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.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
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.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Can't we just stay at this church
Our church hosts families from Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) 2 times a year. These are families that are transitioning from being homeless to getting a home of their own. They stay in different churches for a week at a time. Morris Moore, a member of our church serves on the board of the Foundation for the Homeless which sponsors IHN, shared with me the following email about the experience of one family whose very first week in the program was with us, Westlake UMC.
Lynn,
As we discussed this past Sunday, almost all of our clients express some form of appreciation to us for our hosts and for the role the churches play in making the family shelter program (IHN) possible. However, we had one family who entered the IHN program that week at our church. The first week is usually a stressful time as they acclimate to the program. They wanted to make sure that I conveyed their appreciation to the church as a whole for the hospitality shown to them during their stay. In fact, their teenage girl made this comment to her parents: "Can't we just stay at this church? They are so friendly here". I want to express my appreciation for the manner in which our hosts, volunteers, and staff ALL work as a team to reflect God's love in our interactions with the IHN families.
If you could convey whatever piece(s) of this you wish to share in your weekly email, I would very much appreciate it.
Yours in Christ,
--
Morris Moore
Lynn,
As we discussed this past Sunday, almost all of our clients express some form of appreciation to us for our hosts and for the role the churches play in making the family shelter program (IHN) possible. However, we had one family who entered the IHN program that week at our church. The first week is usually a stressful time as they acclimate to the program. They wanted to make sure that I conveyed their appreciation to the church as a whole for the hospitality shown to them during their stay. In fact, their teenage girl made this comment to her parents: "Can't we just stay at this church? They are so friendly here". I want to express my appreciation for the manner in which our hosts, volunteers, and staff ALL work as a team to reflect God's love in our interactions with the IHN families.
If you could convey whatever piece(s) of this you wish to share in your weekly email, I would very much appreciate it.
Yours in Christ,
--
Morris Moore
Monday, March 18, 2013
Fear Not: Keep Calm and Carry On
from my message on 3/17/13, from Matthew 10:26-31
Keep Calm and Carry On (slide). Have you seen this poster? In just a minute I will tell you where it came from. I started noticing it everywhere, on coffee cups, on websites, etc. I knew that it had worked its way into our common culture when I started seeing all of the parodies on Keep Calm and Carry On. Here are a few:
Keep Calm and Carrion
Keep Calm and Cary Grant
Keep Calm and have a cupcake
Get Excited and Make Things
Now Panic and Freak Out
Keep Calm and Carry On came from the Ministry of Information in Britain duing WWII. There were a series of posters that the office came up with and were placed around the country. Two and a half million of the Keep Calm and Carry On posters were printed in the event that Germany would invade England. Obviously, there were never used. The posters were made into pulp. Then in the year 2000, a bookseller bought a bunch of old books that had one of the Keep Calm and Carry On posters with the books. Several were found in the archives in a British museum. The British version of the Antique Road Show found some 15 copies. How very British! If Germany should take over our country, we are to Keep Calm and Carry On. The outward circumstances don't determine who we are or how we react. In the worst circumstances we continue to witness to who we ultimately are.
I can almost hear Jesus say to his disciples Keep Calm and Carry On. This whole 10th chapter of Matthew contains Jesus' instructions on how to spread the good news. I am sure the early church remembered his words as they faced the very situations he mentioned. Jesus said that he was sending his followers out as sheep among wolves, that they would be flogged and arrested and persecuted and hated by all. Three times he tells them not to fear. Their message will not merely be whispered, but shouted. It will not remain in the dark but proclaimed in the light. Their Father knows them intimately, so Keep Calm and Carry On.
We are not in the same context today. Being a Christian in our culture does not generate quite this level of conflict. Now if you are a Christian in China or Iraq today, you might really resonate with the words Matthew remembers Jesus saying. So how are we to relate to these words?
I am about to share a very scary word with you Methodists here at Westlake UMC. Are you ready to hear it? The word is witnessing! Arrgghh....please don't make us do that ....witnessing. We have had enough of bad examples--televangelists with hair that could preach Jesus, knocking on strangers' doors to share the 4 spiritual laws, using guilt or fear to coerce people into a profession of faith. Do not be afraid, Jesus says 3 times in this passage. How can we Keep Calm and Carry On?
I was trying to think of a positive example of witnessing. Then I remembered whose day this....March 17...It's St. Patrick's Day. I don't know why we Protestants make such a big deal of it. We usually don't pay much attention to the saints of the Roman Catholic Church. By the way, God bless them and their new pope, Francis. What I remembered from growing up about St. Patrick was that you were supposed to where green on this day or get pinched. You see I have my green suit on today.
Do you know the story of St. Patrick? I will tell you how he witnessed. It is a model of Keep Calm and Carry On. He was born in 390, but not in Ireland. He grew up on the western coast of England or Wales. His father was a deacon in the Roman Church. Patrick was lukewarm in his faith, fairly spoiled. The Celts in Ireland would come over in boats in raiding parties. On one of these forays, Patrick was taken as a slave back to Ireland, when he was about 11. Imagine this, spending months on end in your teenage years, watching sheep as a slave. After 6 years of this, Patrick simply walked off the job, hiking some 200 miles to a port, where he talked his way aboard a ship. He arrived back with his family--fairly unsettled, way behind in his education. This pesky God, and that is my favorite image of God now days, this pesky God came to him in visions. One was "We beg you to come and walk among us again." Another was "He who gave his life for you, he it is who speaks with you."
It took a while before Patrick relented. He went to France to get a theological education. He was ordained as a missionary to Ireland. At age 42, he returns to Ireland to begins his missionary work. Here's how he did it. One, he did it in community, not alone. He went with some dozen men and women. We can't do it alone either. Jesus sent out his disciples 2 x 2. Partick always formed community wherever he went. We can't follow Christ well all by ourselves. Two, Patrick met people where they are. He already knew the language and the culture from the time he was enslaved there. He would get to know the chiefs and the common people, what their needs were, what their hopes where. Three, Patrick used art and music. He was not just left-brained, linear, and rational. Fourth, most importantly, he loved the people. He loved the people. He loved the people. He didn't coerce or force. He loved them. He was an example of Keep Calm and Carry On. When he died on March 17, 461, and that's why we celebrate today on March 17, he left Ireland much different from when he first encountered it. No longer did the chieftains fight amongst themselves. No longer did they go on raiding parties, or have slaves. Ireland had been converted to Christianity.
How can we practice witnessing today? We live in a culture of greed. We are to Keep Calm and Carry On. We will meet the culture with grace. We will say, "your worth does not depend on how much stuff you have. Your worth is determined by how much love God has for you in Jesus Christ."
We live in a culture of blame, of putting others down, in order to feel good about ourselves. We are to Keep Calm and Carry On. We will not give in to runnning down Muslims and assuming they are all terrorists. We will not harrass those of different sexual orientations or race. We will welcome all. We will work for reconciliation.
We live in a culture of indifference, cynicism, rationalism. We are to Keep Calm and Carry On. We will tell our story at Easter. We will talk about death and resurrection. We will allow for mystery in this world. We know that there is room, no hunger for, art and music and mystery, beyond rationalism.
We live with overwhelming problems. We are to Keep Calm and Carry On. We will continue to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless, and visit those who are sick or in prison. One good way for you to do this is set aside April 28 as our ReThink Church day. We will call off worship services that day to go out into world to meet people where they are in their need and witness to the fullness of God's love in Jesus Christ by our words and deeds.
I have no scary news for you, only good news when it comes to witnessing. We are to Keep Calm and Carry On.
Keep Calm and Carry On (slide). Have you seen this poster? In just a minute I will tell you where it came from. I started noticing it everywhere, on coffee cups, on websites, etc. I knew that it had worked its way into our common culture when I started seeing all of the parodies on Keep Calm and Carry On. Here are a few:
Keep Calm and Carrion
Keep Calm and Cary Grant
Keep Calm and have a cupcake
Get Excited and Make Things
Now Panic and Freak Out
Keep Calm and Carry On came from the Ministry of Information in Britain duing WWII. There were a series of posters that the office came up with and were placed around the country. Two and a half million of the Keep Calm and Carry On posters were printed in the event that Germany would invade England. Obviously, there were never used. The posters were made into pulp. Then in the year 2000, a bookseller bought a bunch of old books that had one of the Keep Calm and Carry On posters with the books. Several were found in the archives in a British museum. The British version of the Antique Road Show found some 15 copies. How very British! If Germany should take over our country, we are to Keep Calm and Carry On. The outward circumstances don't determine who we are or how we react. In the worst circumstances we continue to witness to who we ultimately are.
I can almost hear Jesus say to his disciples Keep Calm and Carry On. This whole 10th chapter of Matthew contains Jesus' instructions on how to spread the good news. I am sure the early church remembered his words as they faced the very situations he mentioned. Jesus said that he was sending his followers out as sheep among wolves, that they would be flogged and arrested and persecuted and hated by all. Three times he tells them not to fear. Their message will not merely be whispered, but shouted. It will not remain in the dark but proclaimed in the light. Their Father knows them intimately, so Keep Calm and Carry On.
We are not in the same context today. Being a Christian in our culture does not generate quite this level of conflict. Now if you are a Christian in China or Iraq today, you might really resonate with the words Matthew remembers Jesus saying. So how are we to relate to these words?
I am about to share a very scary word with you Methodists here at Westlake UMC. Are you ready to hear it? The word is witnessing! Arrgghh....please don't make us do that ....witnessing. We have had enough of bad examples--televangelists with hair that could preach Jesus, knocking on strangers' doors to share the 4 spiritual laws, using guilt or fear to coerce people into a profession of faith. Do not be afraid, Jesus says 3 times in this passage. How can we Keep Calm and Carry On?
I was trying to think of a positive example of witnessing. Then I remembered whose day this....March 17...It's St. Patrick's Day. I don't know why we Protestants make such a big deal of it. We usually don't pay much attention to the saints of the Roman Catholic Church. By the way, God bless them and their new pope, Francis. What I remembered from growing up about St. Patrick was that you were supposed to where green on this day or get pinched. You see I have my green suit on today.
Do you know the story of St. Patrick? I will tell you how he witnessed. It is a model of Keep Calm and Carry On. He was born in 390, but not in Ireland. He grew up on the western coast of England or Wales. His father was a deacon in the Roman Church. Patrick was lukewarm in his faith, fairly spoiled. The Celts in Ireland would come over in boats in raiding parties. On one of these forays, Patrick was taken as a slave back to Ireland, when he was about 11. Imagine this, spending months on end in your teenage years, watching sheep as a slave. After 6 years of this, Patrick simply walked off the job, hiking some 200 miles to a port, where he talked his way aboard a ship. He arrived back with his family--fairly unsettled, way behind in his education. This pesky God, and that is my favorite image of God now days, this pesky God came to him in visions. One was "We beg you to come and walk among us again." Another was "He who gave his life for you, he it is who speaks with you."
It took a while before Patrick relented. He went to France to get a theological education. He was ordained as a missionary to Ireland. At age 42, he returns to Ireland to begins his missionary work. Here's how he did it. One, he did it in community, not alone. He went with some dozen men and women. We can't do it alone either. Jesus sent out his disciples 2 x 2. Partick always formed community wherever he went. We can't follow Christ well all by ourselves. Two, Patrick met people where they are. He already knew the language and the culture from the time he was enslaved there. He would get to know the chiefs and the common people, what their needs were, what their hopes where. Three, Patrick used art and music. He was not just left-brained, linear, and rational. Fourth, most importantly, he loved the people. He loved the people. He loved the people. He didn't coerce or force. He loved them. He was an example of Keep Calm and Carry On. When he died on March 17, 461, and that's why we celebrate today on March 17, he left Ireland much different from when he first encountered it. No longer did the chieftains fight amongst themselves. No longer did they go on raiding parties, or have slaves. Ireland had been converted to Christianity.
How can we practice witnessing today? We live in a culture of greed. We are to Keep Calm and Carry On. We will meet the culture with grace. We will say, "your worth does not depend on how much stuff you have. Your worth is determined by how much love God has for you in Jesus Christ."
We live in a culture of blame, of putting others down, in order to feel good about ourselves. We are to Keep Calm and Carry On. We will not give in to runnning down Muslims and assuming they are all terrorists. We will not harrass those of different sexual orientations or race. We will welcome all. We will work for reconciliation.
We live in a culture of indifference, cynicism, rationalism. We are to Keep Calm and Carry On. We will tell our story at Easter. We will talk about death and resurrection. We will allow for mystery in this world. We know that there is room, no hunger for, art and music and mystery, beyond rationalism.
We live with overwhelming problems. We are to Keep Calm and Carry On. We will continue to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless, and visit those who are sick or in prison. One good way for you to do this is set aside April 28 as our ReThink Church day. We will call off worship services that day to go out into world to meet people where they are in their need and witness to the fullness of God's love in Jesus Christ by our words and deeds.
I have no scary news for you, only good news when it comes to witnessing. We are to Keep Calm and Carry On.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Fear not: How Much is Enough
from my message on 3/3/13, from Luke 12:22-24
Leftovers. This message could be titled Leftovers. You hear the scripture, and you think, "Didn't we finish our stewardship emphasis a couple of weeks ago?'' Yes, we did. But I didn't get to say all of the things I wanted to. So today you are getting leftovers. And isn't one of our biggest fears that we won't have enough? We hold onto tightly to our stuff, no matter how much or how little we have.
I was pastor down on the Texas coast for 10 years. While there, a tropical storm came in north of us and settled over Cuero. It dumped a bunch of rain in a short time in that little town, flooding the low areas. Guess who lived in the low areas? The poorest people. Rivers of waters swept through their homes. One day, our church was helping a old man (by old, I mean older than I am, and I will be 60 tomorrow). Our job was to clear out a storage shed. Now storage shed is much too grand a term. It was a falling down shack. Some people might call what was in the shed antiques, but really it was junk. We had a bid dumpster next to the shed. We were to take the items out of the shed and place them in the dumpster. I sat with that man all day long. I carried very few things to the dumpster. I stayed with the man as he personally reviewed each item we took to the dumpster. It was nothing but warped lumber and buckets of rusted nails and an old screen door and a bald tire. Everything was moldy, rusted, worthless. But he needed to say yes or no. I was his pastor that day, helping him to grieve all he lost. But all of the stuff was absolutely not worth anything. At the end of the day, nothing was held back. Everything went into the dumpster. There was nothing left over.
We hear Jesus' words about the folly of worrying over things in this life. How are we to hold things lightly? Craig Ford was a missionary to Papua, New Guinea. I didn't get to share the following counsel during our stewardship emphasis:
For the Christian, money is the ultimate balancing act. To be rich is not ungodly. To be poor is not spiritual. But there is an ungodly way to be rich and there is a way to grow spiritually through poverty.
--Rich Christians acknowledge God as the Source of wealth. Do you say grace over meals? How do recognize that all we have is a gift from God?
--Rich Christians give God absolute ownership. You have a bank account with your name on it. Probably houses and stocks and bonds, but what do you own? We are just borrowing all of this stuff for a little while. What is God's plan for God's money?
--Rich Christians use their position and influence for kingdom purposes. We are Christians not just on Sunday mornings for 1 hour. We use our gifts all during the week. We serve on boards and agencies. We teach. We do good works like today with Interfaith Hospitality Network, or the CROP walk for hunger. We use our skills, our time, our spiritual gifts for God's glory.
--Rich Christians give generously from a genuine heart. That's why we had our stewardship emphasis with a title of Extravagant Generosity. We know it is not a budget matter, but a heart matter.
--Rich Christians always give priority to people over things. I heard it a long time ago: In the beginning, God gave us people to love and things to use. Maybe our problems begin when we start loving the things and using the people.
I have another story about leftovers. Cathy and I have grown fond of a show on PBS, aired here on Sunday nights, called, The Cafe'. The setting is a coastal town in the south of England. Three generations of women run this cafe where people's lives intersect. Carol is the primary one who manages the eatery. Her mother and father started it. Her dad died, and now her mom sits by the door, knitting. Her daughter, Sara, is an aspiring writer sitting over here working on her manuscripts, trying to get published. There is Frank, who sits outside the door begging for spare change. Carol goes out to see him. He asks, "Any leftovers." "At the end of the day, Frank. An the end of the day." Richard is an attendent at the nursing home. He comes greeting everyone, "Alright? Alright." Stan is in love with Carol. He is a flower merchant. He comes in the afternoons bringing Carol leftover flowers from his shop. The characters are so sweet and gentle with each other. Carol tells her mom "that last night Stan and I went too far.... We held hands." Carol is behind in payments on the cafe. She doesn't know a way out. Brenda (hiss) is the evil one who wants to buy Carol out and make the cafe into something entirely different.
Carol is having a birthday. It has been arranged for her to get her hair done in the back room of the cafe. Her hair is in curlers and under a hair dryer to mask the sound of the surprise party being set up in the front of the cafe. People are sneaking in, "SSSHHH, she's just right there." They are decorating. They are bringing food. They are handing envelopes to the daugther Sara as they enter. Carol comes out with her hair still in curlers. "Surprise," they all shout. They sing, "For she's a jolly good fellow..." Carol cries. Richard is set up with his guitar and is singing. Sara interrupts a song. She says, "You know that mum got in a bit of a spot. She owed 1500 pounds. I am sad to report today that in your envelopes you gave only 1497 pounds and 78 pence." Everybody cheers. Carol cries. They are all singing and dancing. Except Brenda, who says, "Next time, Carol, next time." Then Frank comes up to Carol with his cup, "I have counted it twice, Carol, and there's 3 pounds and 12 pence. I want you to have it." "I can't accept it Frank." "You must." And Carol takes it. It is more than enough. And then Frank asks, "Any leftovers, Carol?" "At the end of the table, Frank, at the end of the table."
I don't have very much on this table today. Just a little bread and some grape juice. I am here to tell you that it is more than enough.
There is only one miracle story that is reported in all four gospels, that is, the feeding of the crowds with just somebody's lunch of bread and fish. In the story, the disciples take up baskets of leftovers. Have no fear: with Jesus, we have more than enough.
Leftovers. This message could be titled Leftovers. You hear the scripture, and you think, "Didn't we finish our stewardship emphasis a couple of weeks ago?'' Yes, we did. But I didn't get to say all of the things I wanted to. So today you are getting leftovers. And isn't one of our biggest fears that we won't have enough? We hold onto tightly to our stuff, no matter how much or how little we have.
I was pastor down on the Texas coast for 10 years. While there, a tropical storm came in north of us and settled over Cuero. It dumped a bunch of rain in a short time in that little town, flooding the low areas. Guess who lived in the low areas? The poorest people. Rivers of waters swept through their homes. One day, our church was helping a old man (by old, I mean older than I am, and I will be 60 tomorrow). Our job was to clear out a storage shed. Now storage shed is much too grand a term. It was a falling down shack. Some people might call what was in the shed antiques, but really it was junk. We had a bid dumpster next to the shed. We were to take the items out of the shed and place them in the dumpster. I sat with that man all day long. I carried very few things to the dumpster. I stayed with the man as he personally reviewed each item we took to the dumpster. It was nothing but warped lumber and buckets of rusted nails and an old screen door and a bald tire. Everything was moldy, rusted, worthless. But he needed to say yes or no. I was his pastor that day, helping him to grieve all he lost. But all of the stuff was absolutely not worth anything. At the end of the day, nothing was held back. Everything went into the dumpster. There was nothing left over.
We hear Jesus' words about the folly of worrying over things in this life. How are we to hold things lightly? Craig Ford was a missionary to Papua, New Guinea. I didn't get to share the following counsel during our stewardship emphasis:
For the Christian, money is the ultimate balancing act. To be rich is not ungodly. To be poor is not spiritual. But there is an ungodly way to be rich and there is a way to grow spiritually through poverty.
--Rich Christians acknowledge God as the Source of wealth. Do you say grace over meals? How do recognize that all we have is a gift from God?
--Rich Christians give God absolute ownership. You have a bank account with your name on it. Probably houses and stocks and bonds, but what do you own? We are just borrowing all of this stuff for a little while. What is God's plan for God's money?
--Rich Christians use their position and influence for kingdom purposes. We are Christians not just on Sunday mornings for 1 hour. We use our gifts all during the week. We serve on boards and agencies. We teach. We do good works like today with Interfaith Hospitality Network, or the CROP walk for hunger. We use our skills, our time, our spiritual gifts for God's glory.
--Rich Christians give generously from a genuine heart. That's why we had our stewardship emphasis with a title of Extravagant Generosity. We know it is not a budget matter, but a heart matter.
--Rich Christians always give priority to people over things. I heard it a long time ago: In the beginning, God gave us people to love and things to use. Maybe our problems begin when we start loving the things and using the people.
I have another story about leftovers. Cathy and I have grown fond of a show on PBS, aired here on Sunday nights, called, The Cafe'. The setting is a coastal town in the south of England. Three generations of women run this cafe where people's lives intersect. Carol is the primary one who manages the eatery. Her mother and father started it. Her dad died, and now her mom sits by the door, knitting. Her daughter, Sara, is an aspiring writer sitting over here working on her manuscripts, trying to get published. There is Frank, who sits outside the door begging for spare change. Carol goes out to see him. He asks, "Any leftovers." "At the end of the day, Frank. An the end of the day." Richard is an attendent at the nursing home. He comes greeting everyone, "Alright? Alright." Stan is in love with Carol. He is a flower merchant. He comes in the afternoons bringing Carol leftover flowers from his shop. The characters are so sweet and gentle with each other. Carol tells her mom "that last night Stan and I went too far.... We held hands." Carol is behind in payments on the cafe. She doesn't know a way out. Brenda (hiss) is the evil one who wants to buy Carol out and make the cafe into something entirely different.
Carol is having a birthday. It has been arranged for her to get her hair done in the back room of the cafe. Her hair is in curlers and under a hair dryer to mask the sound of the surprise party being set up in the front of the cafe. People are sneaking in, "SSSHHH, she's just right there." They are decorating. They are bringing food. They are handing envelopes to the daugther Sara as they enter. Carol comes out with her hair still in curlers. "Surprise," they all shout. They sing, "For she's a jolly good fellow..." Carol cries. Richard is set up with his guitar and is singing. Sara interrupts a song. She says, "You know that mum got in a bit of a spot. She owed 1500 pounds. I am sad to report today that in your envelopes you gave only 1497 pounds and 78 pence." Everybody cheers. Carol cries. They are all singing and dancing. Except Brenda, who says, "Next time, Carol, next time." Then Frank comes up to Carol with his cup, "I have counted it twice, Carol, and there's 3 pounds and 12 pence. I want you to have it." "I can't accept it Frank." "You must." And Carol takes it. It is more than enough. And then Frank asks, "Any leftovers, Carol?" "At the end of the table, Frank, at the end of the table."
I don't have very much on this table today. Just a little bread and some grape juice. I am here to tell you that it is more than enough.
There is only one miracle story that is reported in all four gospels, that is, the feeding of the crowds with just somebody's lunch of bread and fish. In the story, the disciples take up baskets of leftovers. Have no fear: with Jesus, we have more than enough.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Fear Not: I am sinking fast!
from my message on 2/24/13 from Mark 4:37-41
It is evening and Jesus says to his disciples, his closest friends, "Let's go across to the other side." They get in a boat and a storm comes up on the lake. It is a miracle story. I know that you are sophisticated people, scientific people, rational people. You may find such a miracle story hard to swallow. Stay with me a few minutes, and let me see if I can make it more approachable.
(show slide of skeleton of fishing boat from time of Christ) In 1986, the Sea of Galilee was at historically low levels. The skeleton of this fishing boat was exposed on the northwest shore of the lake. Carbon dating was done on it. It comes from about the time of Christ. It gives us an idea of the kind of boat that Jesus and the disciples probably used. I have seen it in a museum there. It is 26.5 ' long by 7.5' wide by 4.5' deep.
(show slide of the sea of Galilee) You can see from this slide the dimensions of the lake. It is 13 miles at its longest point north to south. It is 8 miles at its widest point east to west. The lake covers some 64 square miles surface area. Lake Buchanan and Lake Travis added together are about that size. You can see that the lake is surrounded by hills on all sides with a cut at the northwest corner. Storms can come up quickly and violently on the lake. A few years ago, the town of Tiberias on the western shore recieved a 10' wave during a storm. So when it says that a fierce gust of wind came up on the lake, you can understand the magnitude of the storm.
(show slide of modern day fishing boat with its single mast and sail) Such fishing boats have not changed much over the years and are still used on the lake today. Imagine what it would have been like for Jesus and the disciples during a storm. Where is Jesus during the storm? He is a member of Ray Benson's backup band; he's asleep at the wheel. His head is on a pillow, probably a sand bag that was placed in the stern for ballast. The stern probably had a small covered area where he could lie down.
The disciples wake him up, and you have never said this, and essentially say, "We're going under. Don't you care?" Adam, this early 20 year old has this rare form of cancer on the brain. He can't keep weight on. He can't keep food down. We cry out to Jesus, "Don't you care?" Maybe it is your marriage. You drift apart. It is no one big thing, just lots of little things. You stop listening. You stop caring. Anger is not the opposite of love. Apathy is. You find yourself sighing. You do the eye roll. "Jesus, don't you care?" You may be a student. You are at best ignored at school. At worst, you are picked on, bullied. You feel so alone. "Jesus, don't you care?" You may be a preacher. You feel that all the people want is to be entertained. They just want a better show each week. Don't address anything controversial. Don't scare them off or their money. Keep it safe. "Jesus, don't you care?" What is it for you? Where you feel you are going under and Jesus doesn't care?
Jesus rebukes the storm. Rebuke is the same word that Jesus uses to cast out demons. If you are a good Jewish person, this is expected. From Genesis 1, in the first creation story, we have a mighty wind blowing over the face of the water. God speaks and brings order. Jesus speaks directly to the lake. He uses just 2 words, "Stop," and "Hush." A good Jewish person would expect this also. They were not great seafaring people. They stayed within sight of land. The water represented chaos. The storm represented evil forces. A messiah, a deliverer, would say, "Stop," and "Hush." This showed that the person had power over the storm. Where do you need to hear Jesus say "Stop," and "Hush," to you today. Jesus being asleep in the middle of the storm would be expected by a good Jewish person. This would show complete trust in God. We might say today with the rabbi/psychotherapist I admire, Edwin Freidman, that Jesus was a non-anxious presence. He can be with us right in the midst of crisis, but free to respond to us and it.
Jesus says to his closest friends, "Why are you afraid?" The word really means cowardly. It is an inner feeling. The next phrase has a different word for fear, literally in the Greek, phobia. The sentence says that they were afraid with a great fear. Now they are not afraid of the storm. They are afraid of Jesus. It is that awe and respect and worship that we talked about last week. "Who is this," they ask. Maybe we ask the same thing today also.
Does Jesus still still the storms today? Does Jesus still work miracles? I believe so. I saw one on Tuesday at lunch. It was put on by iACT, an interfaith group here in Austin. It was billed as Friends in Faith. One speaker was Nader Hasan. Hmmm...Hasan, yes, the shooter at Ft. Hood is named Hasan. The man who spoke was his first cousin, the next eldest male member in the family. The other speaker was Kerry Cahill. Hmmm....her father was a physician's assistant, a contract employee at Ft. Hood, one of the persons killed by the shooter. They have become friends. In all of the media flurry, Nader Hasan was asked a most inappropriate question by ABC news. He was asked if he would be willing to meet with any of the family members of those killed. He said he would. Emails were exchanged with Kerry. They agreed to meet. Funny side note from Kerry. She said that Emily Post had no advice in her etiqueitte book on what to bring to the family member of the man who killed your father. She brought a copy of the children's book that her dad used to read to her! Nader had a 1 year old. Kerry and Nader found that they were both human beings who were grieving. They both lost a family member to extremism. They said, "Too often in the aftermath of tragedy, we retreat to our corners of fear." They formed the Nawal Foundation to combat extremism. They said, "We have to bring something right out of what was terribly wrong. We cannot longer simply tolerate or accept. We must learn to work together, to collaborate." I witnessed a miracle on Tuesday.
How does this tie into the miracle story of stilling the storm? See Rembrandt's painting of the scene (slide). Notice how many are on the boat. Look closely, as Maxie Dunham made me do. How many should be on there? Jesus plus the 12 would make 13. How many are on there? Fourteen! Look at the man in blue holding onto the rope. It is Rembrandt. He painted himself into the scene. Why? We are all in the same boat!
Jesus wanted the disciples to go across to the other side. What was on the other side? Gentiles...the first person Jesus meets is a demoniac. Jesus sends the demons into a herd of hogs. All of these were unclean. The early church saw this as an example of what they were called to do....to go through the storms of encountering, embracing all those they thought were "other" or "unclean." We are all in the same boat.
The theme of this sermon series is from I John 4:17-18, "there is no fear in love; perfect love casts out fear." The good news is that we are all in the same boat.
It is evening and Jesus says to his disciples, his closest friends, "Let's go across to the other side." They get in a boat and a storm comes up on the lake. It is a miracle story. I know that you are sophisticated people, scientific people, rational people. You may find such a miracle story hard to swallow. Stay with me a few minutes, and let me see if I can make it more approachable.
(show slide of skeleton of fishing boat from time of Christ) In 1986, the Sea of Galilee was at historically low levels. The skeleton of this fishing boat was exposed on the northwest shore of the lake. Carbon dating was done on it. It comes from about the time of Christ. It gives us an idea of the kind of boat that Jesus and the disciples probably used. I have seen it in a museum there. It is 26.5 ' long by 7.5' wide by 4.5' deep.
(show slide of the sea of Galilee) You can see from this slide the dimensions of the lake. It is 13 miles at its longest point north to south. It is 8 miles at its widest point east to west. The lake covers some 64 square miles surface area. Lake Buchanan and Lake Travis added together are about that size. You can see that the lake is surrounded by hills on all sides with a cut at the northwest corner. Storms can come up quickly and violently on the lake. A few years ago, the town of Tiberias on the western shore recieved a 10' wave during a storm. So when it says that a fierce gust of wind came up on the lake, you can understand the magnitude of the storm.
(show slide of modern day fishing boat with its single mast and sail) Such fishing boats have not changed much over the years and are still used on the lake today. Imagine what it would have been like for Jesus and the disciples during a storm. Where is Jesus during the storm? He is a member of Ray Benson's backup band; he's asleep at the wheel. His head is on a pillow, probably a sand bag that was placed in the stern for ballast. The stern probably had a small covered area where he could lie down.
The disciples wake him up, and you have never said this, and essentially say, "We're going under. Don't you care?" Adam, this early 20 year old has this rare form of cancer on the brain. He can't keep weight on. He can't keep food down. We cry out to Jesus, "Don't you care?" Maybe it is your marriage. You drift apart. It is no one big thing, just lots of little things. You stop listening. You stop caring. Anger is not the opposite of love. Apathy is. You find yourself sighing. You do the eye roll. "Jesus, don't you care?" You may be a student. You are at best ignored at school. At worst, you are picked on, bullied. You feel so alone. "Jesus, don't you care?" You may be a preacher. You feel that all the people want is to be entertained. They just want a better show each week. Don't address anything controversial. Don't scare them off or their money. Keep it safe. "Jesus, don't you care?" What is it for you? Where you feel you are going under and Jesus doesn't care?
Jesus rebukes the storm. Rebuke is the same word that Jesus uses to cast out demons. If you are a good Jewish person, this is expected. From Genesis 1, in the first creation story, we have a mighty wind blowing over the face of the water. God speaks and brings order. Jesus speaks directly to the lake. He uses just 2 words, "Stop," and "Hush." A good Jewish person would expect this also. They were not great seafaring people. They stayed within sight of land. The water represented chaos. The storm represented evil forces. A messiah, a deliverer, would say, "Stop," and "Hush." This showed that the person had power over the storm. Where do you need to hear Jesus say "Stop," and "Hush," to you today. Jesus being asleep in the middle of the storm would be expected by a good Jewish person. This would show complete trust in God. We might say today with the rabbi/psychotherapist I admire, Edwin Freidman, that Jesus was a non-anxious presence. He can be with us right in the midst of crisis, but free to respond to us and it.
Jesus says to his closest friends, "Why are you afraid?" The word really means cowardly. It is an inner feeling. The next phrase has a different word for fear, literally in the Greek, phobia. The sentence says that they were afraid with a great fear. Now they are not afraid of the storm. They are afraid of Jesus. It is that awe and respect and worship that we talked about last week. "Who is this," they ask. Maybe we ask the same thing today also.
Does Jesus still still the storms today? Does Jesus still work miracles? I believe so. I saw one on Tuesday at lunch. It was put on by iACT, an interfaith group here in Austin. It was billed as Friends in Faith. One speaker was Nader Hasan. Hmmm...Hasan, yes, the shooter at Ft. Hood is named Hasan. The man who spoke was his first cousin, the next eldest male member in the family. The other speaker was Kerry Cahill. Hmmm....her father was a physician's assistant, a contract employee at Ft. Hood, one of the persons killed by the shooter. They have become friends. In all of the media flurry, Nader Hasan was asked a most inappropriate question by ABC news. He was asked if he would be willing to meet with any of the family members of those killed. He said he would. Emails were exchanged with Kerry. They agreed to meet. Funny side note from Kerry. She said that Emily Post had no advice in her etiqueitte book on what to bring to the family member of the man who killed your father. She brought a copy of the children's book that her dad used to read to her! Nader had a 1 year old. Kerry and Nader found that they were both human beings who were grieving. They both lost a family member to extremism. They said, "Too often in the aftermath of tragedy, we retreat to our corners of fear." They formed the Nawal Foundation to combat extremism. They said, "We have to bring something right out of what was terribly wrong. We cannot longer simply tolerate or accept. We must learn to work together, to collaborate." I witnessed a miracle on Tuesday.
How does this tie into the miracle story of stilling the storm? See Rembrandt's painting of the scene (slide). Notice how many are on the boat. Look closely, as Maxie Dunham made me do. How many should be on there? Jesus plus the 12 would make 13. How many are on there? Fourteen! Look at the man in blue holding onto the rope. It is Rembrandt. He painted himself into the scene. Why? We are all in the same boat!
Jesus wanted the disciples to go across to the other side. What was on the other side? Gentiles...the first person Jesus meets is a demoniac. Jesus sends the demons into a herd of hogs. All of these were unclean. The early church saw this as an example of what they were called to do....to go through the storms of encountering, embracing all those they thought were "other" or "unclean." We are all in the same boat.
The theme of this sermon series is from I John 4:17-18, "there is no fear in love; perfect love casts out fear." The good news is that we are all in the same boat.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Fear Not: Why do we fear?
from my message on 2/17/13, start of the Fear Not series
What do you fear? (see the 2 minute video on different phobias, that ends with a choice of fearing lots of things or the fear of the Lord)
We all fear something. It is no sin to be afraid. In fact, fear is good thing. Psychology Today says "fear is a vital response to physical and emotional danger." Fear can keep us alive. I am afraid of snakes and lightning. They can kill me. It is a good thing to be afraid of them.
But fear can be paralyzing. We leave in a fearful age. We are bombarded by fear through the media. Just this past week: fear of astroids hitting the earth and then a meteorite strikes Russia. Some people go on an ocean cruise and are stuck adrift upon a ship with no power for days (sing, from Gilligan's Island, " a 3 hour cruise"). The G-20 try to allay fears of devaluing currencies which would have set the world markets into another round of recession. The pope retires. He doesn't die in office. He retires for the first time in hundreds of years, and nobody is sure what to do. A rogue cop killer goes on a rampage in California.
Fear can be good, but we can also become addicted to fear. Fear can crowd out life and fun.I am going to tell a story on my wife Cathy. Have no fear, I have asked her permission to tell this story. She lives with a lot of fear. Early in our marriage we took a vacation to California. It was a package deal: roundtrip airfare from Austin to LAX, rental car, nights in motels along the way using coupons. The first day we land in LA, and find a motel in Anaheim. This is important, because what is in Anaheim? Disneyland. We go to the beach. We eat out at a fancy Mexican food restaurant (TACO Bell!). We are beat from the travel, the beach, the 2 hour time difference, and so go to bed early. What seems like the middle of the night, our room is shaking. It sounds like thunder or explosions outside. Cathy jumps out of bed and takes refuge standing in the door jamb, holding onto both sides. She is yelling, "Earthquake!" I look out the window, the earthquake is a fireworks display that marks the end of the day at Disneyland. Can we get so caught up in fear that we miss life and fun? Fear can so dominate that it can crowd out God's work and presence in our midst.
This kind of fear is worldly fear. In Psychology Today, there were several coping mechanisms including: deep breathing, meditation, diet, exercise, and community. As I read them, I thought, "We Christians have been doing this for a long time. Especially here at Lent, we fast and pray and worship and come together as supportive community."
There is another kind of fear in the Bible. It is the fear of the Lord. It could be called awe, reverence, worship. To come into the presence of the holy is an awesome thing. Therefore, when angels appear on the scene in the Bible, what is the first thing that they say, "Fear Not!" They have been well-instructed in angel school to lower anxiety. This kind of fear is a healthy fear.
We find it in Gen.15:1 where the LORD approaches Abram before he is firmly established in the land or has heirs and says, "Fear Not, I am your shield. Your reward will be very great." Proverbs 1:7 has the classic "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom." This reverence is the pre-requisite to any wisdom in this world. In the early church knew this awe, in Acts 9:31, "Meanwhile the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was built up. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Sprit, it increased in numbers." And then one of John Wesley's favorite passages, where this founder of the Methodist movement understood that because of what God had done for us in Jesus we could "work out our own salvation in fear and trembling for it is God who is at work in you" in Phil. 2:12-13.
This is a good message to have the fear of the Lord. But the message wasn't through with me. I still had a lot of fear in my life. To be candid, my greatest fear is that of never feeling good enough. What can address that fear?
I thought as I pondered this message that I had removed the fear of the Lord from my daily practice. You know me, how open and forgiving and graceful I am. I am not about fear of the LORD. I am about the love of God for us. Then it hit me last night as I was sitting right here in the 3rd pew for the marriage of Jonathan and Diane. I watched them give themselves totally into the care of the other. The love was so awesome, so overwhelming we can barely stand it. That's what came to me, I hadn't taken the fear of the Lord far enough. It is about that love that is so powerful, risky, overwhelming that we run from it. We run back to our old friends, the fears we grown comfortable with. The awesome love of God threatens those other, old fears, and we are afraid to give them up. The fear of the Lord is about receiving God's love and risking loving others that same way.
It is what I John 4:17-18 is trying to say, "There is no fear in love. Perfect love casts out fear." This love casts out the fear of punishment. It is what we Methodists call having assurance, not and eternally. We are held in God's love. Secondly, it means that we can be free of self-concern. This love allows us to love others without thinking of ourselves, the cost or risk to ourselves.
I wish I could tell you it happens instantly, like an on/off light switch. But it is more like a rheostat. It comes in degrees. It is not like a jump. More like a journey.
I have preached on fear before. Once when I did this in San Saba, I had an intern pastor working with me from Perkins School of Theology. I spent some 15 minutes talking about fear. He was tasked with offering the benediction. He captured what I was trying to say in 5 words. Fear God and nothing else.
May it be so for you.
What do you fear? (see the 2 minute video on different phobias, that ends with a choice of fearing lots of things or the fear of the Lord)
We all fear something. It is no sin to be afraid. In fact, fear is good thing. Psychology Today says "fear is a vital response to physical and emotional danger." Fear can keep us alive. I am afraid of snakes and lightning. They can kill me. It is a good thing to be afraid of them.
But fear can be paralyzing. We leave in a fearful age. We are bombarded by fear through the media. Just this past week: fear of astroids hitting the earth and then a meteorite strikes Russia. Some people go on an ocean cruise and are stuck adrift upon a ship with no power for days (sing, from Gilligan's Island, " a 3 hour cruise"). The G-20 try to allay fears of devaluing currencies which would have set the world markets into another round of recession. The pope retires. He doesn't die in office. He retires for the first time in hundreds of years, and nobody is sure what to do. A rogue cop killer goes on a rampage in California.
Fear can be good, but we can also become addicted to fear. Fear can crowd out life and fun.I am going to tell a story on my wife Cathy. Have no fear, I have asked her permission to tell this story. She lives with a lot of fear. Early in our marriage we took a vacation to California. It was a package deal: roundtrip airfare from Austin to LAX, rental car, nights in motels along the way using coupons. The first day we land in LA, and find a motel in Anaheim. This is important, because what is in Anaheim? Disneyland. We go to the beach. We eat out at a fancy Mexican food restaurant (TACO Bell!). We are beat from the travel, the beach, the 2 hour time difference, and so go to bed early. What seems like the middle of the night, our room is shaking. It sounds like thunder or explosions outside. Cathy jumps out of bed and takes refuge standing in the door jamb, holding onto both sides. She is yelling, "Earthquake!" I look out the window, the earthquake is a fireworks display that marks the end of the day at Disneyland. Can we get so caught up in fear that we miss life and fun? Fear can so dominate that it can crowd out God's work and presence in our midst.
This kind of fear is worldly fear. In Psychology Today, there were several coping mechanisms including: deep breathing, meditation, diet, exercise, and community. As I read them, I thought, "We Christians have been doing this for a long time. Especially here at Lent, we fast and pray and worship and come together as supportive community."
There is another kind of fear in the Bible. It is the fear of the Lord. It could be called awe, reverence, worship. To come into the presence of the holy is an awesome thing. Therefore, when angels appear on the scene in the Bible, what is the first thing that they say, "Fear Not!" They have been well-instructed in angel school to lower anxiety. This kind of fear is a healthy fear.
We find it in Gen.15:1 where the LORD approaches Abram before he is firmly established in the land or has heirs and says, "Fear Not, I am your shield. Your reward will be very great." Proverbs 1:7 has the classic "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom." This reverence is the pre-requisite to any wisdom in this world. In the early church knew this awe, in Acts 9:31, "Meanwhile the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was built up. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Sprit, it increased in numbers." And then one of John Wesley's favorite passages, where this founder of the Methodist movement understood that because of what God had done for us in Jesus we could "work out our own salvation in fear and trembling for it is God who is at work in you" in Phil. 2:12-13.
This is a good message to have the fear of the Lord. But the message wasn't through with me. I still had a lot of fear in my life. To be candid, my greatest fear is that of never feeling good enough. What can address that fear?
I thought as I pondered this message that I had removed the fear of the Lord from my daily practice. You know me, how open and forgiving and graceful I am. I am not about fear of the LORD. I am about the love of God for us. Then it hit me last night as I was sitting right here in the 3rd pew for the marriage of Jonathan and Diane. I watched them give themselves totally into the care of the other. The love was so awesome, so overwhelming we can barely stand it. That's what came to me, I hadn't taken the fear of the Lord far enough. It is about that love that is so powerful, risky, overwhelming that we run from it. We run back to our old friends, the fears we grown comfortable with. The awesome love of God threatens those other, old fears, and we are afraid to give them up. The fear of the Lord is about receiving God's love and risking loving others that same way.
It is what I John 4:17-18 is trying to say, "There is no fear in love. Perfect love casts out fear." This love casts out the fear of punishment. It is what we Methodists call having assurance, not and eternally. We are held in God's love. Secondly, it means that we can be free of self-concern. This love allows us to love others without thinking of ourselves, the cost or risk to ourselves.
I wish I could tell you it happens instantly, like an on/off light switch. But it is more like a rheostat. It comes in degrees. It is not like a jump. More like a journey.
I have preached on fear before. Once when I did this in San Saba, I had an intern pastor working with me from Perkins School of Theology. I spent some 15 minutes talking about fear. He was tasked with offering the benediction. He captured what I was trying to say in 5 words. Fear God and nothing else.
May it be so for you.
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