follow the leader

from my sermon on Easter, 4/24/11 from Matthew 28:1-10

Where are you going? I know you are here in worship today on Easter, but where are you going? Maybe you are going out to brunch, but how about tomorrow? Are you going to work, to school, to heaven? Where are you going?

Zan Holmes was one of my professors of preaching in seminary. He said, "In reading the scriptures, it is always a good thing to see where God is going in the passage....and to go that same way too. Where are you going?

Let's look at the Gospels to see where Jesus was going. He went to heal the sick, to touch the untouchables, to eat with the outcasts (prostitutes, tax collectors, and sinners), to feed the hungry, to forgive those thought to be unforgivable, and to love those thought to be unlovely and unloveable. He wasn't so busy that he would withdraw, go apart, and pray with his Father.

On this Easter Sunday, where is Jesus going? Now I know you were expecting John's account, but let's get a second opinion from Matthew this year, another perspective. First, Jesus goes to the women as the first witnesses of the resurrection. This broke all social and religious conventions. I hate to tell you this but women in that context were not counted as reliable witnesses. Their testimony did not count in court. Still today, I have heard some people, both men and women, say to me that they would not have a woman for their pastor. For others, we will not trust the word of a person because of their race, class, dress, political stance, sexual orientation, or fill in the blank with your favorite prejudice. Jesus breaks through the tomb of stereotyping and goes towards including all people as witnesses to his resurrection.

Second, Jesus is going beyond worship. The women want to hold onto him, they grasp his feet, and worship him. We too may want to keep Easter to just one hour on this Sunday morning in this sanctuary. I am glad that you are here today. The music, the flowers, the crowds--it is wonderful, but Jesus holds much more for us. He is going on....he says...to Galilee...there we will meet him. He is going on, and we are called to follow him.

Third, Jesus says, "Do not be afraid." Just breathe that a moment. Sometimes we get stuck in our fears. It may be a past hurt, "I will never forgive him. I can't believe what she did to me." It may be a grief, "I will never get over dad's death. Losing my wife was the worst." It may be an addiction, "You don't understand. I need this drug." They are all fear based. The only safe life, the only sane life is following Jesus. How is it that we can give more power over to our fears than to His resurrection? Jesus is leading us to life beyond our fears.

Fourth, the tomb is empty. I have been to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre 3 times. There are 7 congregations that fight over that holy ground. One says, "here is where was buried." Another says it is a few feet over this way. But beyond all of the incense, and icons, and marble, I am here to tell you, He is not there. The tomb is empty. Jesus is going on. We can put truth in the ground, but He won't stay there. It is like the child said, "Jesus really died, but He didn't stay dead too long."

I cannot tell you what to do. I can tell you what God is like. The God revealed in the resurrected Christ is always going on, always leading us to a new place. He will not stop. He will keep pestering you, inviting you to follow.

A man named Ron on our Futures Committee said that we Christians were called to be leaders in the community....in the schools, in business, and in the neighborhoods. I believe in order for us to be good leaders, we must first be good followers of Jesus. We follow the leader.

Let me tell you what this looks like today. On Monday, I had a memorial service right here. Gerard came as a friend of the family. Gerard has led the building of 26 houses for Habitat for Humanity. After the funeral he told me about a guy named Mark. Mark said, "I am an athiest, but I like what Habitat does---building homes for the needy, no interest loans, sweat equity." Gerard tries to keep harmony on his crews. He said, "We say a prayer at the beginning of the day and over our lunch." Mark didn't like it. He groused and complained. But he kept coming back. He saw what the workers did. He heard the prayers. After 3 years, Mark started attending worship. He professed his belief in Christ, was baptized, and became a member of a Lutheran church. It is just going with Jesus, following his lead.

For the past 2 summers, our youth director JD has taken youth to a camp called ReCre in North Carolina that his dad runs. They do home repair there. This coming summer 3 of our youth, Emily, Ben, and Helen, are going to spend a month there before our youth arrive. They are going to work at the camp. They will not get paid. In fact they have to pay their way. They will get up at 5 a.m. to make breakfast for others, pack lunches for others, lay out the tools for others. They will be the last to go to bed. They will servants to others. I know you parents are wondering how you can get your kids up to make your breakfast at 5 a.m. It is just going with Jesus, following his lead.

Hector is retired. He has been a captain in industry, the head of a Fortune 500 company. Now he says that he is going to spend his life working to make sure that Hispanic children get a good ecucation. He is traveling, writing, speaking, putting together groups to that end. He says that we cannot afford to lose a generation of children. It is just going with Jesus, following his lead.

Linda was featured in the United Methodist Women's magazine called Response. Linda has helped put together the Storybook project in Texas. Women from our church and many other churches and even other faiths travel to the women's prisons in Gatesville. There, they help the inmates read a book into a recorder so that their children at home may hear their voice. The book and the recording are sent to the children so that they can go to sleep hearing their mothers' voices. It is just going with Jesus, following his lead.

Fred came to visit us in worship last Sunday. I called this young man to ask how he got here. He said, "The week before, I was down on Lady Bird lake, under the MoPac bridge, where I saw a bunch of people in red t-shirts that said Rethink Church on them. They were passing out these bags of grace with food, water, socks, and a prayer inside for us to give to the homeless. I wanted to be a part of a church like that." It is just going with Jesus, following his lead.

Then last night we had our Easter vigil service of baptism, our "wet and wild" service. Five children from infant to 12 years old were baptized. In preparing some of the children for the service I went over the vows with them. There was stuff about sin and salvation. The parents asked if I could include a vow of cleaning up their rooms. I asked the children to remember how God has saved us through water down through the ages. They said, "the water of creation, Noah and the flood, and Moses parting the Red River!"

During the service a read a passage about Jesus welcoming the little children 3 times. I asked the people who they were in the passage. One of the little girls to be baptized said that she felt like she was one of the children that Jesus blessed. It doesn't get any better than that. One of the fathers said, "I never really paid attention to scripture before. It took me to hear it the third time before I understood that we are called to receive the kingdom like a child." It doesn't get any better than that. It is just going with Jesus, following his lead.

Where are you going? There is a quote from Lewis Carroll. I want to say it is the Cheshire cat that says it in Alice in Wonderland. If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there. In this congregation, we have vision statement that says, "Following One, Serving All." We are going with Jesus, following his lead.

Easter Vigil

4/23/11 From very early in the development of the Church, person were baptized on this night, Easter Eve, or the Easter Vigil. I have 5 persons to be baptized tonight. It is a great way to start the celebration of the resurrection. It makes it easy for persons to remember their baptism.

Love,
Lynn

good friday

4/22/11 Today is Good Friday. It is the only day of the church year when the liturgical color is black. It is the day we Christians remember that Jesus, the Messiah, was crucified, and died. What can possibly be good about Good Friday?

We remember that Christ has suffered like we do. We remember that Sunday is coming, Easter Sunday, resurrection day. We give thanks for a God who loves us so much that God will die for us, with us. We have hope even in our darkest times.

For me, I took the day off. That's part of what's good about Good Friday. I have wonderful staff people and lay volunteers whom I trust. They have tonight's service well in hand. I will play the role of greeter tonight as people come in the door. But today, Cathy and I went swimming at Deep Eddy pool, then out to brunch at Central Market, then reading, watching TV, and napping.

It has been a Good Friday.

Love,
Lynn

maundy thursday

4/21/11 That's what today is .....Maundy Thursday. Maundy comes from the same Latin root as commandment. The church calls today Maundy Thursday because we read on this day in John's Gospel the 13th chapter that Jesus gives us a new commandment, that we love one another as he has loved us.

So it all comes down to love. Not to keeping all of the rules, not to looking good on paper, but to love. It goes way beyond keeping the rules to building relationships. It goes way beyond getting a good report card to showing kindness, mercy, and forgiveness and to serving others, especially the least, the last, and the lost.

I have enough trouble showing love to people I like much less enemies or strangers. This Maundy Thursday I am driven to confession by Jesus' love command.

Love,
Lynn

serendipity

4/20/11 Cathy and I have been carpooling to save gas, to save money, and to save the planet. This means I need to adapt my schedule sometimes. For instance, this morning, I didn't do my morning walk in our neighborhood park. Cathy needed to buy icing for some scones she made for her English classes. This is in celebration of Shakespeare's birthday. Anyhow, we left early to go by HEB to get the icing and then to get Cathy to her school so she could get the icing on the scones before classes started. This meant that I would wait and walk in the neighborhoods around the church and then shower at church before starting my work.

I don't know why I chose this particular road to walk on. I don't remember having walked on it before. But after I had come to the turn around and started heading back, I saw a man jogging uphill. As he got closer, I recognized him as one of our church members. I ran him with a short while, and then we walked and talked. We talked about the high price of gas....and about how dry and prone to wildfires Texas was now....and about the church....and about Easter. I got to show him a small walking path behind the medical professional buildings that he didn't know existed. It was quite pleasant.

I had been trying for 2 weeks to give to this man and his wife a painting that my wife had done as a thank you gift to them for letting us use their ranch on spring break. I got to hand it to him this morning.

This Wednesday morning of Holy Week was a gift. It was a little inbreaking of light and hope and community. It was serendipity.

Love,
Lynn

happy holy week

4/19/11 For a pastor, Holy Week is the Super Bowl, Final Four, and World Series....and a lot more that this sports analogy. If we don't have a God who comes to humanity as one of us, suffers like us, dies like us, yet rises from the dead, we don't have a Christian faith. We have a lot riding on this week, as much as Jesus did when he rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey to start it all off.

I am glad as Christian that we have this distinctive story. I had a funeral for a man yesterday that I did not know. He was the father of a church member who has been in Disciple I Bible Study with us for the past several months. Even though I did not know the man who died, I could confidently state that God knew him. And more than that, I could affirm what kind of God we have, One who loves us, One who saves us.

I pray for you to have a Happy Holy Week!

Love,
Lynn

friend, why are you here?

from my sermon on Palm/Passion Sunday, April 17,2011 Friend, why are you here? It is a good question. I had read over this verse many times before it really impacted me. The way I first paid attention to this verse came about this way. By a series of events that are beyond me to tell right now, I found myself in the house where Leon Hale lives. He has been a columnist in Houston for the papers there, first for the Post and now the Chronicle. I happened to be in his study, where he strung together the words made up his thrice weekly ritual offering of trying to make sense of the world. There was a plaque on his desk. On the plaque was this verse from Matthew with the question, "Friend, why are you here?" This question is one that a counselor might ask...or a pastor...or a spiritual director...or your best friend. It is the kind of question that gets to the core of your being, your reason for being here, the meaning of your life. Why do you get up in the morning, shave, and shower and fight traffic and go to work? Why do you children do homework and go to school? Why do you pay income taxes? What do you do when you retire? As you near death and do a life review, do you not ask "Friend, why are you here?" Why did you get up this morning and come here to worship? Friend, why are you here? is the question that Jesus asks Judas after Judas kisses him. A kiss is a sign of honor and respect; it is a demonstration of intimacy. Poor Judas.....the betrayer. Look how many times Judas and the words betray, betrayal, and betrayer are used with him in the telling of the passion story. It is as if we have of the family of God have named him the problem child. We have made him out to be the identified patient. As if Judas was the only who failed Jesus. Read the story. Peter will deny Jesus 3 times. All of the disciples desert him. Yet only Judas gets the blame. It is funny to me....today we still name our children Peter, and Andrew, and James, and John....but how many parents ever name their children Judas? As I reflect on this story, I wonder if Judas wasn't trying to force Jesus' hand. I can hear him saying, "Jesus, let's build on the Palm Sunday enthusiasm. We've got the crowds behind us. We've got the momentum. All you have to do is to stand up and say that you are the Messiah. Then we can kick the oppressors, the Romans out. It's there for the taking." I can sense how it must be in North African and the Middle East today with all of the popular uprising of the people against the oppressive rulers today. Maybe Judas is trying to push Jesus into acting. Before we make Judas out to be the only bad guy, consider this: Don't we want God to do what we want God to do? Friend, why are you here? I know I have been reading the text as a question. The Revised Standard Version has it translated that way. The way we heard it read from the New Revised Standard Version has it translated as an imperative, "Friend, do what you are here to do." How is this? I will help you out. I looked at the Greek text this past week. It is a sentence fragment, an incomplete sentence in Greek. It is sort of like the text messages we send. You know how we take shortcuts in grammar and spelling on our mobile devices. You have to read into the phrases what somebody means. I like the verse as a question....penetrating...Friend, why are you here. I am glad it can also be an imperative....Do what you are here to do. You see I can find myself in the story...as a disciple who has failed Jesus...who has fallen far short...who can say "Hosanna" one day and "Crucify" the next. I can see myself as a betrayer, a denier, and a deserter of the Christ. The incredible good news is that Jesus the Christ dies exactly for people like us. He rises from the dead to reclaim people exactly like us. He asks, "Friend, why are you here?" He commands, "Do what you are here to do." We are not stuck forever in guilt and shame. He asks us to Rethink Church. That's what we did last week. We moved beyond these walls and this time to do what we are here to do. Let me share some of the ways we acted on Jesus' claim upon our lives. Austin Pets Alive--we had 38 people go to this institution which saves animals from being euthanized by finding them adoptive homes. This group did cleaning of cages, painting, office filing, etc. Flood buckets--we had 15 persons make 24 buckets which contain items to help people clean up after their homes have been flooded. Each bucket had $67 worth of trash sacks, bleach, gloves, scrapers, etc., in them. They were taken to our storage facility at Mt. Wesley in Kerrville. Our 24 buckets were added to the 12 already there. We need 500 buckets before hurricane season arrives. Handbells--our youth and adult handbell groups, some 20 people went to the Heritage to perform for the residents of that adult care center. The residents sang along to the old favorites. One woman on a walker was determined to go out a door right through the handbell tables. Hearts and Hooves--some 35 persons went to this ranch in Lockhart to much out stalls, pull up weeds, erect a grape arbor, etc. This ranch takes miniature ponies, pot bellied pigs, and dogs to school, nursing homes, hospitals, etc. Many in this group enjoyed eating BBQ in Lockhart. Japan Relief-- this team of 7 went to 2 different Starbucks to witness to those of the church of the brunch. They got 50 persons to contribute $250 to help Japan recover. Greeting cards--this group of 12 stayed here and wrote 63 cards to military service members and homebound folks. Cookies for Mobile Loaves and Fishes--over 50 persons went through 110 cases of donated Girl Scout cookies, putting them into bags of 6, to distribute to those who live on the streets. That comes out to 26,400 cookies, enough to stock 55 truck runs, or 4,125 persons served. Church under the bridge--we had collected a mound of clothes here, a veritable pyramid of pants that a team of 18 distributed to those living on the streets. Stephen who worked on that team would ask those who came through what the person really needed, not what we assumed they needed. Men needed smaller waist sizes, not our 38 and 40 inch, but 32 and 34 inch sizes. They wanted socks. I think we need to have a sock it to you Sunday soon. They wanted shoes, especially size 10 and above. We need to have Holy Moses Sunday soon, where we go with him to the burning bush and take our shoes off in the presence of the Holy One. The women needed underwear. We need to have an Undie Sunday soon. One story from a man going through the line, who looked like he had just lost his job. He said, "You see me on the corner. You blow smoke in my face. You roll up your car window and pretend to talk on your cell phone. But listen, I tell you, you are just one angry boss from being right where I am." The truth spoken to us. Youth prayer team--2 went to East Austin to pray with persons they encountered there. Chancel choir--12 went to Zilker Park Hike and Bike trail to sing and to pass out little oranges. Bags of grace--some 12 people, a class with their young children gave away some 85 bags that have food, water, socks, and a prayer to those in need. Children's class--some 9 kids made paper flower bouquets, 50 of them, enough for the residents of Monte Siesta Nursing Home. Singing Team--just 3 of us went to a South Austin care and rehab center. We sang for 20 residents in their dining room. We sang their favorites. Johnny, who wasn't quite oriented kept talking about how his wife was going to pick him up soon in their Oldsmobile or how he needed to finish baling hay. But when we sang, I'll Fly Away, Johnny got it, and cried. There was one woman sitting at a back table that Tonya helped to find the right page in the songbook. She got her some coffee. She asked what song she wanted us to sing. We couldn't understand what she said. Finally it came out clearly. "Guns 'N Roses," she said. You can't assume you know what poeple want. My closer is Bobby. He sat in his wheel chair. He knew most of the songs without looking at the pages. He said, "I used to sing in the choir. Someday soon, I'll be up there singing, and you will be down here where I am." The truth spoken to us. Friend, why are you here? Friend, do what you are here to do.