian faith, telling the good news in Christ. "You should follow the Willow Creek model." "You ought to go through the Purpose-Driven Church."
I am in a continuing education course where 12 of us pastors read a book a month and then get together to talk about it. Last month the book was Breaking the Missional Code. It was about evangelism. The premise was that we needed to exeget the culture, in other words, we needed to find out what was going on in people's lives and hearts around us. In the fishing language, we needed to find out what the fish were biting, and use that kind of bait. In the book, there was a report on studies of church that had training programs on evangelism. They would present courses on witnessing. The report showed that such churches had poorer results than churches that did nothing at all! Why, because it was not genuine. It was rote, a cookie cutter approach. What people want is a credible Christian, a person who genuinely cares about them.
The disciples cast the net on the right side. They are not able to haul it up. I know you love it when I do the Greek, so here goes. The word "haul" is the same word that Jesus uses when he says that when he is lifted up he will "draw" all person to himself. This story is not just about fishing for fish. It is about fishing for people. Jesus wants to haul, to draw all persons to himself.
There are so many fish in the nets now. It is interesting in reading the commentaries on this passage. Never once in the gospel stories do the disciples, these professional fishermen, ever catch any fish except at the direction of Jesus. It is never a technique, a program, 4 spiritual laws, or Roman road of salvation. It is always about Jesus. Our relationship with him, our following his directions is the most important thing.
At this point, the disciple whom Jesus loved (I can preach a whole sermon just on this character), says, "It is the Lord!" Peter, ever impetuous, swims to shore. Now the Greek can help us here. It says he was naked. Another translation of that word is "poorly dressed." Most likely Peter was in a simple smock, lightly dressed for hard work. When he heard the news, he tucked his smock in and swam ashore. He couldn't wait for the boat to row in.
The other disciples bring the boat in with the nets full of fish. Peter at the instruction of Jesus brings the net upon shore. It has 153 fish in it. People over the years have tried to understand what the number 153 stands for. Is it the number of varieties of fish known at that time? Is is the number of countries known at that time? Augustine back in the 4th century, said, "It is a great mystery." Here's what I think the point is: Jesus wants all people to come to him; he doesn't want to lose a single one.
The passage says the net was not torn. The word for torn in Greek is "schizo," from which we get schism. How we in the church can tear each other down. Doesn't that make a great witness? Don't people say, "I would just love to be part of a conflict where I can get further bruised by life? That is so attractive to me." We can hurt each other in this congregation, in this denomination, in the many denominations that make up the Church. We hurl out theologies at each other. We tear each other down. Jesus doesn't want any holes in the nets. There are many congregations, many denominations who are working to catch as many people as possbile.
After Easter, Jesus provides for His Church, a mission, to catch as many fish as possible, at his direction. Who is on your heart? Friends, relatives, associates, neighbors. With whom do you have a relationship that Jesus might move within to bring good news. Isn't the world dying to hear good news?
You have some ways to go fishing with Jesus in 2 weeks. Invite someone to the Gospel Accordin' To Texas. Invite someone to join on ReThink Church on April 28. Go to our website, www.westlake-umc.org, to find out more information or to sign up.
I want to close with one more quote, an Irish blessing: May the holes in your nets be no larger than the fish in it. May it be so. That's the good news I have to share.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Praise
from my message on 4/7/13 from Psalm 150
Breathe. Breathe in ....and out. I want you to keep breathing. It is a good thing to breathe. The Psalmist says, "Let everything that breathes praise the LORD." There is no better use of breath that to praise God. When you read Psalm 150, it is like each line has breath marks, to breathe in and out:
Praise the Lord (in)
Praise God in his sanctuary (out)
Praise him in his mighty firmament (in)
Praise him for his mighty deeds (out)
Praise him according to his surpassing greatness (in)...and so forth
God gave us breath. You remember the creation story in Genesis...how we were just a clump of clay...until the LORD breathed into us the breath of life and we became living beings.
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Everything...all creation. Some creatures have it easy. Listen to the app I have on my new iPhone, Sibley's guide to birds, a red-winged blackbird. I have been reading a book from the United Methodist Women book list entitled Green Church. It is about how the church is to be in the forefront of taking care of the ecology. The author imagined all of creation praising God, everything that has breath. I imagined a whale. Cathy and I were on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, at some state park that I can't pronounce, because all of the names have lots of vowels and hardly any consonants. Cathy was snorkeling while I was life guarding her. There just off the shore a whale breached the water, came completely free, and crashed back into the ocean, right there in front of us. It took my breath away. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
How will you praise the Lord? Are you still breathing? When I first started ministry here at St. John's, there was a Sunday School class called the Searchers' Class. They had a challenge to meet everything in life with the response, "Wonderful." It is like saying Praise the Lord. My friend Carl was in the class. He was an accountant. He lost his job. Wonderful. He got another job. Wonderful. Driving a Coca-cola delivery truck. Wonderful. He was driving on 183 North, back in the early 80's when there was a traffic light every 1/2 mile, in heavy morning trafffic, when the truck broke down, in the inside lane. Wonderful. Carl got cancer. Wonderful. He got treatments, chemo, radiation, surgery. Wonderful. The cancer abated. Wonderful. It came back. Wonderful. When Carl was going to the hospital the last times, he took with him a seining net that he strung up around the top of his room. Everyone who came in he had them write a prayer or blessing and place it in the net. He said, "That's my love net. You are carrying me." Wonderful. Carl died. Wonderful. But he didn't die alone. Wonderful.
We don't do this praise thing alone. We do it as a community of faith. As ones who live on this side of Easter, we can praise even in the hardest times. We do it so much that it becomes a part of us. It is like a spiritual discipline. Frank who plays in our praise band had a pastor who was traveling with Mother Teresa. They came to an airport to change planes. A storm moved through and the airport shut down. All the flights were cancelled. You can bet a lot of people didn't say, "Wonderful." Mother Teresa said, "Praise the Lord. Look at all the people who need ministry."
Let everything that breathes praise the Lord. Are you still breathing? How will you praise? This past week I caught instances of praise. I saw Adam who has terminal cancer. His appetite has returned. He has good hours, pain free hours every day. He got to go home on Wednesday. The game room has been cleared out, and he look out of the home he grew up in. What breath of praise! I got my breath going on Friday working at Habitat for Humanity, nailing on edging for the roof. On Saturday, I went hiking at Inks Lake State Park. Climbing hills, I was breathing hard, which made me slow down and notice the flowers, the purple, the yellow, the bluebonnets. I noticed the springs were all flowing after the rains of this past week. I could praise. What will you do to praise? There is no better use of breath. There is no better witness to the belief that Christ is risen.
John Wesley, an Anglican priest that was trying to reform his church in the 1700's, and the movement got away from him and became today the United Methodist Church, died at age 89. He is said to have been on his deathbed singing a hymn you can find in our hymnal at #60. He sang, "I'll praise my maker while I've breath, and when my soul is lost in death, praise shall employ my nobler powers..."
Let everything that breathes praise the Lord. There is no better use of breath.
Breathe. Breathe in ....and out. I want you to keep breathing. It is a good thing to breathe. The Psalmist says, "Let everything that breathes praise the LORD." There is no better use of breath that to praise God. When you read Psalm 150, it is like each line has breath marks, to breathe in and out:
Praise the Lord (in)
Praise God in his sanctuary (out)
Praise him in his mighty firmament (in)
Praise him for his mighty deeds (out)
Praise him according to his surpassing greatness (in)...and so forth
God gave us breath. You remember the creation story in Genesis...how we were just a clump of clay...until the LORD breathed into us the breath of life and we became living beings.
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Everything...all creation. Some creatures have it easy. Listen to the app I have on my new iPhone, Sibley's guide to birds, a red-winged blackbird. I have been reading a book from the United Methodist Women book list entitled Green Church. It is about how the church is to be in the forefront of taking care of the ecology. The author imagined all of creation praising God, everything that has breath. I imagined a whale. Cathy and I were on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, at some state park that I can't pronounce, because all of the names have lots of vowels and hardly any consonants. Cathy was snorkeling while I was life guarding her. There just off the shore a whale breached the water, came completely free, and crashed back into the ocean, right there in front of us. It took my breath away. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
How will you praise the Lord? Are you still breathing? When I first started ministry here at St. John's, there was a Sunday School class called the Searchers' Class. They had a challenge to meet everything in life with the response, "Wonderful." It is like saying Praise the Lord. My friend Carl was in the class. He was an accountant. He lost his job. Wonderful. He got another job. Wonderful. Driving a Coca-cola delivery truck. Wonderful. He was driving on 183 North, back in the early 80's when there was a traffic light every 1/2 mile, in heavy morning trafffic, when the truck broke down, in the inside lane. Wonderful. Carl got cancer. Wonderful. He got treatments, chemo, radiation, surgery. Wonderful. The cancer abated. Wonderful. It came back. Wonderful. When Carl was going to the hospital the last times, he took with him a seining net that he strung up around the top of his room. Everyone who came in he had them write a prayer or blessing and place it in the net. He said, "That's my love net. You are carrying me." Wonderful. Carl died. Wonderful. But he didn't die alone. Wonderful.
We don't do this praise thing alone. We do it as a community of faith. As ones who live on this side of Easter, we can praise even in the hardest times. We do it so much that it becomes a part of us. It is like a spiritual discipline. Frank who plays in our praise band had a pastor who was traveling with Mother Teresa. They came to an airport to change planes. A storm moved through and the airport shut down. All the flights were cancelled. You can bet a lot of people didn't say, "Wonderful." Mother Teresa said, "Praise the Lord. Look at all the people who need ministry."
Let everything that breathes praise the Lord. Are you still breathing? How will you praise? This past week I caught instances of praise. I saw Adam who has terminal cancer. His appetite has returned. He has good hours, pain free hours every day. He got to go home on Wednesday. The game room has been cleared out, and he look out of the home he grew up in. What breath of praise! I got my breath going on Friday working at Habitat for Humanity, nailing on edging for the roof. On Saturday, I went hiking at Inks Lake State Park. Climbing hills, I was breathing hard, which made me slow down and notice the flowers, the purple, the yellow, the bluebonnets. I noticed the springs were all flowing after the rains of this past week. I could praise. What will you do to praise? There is no better use of breath. There is no better witness to the belief that Christ is risen.
John Wesley, an Anglican priest that was trying to reform his church in the 1700's, and the movement got away from him and became today the United Methodist Church, died at age 89. He is said to have been on his deathbed singing a hymn you can find in our hymnal at #60. He sang, "I'll praise my maker while I've breath, and when my soul is lost in death, praise shall employ my nobler powers..."
Let everything that breathes praise the Lord. There is no better use of breath.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Fear Not: Beyond Scared to Death
from my message on Easter, from Matthew 28:1-10
Death. We in the church are supposed to be experts at death. The culture looks to us Christians for a word about death.
How many times has it happened in my ministry that the first time I ever met someone, even church members, was at their funeral. This is not pleasant for me. When I first started in ministry, there was an older, maybe more hardened staff member, who called such members of the church, FBO. "What does FBO mean," I asked. She said, "For Burial Only."
One of the first funerals I ever did was for a man who lived in the Allandale neighborhood when I was the associate pastor here at St. John's UMC. I asked the family to describe the man. "He loved the ranch in Llano, the wildflowers, all of nature. He was at best, an agnostic." "Why did you call me?" "Well, you are in the church. You are a pastor. You are supposed to know about death." So I did a funeral for a man who was at best, an agnostic. I remember that I had a crick in my neck that day. Something about tension I think.
I know a lot about death. I bet you do too. Some deaths are easy. Some people have lived a long life, a full life, a whole life, a holy life. Their passing can be so easy, it is like a crossing over. In their last days, they can sometimes seem to be in between, already visiting with loved ones, and in the company of angels. Some deaths are hard. Too young, too soon, too harsh. You can find some names on the blue prayer sheet with situations that just break your heart.
May I share something with you? I hope it doesn't surprise you. You all are going to die. May I share some good news with you. Jesus died. The gospel story is that the Lord of all life came to live among us. He died, and he was raised again from the dead. God's chosen one, the Messiah, Jesus the Christ, died like we do. It is this Jesus who says to us, "Don't be afraid."
We all will die. But for what would you die? For some of you on this Easter Sunday, you may need to die to the script that you have been following, the one that says, "I am not worthy of God's love. I am not good enough for salvation." This is exactly the reason Jesus came to live and die and be raised again for us. He saves us by his grace, his great love for us, and not anything we have done or not done.
For some of you on this Easter Sunday, you may need to die to some old hurt. You have nurtured this resentment in the hothouse of your soul, you have watered it and fertilized it and watched it grow. You may need to let it die, so that you may live.
The church is dying. The Roman Catholic Church is dying. I appreciate what the new pope, Francis, is doing. He is dying to power and privilege and place. On Thursday this past week, what we call Maunday Thursday, he washed feet like Jesus did with his disciples. But Pope Francis didn't wash the feet of cardinals. He washed the feet of convicts, even women, even a Muslim. We need to become good at dying in order to live.
This church is dying. We at Westlake UMC are learning to leave our comfortable places in the pew and in the parking lot to make room for others, especially on a day like today when it is so crowded. We are giving up our favorite hymns in order to accommodate others' tastes. These are small things. What is bigger is we are laying down our lives for the poor and the outcasts. We even lay down our lives for those who are rich in things and poor in soul.
Two ways we are laying down our lives are coming up in 4 weeks. One is ReThink Church. This is a day we call off worship here and go out into the world to be the church that stands with the vulnerable. This will be our 4th year to do this. It only bothers me a little bit that people cheer when I call off worship. Please sign up at our website how you want to ReThink Church on April 28. That same weekend we are having the Gospel Accordin' to Texas, a musical production that we hope speak in native Texan the good news we have in Jesus.
We want to hold onto the old Jesus. Did you notice how the women disciples worshiped at Jesus' feet and held onto him? But Jesus is always going on. Jesus really died, but as a child told me, "HE didn't stay dead too long." Jesus is always going on. One of our younger clergy said this, "And Jesus came back in a better version....Jesus 2.0." We will be raised to better things also. We die to the past and are going on to live with Jesus.
I saw an example of this on Friday, a day the church calls Good Friday. Imagine that....the day that Jesus dies we call Good Friday. I didn't have much to do at this service. I had delegated it out to Diana and the choir. There were reflection stations in our labrynth, the library, prayer garden, playground, and courtyard, many different ways for people to pray. "What can I do?" I asked Diana. She gave me a cup of nails. "Hand one to people as they reenter the worship center." So people would come in. I would hand them a nail. They said something very surprising, "Thank you." Nail. Thank you. Nail. Thank you. One women when I handed her a nail said, "Yes."
We are not afraid of death. Jesus says, "Fear not." When he hands us a nail, we say, "Thank you." When he hands us a nail, we say, "Yes." The good news is that we can die to being scared to death.
Death. We in the church are supposed to be experts at death. The culture looks to us Christians for a word about death.
How many times has it happened in my ministry that the first time I ever met someone, even church members, was at their funeral. This is not pleasant for me. When I first started in ministry, there was an older, maybe more hardened staff member, who called such members of the church, FBO. "What does FBO mean," I asked. She said, "For Burial Only."
One of the first funerals I ever did was for a man who lived in the Allandale neighborhood when I was the associate pastor here at St. John's UMC. I asked the family to describe the man. "He loved the ranch in Llano, the wildflowers, all of nature. He was at best, an agnostic." "Why did you call me?" "Well, you are in the church. You are a pastor. You are supposed to know about death." So I did a funeral for a man who was at best, an agnostic. I remember that I had a crick in my neck that day. Something about tension I think.
I know a lot about death. I bet you do too. Some deaths are easy. Some people have lived a long life, a full life, a whole life, a holy life. Their passing can be so easy, it is like a crossing over. In their last days, they can sometimes seem to be in between, already visiting with loved ones, and in the company of angels. Some deaths are hard. Too young, too soon, too harsh. You can find some names on the blue prayer sheet with situations that just break your heart.
May I share something with you? I hope it doesn't surprise you. You all are going to die. May I share some good news with you. Jesus died. The gospel story is that the Lord of all life came to live among us. He died, and he was raised again from the dead. God's chosen one, the Messiah, Jesus the Christ, died like we do. It is this Jesus who says to us, "Don't be afraid."
We all will die. But for what would you die? For some of you on this Easter Sunday, you may need to die to the script that you have been following, the one that says, "I am not worthy of God's love. I am not good enough for salvation." This is exactly the reason Jesus came to live and die and be raised again for us. He saves us by his grace, his great love for us, and not anything we have done or not done.
For some of you on this Easter Sunday, you may need to die to some old hurt. You have nurtured this resentment in the hothouse of your soul, you have watered it and fertilized it and watched it grow. You may need to let it die, so that you may live.
The church is dying. The Roman Catholic Church is dying. I appreciate what the new pope, Francis, is doing. He is dying to power and privilege and place. On Thursday this past week, what we call Maunday Thursday, he washed feet like Jesus did with his disciples. But Pope Francis didn't wash the feet of cardinals. He washed the feet of convicts, even women, even a Muslim. We need to become good at dying in order to live.
This church is dying. We at Westlake UMC are learning to leave our comfortable places in the pew and in the parking lot to make room for others, especially on a day like today when it is so crowded. We are giving up our favorite hymns in order to accommodate others' tastes. These are small things. What is bigger is we are laying down our lives for the poor and the outcasts. We even lay down our lives for those who are rich in things and poor in soul.
Two ways we are laying down our lives are coming up in 4 weeks. One is ReThink Church. This is a day we call off worship here and go out into the world to be the church that stands with the vulnerable. This will be our 4th year to do this. It only bothers me a little bit that people cheer when I call off worship. Please sign up at our website how you want to ReThink Church on April 28. That same weekend we are having the Gospel Accordin' to Texas, a musical production that we hope speak in native Texan the good news we have in Jesus.
We want to hold onto the old Jesus. Did you notice how the women disciples worshiped at Jesus' feet and held onto him? But Jesus is always going on. Jesus really died, but as a child told me, "HE didn't stay dead too long." Jesus is always going on. One of our younger clergy said this, "And Jesus came back in a better version....Jesus 2.0." We will be raised to better things also. We die to the past and are going on to live with Jesus.
I saw an example of this on Friday, a day the church calls Good Friday. Imagine that....the day that Jesus dies we call Good Friday. I didn't have much to do at this service. I had delegated it out to Diana and the choir. There were reflection stations in our labrynth, the library, prayer garden, playground, and courtyard, many different ways for people to pray. "What can I do?" I asked Diana. She gave me a cup of nails. "Hand one to people as they reenter the worship center." So people would come in. I would hand them a nail. They said something very surprising, "Thank you." Nail. Thank you. Nail. Thank you. One women when I handed her a nail said, "Yes."
We are not afraid of death. Jesus says, "Fear not." When he hands us a nail, we say, "Thank you." When he hands us a nail, we say, "Yes." The good news is that we can die to being scared to death.
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