from my sermon on World Communion Sunday, Oct. 3, 2010 from Luke 17:5-10
The problems in the world seem so huge. The challenges are overwhelming. Our faith seems so small. What can one person possibly do?
In 2006, Lynda Commale saw a PBS documentary on malaria and its devasting effects on women and children especially. "I have to do something," she said to herself. Over breakfast the next morning, she shared her concerns with her family, her husband and their two small children. Her 5 yr old, Katherine, had all kinds of questions: "What kind of mosquito does this? How does a person get sick? What are bed nets?" Katherine was really upset at the fact that a child died every 30 seconds. She counted out on her little fingers 1,2,3,4.....27, 28, 29, 30. "Mom, we have to do something." Lynda knew that a bednet costs $10. She figured they would buy $40 worth, one for each member of her family. Katherine said, "I can do a lemonade stand."
They knew that they wanted to do more, but didn't know how. So mother and daughter went to their church. I am not making this name up; it was Hopewell UMC in Downintown, Penn. They talked to the Christian educator. They came up with a powerpoint presentation. They showed to the congregation. On one Sunday, they raised $11,000. Katherine was on the floor of the church lobby helping to count. At every $10 bill, she said, "There's another one, and another one."
They sent the money to the United Nations which was just starting the Nothing But Nets program. Early partners were the United Methodist Church and the National Basketball Assoctiation. These partners asked Lynda and Katherine to become spokespersons. They agreed to. They sharpened their presentation and went out to other churches and schools. They came up with a skit. They got children to come up on stage and pretend to be asleep. Then a child pretending to be a mosquito would come attack them. Much booing and hissing. Then those same children would be covered by a net. The mosquito couldn't get in. Much cheering. Katherine created gift certificates for people to buy remembering birthday, anniversaries, etc. She has sold over 500 each year.
Over 3 years Lynda and Katherine raised over $140,000 themselves. Through their programs, millions more have been raised. Lynda says that sometimes she wants to give up. The burden is too much to bear. Then someone will come along and set her straight again.
You know that we have gotten caught up in this. Last year this church raised over $35,000 in cash. With pledges still coming in, we will be up around $50,000 from this one congregation.
What can one person do in the face of world problems? A lot.
You may be saying along with the first followers of Jesus, "Increase our faith." Remember in this section of Luke, Jesus is on a long journey to Jerusalem and all that happens there. He is trying to prepared his disciples. He has been teaching them about all that they must give, and give up, and forgive. No wonder they say, "Increase our faith."
His response is, "if you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this 60' tree be thrown into the sea, and it would be." Now I need to do a little Greek with you. You may think "if" means "you may or may not have faith." But what it means here in this phrasing is "since you have the faith of a mustard seed, it is enough."
Now mustard seeds are very small. I will be giving you one as you come up to take communion today. I want you to hold that little piece of bread in your hand along with that tiny seed. I want you to hear Jesus say to you, "you may think your faith is so small, but I tell you it is enough. Act on what you already have. Put into practice what you believe."
On this World Communion Sunday, I remember Rosa Parks, who was too tired to move to the back of the bus. She stayed seated and started a modern emancipation movment. Just mustard seed size is enough.
Lech Walensa in Poland was just a laborer on the docks in Poland, but with organizing and with the Catholic Church's help, a communist government was overthrown.
One of my heroes is Bill W. He had tried everything to get sober. Finally, he talked to one other alcoholic. He said, "I am not here for you; I am here for me. I need this to get well." He started alcoholics anonymous, which then spread to narcotics anonymous, and overeaters anonymous, and gamblers anonymous. All of these 12 step recovery programs start with admitting that we are powerless over our behavior. We seek God as our Higher Power to restore us to sanity.
When I read this passage this past week, I remember a story from a long time ago, early in my ministry. That line about tossing a mulberry tree triggered something in my. You know that the coca plant is grown in Central and South America so that cocaine may be produced from its leaves. It just so happens that mulberry trees are exactly suited for the same climate. Someone had the idea to approach farmers with the options of replacing their coca plants with mulberry trees. What eats mulberry leaves? Silkworms! Instead of destroying lives with their crops, farmers were given an opportunity to give life.
These last 2 examples capture the last part of the Gospel lesson for today. When we have done all that we could, we should not expect an award or a thank you card or an "atta boy" or a "you go girl." When we do the right thing, we may never get credit. It is enough for us to say, "we are your servants. We were only doing what is expected."
I know today you may be saying, "Lord, increase our faith." Or in today's vernacular, "Super-size me." But the Lord will be saying back to you, "you have plenty of faith to act on. Do right and don't worry about the results."
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Thursday, September 30, 2010
increase our faith
9/30/10 The apostles say in Luke 17:5, "Increase our faith!" That is my prayer today. I believe on one hand it is an admission of need, that is, we realize we cannot do things in our own power. On the other hand, I believe it is an appeal for God to grow our souls, our knowledge, our gifts, our abilities, etc., so that we may become the people God intends for us to be.
Love,
Lynn
Love,
Lynn
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
depression
9/29/10 I was driving back from a meeting in San Antonio, listening to NPR, about 4 p.m. yesterday when I heard the news. A young man, only 19 years old, a math major at the University of Texas, had taken an assault rifle, an AK-47, onto the campus where he fired a few rounds before going into the library where he took his own life. How tragic! We try to understand. We try to fill in the blanks. Why does someone do something like this? For the person, their suicide seems to answer all their questions. For the rest of us, we only have more questions.
Unfortunately over my 32 plus years of ministry, I have been the pastor who has officiated the funerals of those who have taken their own lives. I don't pretend to understand depression. At these funerals, I say if Christ came for the most vulnerable, then He certainly came for those who dwell in such deep sadness. If Christ came for the least, the last, and the lost, then He certainly came for one who suffers from depression.
Love,
Lynn
Unfortunately over my 32 plus years of ministry, I have been the pastor who has officiated the funerals of those who have taken their own lives. I don't pretend to understand depression. At these funerals, I say if Christ came for the most vulnerable, then He certainly came for those who dwell in such deep sadness. If Christ came for the least, the last, and the lost, then He certainly came for one who suffers from depression.
Love,
Lynn
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
the fall
9/28/10 There is a concept in theology called "The Fall," that recognizes that human beings are not all that God has called us to be, that we have rebelled against God, and that we have fallen away from God has intended. However, today, I am celebrating the fall that has descended finally upon Austin. This morning on my walk/prayer time the temperature was in the low 50's and the humidity was low. It is energizing. It feels like a new start. It ministers against our propensity to sin and fall from what God wants. It feels like forgiveness, blessing, new creation.
Love,
Lynn
Love,
Lynn
Monday, September 27, 2010
rich man, poor man
from my sermon on Sept. 26, 2010, from Luke 16:19-31
I enjoy being rich, don't you? Last Sunday evening, after a pretty full day at church ( I tend to work every Sunday), Cathy and I went to a concert given by Don McClean. You may remember this song from 1971, "The 3 men that I admire the most, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; they caught the last train for the coast, the day the music died. And we were singing, Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie, drove my Chevy to the Levee, but the levee was dry...." We won't sing the rest of that phrase! Cathy and I had tickets right on the front row. Not front and center mind you, in fact, they were on the very outside, but still the front row, not 15 feet from Don McClean. And it was so easy. We just went on the internet to One World Theater, picked our seats, put in our credit card info, and we were in.
It's good to be rich, isn't it? This past summer Cathy and I took off 4 weeks for renewal leave, going to Australia and New Zealand. Several of you said that this trip would be your dream vacation. We saved up for a couple of years, but it was easy for us to do. Some of you asked about a favorite memory. One is toward the end of our trip at the north end of the northern island of New Zealand along Cormandale penisula. There is a lot of geothermal activity there. So there is a beach right along the Pacific ocean where hot water bubbles up. You know what they call it? Hot water beach! So at low tide, you take a shovel, and you dig your own hot tub, not too close, not too far away, but just right. You lie in the hot water on the beach with the Pacific ocean waves right there, with blue sky and sea gulls above. It is pretty wonderful. It is good to be rich.
I pick up the commentaries on this passage, and they say it is okay to be rich, but it is not okay to miss those who are poor right at your door. Remember that Jesus here in Luke's gospel is on a long journey to Jerusalem. Most of the time he is instructing his disciples or talking with the crowds, but here he is dealing with the Pharisees. Now I am not going to beat up on the Pharisees any more than I am going to beat up on you. Lord, send me some Pharisees. They kept the holy law. They prayed, they fasted twice a week. They tithed! Lord, send me some Pharisees. But here they are portrayed as lovers of money. More than that, they seem to have adopted a theology that said, If you are rich, then you must be blessed by God. If you are poor, they you must be cursed by God. In fact, to help the poor might even be going against God.
So Jesus tells a story. There is a rich man. You can tell he is rich by his fine clothes. Purple cloth was made by getting dye from crushing special shells. Only the very rich could afford them. There was a poor man, and the contrast couldn't have been greater. He is thrown at the gate of the rich man. He is so hungry, he would eat the crumbs from the table if he could. And this is the yuckiest part, dogs lick his open sores. Upon death, the poor man goes to paradise, that is what Abraham's bosom means. People back then would eat lying down on one's left arm with their head towards the table and the feet sticking away. So the poor man was lying right at Abraham chest at the heavenly banquet! And the rich man goes to hell, a place of fire and torment. Now, we probably have our most descriptive language about hell found here, but I want to say this: hell is not so much a place as it is a perspective. Hell is not being able to see the needs of people right at your front door.
Even in hell, the rich man cannot see. He still treats the poor man as his servant. "Abraham, tell Lazarus to bring some water to cool my tongue, for I am in agony here." Back in the segregation era, Clarence Jordan created Koininia Farms where people from all races and classes could live in community together...in Georgia. He did his own translation of the New Testament set in Georgia called the Cottonpatch Gospels. He puts Abraham's response back to the rich man this way, "Lazarus ain't gonna run no mo yo errands, rich man."
The chasm, the big divide, doesn't just exist between heaven and hell. It begins with the divide right at the rich man's front door, not being able to see the poor man. The chasm begins right at the rich man's doorway to his heart.
So what if we are the rich man in this story? Then for me it is a cautionary tale.
Some of you will see yourselves as the poor man in the story. I know is still tough for you. Your job has been outsourced, or downsized, or right sized, or furloughed. The result is that you are making less. You may be underwater in your house, owing more than it is worth. Nearly every week I am talking with someone who needs money for rent, for utilities, for food. I know that many people are desperate, and I do not want to minimize your exerperience.
However, I want us to keep things in perspective. I did an internet seach. Don't you just love Google? I typed in the richest zip codes in the US. 78730, just north of the river here, some of you live there, was about 66th. 78746, right here where the church is, came in about 83rd. I did another seach: What if the world were 100 people? You will find that if you have internet, you are rich. Compared to the rest of the world, if you have clean drinking water, food, and shelter, you are rich.
We need to keep perspective. In the last downturn of the economy, I was pastor at St. John' here in Austin. There was a couple who struggled. The guy was laid off from his office job at a lumber yard. They lived on the wife's meagre salary. They almost lost their home. He got retrained and came back to work as a teacher. When they got back on their feet, they said to me, "We want to be the co-chairs of the CROP Walk for Hunger." They got a new perspective.
As I lived with this passage this past week, I started seeing things differently. I started to notice all of the people on the street corners with their signs asking for help: "Out of work," "Veteran," "Anything helps." I got a new perspective. Here is what I do; you may be called to do something different. I never give money. I have many times made up gallon ziplock bags with water and energy bars and peanut butter crackers inside to hand out for immediate relief. Sometimes I hand our HEB gift cards that can only be used for food.
After reading this passage, there is one more thing I do. I ask the person his or her name. In the story, what is the rich man's name? It is not given! What is the poor man's name? Lazarus. You know what Lazarus means? God helps. God does indeed help. The poor are not objects or numbers at our gate, but persons of worth.
So reading this passage this week, I pick up our conference newspaper the Southwest Texas Witness. Of course, the lead article is about providing food for the hungry. The church in Palacios starts a food pantry. The churches in Mason and San Angelo realize that the schools don't provide meals during the summer, so they start their own free lunch programs. It is not just individuals but also communities that need to keep perspective.
Why do this? It is not about a stewardship campaign. I don't have any pledge cards for you to fill out. It is not about getting money for the budget. It is not even to help the needy as important as that is. This is what I came to at last: it as about keeping us from going to hell.
You hear me say over and over that we are saved by grace, God's unmerited love towards us. There is nothing we can do to earn it. But seeing the needy at our door and serving them is a way that we live into our salvation. Missing seeing them is a way to hell.
So today, I would love for you to go to our Mission Fair and choose to do at least one thing....and to see that as way of keeping out of hell. We have many ways for you to avoid hell: you can help with Mobile Loaves and Fishes that feed the homeless from their trucks. You can help with Feed my People that cooks breakfast for the homeless on Tuesday mornings at First UMC. You can bring food next week for Granite Shoals Grace UMC food pantry. Bring over the counter drugs for Haiti as Tom is going on a mission trip in a week and a half. You can get involved with our sister church on the other side of I-35 Parker Lane UMC. It is a way of staying out of hell, of seeing the needy right at our door.
At the end of the story, the rich man seems to be finally getting it. He asks that Abrahan send someone back to his brothers so that they may avoid his fate. Abraham says that they have all the witness they need in Moses and the prophets. What does the law of Moses say? Don't harvest to the very edge of your field, but leave it for gleaning for the widow, orphan and sojourner in the land. What does the prophet Isaiah say? The fast that the LORD requires is to feed the hungry, take the poor into your house, and clothe the naked.
Maybe we are not the rich man or the poor man in the story, but the brothers. We have the witness of the Old Testament to God's desire for us to see the needs close by. Better than that, we have the witness of one who has come back from the grave, Jesus Christ. After His resurrection, in Luke's Gospel, he reveals himself in the breaking of the bread. May it be so not just at this table but wherever we share bread with others in need, especially right at our door.
I enjoy being rich, don't you? Last Sunday evening, after a pretty full day at church ( I tend to work every Sunday), Cathy and I went to a concert given by Don McClean. You may remember this song from 1971, "The 3 men that I admire the most, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; they caught the last train for the coast, the day the music died. And we were singing, Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie, drove my Chevy to the Levee, but the levee was dry...." We won't sing the rest of that phrase! Cathy and I had tickets right on the front row. Not front and center mind you, in fact, they were on the very outside, but still the front row, not 15 feet from Don McClean. And it was so easy. We just went on the internet to One World Theater, picked our seats, put in our credit card info, and we were in.
It's good to be rich, isn't it? This past summer Cathy and I took off 4 weeks for renewal leave, going to Australia and New Zealand. Several of you said that this trip would be your dream vacation. We saved up for a couple of years, but it was easy for us to do. Some of you asked about a favorite memory. One is toward the end of our trip at the north end of the northern island of New Zealand along Cormandale penisula. There is a lot of geothermal activity there. So there is a beach right along the Pacific ocean where hot water bubbles up. You know what they call it? Hot water beach! So at low tide, you take a shovel, and you dig your own hot tub, not too close, not too far away, but just right. You lie in the hot water on the beach with the Pacific ocean waves right there, with blue sky and sea gulls above. It is pretty wonderful. It is good to be rich.
I pick up the commentaries on this passage, and they say it is okay to be rich, but it is not okay to miss those who are poor right at your door. Remember that Jesus here in Luke's gospel is on a long journey to Jerusalem. Most of the time he is instructing his disciples or talking with the crowds, but here he is dealing with the Pharisees. Now I am not going to beat up on the Pharisees any more than I am going to beat up on you. Lord, send me some Pharisees. They kept the holy law. They prayed, they fasted twice a week. They tithed! Lord, send me some Pharisees. But here they are portrayed as lovers of money. More than that, they seem to have adopted a theology that said, If you are rich, then you must be blessed by God. If you are poor, they you must be cursed by God. In fact, to help the poor might even be going against God.
So Jesus tells a story. There is a rich man. You can tell he is rich by his fine clothes. Purple cloth was made by getting dye from crushing special shells. Only the very rich could afford them. There was a poor man, and the contrast couldn't have been greater. He is thrown at the gate of the rich man. He is so hungry, he would eat the crumbs from the table if he could. And this is the yuckiest part, dogs lick his open sores. Upon death, the poor man goes to paradise, that is what Abraham's bosom means. People back then would eat lying down on one's left arm with their head towards the table and the feet sticking away. So the poor man was lying right at Abraham chest at the heavenly banquet! And the rich man goes to hell, a place of fire and torment. Now, we probably have our most descriptive language about hell found here, but I want to say this: hell is not so much a place as it is a perspective. Hell is not being able to see the needs of people right at your front door.
Even in hell, the rich man cannot see. He still treats the poor man as his servant. "Abraham, tell Lazarus to bring some water to cool my tongue, for I am in agony here." Back in the segregation era, Clarence Jordan created Koininia Farms where people from all races and classes could live in community together...in Georgia. He did his own translation of the New Testament set in Georgia called the Cottonpatch Gospels. He puts Abraham's response back to the rich man this way, "Lazarus ain't gonna run no mo yo errands, rich man."
The chasm, the big divide, doesn't just exist between heaven and hell. It begins with the divide right at the rich man's front door, not being able to see the poor man. The chasm begins right at the rich man's doorway to his heart.
So what if we are the rich man in this story? Then for me it is a cautionary tale.
Some of you will see yourselves as the poor man in the story. I know is still tough for you. Your job has been outsourced, or downsized, or right sized, or furloughed. The result is that you are making less. You may be underwater in your house, owing more than it is worth. Nearly every week I am talking with someone who needs money for rent, for utilities, for food. I know that many people are desperate, and I do not want to minimize your exerperience.
However, I want us to keep things in perspective. I did an internet seach. Don't you just love Google? I typed in the richest zip codes in the US. 78730, just north of the river here, some of you live there, was about 66th. 78746, right here where the church is, came in about 83rd. I did another seach: What if the world were 100 people? You will find that if you have internet, you are rich. Compared to the rest of the world, if you have clean drinking water, food, and shelter, you are rich.
We need to keep perspective. In the last downturn of the economy, I was pastor at St. John' here in Austin. There was a couple who struggled. The guy was laid off from his office job at a lumber yard. They lived on the wife's meagre salary. They almost lost their home. He got retrained and came back to work as a teacher. When they got back on their feet, they said to me, "We want to be the co-chairs of the CROP Walk for Hunger." They got a new perspective.
As I lived with this passage this past week, I started seeing things differently. I started to notice all of the people on the street corners with their signs asking for help: "Out of work," "Veteran," "Anything helps." I got a new perspective. Here is what I do; you may be called to do something different. I never give money. I have many times made up gallon ziplock bags with water and energy bars and peanut butter crackers inside to hand out for immediate relief. Sometimes I hand our HEB gift cards that can only be used for food.
After reading this passage, there is one more thing I do. I ask the person his or her name. In the story, what is the rich man's name? It is not given! What is the poor man's name? Lazarus. You know what Lazarus means? God helps. God does indeed help. The poor are not objects or numbers at our gate, but persons of worth.
So reading this passage this week, I pick up our conference newspaper the Southwest Texas Witness. Of course, the lead article is about providing food for the hungry. The church in Palacios starts a food pantry. The churches in Mason and San Angelo realize that the schools don't provide meals during the summer, so they start their own free lunch programs. It is not just individuals but also communities that need to keep perspective.
Why do this? It is not about a stewardship campaign. I don't have any pledge cards for you to fill out. It is not about getting money for the budget. It is not even to help the needy as important as that is. This is what I came to at last: it as about keeping us from going to hell.
You hear me say over and over that we are saved by grace, God's unmerited love towards us. There is nothing we can do to earn it. But seeing the needy at our door and serving them is a way that we live into our salvation. Missing seeing them is a way to hell.
So today, I would love for you to go to our Mission Fair and choose to do at least one thing....and to see that as way of keeping out of hell. We have many ways for you to avoid hell: you can help with Mobile Loaves and Fishes that feed the homeless from their trucks. You can help with Feed my People that cooks breakfast for the homeless on Tuesday mornings at First UMC. You can bring food next week for Granite Shoals Grace UMC food pantry. Bring over the counter drugs for Haiti as Tom is going on a mission trip in a week and a half. You can get involved with our sister church on the other side of I-35 Parker Lane UMC. It is a way of staying out of hell, of seeing the needy right at our door.
At the end of the story, the rich man seems to be finally getting it. He asks that Abrahan send someone back to his brothers so that they may avoid his fate. Abraham says that they have all the witness they need in Moses and the prophets. What does the law of Moses say? Don't harvest to the very edge of your field, but leave it for gleaning for the widow, orphan and sojourner in the land. What does the prophet Isaiah say? The fast that the LORD requires is to feed the hungry, take the poor into your house, and clothe the naked.
Maybe we are not the rich man or the poor man in the story, but the brothers. We have the witness of the Old Testament to God's desire for us to see the needs close by. Better than that, we have the witness of one who has come back from the grave, Jesus Christ. After His resurrection, in Luke's Gospel, he reveals himself in the breaking of the bread. May it be so not just at this table but wherever we share bread with others in need, especially right at our door.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
psalm 91
9/23/10 The common lectionary has Psalm 91 has one of the readings for this Sunday. I would encourage you to read the entire psalm. It is the perfect text if you are in the military or know someone in the military. The passage talks about God's protection: God is a refuge and fortress, a deliverer, a mother bird that shelters chicks under her wings. My breath prayer for the day is "I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them."
Love,
Lynn
Love,
Lynn
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
delete
9/21/10 I woke up in the middle of the night at 2:30 a.m., exactly 12 hours after I was supposed to have participated in a conference call. It wasn't that I was overwhelmed at 2:30 that afternoon. I simply deleted the call. It was written on my pocket calendar. I had noted the call that morning. But when the time came, I forgot to participate.
I do tend to overfunction and because of that to omit details. It is incidents like this that make me realize how much I depend upon grace and forgiveness. I trust that God has not deleted me from His plan of salvation.
Love,
Lynn
I do tend to overfunction and because of that to omit details. It is incidents like this that make me realize how much I depend upon grace and forgiveness. I trust that God has not deleted me from His plan of salvation.
Love,
Lynn
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