The Mysterious God?
You know the old saying; God works in mysterious ways. As I continue to walk my journey in faith, I am beginning to believe and understand the falsehood of that statement. God is not as mysterious as we would like to think, rather the opposite holds more truth for me these days. God is obvious, what is mysterious is our reaction to God’s active presence in our lives. It seems easier that way, to explain or rationalize why things either happen or don’t when we do not take responsibility or participate in world events and world affairs. God does what is right, always has and always will. It is our responsibility to either believe and follow or oppose and let someone (if anyone) else do the work.
I believe people fear the responsibility that is entrusted on us when we accept the obvious and rightness of that which God offers to the world. So, we prefer to close our eyes to the reality and thereby create a false reality, our reality (not God’s). Where is the mystery in the dawn of a new day? Where is the mystery in having family and friends? And where is the mystery in food and sustenance for our bodies? God has provided all of these and freely gives them to all.
Surely, there are those who will say, look at the disasters of the world, the death and destruction surrounding many, the famine and starving peoples of the world. Although these things exist, it would be inaccurate to draw conclusion that they are the result of God’s desire for His creation. Certainly, these things exist and occur each and every day. The mystery is not in the why or how they have come to be, but in the what. The, what becomes of them once they are disclosed and we know the reality of their existence is then the question. We need to focus, not on the why of God ways, but on His expectations for our actions and on what are we doing to improve, prevent and change the course of events. We are created in the likeness of God and it is by that very essence that we, armed with the awareness of God within us, can solve the mystery. We then can look to dissolve the barriers that keep us from our calling and illuminate the opportunity for all to demonstrate the true nature of God and come to accept our role in the world.
When we take that one last look at events and issues, we know in our hearts what is right and what is wrong. We know that deep within us is an urge and an understanding of when, how and why we should act. Unfortunately, we more often take the less complicated, less frightening, less accountable and finally the less demanding of paths. Even when we choose to the right thing, often we choose to jump in only up to our ankles and not submerge ourselves and commit to total resolution. In short, we hold back. We may freely give or ourselves, but what we give, often is only a portion of our total capabilities.
What would the world look like if we all contributed to the extent of our abilities? The full use our unique talents and gifts in support of others could have a very dramatic impact not only in the lives of others, but just as important, on our relationship with our creator, the Living God. If you will, image the inventor of the world’s most powerful engine only then to install it in a vehicle whose purpose is to transport a person to and from church on Sunday mornings. All that potential but never given the opportunity to used for the purpose of it’s design. Such it is with us. We were created in the likeness of God, to be in relationship with Him, to serve His purposes, to care for His creation and to build His church on earth.
There is no mystery to it. God created us for a purpose. He created the world for a purpose. As for the mystery surrounding the question of why, we only need to look at our neighbors to recognize the obviousness of God’s creation. We were not created to be a solitary people. We are design to interact and to support one another. No one person has the gifts, talent and ability to thrive without the support of others. By our design we need others in order to grow and live with contentment. The only mystery is then, when will we discover what God has already fashioned in us and when will we release the power of His Spirit and build the Body of Christ. Amen.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Fuel the Fire
Fuel for the Fire
As I look out on to the sea of opportunity and hope, I see with increasing clarity a growing need to find the fuel that feeds the fire of our ministry within the Church. Years, if not decades of effort to relocate the physical framework of our ministry have taken it’s toll and drained the church body of the essential energy that makes ministry work possible. For years our leadership has been focused on financial and facility related issues as our top priorities if not our only priorities. On the surface, this attention to the tangible world of building and finance seem appropriate, but upon further inspection, it becomes evident that disproportionate attention is harmful to fulfilling our mission as a Church of Christ.
Within the membership of our congregation we are blessed to have many individuals and several groups whose ministry keep our hope and faith alive. The problem and the potential solution for our financial woes rest in our attention to ministry. The value, time and effort of these groups and individuals bring stability, care and growth opportunities for the church. These actions are rarely recognized and affirmed among the congregation and demonstrated through the leadership of all members.
An unscientific survey conducted with several members recently, gave indication that one of the most significant values that we bring as a congregation to our community of faith is LOVE. Love, demonstrated for our genuine care for each other is our strength and it is our single largest opportunity. Unfortunately, the awareness of our love for each other stands in the shadow of discussions over finance, facility and sound issues. Because of this, our priorities and focus are on our weakness rather than on our strength. We have been blessed with the ability to truly support, care and love one another and I suggest that as a congregation we commit to using God’s creation and our God given talents to the best of our abilities. We need to lead and demonstrate to our members, neighbors, visitor and community at large that we care deeply for their faith formation and the development of their relationship with our Lord and Savior. We can not change the future nor can we change lives of others, but we are placed here to create the opportunity to learn from one another, support each other and affirm the future that is given to all through the gift of God’s grace.
Grace is the fuel that feeds our ministry and our service in God’s creation. How do we tap into this life sustaining source of energy? The answer is, focus and attention to spiritual development and discipleship. Pursuit of finding God’s active presence in all that we do and seek the purpose for which we as individuals have been created, should be our priority. As we align our talents and activities around the pursuit and understanding of our spiritual calling, we will see that our future is secure and in the best hands possible, God’s.
As I look out on to the sea of opportunity and hope, I see with increasing clarity a growing need to find the fuel that feeds the fire of our ministry within the Church. Years, if not decades of effort to relocate the physical framework of our ministry have taken it’s toll and drained the church body of the essential energy that makes ministry work possible. For years our leadership has been focused on financial and facility related issues as our top priorities if not our only priorities. On the surface, this attention to the tangible world of building and finance seem appropriate, but upon further inspection, it becomes evident that disproportionate attention is harmful to fulfilling our mission as a Church of Christ.
Within the membership of our congregation we are blessed to have many individuals and several groups whose ministry keep our hope and faith alive. The problem and the potential solution for our financial woes rest in our attention to ministry. The value, time and effort of these groups and individuals bring stability, care and growth opportunities for the church. These actions are rarely recognized and affirmed among the congregation and demonstrated through the leadership of all members.
An unscientific survey conducted with several members recently, gave indication that one of the most significant values that we bring as a congregation to our community of faith is LOVE. Love, demonstrated for our genuine care for each other is our strength and it is our single largest opportunity. Unfortunately, the awareness of our love for each other stands in the shadow of discussions over finance, facility and sound issues. Because of this, our priorities and focus are on our weakness rather than on our strength. We have been blessed with the ability to truly support, care and love one another and I suggest that as a congregation we commit to using God’s creation and our God given talents to the best of our abilities. We need to lead and demonstrate to our members, neighbors, visitor and community at large that we care deeply for their faith formation and the development of their relationship with our Lord and Savior. We can not change the future nor can we change lives of others, but we are placed here to create the opportunity to learn from one another, support each other and affirm the future that is given to all through the gift of God’s grace.
Grace is the fuel that feeds our ministry and our service in God’s creation. How do we tap into this life sustaining source of energy? The answer is, focus and attention to spiritual development and discipleship. Pursuit of finding God’s active presence in all that we do and seek the purpose for which we as individuals have been created, should be our priority. As we align our talents and activities around the pursuit and understanding of our spiritual calling, we will see that our future is secure and in the best hands possible, God’s.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Sermon June 2010
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father to you this and everyday.
Today’s gospel from Luke marks the starting point of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem. It is the first of many encounters that the author brings forward over the next 9 chapters. Jesus has set His sights on Jerusalem and intensifies His efforts to prepare the Disciples for the future. Jesus knows His destiny and at the very beginning of this passage we note that as Luke reflects back on this time, it has now become evident there were indicators of Jesus’ destiny for he writes “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem”.
In this passage, only 2 paragraphs long, I can quickly summarize to at least 5 talking points that can be discussed. With this in mind, I am draw to discuss the call to ministry and the guidance that Jesus provides for those who choose to follow Him. Over the last six verses, Jesus is describing the kind of life His followers should expect to encounter in their journey. In these verses, Jesus makes a very clear effort to warn those who choose to follow of the consequences and the difficulties of living a life in Christ. Jesus gives 3 examples of the kind of life one is to expect; the 1st is a nomadic life (homeless if you will). No place to call home, a safe harbor to find comfort and rest. Using the illustration that even the animals of the sky and land will have a place to call your own, but not for you. Not on earth and not now. The 2nd, seems to be the most cold hearted of the 3 statements in His instruction to let the dead bury the dead and to go forward and proclaim the kingdom of God. While the 3rd, to leave your family and friends without bidding farewell, is just as unsettling. In these examples, Jesus is setting the tone and establishing priority for those who will soon travel without him. It is as if he is saying, “decide now because it doesn’t get any easier from this point forward.”
Jesus is also, providing a sense of urgency, an indicator of the limited time that they have with Him. “keep moving, don’t look back and stay focused” may be more literal a translation for these verses. In verse 58, Jesus continues to point to the future; “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests; but the son of Man has nowhere to lay his head”. Here, Jesus is establishing that He now is on course to meet his destiny and fulfill His mission of God’s word. He is focused on getting to Jerusalem and will not look to set roots in any one place longer than required to complete His mission and establish His Church among the people and develop leaders to spread the word of God throughout the land. Jesus role as teacher and mentor moves into full swing. This is preparation work for the job that lies ahead. Just as He will suffer so will those who follow Him in this world. As scripture states, a prophet is not welcome in his own land, so too it is for us. Our home, our future, our eternity does not rest in the world as we now live, but with God our creator and with Jesus by our side. So, it is only expected that as He suffers, so too, it is likely that we will suffer.
As I read this, the image of Jesus as the ultimate mentor begins to form. Jesus is preparing the way. Good preparation helps us to keep us steady and on course of for us serve and be faithful in our service. A road without surprises is a road more easily traveled. Think back over your years and maybe more particularly, your younger developmental years. Can you recall a person who by their actions, words and leadership had a direct impact on your future or who had that ability to guide you through a variety of situations? I know there are several in my life, who I would identify as key influencers. As you look at these people, do you see any common traits or any patterns that bring relationship to them as a group, something that differentiates them from others? To assist us, let’s look at the word “mentor” and work our way through a definition.
Websters defines the term mentor this way – a trusted counselor; tutor or coach.
Wiki adds - … mentors provide expertise to less experienced individuals to help them advance their careers, enhance their education, and build their networks.
Exploring this further, as I recall those in my life, they were individuals who knew where they were going and had specific plans or ideas as to how they can accomplish their goal or follow the calling. My mentors all seemed to have a unique ability to envision the future while preparing and living today’s life in step with their future hopes. In other words, how to “do today so that tomorrow will be.” The specificity of their actions, reflect to an underlying philosophy that; one, our actions equal reactions and two that preparation works best when you anticipate all possible events, including those that could be deemed the “worst case scenario”.
This is why, Jesus can be considered the ultimate mentor. Jesus is very specific and very direct in his instruction for the work and difficult course that your life may take when following him. The best mentors in my life were the ones who quote “laid it on the line” unquote. Those whom made it clear in very specific and very direct terms as to what needs to be done. Mentors know, that life doesn’t just happen. Life is for ever changing and evolving, this is the beauty of Gods’ creation. God gives us, His creation, the freedom to decide the extent of our participation. God fully desires that we participate to the best of our ability and delights in us as we take on the challenges of living a life to its fullest and living life in Christ.
Looking out on life in our simplistic terms, we know that winning a Super Bowl is not an easy task, becoming a CEO does not happen by itself and surely caring for another person through their struggles takes emotional fortitude and requires personal sacrifice on our part to do it well. Almost every dream we may have for our life and or for the lives of our family members and friends, is worthy of our dedicated and undivided attention. And I would suggest that there were many mentors/teachers/coaches and parents that worked hard to guide those individuals to become the best that they can be in their particular field of endeavor. People, who painted a picture of possibilities for us. Who provided support and direction and maybe most of all, preparation for what to expect along the way. These things are not automatic, mentors, make special effort to shine as much light as possible on the pathway ahead in the hopes of avoiding a derailment. Mentors are people who put themselves on the line for the benefit of their students, athletes and children. What the best motivators know, is how far and how hard to push in order to get a persons attention. They know that at times, ice cold reality is important, so that you can gain clarity in your thought and drive your actions. They know that your focus needs to be acute and without interference or distraction.
Jesus is doing just that. He is letting His followers know that there is difficulty and there is pain to endure. But with his presence and through His example he shows that the reward we seek is readily at hand. Like all great leaders, Jesus goes one step further, by living the life and modeling the behavior that will lead us to the prize, eternity with our creator, redeemer and king. Jesus, ”lays it on the line” and tells us just what we are to expect so that the distractions remain just that distractions and never become barriers.
Little did the disciples know at the time that Jesus would set the ultimate example of a mentor. Total commitment and total release of Himslelf for the benefit of the world. This sacrificial act sets the tone and makes it clear that our future is an eternity with God. Through Jesus death on the cross and resurrection, the ultimate picture has been painted for us. This act of selflessness gives us not only the hope for our future but the knowledge of our future. Jesus death is the beginning and His resurrection is our future. Giving of ourselves for the benefit of others is the model that God has chosen through Christ Jesus. Jesus our mentor, will never ask us to die as He did, but He makes clear the expectation and the opportunity of living a life by His example. The choice to accept the role and challenge of leadership and to accept our God given calling, is left up to each of us. How we embrace and embody this framework for our lives today is the same choice that Jesus gave to the disciples in this passage of scripture.
Think of the sacrifices you make today in order to provide for your family that is stable and full of possibilities. How many of you have or are currently working 50-60 or more hours a week? How many of you are taking classes to advance your opportunities of employment? How many of you have worked 2 jobs so that your family may have enough income to sustain themselves? Look at your sacrifices, if it is anything like my life which I am certain for many there is a similarity you probably sacrificed too much of your life working on your career. As I now look back and I can see a familiarity to Jesus words and say that although I did not miss the funeral of my father, I missed many events and opportunities to support and be a part of the development of my sons. We all can relate to call of Jesus, although it seems strong, is it really that harsh? We unfortunately have made sacrifices that we would rather not have been forced to make which impacted our love ones. Life sometimes is a balancing act. We give a little here and take a little from there, but we all do it. Unfortunately, for many, we will be required to make difficult choices again in the future and weigh the risks of not being someplace we really want or should be and instead travel to that business appointment in order to preserve our job.
These statements about life as a follower of Christ are no different in that following Jesus, may require us to place priority in a direction we may rather not think about or discuss. Perhaps we have never framed the discussion or thought in the same hardened way that Jesus does for us in this lesson. Because of the finality of a funeral we see this statement in particular as too difficult, too hard, too sacrificial for us to live up to, but is it really? Jesus isn’t saying these things to scare His followers away. He is just calling it as it is and letting us know what to expect along the way. Dedication, focus and determination are all words that our parents, coaches and mentors have all used with us and we with our children. Preparation, knowing what to expect is more than half the battle. What good would it have been for us if Jesus said, follow me but if you must stay, then stay. I will be fine and maybe our paths will cross again. How miserable would that have been? Where would be able to place our hope if all could be given up so easily? Jesus knows that the best time to mentor and mold someone, is when you are face to face and in the company of one another. Once you separate yourself, the distance often continues to grow.
Who are your mentors today? Whether you are 7, 37 or 77 years old you should always look to have mentors in your life, people who share in your passion. We are never too old to seek help and support in our journey. Jesus is our living mentor. By overcoming death on the cross, He has secured His presence with us forever. He lives so that we may become His students, He lives so that we may find the path for our journey home. This is why I talk so much these days of Christ presence in our lives today. We should seek to grow in our relationship with Him through a continuous dialogue with Him. Talk to Him in prayer, through times of worry and through times of joy. Look for Him and when you find Him, stay close to Him. Let Him mentor and guide you. Listen to His words as He speaks to you. Watch the actions of those He places in front of you. Grab onto His hand don’t let go of Him. Keep Him close so that His strength will support you in the difficult journey that is life. Jesus is our mentor and much more than that. He is the source of our strength, the fulfillment of our needs and the comforter and healer of our wounds. His resurrection is the source of and the reason for our joy in life. Jesus makes Himself known to us and shows Himself to with us through the love and support we are given from others. He is alive in each of us. Let us learn to hear His voice and watch His actions so that we may be able to live a life as He did and as God desires. Let us go forward and proclaim God’s Kingdom and the gift of grace to the world by our actions and by our words as given to us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Today’s gospel from Luke marks the starting point of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem. It is the first of many encounters that the author brings forward over the next 9 chapters. Jesus has set His sights on Jerusalem and intensifies His efforts to prepare the Disciples for the future. Jesus knows His destiny and at the very beginning of this passage we note that as Luke reflects back on this time, it has now become evident there were indicators of Jesus’ destiny for he writes “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem”.
In this passage, only 2 paragraphs long, I can quickly summarize to at least 5 talking points that can be discussed. With this in mind, I am draw to discuss the call to ministry and the guidance that Jesus provides for those who choose to follow Him. Over the last six verses, Jesus is describing the kind of life His followers should expect to encounter in their journey. In these verses, Jesus makes a very clear effort to warn those who choose to follow of the consequences and the difficulties of living a life in Christ. Jesus gives 3 examples of the kind of life one is to expect; the 1st is a nomadic life (homeless if you will). No place to call home, a safe harbor to find comfort and rest. Using the illustration that even the animals of the sky and land will have a place to call your own, but not for you. Not on earth and not now. The 2nd, seems to be the most cold hearted of the 3 statements in His instruction to let the dead bury the dead and to go forward and proclaim the kingdom of God. While the 3rd, to leave your family and friends without bidding farewell, is just as unsettling. In these examples, Jesus is setting the tone and establishing priority for those who will soon travel without him. It is as if he is saying, “decide now because it doesn’t get any easier from this point forward.”
Jesus is also, providing a sense of urgency, an indicator of the limited time that they have with Him. “keep moving, don’t look back and stay focused” may be more literal a translation for these verses. In verse 58, Jesus continues to point to the future; “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests; but the son of Man has nowhere to lay his head”. Here, Jesus is establishing that He now is on course to meet his destiny and fulfill His mission of God’s word. He is focused on getting to Jerusalem and will not look to set roots in any one place longer than required to complete His mission and establish His Church among the people and develop leaders to spread the word of God throughout the land. Jesus role as teacher and mentor moves into full swing. This is preparation work for the job that lies ahead. Just as He will suffer so will those who follow Him in this world. As scripture states, a prophet is not welcome in his own land, so too it is for us. Our home, our future, our eternity does not rest in the world as we now live, but with God our creator and with Jesus by our side. So, it is only expected that as He suffers, so too, it is likely that we will suffer.
As I read this, the image of Jesus as the ultimate mentor begins to form. Jesus is preparing the way. Good preparation helps us to keep us steady and on course of for us serve and be faithful in our service. A road without surprises is a road more easily traveled. Think back over your years and maybe more particularly, your younger developmental years. Can you recall a person who by their actions, words and leadership had a direct impact on your future or who had that ability to guide you through a variety of situations? I know there are several in my life, who I would identify as key influencers. As you look at these people, do you see any common traits or any patterns that bring relationship to them as a group, something that differentiates them from others? To assist us, let’s look at the word “mentor” and work our way through a definition.
Websters defines the term mentor this way – a trusted counselor; tutor or coach.
Wiki adds - … mentors provide expertise to less experienced individuals to help them advance their careers, enhance their education, and build their networks.
Exploring this further, as I recall those in my life, they were individuals who knew where they were going and had specific plans or ideas as to how they can accomplish their goal or follow the calling. My mentors all seemed to have a unique ability to envision the future while preparing and living today’s life in step with their future hopes. In other words, how to “do today so that tomorrow will be.” The specificity of their actions, reflect to an underlying philosophy that; one, our actions equal reactions and two that preparation works best when you anticipate all possible events, including those that could be deemed the “worst case scenario”.
This is why, Jesus can be considered the ultimate mentor. Jesus is very specific and very direct in his instruction for the work and difficult course that your life may take when following him. The best mentors in my life were the ones who quote “laid it on the line” unquote. Those whom made it clear in very specific and very direct terms as to what needs to be done. Mentors know, that life doesn’t just happen. Life is for ever changing and evolving, this is the beauty of Gods’ creation. God gives us, His creation, the freedom to decide the extent of our participation. God fully desires that we participate to the best of our ability and delights in us as we take on the challenges of living a life to its fullest and living life in Christ.
Looking out on life in our simplistic terms, we know that winning a Super Bowl is not an easy task, becoming a CEO does not happen by itself and surely caring for another person through their struggles takes emotional fortitude and requires personal sacrifice on our part to do it well. Almost every dream we may have for our life and or for the lives of our family members and friends, is worthy of our dedicated and undivided attention. And I would suggest that there were many mentors/teachers/coaches and parents that worked hard to guide those individuals to become the best that they can be in their particular field of endeavor. People, who painted a picture of possibilities for us. Who provided support and direction and maybe most of all, preparation for what to expect along the way. These things are not automatic, mentors, make special effort to shine as much light as possible on the pathway ahead in the hopes of avoiding a derailment. Mentors are people who put themselves on the line for the benefit of their students, athletes and children. What the best motivators know, is how far and how hard to push in order to get a persons attention. They know that at times, ice cold reality is important, so that you can gain clarity in your thought and drive your actions. They know that your focus needs to be acute and without interference or distraction.
Jesus is doing just that. He is letting His followers know that there is difficulty and there is pain to endure. But with his presence and through His example he shows that the reward we seek is readily at hand. Like all great leaders, Jesus goes one step further, by living the life and modeling the behavior that will lead us to the prize, eternity with our creator, redeemer and king. Jesus, ”lays it on the line” and tells us just what we are to expect so that the distractions remain just that distractions and never become barriers.
Little did the disciples know at the time that Jesus would set the ultimate example of a mentor. Total commitment and total release of Himslelf for the benefit of the world. This sacrificial act sets the tone and makes it clear that our future is an eternity with God. Through Jesus death on the cross and resurrection, the ultimate picture has been painted for us. This act of selflessness gives us not only the hope for our future but the knowledge of our future. Jesus death is the beginning and His resurrection is our future. Giving of ourselves for the benefit of others is the model that God has chosen through Christ Jesus. Jesus our mentor, will never ask us to die as He did, but He makes clear the expectation and the opportunity of living a life by His example. The choice to accept the role and challenge of leadership and to accept our God given calling, is left up to each of us. How we embrace and embody this framework for our lives today is the same choice that Jesus gave to the disciples in this passage of scripture.
Think of the sacrifices you make today in order to provide for your family that is stable and full of possibilities. How many of you have or are currently working 50-60 or more hours a week? How many of you are taking classes to advance your opportunities of employment? How many of you have worked 2 jobs so that your family may have enough income to sustain themselves? Look at your sacrifices, if it is anything like my life which I am certain for many there is a similarity you probably sacrificed too much of your life working on your career. As I now look back and I can see a familiarity to Jesus words and say that although I did not miss the funeral of my father, I missed many events and opportunities to support and be a part of the development of my sons. We all can relate to call of Jesus, although it seems strong, is it really that harsh? We unfortunately have made sacrifices that we would rather not have been forced to make which impacted our love ones. Life sometimes is a balancing act. We give a little here and take a little from there, but we all do it. Unfortunately, for many, we will be required to make difficult choices again in the future and weigh the risks of not being someplace we really want or should be and instead travel to that business appointment in order to preserve our job.
These statements about life as a follower of Christ are no different in that following Jesus, may require us to place priority in a direction we may rather not think about or discuss. Perhaps we have never framed the discussion or thought in the same hardened way that Jesus does for us in this lesson. Because of the finality of a funeral we see this statement in particular as too difficult, too hard, too sacrificial for us to live up to, but is it really? Jesus isn’t saying these things to scare His followers away. He is just calling it as it is and letting us know what to expect along the way. Dedication, focus and determination are all words that our parents, coaches and mentors have all used with us and we with our children. Preparation, knowing what to expect is more than half the battle. What good would it have been for us if Jesus said, follow me but if you must stay, then stay. I will be fine and maybe our paths will cross again. How miserable would that have been? Where would be able to place our hope if all could be given up so easily? Jesus knows that the best time to mentor and mold someone, is when you are face to face and in the company of one another. Once you separate yourself, the distance often continues to grow.
Who are your mentors today? Whether you are 7, 37 or 77 years old you should always look to have mentors in your life, people who share in your passion. We are never too old to seek help and support in our journey. Jesus is our living mentor. By overcoming death on the cross, He has secured His presence with us forever. He lives so that we may become His students, He lives so that we may find the path for our journey home. This is why I talk so much these days of Christ presence in our lives today. We should seek to grow in our relationship with Him through a continuous dialogue with Him. Talk to Him in prayer, through times of worry and through times of joy. Look for Him and when you find Him, stay close to Him. Let Him mentor and guide you. Listen to His words as He speaks to you. Watch the actions of those He places in front of you. Grab onto His hand don’t let go of Him. Keep Him close so that His strength will support you in the difficult journey that is life. Jesus is our mentor and much more than that. He is the source of our strength, the fulfillment of our needs and the comforter and healer of our wounds. His resurrection is the source of and the reason for our joy in life. Jesus makes Himself known to us and shows Himself to with us through the love and support we are given from others. He is alive in each of us. Let us learn to hear His voice and watch His actions so that we may be able to live a life as He did and as God desires. Let us go forward and proclaim God’s Kingdom and the gift of grace to the world by our actions and by our words as given to us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Our Responsibility
Our Responsibility
Today as we look out at the landscape of our faith life and our participation in the body of Christ we have to remember that it is with our eyes and our ears by which we receive the word and accept the Holy Spirit. So, why is it, that, we work so hard to ensure that our worship time on Sundays is exactly the way we remember it to be and the way by which we feel comfortable? We have already found our faith and yet we continue to look for strength and the love of God from that which we most familiar. To that point, we then expect others and our youth in particular to find their faith in the same place and in the same way we found ours. As we read the bible we know that even among us Christians, there are those who believe that one translation is more accurate than another. One translation that rings truer to our hearts than others, yet we also know that there is only one Bible. The translations are just a means to help different people, who have different modes of learning be able to recognize the true word of God. So, why do we expect our children to learn and grow in understanding from the exact same means that we did?
It is our obligation, it is our responsibility and it is our calling to bring the word of God to our children and in doing so we need to look beyond our comfort zones and use the words, media and communication methodology that is easy for them to understand and accept. We can not allow worship to be our time. We need to make it their time. Our time is in hand, we already know the love of Christ and we already know where and how to find God in our lives. It is time that we shed our self centered perspective and desires and open up the opportunities for others, in particular our young to find God. We must open the gateway and give permission for them to seek Him on their own terms and to find Him in ways that only they may understand. It is not about us. It is for them, that we need to prepare a place to find refuge, mercy and forgiveness that is Christ Jesus. We are His children, He spoke to us on our own level. Now we need to let go of ourselves so that those who follow will have what we have found. That the may find the joy and simplicity of life that comes from God the Father through the love, death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus.
Today as we look out at the landscape of our faith life and our participation in the body of Christ we have to remember that it is with our eyes and our ears by which we receive the word and accept the Holy Spirit. So, why is it, that, we work so hard to ensure that our worship time on Sundays is exactly the way we remember it to be and the way by which we feel comfortable? We have already found our faith and yet we continue to look for strength and the love of God from that which we most familiar. To that point, we then expect others and our youth in particular to find their faith in the same place and in the same way we found ours. As we read the bible we know that even among us Christians, there are those who believe that one translation is more accurate than another. One translation that rings truer to our hearts than others, yet we also know that there is only one Bible. The translations are just a means to help different people, who have different modes of learning be able to recognize the true word of God. So, why do we expect our children to learn and grow in understanding from the exact same means that we did?
It is our obligation, it is our responsibility and it is our calling to bring the word of God to our children and in doing so we need to look beyond our comfort zones and use the words, media and communication methodology that is easy for them to understand and accept. We can not allow worship to be our time. We need to make it their time. Our time is in hand, we already know the love of Christ and we already know where and how to find God in our lives. It is time that we shed our self centered perspective and desires and open up the opportunities for others, in particular our young to find God. We must open the gateway and give permission for them to seek Him on their own terms and to find Him in ways that only they may understand. It is not about us. It is for them, that we need to prepare a place to find refuge, mercy and forgiveness that is Christ Jesus. We are His children, He spoke to us on our own level. Now we need to let go of ourselves so that those who follow will have what we have found. That the may find the joy and simplicity of life that comes from God the Father through the love, death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Sermon - Relationships
Sermon October 4, 2009
Grace, mercy and peace be given to from God our Father.
As had happen to me on the last few occasions that I was given the opportunity and responsibility to deliver a sermon, I found myself drawn in a direction that seemed to be in contrast to the typical responses to the scripture lesson and the guidance for sermon preparation. Having disclosed that to Pastor Jane, she assured me and said to continue and go where God is leading and to speak as the text unfolded in front of me. So, with that, I pray for the active presence of the Holy Spirit to be with me and to fill this room with mercy and open our hearts and minds to reflect on the meaning and the potential that these words may have for you and your family.
The lessons that often are translated, taught and delivered from this text, generally focus ones attention to God’s intent for the establishment and continuation of marital relationships. And surely this is true as Jesus responds to the Pharisees "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate."
I believe that this instruction is a clear and concise statement of God’s will for how we are to live our lives and hold dear the relationships that unite us in God’s Kingdom. However, just as Jesus found the original question posed by the Pharisees to be a trap, I see the potential for all of us to fall into a similar trap by reading and taking these words as ultimate and finite in their meaning. Think of all of the lessons provided by Jesus throughout his life on earth and how many were delivered with such finite and ultimate conclusions having already been drawn. Not very many when you analyze it right? More often we find Jesus giving lessons in story form, parables that cause us to think and discern their meaning. Jesus, in His wisdom and knowledge, understands that we must find our own path through life to see and accept God’s will. Throughout His earthy life, He challenges those He meets and those that gather around, to explore and examine their lives, all in the context of finding God’s desire for how they are to live. Jesus knows, that God wants us to come forward and to live with Him in our hearts and thus forming our own relationship with our creator. A relationship that emerges from deep within us, so that our lives will have meaning and be an example of the pure love that God offers for us to know, experience and share.
It is with these eyes and in this direction that I want to draw our focus toward the beginning and ending sections of the Gospel lesson that is given for us this day. In verse 5, Jesus says “…because your hardness of heart, Moses wrote the commandment for you”. Hard hearted, in another translation, this part of the Gospel verse is stated this way “because you are hard to teach”. This is the beginning of what I think is the essence for this lesson and in so thinking, it might as well have been any number of instructions that Jesus might have illustrated following that statement. I think the issue is clear but as like with so many of His teachings, the answer is not readily available or resting on the surface of this discussion.
In this lesson, Jesus points out that it was necessary for God to give us laws through Moses because we are hard hearted and ill prepared to fully accept the gift and grace of total forgiveness that He offers to everyone. Our hearts are not clean, they are not open and they are not ready to understand the true meaning of unconditional love and total forgiveness. This love and the forgiveness of all people, should be the first gift that we share with one another. Unless we approach the world with an open heart, how can we be confident and think that we are ready and able to accept living the life God has given to us in His kingdom? We are ill prepared, and because we are ill prepared, we more often than not, fail to see God’s active presence in our lives, in our homes, in our congregation and in our community. Our hearts are hard. We have allowed ourselves to be directed, controlled and led by our worldly view and also from our understanding of our own physical and emotional experiences. We have grown up in the world where there is little room to grow in our spirituality and our understanding of the nature of God and the nature of God’s true Kingdom. I believe this to be the main issue at hand and what Jesus calls out for us to understand and resolve. Simply put, there would be no reason to continue with the lesson or for that matter the lesson be given at all, if it were not for our harden hearts. I hope that as we go through this discussion today, that you may be able to see through your own eyes the forest and not lose your attention because of your focus on the trees.
The lesson on marriage is important but is it primary? That is the question for us today. And that is why this Gospel passage is so carefully approached by many in church leadership positions. So many people and so many leaders are busy looking at the trees. When we as a people look at the trees, the path through the forest becomes unclear. Many people, many congregations many church organizations give far too much time and make far too much effort to parse the exact words of Jesus and their meaning (the trees), and in so doing they miss the most important aspect of the message, our relationship with God and with one another (the forest).
Let’s think about this for a moment, how is it possible to have a proper and right relationship with anyone, if we do not understand how to have a right and proper relationship with our own creator? And in so doing, understand His desires for how we are to live our lives. Don’t be trapped in the debates that often surround this scripture. But if that happens, let it happen with a clear understanding of the full context of Jesus words, and become right with God, learn to hear His call and be able to recognize His face. Then carefully discern His that call for your actions and for your life. Be guided by and with the knowledge of His full forgiveness of ALL sins, the sins that we ALL are burdened with and we ALL are responsible for. If we are truly open in our hearts and minds to ask for and accept God’s call and will in our lives then the lessons of Jesus become clear and evident, requiring little to no explanation and therefore they will serve more as reminders. They will become natural, a part of who we are, a part of how we conduct ourselves in the world. We truly then become God’s hands, eyes and ears for all to see, all to encounter and all to experience.
Jesus makes this point perfectly understandable for us in his instruction to “Let the little children come to me… for such are these that the kingdom of God belongs.” Children, pure of heart, clean from the trappings, misgivings and harsh realities of the earthly world governed and managed by people with human interests not Godly concerns. Children, open and honest, willing to accept and free to experience everything. The world is theirs. The future is theirs. The Kingdom of God is theirs to inherit. This is how we are to approach the balance of our time living among each other. Open, unfiltered, and sharing. Without any judgment and without any prerequisites. Accepting and giving with innocence in our hearts and in our minds. Childlike. Jesus further instructs, “Truly, I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”
This, this then is the importance of today’s Gospel. Renewal of our spiritual curiosity and renewal of our hunger, like a curious child who hungers for comfort, acceptance, knowledge and understanding of the world around him. We must look to see and experience anew. With fresh eyes and fresh desires to experience everything that God has created for us. To share our lives the way children first share their toys in a sandbox. Remember when you were very young or maybe remember your children’s youth and how simple and easily a child accepts another child and they begin to play together with no formal introduction, no formal guidelines of what to share or what to do or how to do it. Simple and pure, natural response mechanisms that bring young children together at play in a sandbox. This is the nature of God, who created us. Jesus instructs us to approach our lives and our relationships with that same simple understanding. Understanding, that all people who have been placed in the sandbox where we currently play are to be accepted and appreciated for the gifts that are themselves.
The Gospel is clear on God’s intent for how we are to approach our relationships and the significance and uniqueness of marriage. But do not fall into the debates that spring from the words of this lesson, instead, focus on the forest and become mindful of the path that God has created for us to follow. Keeping open our hearts and minds to fully understand the nature and origin of our creation and look for God’s call for how we are to act and respond in care for others. Actively seek God’s presence and God’s voice in directing you through the trees and along the path. The path becomes clearest when we use the eyes of our creator and not the eyes of our own choosing. Open your eyes today, call upon God to guide you, seek the Lord’s presence in you and receive the gift of forgiveness, so that you will be able to give that gift to others that you encounter along the way.
What does it take to be childlike again? How do we shed the burdens of a life lived by and through the control of our intellect? How do we “unlearn” the ways of a sinful world? These are difficult questions to give answer, especially when we approach them through the filter of our own experiences. The unfortunate reality is that when we use this filter, it is often set with the default that contains the bias of human action and negative human response. We need to change the dial and reset the default for this filter and allow more of, or perhaps only those responses in which we can find the joy and thankfulness of God’s will and presence.
We need to be “intentional” in seeking and finding God. We all should be able to agree with these words, “God is everywhere and in all places and in all things”. I know this, because I have heard many of us use these or similar words over the years. But do we really think that? Do we really believe that? What would happen if when we analyze it, we start with the assurance that God actually is in all things and in all places. Now, what happens when we actually, believe and accept that nothing is random in origin but given to us by God. What then? What happens when we encounter a difficult situation with our spouse but before we react, before we respond, we first look to see God their eyes and in their heart. What would change in how we respond? What are the likely consequences when we respond to God’s presence in that encounter? I believe, that it is likely to be a completely different response, which would yield a completely different result.
God has blessed me this year with the gift of new life. Through the help from many members of this congregation and my family, He has surrounded me with love and forgiveness, encouraging me to move forward in my journey and to discover the glory of His presence in this world. Although not always clear, my eyes have surely been opened. However, the real joy in this blessing, comes from being a witness to the discovery of renewal by others. A life alter experience, is to sit in conversation with another and see a transition and transformation to the awareness of God’s presence filling them and for that person to begin seeing and understanding it for the first time. Making everything they see appear new and different, though nothing has physically changed. But from that point forward, for that person, All has changed. The Holy Spirit is working right here in Bethlehem to open the hearts and eyes of all those who seek to deepen their relationship with God.
We have to teach ourselves how to be intentional about building our relationship with God. We need to seek council, guidance and support from one another. The relationship that you have with our Lord is yours and yours alone, no one can create, break or change the relationship that you establish and develop. It is you and you alone to make the choice and allow your heart to opened, no one can make that choice for you. It is you and you alone to decide to attend worship and give praise to God. It is you and you alone who decides to walk with Christ in your heart, and it is you and you alone who can offer the gift of Christ to others. It is here, where we need to support and strengthen one another. This is where the journey meets the road and it is up to each of us to encourage and care for those who seek to know the Lord. It is here, that we are reminded that in the body and blood of Holy Communion each week, we become one with Christ spiritually and physically. It is here by the example of Christ in us that we are able to make available the love of God to those who don’t know Him and it is here, where we find the entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen.
Grace, mercy and peace be given to from God our Father.
As had happen to me on the last few occasions that I was given the opportunity and responsibility to deliver a sermon, I found myself drawn in a direction that seemed to be in contrast to the typical responses to the scripture lesson and the guidance for sermon preparation. Having disclosed that to Pastor Jane, she assured me and said to continue and go where God is leading and to speak as the text unfolded in front of me. So, with that, I pray for the active presence of the Holy Spirit to be with me and to fill this room with mercy and open our hearts and minds to reflect on the meaning and the potential that these words may have for you and your family.
The lessons that often are translated, taught and delivered from this text, generally focus ones attention to God’s intent for the establishment and continuation of marital relationships. And surely this is true as Jesus responds to the Pharisees "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate."
I believe that this instruction is a clear and concise statement of God’s will for how we are to live our lives and hold dear the relationships that unite us in God’s Kingdom. However, just as Jesus found the original question posed by the Pharisees to be a trap, I see the potential for all of us to fall into a similar trap by reading and taking these words as ultimate and finite in their meaning. Think of all of the lessons provided by Jesus throughout his life on earth and how many were delivered with such finite and ultimate conclusions having already been drawn. Not very many when you analyze it right? More often we find Jesus giving lessons in story form, parables that cause us to think and discern their meaning. Jesus, in His wisdom and knowledge, understands that we must find our own path through life to see and accept God’s will. Throughout His earthy life, He challenges those He meets and those that gather around, to explore and examine their lives, all in the context of finding God’s desire for how they are to live. Jesus knows, that God wants us to come forward and to live with Him in our hearts and thus forming our own relationship with our creator. A relationship that emerges from deep within us, so that our lives will have meaning and be an example of the pure love that God offers for us to know, experience and share.
It is with these eyes and in this direction that I want to draw our focus toward the beginning and ending sections of the Gospel lesson that is given for us this day. In verse 5, Jesus says “…because your hardness of heart, Moses wrote the commandment for you”. Hard hearted, in another translation, this part of the Gospel verse is stated this way “because you are hard to teach”. This is the beginning of what I think is the essence for this lesson and in so thinking, it might as well have been any number of instructions that Jesus might have illustrated following that statement. I think the issue is clear but as like with so many of His teachings, the answer is not readily available or resting on the surface of this discussion.
In this lesson, Jesus points out that it was necessary for God to give us laws through Moses because we are hard hearted and ill prepared to fully accept the gift and grace of total forgiveness that He offers to everyone. Our hearts are not clean, they are not open and they are not ready to understand the true meaning of unconditional love and total forgiveness. This love and the forgiveness of all people, should be the first gift that we share with one another. Unless we approach the world with an open heart, how can we be confident and think that we are ready and able to accept living the life God has given to us in His kingdom? We are ill prepared, and because we are ill prepared, we more often than not, fail to see God’s active presence in our lives, in our homes, in our congregation and in our community. Our hearts are hard. We have allowed ourselves to be directed, controlled and led by our worldly view and also from our understanding of our own physical and emotional experiences. We have grown up in the world where there is little room to grow in our spirituality and our understanding of the nature of God and the nature of God’s true Kingdom. I believe this to be the main issue at hand and what Jesus calls out for us to understand and resolve. Simply put, there would be no reason to continue with the lesson or for that matter the lesson be given at all, if it were not for our harden hearts. I hope that as we go through this discussion today, that you may be able to see through your own eyes the forest and not lose your attention because of your focus on the trees.
The lesson on marriage is important but is it primary? That is the question for us today. And that is why this Gospel passage is so carefully approached by many in church leadership positions. So many people and so many leaders are busy looking at the trees. When we as a people look at the trees, the path through the forest becomes unclear. Many people, many congregations many church organizations give far too much time and make far too much effort to parse the exact words of Jesus and their meaning (the trees), and in so doing they miss the most important aspect of the message, our relationship with God and with one another (the forest).
Let’s think about this for a moment, how is it possible to have a proper and right relationship with anyone, if we do not understand how to have a right and proper relationship with our own creator? And in so doing, understand His desires for how we are to live our lives. Don’t be trapped in the debates that often surround this scripture. But if that happens, let it happen with a clear understanding of the full context of Jesus words, and become right with God, learn to hear His call and be able to recognize His face. Then carefully discern His that call for your actions and for your life. Be guided by and with the knowledge of His full forgiveness of ALL sins, the sins that we ALL are burdened with and we ALL are responsible for. If we are truly open in our hearts and minds to ask for and accept God’s call and will in our lives then the lessons of Jesus become clear and evident, requiring little to no explanation and therefore they will serve more as reminders. They will become natural, a part of who we are, a part of how we conduct ourselves in the world. We truly then become God’s hands, eyes and ears for all to see, all to encounter and all to experience.
Jesus makes this point perfectly understandable for us in his instruction to “Let the little children come to me… for such are these that the kingdom of God belongs.” Children, pure of heart, clean from the trappings, misgivings and harsh realities of the earthly world governed and managed by people with human interests not Godly concerns. Children, open and honest, willing to accept and free to experience everything. The world is theirs. The future is theirs. The Kingdom of God is theirs to inherit. This is how we are to approach the balance of our time living among each other. Open, unfiltered, and sharing. Without any judgment and without any prerequisites. Accepting and giving with innocence in our hearts and in our minds. Childlike. Jesus further instructs, “Truly, I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”
This, this then is the importance of today’s Gospel. Renewal of our spiritual curiosity and renewal of our hunger, like a curious child who hungers for comfort, acceptance, knowledge and understanding of the world around him. We must look to see and experience anew. With fresh eyes and fresh desires to experience everything that God has created for us. To share our lives the way children first share their toys in a sandbox. Remember when you were very young or maybe remember your children’s youth and how simple and easily a child accepts another child and they begin to play together with no formal introduction, no formal guidelines of what to share or what to do or how to do it. Simple and pure, natural response mechanisms that bring young children together at play in a sandbox. This is the nature of God, who created us. Jesus instructs us to approach our lives and our relationships with that same simple understanding. Understanding, that all people who have been placed in the sandbox where we currently play are to be accepted and appreciated for the gifts that are themselves.
The Gospel is clear on God’s intent for how we are to approach our relationships and the significance and uniqueness of marriage. But do not fall into the debates that spring from the words of this lesson, instead, focus on the forest and become mindful of the path that God has created for us to follow. Keeping open our hearts and minds to fully understand the nature and origin of our creation and look for God’s call for how we are to act and respond in care for others. Actively seek God’s presence and God’s voice in directing you through the trees and along the path. The path becomes clearest when we use the eyes of our creator and not the eyes of our own choosing. Open your eyes today, call upon God to guide you, seek the Lord’s presence in you and receive the gift of forgiveness, so that you will be able to give that gift to others that you encounter along the way.
What does it take to be childlike again? How do we shed the burdens of a life lived by and through the control of our intellect? How do we “unlearn” the ways of a sinful world? These are difficult questions to give answer, especially when we approach them through the filter of our own experiences. The unfortunate reality is that when we use this filter, it is often set with the default that contains the bias of human action and negative human response. We need to change the dial and reset the default for this filter and allow more of, or perhaps only those responses in which we can find the joy and thankfulness of God’s will and presence.
We need to be “intentional” in seeking and finding God. We all should be able to agree with these words, “God is everywhere and in all places and in all things”. I know this, because I have heard many of us use these or similar words over the years. But do we really think that? Do we really believe that? What would happen if when we analyze it, we start with the assurance that God actually is in all things and in all places. Now, what happens when we actually, believe and accept that nothing is random in origin but given to us by God. What then? What happens when we encounter a difficult situation with our spouse but before we react, before we respond, we first look to see God their eyes and in their heart. What would change in how we respond? What are the likely consequences when we respond to God’s presence in that encounter? I believe, that it is likely to be a completely different response, which would yield a completely different result.
God has blessed me this year with the gift of new life. Through the help from many members of this congregation and my family, He has surrounded me with love and forgiveness, encouraging me to move forward in my journey and to discover the glory of His presence in this world. Although not always clear, my eyes have surely been opened. However, the real joy in this blessing, comes from being a witness to the discovery of renewal by others. A life alter experience, is to sit in conversation with another and see a transition and transformation to the awareness of God’s presence filling them and for that person to begin seeing and understanding it for the first time. Making everything they see appear new and different, though nothing has physically changed. But from that point forward, for that person, All has changed. The Holy Spirit is working right here in Bethlehem to open the hearts and eyes of all those who seek to deepen their relationship with God.
We have to teach ourselves how to be intentional about building our relationship with God. We need to seek council, guidance and support from one another. The relationship that you have with our Lord is yours and yours alone, no one can create, break or change the relationship that you establish and develop. It is you and you alone to make the choice and allow your heart to opened, no one can make that choice for you. It is you and you alone to decide to attend worship and give praise to God. It is you and you alone who decides to walk with Christ in your heart, and it is you and you alone who can offer the gift of Christ to others. It is here, where we need to support and strengthen one another. This is where the journey meets the road and it is up to each of us to encourage and care for those who seek to know the Lord. It is here, that we are reminded that in the body and blood of Holy Communion each week, we become one with Christ spiritually and physically. It is here by the example of Christ in us that we are able to make available the love of God to those who don’t know Him and it is here, where we find the entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Sermon for March 29, 2009
Grace Mercy and Peaceful given to you from God our Father, Amen
Once again, you have blessed me with the honor and privilege to stand before and try to bring illustration to today’s lessons.
Before I get started, there is something that I would like to ask of you first and foremost. Would you please join me in prayer? Please stand if you can and join hands, if you can’t, then would those nearby be certain to arrange yourselves so that no one is left alone and no one is left disconnected from the group. If you need to move around a little, that is OK. The key element is our connection to each other. The prayer that we are about to say is a prayer of silence, and although silent, this prayer is an active prayer. A prayer of preparation, a prayer to make room for the word of God, a prayer of listening, a prayer of hope and a prayer of expectation.
Close your eyes, silently ask God to be present with you. Ask Him to open your heart and open your mind to His word and His will. Cast aside your thoughts, release your fears into the hands of people you are connected with, silence your inner voice and listen for His words. As you pray, feel the energy that is being transferred into you through your connection with others. Feel it cross over into your body, gather in your mind, fill your heart and then pass back out to another through your hand. Can you feel the concerns, the needs, the pain, the joy and the hope of everyone in this room? Can you feel the life of others being alive in you? As we end this prayer, let us thank God for His presence with us and let us give thanks for the gift of the lives of those around us who are willing to share their time, giving of themselves so that we can be strengthen through the support they offer freely. You may sit down now.
Thanks you for sharing in this prayer. I hope that as your day continues that each of you will reflect back on this prayer to understand what God was saying to you and that you may have the confidence and courage to share your experience with someone else.
The Gospel lesson for today, the story of the death and transformation of a single grain of wheat and the glorious fruits it produces, illustrates the abundant and powerful love that God has and awaits us all in His kingdom. In review of available commentaries and discussions that I have had with a variety of people, I realized that in this passage, as with so many scripture lessons, there are a variety of points to ponder. The words of Jesus are so crafted that they can provide instruction in many ways. So, it is up to each of us to find for ourselves the message or messages that God has placed in the scripture, the message that awaits your discovery. In my preparation, I have found that my own attitude or state of mind had a direct impact on what I would find in this passage and at different times under different circumstances my vision changed. Even as I went back through and looked at verses that I underlined, I often had to remind myself as to why that particular part of the verse caught my attention. What I discovered and learned to accept, is that the Gospel reading for today reflects back at me in several ways, some of which have hit me straight between the eyes. God has made this scripture very personal for me this Sunday. Having said that, I need to emphasize, that this conversation that we are about to have, is not about me. I will share with you, personal experiences that have had an influence on me but I do so, only in the hope that it would help to illuminate the message that awaits you in today’s Gospel.
The subject of death is never an easy topic. Often, our questions overshadow available answers when we seek understanding and support following a time of loss. So here we are, facing Jesus, eye to eye and He leaves us with this instruction as recorded in John: 12, “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in the world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
I know that I have made mention in past sermons of a play that my oldest son was in at Wheaton College in Illinois, Johnny Pye. The musical is based on the story of the “Fool Killer” The Fool Killer is a spiritual being that no one but Johnny Pye can see. This spiritual being is a messenger of sorts, maybe more of a “Go For”. His job, is as the song goes “collecting the lode”, gathering what is God’s and returning it home. In this case the lode is nothing physical like boxes, crates, or any other kind of tangible material but rather the spirit and soles of those whose physical body have been shed. Following the passing of Johnny Pye’s father, young Johnny runs away, so as not to get caught by the Fool Killer. In one encounter with death Johnny confronts the Fool Killer, who leaves him with this riddle. When is a man a human being and not a fool?
Throughout his life the fool killer continues to take the soles of people Johnny knew and loved, including his wife and oldest child. As the story concludes Johnny, having lost all who were close to him finally discovers the answer to the riddle.
When is a man a human being and not a fool? The answer, when he is dead and buried. Johnny realized the foolishness of a life spent being chased by the unknown. He also came to the conclusion that life as he had defined it, was not perfect and that control was not within his ability.
Having spent his entire lifetime trying to control his circumstances and searching for the answer, witnessing and grieving the passing of so many people, Johnny finally asks for the Fool Killer to take him. And so he goes, with the hope that he will find for himself that which never left him, the love of his family and friends.
We are foolish to think that this world, we call earth, would be our refuge, our safe place, our place of comfort and a keeper of all that is good in our lives. As the Gospel lesson comes forward, Jesus gives us another parable our self exploration, and reflection, all to help us understand and remind us that, in fact, we are human beings. And in being human, we need to look beyond our manifest bodies and allow our sole to be free of the framework of living a life on earth. Our sinful nature, our humanness needs to be cast aside so that our spirit, our sole will have room to grow and accept God’s presence in our lives. We need to move beyond our ideas of who we think we are and clear a path for us to discover who God made us to be. That discovery can and will only take place if in fact we are prepared to lose ourselves lose ourselves in hope, faith and trust, that the seed God planted in us at our birth, will awaken to a new life. A life filled with abundant love, a life that is giving of itself just as Christ gave of Himself for our salvation. We must be willing to shed the self-directed life that we have been holding dear and embrace the life that God desires for us to live.
I believe that the riddle applies to our spiritual nature and that we can experience and be present with God the father by living a life that is modeled by and led by Jesus Christ. I believe that the Gospel is alive and is a personal guide to living a life that is both blessed and a blessing to others. I believe that this message is alive in the here and now. It is a lesson that provides a focal point for us to take aim and change the direction from life in a myopic prison of self satisfaction and self protection to a life of openness for caring and sharing. As Jesus puts forth this lesson, it is an opportunity and an invitation to walk with him in the here and now. For you see, Jesus is among us, He is alive and He is showing us the way to be present with him for he says; “Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also.” He is giving us instruction to give up our own self directed lives and accept the eternal life given to us through His own acts of self giving and self sacrifice.
As I said earlier, God hit me between the eyes with the very personal delivery of His message. On January 31st, almost 2 months ago now, God had my life in his hand, it was His for the taking. By most accounts and by most people with any knowledge of medical care, when I recorded a blood sugar level in access of 1100 (norm 100), I should have been at very least in coma and or even dead from stroke or a heart attack. I felt His presence many times in the past but this, this was something unique and different. I realized that I was not in control and that I had to completely let go and that the outcome would be of His choosing. On a day when I was to assist at the funeral service of friend and fellow Stephen minister Judy Brooks, I found myself in God’s palm not knowing if He will take me to Him or bring me forward to do His will. God held me together while he called upon others to guide me through the next 8 hours. God never left me alone, He kept me calm through the love, care and comfort of Dawn, the paramedic team and the attendants in the emergency room. This allowed/forced me to empty myself of my pride, my vanity and my belief that I had control. I was completely and utterly useless to myself. Whatever God wanted to happen, would happen now that control had been removed from me and my view of being a self-sufficient, self-directed man was erased. I lay there that night in peace and filled with the blessings of His love as given to me through the people who would care for me through my stay in the hospital and beyond. It was at that time when God held out His hand and released me, saying there is more for you to do, you have work yet to be done. This was not the first time that God had made himself known to me, but certainly He made His presence an experience to remember. As I look back over the years, I can now see the connection to this and other events and situations of my life. Maybe its maturity, maybe it’s the shock of a near death experience but more likely, it is God at work within me, showing me the nature and strength of His kindness and love.
Earlier this week, Dawn and I were driving back home from a visit with her mother and father in Oklahoma and in the course of our drive to make the travel a little easier on us, we stopped for the night at a Holiday Inn Express, somewhere in Missouri. We attempted to stop a little bit sooner at a different Holiday Inn, but their computer was not functioning and they could not take any new registrations. So, onward we went. About 30 minutes later we decided to try again. It was now about 10pm or so, when I entered the lobby and inquired about room availability and the status of their computer system. After a brief back and forth with the young women about nothing in particular, she began to tell me her story. Why she felt compelled I will never know, but she told me that she was a recovering drug addict and that she had been clean for the past 18 months. She told me about the near fatal accident that her fiancé had recently experienced. She then continued to tell me that they recently became members of a church and that the congregation there loved them both and embraced them with their prayers and with their love. She told me that Jesus had saved her from a path leading to certain death and that she had to give up her old life and dedicate her future to a life walking with Jesus. She said it was the least that she could do for His sacrifice for her. I believe God placed me there in that second Holiday Inn, so that I may meet this young women and in doing she would help bring this Gospel message to life for me from the perspective of another human being.
As I mentioned, God made this a very message personal. I like many of you, I have had my share of living with the heartache and hardships of death and I had to learn to find faith and trust in God. Trust that He had taken members of my family away for reasons yet to be discovered. In some regards, I think that I will always be on the search. But, there have been times in my life, where God has given me a vision and an insight to His plan, just when I needed it most. One such occasion took place earlier this month when God presented another side to this scripture. A side that would help me come full circle with His abundant love and mercy. March 9th is the birthday of my brother Scott. It has been nearly 20 years since I have been able to celebrate his birth with him. He passed at the young age of 32. You can say any number of things about his death and the causes and circumstances that drew him to a life filled with sadness and sorrow. Like an unfortunate many, and like the young women in Missouri, he fell victim to the control that drugs and alcohol have over a person’s spirit, which led him to take a destructive path in the second half of his life. Although Scott’s life was cut short, the memory of his whole life, will live within me. So, this year I wanted to make sure that I remembered him on his birthday. As I sat at the dinner table that night and prepared to say grace and offer a prayer for Scott, I was overwhelmed with the presence of God and a vision that was so clear I began to breakdown. Tears filled my eyes and my voice was silenced as I gazed upon the image of Scott with a smile on his face standing alongside Jesus. It seemed as though time stood still while my body was immobilized. I could not utter a word, I could not even begin to say my prayer and offer my praise and my petitions. God was granting me an opportunity to view the full circle of life. As we all have, I have experienced death and have grieved and had to find faith in God’s plan. But never, never before, have I experience an emotion so powerful as seeing both death and salvation at the same time. The enormity of this emotion and the experience of pain and joy rushed through my heart and my mind with the power and strength of a bulldozer. Later that night, in reflection of what I experienced, I realized that God brought this vision to me so that I may see for myself what lies ahead for each of us. As with my brother, despite the all the issues surrounding his later life and the things done to him and those that he did to himself, all was erased, all had been cast aside and all had been made perfect once again. It’s appropriate and necessary at this time to again remember, that as we continue this discussion, although very personal, we need to keep our focus rooted in the Gospel lesson and in the words of Jesus. This lesson, is about God’s unifying mercy for His creation. It is about Jesus, who is providing a path for us to follow. It’s about Christ’s self-sacrifice. It is about His death and it is about His resurrection. It is a call for us all, to look at the cross and discover why, Jesus had to die and why He did die. He died for you, He died for me and He died for Scott. Today, Scott lives with Christ. Today, if we shed ourselves of our own desires, if we shed ourselves of our prejudices, if we shed ourselves of the walls we have built for self-protection, and if we shed all of the clutter that makes us comfortable in our lives and make room, make room to accept God’s will, then we too can live with Christ and we can do it in the here and now. We do not have to wait for death to come to free us from the bondage of our sins. We have only to look at ourselves and realize that we do not have control over our destiny. And that the destiny of each and every one of us has already been written and the seed, the seed of which had already been planted inside of us. Christ is with us, He is in each us and He is ready and waiting for us. He is waiting for us to unlock that which is His to begin with, our hearts and soles.
For a length time now I have been trying to understand when, how and where to share God’s love with others. I have walked a path through personal, emotional and spiritual challenges in preparation for things yet to come. My experiences over these last 2 months have worked to solidify the fact, that God is with me and Jesus is in me. I believe He blessed me with this vision of Scott, so that I may be strengthened with intimate knowledge that God’s love is real and that He keeps watch over us, even if we don’t feel or see Him. I believe that He saved me so that I may continue to serve Him and I have discovered that I need to walk with confidence and to proclaim the good news. The good news, that Christ lives and salvation is granted to those who believe.
So, when is a man a human being and not a fool? When he sheds himself of the self-directed life he is living and accepts a life of self giving. As Jesus reminds us in today’s scripture, fruit can only be born as a result of the death of the seed, and that the Kingdom of God will be glorified by the fruits born from our own self sacrifice. Together, with all who serve and believe in the salvation given through the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, we will await the gift of an eternal life in heaven, Amen.
Once again, you have blessed me with the honor and privilege to stand before and try to bring illustration to today’s lessons.
Before I get started, there is something that I would like to ask of you first and foremost. Would you please join me in prayer? Please stand if you can and join hands, if you can’t, then would those nearby be certain to arrange yourselves so that no one is left alone and no one is left disconnected from the group. If you need to move around a little, that is OK. The key element is our connection to each other. The prayer that we are about to say is a prayer of silence, and although silent, this prayer is an active prayer. A prayer of preparation, a prayer to make room for the word of God, a prayer of listening, a prayer of hope and a prayer of expectation.
Close your eyes, silently ask God to be present with you. Ask Him to open your heart and open your mind to His word and His will. Cast aside your thoughts, release your fears into the hands of people you are connected with, silence your inner voice and listen for His words. As you pray, feel the energy that is being transferred into you through your connection with others. Feel it cross over into your body, gather in your mind, fill your heart and then pass back out to another through your hand. Can you feel the concerns, the needs, the pain, the joy and the hope of everyone in this room? Can you feel the life of others being alive in you? As we end this prayer, let us thank God for His presence with us and let us give thanks for the gift of the lives of those around us who are willing to share their time, giving of themselves so that we can be strengthen through the support they offer freely. You may sit down now.
Thanks you for sharing in this prayer. I hope that as your day continues that each of you will reflect back on this prayer to understand what God was saying to you and that you may have the confidence and courage to share your experience with someone else.
The Gospel lesson for today, the story of the death and transformation of a single grain of wheat and the glorious fruits it produces, illustrates the abundant and powerful love that God has and awaits us all in His kingdom. In review of available commentaries and discussions that I have had with a variety of people, I realized that in this passage, as with so many scripture lessons, there are a variety of points to ponder. The words of Jesus are so crafted that they can provide instruction in many ways. So, it is up to each of us to find for ourselves the message or messages that God has placed in the scripture, the message that awaits your discovery. In my preparation, I have found that my own attitude or state of mind had a direct impact on what I would find in this passage and at different times under different circumstances my vision changed. Even as I went back through and looked at verses that I underlined, I often had to remind myself as to why that particular part of the verse caught my attention. What I discovered and learned to accept, is that the Gospel reading for today reflects back at me in several ways, some of which have hit me straight between the eyes. God has made this scripture very personal for me this Sunday. Having said that, I need to emphasize, that this conversation that we are about to have, is not about me. I will share with you, personal experiences that have had an influence on me but I do so, only in the hope that it would help to illuminate the message that awaits you in today’s Gospel.
The subject of death is never an easy topic. Often, our questions overshadow available answers when we seek understanding and support following a time of loss. So here we are, facing Jesus, eye to eye and He leaves us with this instruction as recorded in John: 12, “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in the world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
I know that I have made mention in past sermons of a play that my oldest son was in at Wheaton College in Illinois, Johnny Pye. The musical is based on the story of the “Fool Killer” The Fool Killer is a spiritual being that no one but Johnny Pye can see. This spiritual being is a messenger of sorts, maybe more of a “Go For”. His job, is as the song goes “collecting the lode”, gathering what is God’s and returning it home. In this case the lode is nothing physical like boxes, crates, or any other kind of tangible material but rather the spirit and soles of those whose physical body have been shed. Following the passing of Johnny Pye’s father, young Johnny runs away, so as not to get caught by the Fool Killer. In one encounter with death Johnny confronts the Fool Killer, who leaves him with this riddle. When is a man a human being and not a fool?
Throughout his life the fool killer continues to take the soles of people Johnny knew and loved, including his wife and oldest child. As the story concludes Johnny, having lost all who were close to him finally discovers the answer to the riddle.
When is a man a human being and not a fool? The answer, when he is dead and buried. Johnny realized the foolishness of a life spent being chased by the unknown. He also came to the conclusion that life as he had defined it, was not perfect and that control was not within his ability.
Having spent his entire lifetime trying to control his circumstances and searching for the answer, witnessing and grieving the passing of so many people, Johnny finally asks for the Fool Killer to take him. And so he goes, with the hope that he will find for himself that which never left him, the love of his family and friends.
We are foolish to think that this world, we call earth, would be our refuge, our safe place, our place of comfort and a keeper of all that is good in our lives. As the Gospel lesson comes forward, Jesus gives us another parable our self exploration, and reflection, all to help us understand and remind us that, in fact, we are human beings. And in being human, we need to look beyond our manifest bodies and allow our sole to be free of the framework of living a life on earth. Our sinful nature, our humanness needs to be cast aside so that our spirit, our sole will have room to grow and accept God’s presence in our lives. We need to move beyond our ideas of who we think we are and clear a path for us to discover who God made us to be. That discovery can and will only take place if in fact we are prepared to lose ourselves lose ourselves in hope, faith and trust, that the seed God planted in us at our birth, will awaken to a new life. A life filled with abundant love, a life that is giving of itself just as Christ gave of Himself for our salvation. We must be willing to shed the self-directed life that we have been holding dear and embrace the life that God desires for us to live.
I believe that the riddle applies to our spiritual nature and that we can experience and be present with God the father by living a life that is modeled by and led by Jesus Christ. I believe that the Gospel is alive and is a personal guide to living a life that is both blessed and a blessing to others. I believe that this message is alive in the here and now. It is a lesson that provides a focal point for us to take aim and change the direction from life in a myopic prison of self satisfaction and self protection to a life of openness for caring and sharing. As Jesus puts forth this lesson, it is an opportunity and an invitation to walk with him in the here and now. For you see, Jesus is among us, He is alive and He is showing us the way to be present with him for he says; “Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also.” He is giving us instruction to give up our own self directed lives and accept the eternal life given to us through His own acts of self giving and self sacrifice.
As I said earlier, God hit me between the eyes with the very personal delivery of His message. On January 31st, almost 2 months ago now, God had my life in his hand, it was His for the taking. By most accounts and by most people with any knowledge of medical care, when I recorded a blood sugar level in access of 1100 (norm 100), I should have been at very least in coma and or even dead from stroke or a heart attack. I felt His presence many times in the past but this, this was something unique and different. I realized that I was not in control and that I had to completely let go and that the outcome would be of His choosing. On a day when I was to assist at the funeral service of friend and fellow Stephen minister Judy Brooks, I found myself in God’s palm not knowing if He will take me to Him or bring me forward to do His will. God held me together while he called upon others to guide me through the next 8 hours. God never left me alone, He kept me calm through the love, care and comfort of Dawn, the paramedic team and the attendants in the emergency room. This allowed/forced me to empty myself of my pride, my vanity and my belief that I had control. I was completely and utterly useless to myself. Whatever God wanted to happen, would happen now that control had been removed from me and my view of being a self-sufficient, self-directed man was erased. I lay there that night in peace and filled with the blessings of His love as given to me through the people who would care for me through my stay in the hospital and beyond. It was at that time when God held out His hand and released me, saying there is more for you to do, you have work yet to be done. This was not the first time that God had made himself known to me, but certainly He made His presence an experience to remember. As I look back over the years, I can now see the connection to this and other events and situations of my life. Maybe its maturity, maybe it’s the shock of a near death experience but more likely, it is God at work within me, showing me the nature and strength of His kindness and love.
Earlier this week, Dawn and I were driving back home from a visit with her mother and father in Oklahoma and in the course of our drive to make the travel a little easier on us, we stopped for the night at a Holiday Inn Express, somewhere in Missouri. We attempted to stop a little bit sooner at a different Holiday Inn, but their computer was not functioning and they could not take any new registrations. So, onward we went. About 30 minutes later we decided to try again. It was now about 10pm or so, when I entered the lobby and inquired about room availability and the status of their computer system. After a brief back and forth with the young women about nothing in particular, she began to tell me her story. Why she felt compelled I will never know, but she told me that she was a recovering drug addict and that she had been clean for the past 18 months. She told me about the near fatal accident that her fiancé had recently experienced. She then continued to tell me that they recently became members of a church and that the congregation there loved them both and embraced them with their prayers and with their love. She told me that Jesus had saved her from a path leading to certain death and that she had to give up her old life and dedicate her future to a life walking with Jesus. She said it was the least that she could do for His sacrifice for her. I believe God placed me there in that second Holiday Inn, so that I may meet this young women and in doing she would help bring this Gospel message to life for me from the perspective of another human being.
As I mentioned, God made this a very message personal. I like many of you, I have had my share of living with the heartache and hardships of death and I had to learn to find faith and trust in God. Trust that He had taken members of my family away for reasons yet to be discovered. In some regards, I think that I will always be on the search. But, there have been times in my life, where God has given me a vision and an insight to His plan, just when I needed it most. One such occasion took place earlier this month when God presented another side to this scripture. A side that would help me come full circle with His abundant love and mercy. March 9th is the birthday of my brother Scott. It has been nearly 20 years since I have been able to celebrate his birth with him. He passed at the young age of 32. You can say any number of things about his death and the causes and circumstances that drew him to a life filled with sadness and sorrow. Like an unfortunate many, and like the young women in Missouri, he fell victim to the control that drugs and alcohol have over a person’s spirit, which led him to take a destructive path in the second half of his life. Although Scott’s life was cut short, the memory of his whole life, will live within me. So, this year I wanted to make sure that I remembered him on his birthday. As I sat at the dinner table that night and prepared to say grace and offer a prayer for Scott, I was overwhelmed with the presence of God and a vision that was so clear I began to breakdown. Tears filled my eyes and my voice was silenced as I gazed upon the image of Scott with a smile on his face standing alongside Jesus. It seemed as though time stood still while my body was immobilized. I could not utter a word, I could not even begin to say my prayer and offer my praise and my petitions. God was granting me an opportunity to view the full circle of life. As we all have, I have experienced death and have grieved and had to find faith in God’s plan. But never, never before, have I experience an emotion so powerful as seeing both death and salvation at the same time. The enormity of this emotion and the experience of pain and joy rushed through my heart and my mind with the power and strength of a bulldozer. Later that night, in reflection of what I experienced, I realized that God brought this vision to me so that I may see for myself what lies ahead for each of us. As with my brother, despite the all the issues surrounding his later life and the things done to him and those that he did to himself, all was erased, all had been cast aside and all had been made perfect once again. It’s appropriate and necessary at this time to again remember, that as we continue this discussion, although very personal, we need to keep our focus rooted in the Gospel lesson and in the words of Jesus. This lesson, is about God’s unifying mercy for His creation. It is about Jesus, who is providing a path for us to follow. It’s about Christ’s self-sacrifice. It is about His death and it is about His resurrection. It is a call for us all, to look at the cross and discover why, Jesus had to die and why He did die. He died for you, He died for me and He died for Scott. Today, Scott lives with Christ. Today, if we shed ourselves of our own desires, if we shed ourselves of our prejudices, if we shed ourselves of the walls we have built for self-protection, and if we shed all of the clutter that makes us comfortable in our lives and make room, make room to accept God’s will, then we too can live with Christ and we can do it in the here and now. We do not have to wait for death to come to free us from the bondage of our sins. We have only to look at ourselves and realize that we do not have control over our destiny. And that the destiny of each and every one of us has already been written and the seed, the seed of which had already been planted inside of us. Christ is with us, He is in each us and He is ready and waiting for us. He is waiting for us to unlock that which is His to begin with, our hearts and soles.
For a length time now I have been trying to understand when, how and where to share God’s love with others. I have walked a path through personal, emotional and spiritual challenges in preparation for things yet to come. My experiences over these last 2 months have worked to solidify the fact, that God is with me and Jesus is in me. I believe He blessed me with this vision of Scott, so that I may be strengthened with intimate knowledge that God’s love is real and that He keeps watch over us, even if we don’t feel or see Him. I believe that He saved me so that I may continue to serve Him and I have discovered that I need to walk with confidence and to proclaim the good news. The good news, that Christ lives and salvation is granted to those who believe.
So, when is a man a human being and not a fool? When he sheds himself of the self-directed life he is living and accepts a life of self giving. As Jesus reminds us in today’s scripture, fruit can only be born as a result of the death of the seed, and that the Kingdom of God will be glorified by the fruits born from our own self sacrifice. Together, with all who serve and believe in the salvation given through the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, we will await the gift of an eternal life in heaven, Amen.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
In conversation with a friend the other day, I was trying to describe, what I believe is God call for me and my life. Here is a portion from that discussion:
I wish I had specifics but alas, I don't. There is this sense/vision/hope/opportunity that is in my thoughts and is more easily felt in my heart and seen in my minds eye then it is to express aloud. The message is simple, so simple that in trying to describe it, the words seem so complex and require more words to accurately articulate the intent of the message. "God on earth - seek Him, live Him, love Him". That's the best I have to offer. The rest is a call to action to guide, encourage and affirm people so that the above statement may become a reality for them. So simple, yet our hearts and minds work hard to make sense of it and begin the search for hard facts, visual evidence or specific and measured results. We are so focused on the conclusion that we do not even understand the original opportunity. We need to have the outcome before we begin the journey. Funny thing is, that the real journey begins with just one simple act, "opening the door", something we do everyday. The difference is whether or not we look for and are prepared to encounter Christ. Do we recognize and then acknowledge God's work, as people are lead by the Holy Spirit to do His will?
I wish I had specifics but alas, I don't. There is this sense/vision/hope/opportunity that is in my thoughts and is more easily felt in my heart and seen in my minds eye then it is to express aloud. The message is simple, so simple that in trying to describe it, the words seem so complex and require more words to accurately articulate the intent of the message. "God on earth - seek Him, live Him, love Him". That's the best I have to offer. The rest is a call to action to guide, encourage and affirm people so that the above statement may become a reality for them. So simple, yet our hearts and minds work hard to make sense of it and begin the search for hard facts, visual evidence or specific and measured results. We are so focused on the conclusion that we do not even understand the original opportunity. We need to have the outcome before we begin the journey. Funny thing is, that the real journey begins with just one simple act, "opening the door", something we do everyday. The difference is whether or not we look for and are prepared to encounter Christ. Do we recognize and then acknowledge God's work, as people are lead by the Holy Spirit to do His will?
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Love
LOVE
We all want to love
To love you need to be loved
To be loved you have to accept love
To accept love you have to be open to the gift of love
To be open to the gift of love you have to become vulnerable
To become vulnerable you have let go of your self-image and lose yourself to love
To lose yourself to love you need to make known your emotions, needs, doubts and fears
To make known your emotions, needs, doubts and fears you need to have faith in God the Father
To have faith in God the Father you need to trust that through His son all is forgiven and the glory of Heaven awaits
We all want to love
To love you need to be loved
To be loved you have to accept love
To accept love you have to be open to the gift of love
To be open to the gift of love you have to become vulnerable
To become vulnerable you have let go of your self-image and lose yourself to love
To lose yourself to love you need to make known your emotions, needs, doubts and fears
To make known your emotions, needs, doubts and fears you need to have faith in God the Father
To have faith in God the Father you need to trust that through His son all is forgiven and the glory of Heaven awaits
An Experience of a Lifetime
An experience of a lifetime. That what it was/is. God had his hand on my life. He held it out and said there is more for you to do. By most accords and most people of knowledge, when I recorded a blood sugar level in access of 1100 (norm 100), I should have been dead or at very least in a coma. God held me together while he called upon others to guide me through the next 8 hours. I felt His presence many times in the past but this, this was something unique and different. I realized that I was not in control and that I had to completely let go and that the outcome would be of His choosing. I believe that He saved me so that I may continue to serve Him here. On a day when I was to assist at the funeral service of friend and fellow Stephen minister, I found myself in God’s palm not knowing if He will take me to Him or bring me forward to do His will.
For a length time now I have been trying to understand what, how and where to share His love with others. I have walked a path through personal, emotional and spiritual challenges in preparation for things yet to come. My experience this past weekend works to solidify the fact, that God is with me and Jesus is in me. I now need to take proper inventory of my faith and my commitment to the care and ministry that will match the talents that He has blessed me with.
For a length time now I have been trying to understand what, how and where to share His love with others. I have walked a path through personal, emotional and spiritual challenges in preparation for things yet to come. My experience this past weekend works to solidify the fact, that God is with me and Jesus is in me. I now need to take proper inventory of my faith and my commitment to the care and ministry that will match the talents that He has blessed me with.
Found and Lost
Found and Lost
Yes, this is the title of this essay and no I don’t have dyslexia or at least not at this moment as I write. Many people may be able to relate to this statement as I find myself working through this very feeling this morning. How can a person be found but have the feeling of being lost? What does this look like emotionally? In simplest terms, it is a feeling of being in limbo, a feeling of uncertainty that leads to unrest and uneasiness in one’s life. Knowing both intellectually and spiritually, the a God is with me and that He wants me to be in Him, keeps the limbo feeling from spreading into a darker chasm of worry and fear. Yet, at the same time, it falls short and brings about a feeling of something being missed. That is where the lost part comes into play. What keeps coming forward is the need to have an awareness of the direction that your life is supposed to take as the days come and go. Life is good, God has once again provided for me all that I need to live a life that is full in family and surrounded by faithful people who genuinely care. So, what’s the issue with this being lost thing? Purpose, God has revealed Himself to me in many ways and at many different times, giving me a sense of assurance that I was on a path to know His purpose for my life. A year or so later and I find myself still trying to put the pieces together and wondering if I missed something along the way or is He still preparing me for the work that He desires for me to accomplish?
Found, most definitely. God has continued to bless me with His presence as I open my heart each and every time I call to Him in prayer. He shows me quickly that He has not left my side and will also be just a simple prayer away. I have been found, more specifically, I have found that God has always known where to find me and I only recently discovered how to reach out to Him and actually be present with Him and not merely speak at Him in my prayers. He desires and awaits my call and my extended hand to welcome Him into my life. He wants for all His people to bring Him into a dialogue and allow ourselves to develop a relationship with Him, so that as we go forward in our daily ventures of life, He will be there right in front of us leading the way and lighting the path for our movements through His kingdom on earth. So, if you understand all this, what then gives with this lost thing? I think it may be patience, I feel I have traveled so far that I must be nearer to the point of clearly seeing His plan. In fact there have been times where I was almost certain I understood, only to discover that the time for me to know has not yet arrived. It is during these moments that I feel lost. So close, yet so far. I have tried re-evaluating to see if I missed something along the way or if in fact maybe I influenced and indulged myself into believing that I am even on God’s path and not just on path created by an ego trip of my own making.
Lost, that time in one’s life where affirmation is not only needed but might possibly be critical in order to unblock and reopen a path and make progress in developing a deeper relationship with God. In this I am discovering that I must have patience. Patience requires faith, faith that comes from knowing that you can reach out and touch Him when you need Him and although He has yet revealed to you all of what you desire to know, He indeed will. In His time and for His purposes, God will become manifest in you to accomplish His plan. Find rest and comfort in those He provides to you for company and care. He will give to you, you who are faithful and patient that which you seek. Call on God to be present whenever you need and pray for His intersession in your time of uncertainty before it leads to a time of loneliness and despair. Find Him present and rejoice with Him who awaits your calling. Ask and He will answer.
Yes, this is the title of this essay and no I don’t have dyslexia or at least not at this moment as I write. Many people may be able to relate to this statement as I find myself working through this very feeling this morning. How can a person be found but have the feeling of being lost? What does this look like emotionally? In simplest terms, it is a feeling of being in limbo, a feeling of uncertainty that leads to unrest and uneasiness in one’s life. Knowing both intellectually and spiritually, the a God is with me and that He wants me to be in Him, keeps the limbo feeling from spreading into a darker chasm of worry and fear. Yet, at the same time, it falls short and brings about a feeling of something being missed. That is where the lost part comes into play. What keeps coming forward is the need to have an awareness of the direction that your life is supposed to take as the days come and go. Life is good, God has once again provided for me all that I need to live a life that is full in family and surrounded by faithful people who genuinely care. So, what’s the issue with this being lost thing? Purpose, God has revealed Himself to me in many ways and at many different times, giving me a sense of assurance that I was on a path to know His purpose for my life. A year or so later and I find myself still trying to put the pieces together and wondering if I missed something along the way or is He still preparing me for the work that He desires for me to accomplish?
Found, most definitely. God has continued to bless me with His presence as I open my heart each and every time I call to Him in prayer. He shows me quickly that He has not left my side and will also be just a simple prayer away. I have been found, more specifically, I have found that God has always known where to find me and I only recently discovered how to reach out to Him and actually be present with Him and not merely speak at Him in my prayers. He desires and awaits my call and my extended hand to welcome Him into my life. He wants for all His people to bring Him into a dialogue and allow ourselves to develop a relationship with Him, so that as we go forward in our daily ventures of life, He will be there right in front of us leading the way and lighting the path for our movements through His kingdom on earth. So, if you understand all this, what then gives with this lost thing? I think it may be patience, I feel I have traveled so far that I must be nearer to the point of clearly seeing His plan. In fact there have been times where I was almost certain I understood, only to discover that the time for me to know has not yet arrived. It is during these moments that I feel lost. So close, yet so far. I have tried re-evaluating to see if I missed something along the way or if in fact maybe I influenced and indulged myself into believing that I am even on God’s path and not just on path created by an ego trip of my own making.
Lost, that time in one’s life where affirmation is not only needed but might possibly be critical in order to unblock and reopen a path and make progress in developing a deeper relationship with God. In this I am discovering that I must have patience. Patience requires faith, faith that comes from knowing that you can reach out and touch Him when you need Him and although He has yet revealed to you all of what you desire to know, He indeed will. In His time and for His purposes, God will become manifest in you to accomplish His plan. Find rest and comfort in those He provides to you for company and care. He will give to you, you who are faithful and patient that which you seek. Call on God to be present whenever you need and pray for His intersession in your time of uncertainty before it leads to a time of loneliness and despair. Find Him present and rejoice with Him who awaits your calling. Ask and He will answer.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
New Year 2009
2009, another new year quickly approaches to greet us with all of the challenges and opportunities of all the years past. As with the changing of every year, there is hope and there is unrest. As January 1st is about to present itself to each of us, we have the capability to create anew, a life that we have only dreamed of living. We have in front of us the opportunity to start fresh and to look with optimism and great joy the day that is tomorrow.
Have you ever looked and considered why New Years Day follows so closely after Christmas? I believe that the seven days between the two are given to us as a time of Celebration, reflection and preparation.
Celebration – It is obvious to most, the celebration of the birth of a child, God made flesh. A child, who will give us instruction for our lives and who will later sacrifice His life so that we may live. What a joyous occasion to join the world and celebrate the coming of the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, our savior and God incarnate.
Reflection – During these seven days we have an opportunity to reflect on our lives and give consideration for how we may or may not be answering God’s call. God has given each of us unique talents that we are to share with all of His creation. This is a wonderful and peaceful time for us to look back and rethink the actions we took and the actions we walked away from over the past year. When or where did God place in front of you the opportunity to serve Him and what is it that you did with that opportunity?
Preparation – A week to prepare for a full year of living a Godly life. Not much time but in keeping with God’s plan this is ample time to organize your thoughts, to pray and listen for God’s call to you. Prepare yourself to be open and receptive to movement of the Holy Spirit in and around you. Soften you heart to be sensitive to the needs of the community of organizations and people that surround your life. Allow yourself to be forgiven, to be cleansed and healed emotionally, spiritually and physically so that you can go out into a word that needs your uniqueness and the talents that God has placed within you. God made the world with you in mind and it is made whole, when you participate and use the talents given to you.
So what does lay ahead for each of us, our family, our friends and our community? We will never know the answer to that question until the events of the year unfold in front of us. But what we do know is that God provides for those who come to Him and He is within the reach of all. The details of the events of days ahead will weigh you down, but when you turn to God for comfort, love, support and guidance in all you do, He will lift the burden of those details from your shoulders and bring peace and serenity into your life. Focus your attention on He who has prepared a place for you and will deliver you from worldly troubles and trials and He will give you peace and rest. This is what the future holds for you. The opportunity to find peace and rest in a world that can be hard and cold. The opportunity to have the comfort of the Father, the love of the Son and the strength of the Holy Spirit. This is our future. This is why we can optimistic for ourselves, our friends and our community. When we seek and find God among us, there will be nothing to fear. When we seek and find God among us, there will be hope and joy. Happy New Year to everyone, may the light and love of Christ shine bright through your eyes for all the world to see in 2009.
Have you ever looked and considered why New Years Day follows so closely after Christmas? I believe that the seven days between the two are given to us as a time of Celebration, reflection and preparation.
Celebration – It is obvious to most, the celebration of the birth of a child, God made flesh. A child, who will give us instruction for our lives and who will later sacrifice His life so that we may live. What a joyous occasion to join the world and celebrate the coming of the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, our savior and God incarnate.
Reflection – During these seven days we have an opportunity to reflect on our lives and give consideration for how we may or may not be answering God’s call. God has given each of us unique talents that we are to share with all of His creation. This is a wonderful and peaceful time for us to look back and rethink the actions we took and the actions we walked away from over the past year. When or where did God place in front of you the opportunity to serve Him and what is it that you did with that opportunity?
Preparation – A week to prepare for a full year of living a Godly life. Not much time but in keeping with God’s plan this is ample time to organize your thoughts, to pray and listen for God’s call to you. Prepare yourself to be open and receptive to movement of the Holy Spirit in and around you. Soften you heart to be sensitive to the needs of the community of organizations and people that surround your life. Allow yourself to be forgiven, to be cleansed and healed emotionally, spiritually and physically so that you can go out into a word that needs your uniqueness and the talents that God has placed within you. God made the world with you in mind and it is made whole, when you participate and use the talents given to you.
So what does lay ahead for each of us, our family, our friends and our community? We will never know the answer to that question until the events of the year unfold in front of us. But what we do know is that God provides for those who come to Him and He is within the reach of all. The details of the events of days ahead will weigh you down, but when you turn to God for comfort, love, support and guidance in all you do, He will lift the burden of those details from your shoulders and bring peace and serenity into your life. Focus your attention on He who has prepared a place for you and will deliver you from worldly troubles and trials and He will give you peace and rest. This is what the future holds for you. The opportunity to find peace and rest in a world that can be hard and cold. The opportunity to have the comfort of the Father, the love of the Son and the strength of the Holy Spirit. This is our future. This is why we can optimistic for ourselves, our friends and our community. When we seek and find God among us, there will be nothing to fear. When we seek and find God among us, there will be hope and joy. Happy New Year to everyone, may the light and love of Christ shine bright through your eyes for all the world to see in 2009.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Titles
As humans we strive to have recognition in our lives and often that comes from being given or having achieved a status to have gained a title. A title is just what it is a title. It is not our identity, it is not our existence and it is not always fitting and proper to whom we really are in this world. If we can learn to accept, that we are what we are and not rely on names or titles to define us. then we will surely be open to understand that which God has placed in us. Titles place both expectations and limitations on people. God does not have titles for his children. There are no distinctions in His love for us based on names or titles; there is no less an expectation for all His children to do His will because of a title.
The evidence is quit clear, once you understand the base concept. Look at the world around you and observe the actions of all the people you meet or know. Does one need to have the title of “Leader” to be a leader of people? Does one need to have the title of Stephen Minister to care for people in need? Does one need to have the title of Teacher to train and be a mentor to people? Does one need the title of Pastor to minister and share God’s love and hope for His creation?
Some times those who have earned and have been granted a title feel a burden to live up to the expectations of that title. Often times, those expectations are either self imposed or have been planted by others who have defined the role and responsibility on their terms or at least on earthly terms for those who carry that title. This then can limit and this then create boundaries for those who God has chosen to be what He created them to be.
Earthly definitions of who we are and how we are to respond by designation of our title can lead us to hide and to hold ourselves back from who we are to be by His design. I have been blessed to have been taught by those who are not “Teachers”, I have been blessed to have been cared for by people who are not “Ministers”, and I have been fortunate to have been counseled by those who are not “Counselors”.
We are who we are because that is who God made us to be. When we can open ourselves up to accept that earthly titles mean nothing in God’s kingdom, then and only then can we be free to be His creation.
The evidence is quit clear, once you understand the base concept. Look at the world around you and observe the actions of all the people you meet or know. Does one need to have the title of “Leader” to be a leader of people? Does one need to have the title of Stephen Minister to care for people in need? Does one need to have the title of Teacher to train and be a mentor to people? Does one need the title of Pastor to minister and share God’s love and hope for His creation?
Some times those who have earned and have been granted a title feel a burden to live up to the expectations of that title. Often times, those expectations are either self imposed or have been planted by others who have defined the role and responsibility on their terms or at least on earthly terms for those who carry that title. This then can limit and this then create boundaries for those who God has chosen to be what He created them to be.
Earthly definitions of who we are and how we are to respond by designation of our title can lead us to hide and to hold ourselves back from who we are to be by His design. I have been blessed to have been taught by those who are not “Teachers”, I have been blessed to have been cared for by people who are not “Ministers”, and I have been fortunate to have been counseled by those who are not “Counselors”.
We are who we are because that is who God made us to be. When we can open ourselves up to accept that earthly titles mean nothing in God’s kingdom, then and only then can we be free to be His creation.
Could we start again, please?
I’ve been living to see you,
Dying to see you, but it shouldn’t be like this.
This was unexpected, what do I do now?
Could we start again please?
These are the words from a song in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. In the production the song is presented by Mary, Peter and James shortly after the arrest of Jesus.
Put yourself in those days and you are a direct witness and follower of Christ. From the religious teachings of your youth, you know that God will send the Messiah and yet while you were with Him, you doubt and do not yet see Jesus as the Son of God. Then upon His capture your mind suddenly races and you recall all that He has done, all that you have witnessed and you begin to see that things add up differently then you expected. Now you begin to realize that He had been with you along.
Can you image the emptiness and the sorrow that you would feel to have learned that Christ was right in front of you the whole time and you never saw Him for who He is? How unexpected. Could He really have been standing next to me? How could He ever forgive me now? So, now that you see and now that you know, you ask, could we start again, please? A sincere and honest request yet how great the fear and how vast the emptiness they must have felt. A simple request and a simple prayer, could we start again, please? How many times have each of us felt this way and in the same way petitioned God to make it so.
Journey ahead 2,000 years and what do we see today? Do we see God’s presence in the world? Christ is with us today. Do we see Him? Or better yet would we know Him if you saw Him? He is among us. He is living with us and He is presenting Himself to us. But, for us to see Him, we have to open our hearts, open our minds and open ourselves and enter into a relationship with Him. When we cleanse ourselves from the distractions of the world and when we use the tools of our faith, then we will be able to enter in to that relationship. This opens our eyes and ears and will allow us to see Him in our daily lives, as He walks among us. We will see the glory of His grace, receive the beauty of His mercy and feel the calm of His forgiveness.
We all have been living to see Him and perhaps also we have look right passed Him. We know that by His redemptive love and through our faith that we will see Him when we pass. Let us not wait for that moment. Let us look for Him and experience His presence today. He lives within the hearts and minds of all His children. Open your eyes and see His love, His healing strength and His will being done through those He has chosen. Live to be with Him, live to do His will and live to experience the glorious gift of His presence that He freely gives to you.
Could we start again, please?
God answers this prayer with every day He gives to us. Because of the gift of His son and through His resurrection He is alive and with us today. We are given the opportunity to discover His presence every morning we wake and we are given the opportunity to start again.
Dying to see you, but it shouldn’t be like this.
This was unexpected, what do I do now?
Could we start again please?
These are the words from a song in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. In the production the song is presented by Mary, Peter and James shortly after the arrest of Jesus.
Put yourself in those days and you are a direct witness and follower of Christ. From the religious teachings of your youth, you know that God will send the Messiah and yet while you were with Him, you doubt and do not yet see Jesus as the Son of God. Then upon His capture your mind suddenly races and you recall all that He has done, all that you have witnessed and you begin to see that things add up differently then you expected. Now you begin to realize that He had been with you along.
Can you image the emptiness and the sorrow that you would feel to have learned that Christ was right in front of you the whole time and you never saw Him for who He is? How unexpected. Could He really have been standing next to me? How could He ever forgive me now? So, now that you see and now that you know, you ask, could we start again, please? A sincere and honest request yet how great the fear and how vast the emptiness they must have felt. A simple request and a simple prayer, could we start again, please? How many times have each of us felt this way and in the same way petitioned God to make it so.
Journey ahead 2,000 years and what do we see today? Do we see God’s presence in the world? Christ is with us today. Do we see Him? Or better yet would we know Him if you saw Him? He is among us. He is living with us and He is presenting Himself to us. But, for us to see Him, we have to open our hearts, open our minds and open ourselves and enter into a relationship with Him. When we cleanse ourselves from the distractions of the world and when we use the tools of our faith, then we will be able to enter in to that relationship. This opens our eyes and ears and will allow us to see Him in our daily lives, as He walks among us. We will see the glory of His grace, receive the beauty of His mercy and feel the calm of His forgiveness.
We all have been living to see Him and perhaps also we have look right passed Him. We know that by His redemptive love and through our faith that we will see Him when we pass. Let us not wait for that moment. Let us look for Him and experience His presence today. He lives within the hearts and minds of all His children. Open your eyes and see His love, His healing strength and His will being done through those He has chosen. Live to be with Him, live to do His will and live to experience the glorious gift of His presence that He freely gives to you.
Could we start again, please?
God answers this prayer with every day He gives to us. Because of the gift of His son and through His resurrection He is alive and with us today. We are given the opportunity to discover His presence every morning we wake and we are given the opportunity to start again.
Jesus is the Son of God
In order for man to understand who the Son of God is, He gave a brief encounter to a few of the chosen so that they may comprehend the gift that He was about to give, the life, death and the resurrection of His only Son. On the day of the Transfiguration of Jesus, God shows to us His full understanding of what He created in us. Through our imperfections and our sins He knows our short comings. He knows that man can not absorb the magnificence and the meaning of this gift. So, He chose to provide a clear picture so that man can see the truth. That Jesus is the Son of God, our future and our Savior. He knew the difficulties we have in understanding the Spirits call and our inability to accept fully the teachings that come from the Spirit. So He chose a visual process to gain our attention to show us the truth. As humans, our nature is to only believe in what we see. Until our eyes actually see and or our hands actually touch we choose to be skeptics. God knows this is about His creation and that is why He provides a visual for those He has chosen to carry the message forward for all to hear and for all to accept. Jesus is the Son of God the Father, Jesus is our Savior, the gift of light, our salvation and the example of the life that is to come.
Today, we can still see that which the apostles saw. We first need to shed ourselves from the trappings of traditional worldly views and open our hearts and minds to see the glory of His gift in each of us. Jesus is with us. Each day He brings a visual and physical presence of His life. We just don’t see it for what it is. We give credit to those things that are more tangible, more accepted and easily explained as being from the world. But, they are not. In every action of love, every action of care and every action of forgiveness, God shows us His Son. It is hard to believe and it is harder to accept that Christ resides inside each of us in both a spiritual and physical sense. We are afraid of the truth. We, with our worldly view refuse to see it as such. For if this is true, our accountability for our actions, decisions and life may be unbearable for us to reconcile. But if we have true faith, then we know that His love, grace and forgiveness will save us from ourselves. If we have the courage and strength to look beyond this world then we will see the light of the Son of God in those around us.
Today, we can still see that which the apostles saw. We first need to shed ourselves from the trappings of traditional worldly views and open our hearts and minds to see the glory of His gift in each of us. Jesus is with us. Each day He brings a visual and physical presence of His life. We just don’t see it for what it is. We give credit to those things that are more tangible, more accepted and easily explained as being from the world. But, they are not. In every action of love, every action of care and every action of forgiveness, God shows us His Son. It is hard to believe and it is harder to accept that Christ resides inside each of us in both a spiritual and physical sense. We are afraid of the truth. We, with our worldly view refuse to see it as such. For if this is true, our accountability for our actions, decisions and life may be unbearable for us to reconcile. But if we have true faith, then we know that His love, grace and forgiveness will save us from ourselves. If we have the courage and strength to look beyond this world then we will see the light of the Son of God in those around us.
A simple issue
It really is a simple issue. When you eliminate all the baggage, all of the worldly circumstances and teachings that cloud our judgment, it really is easy and it really is simple. Placed in each of us is His love, His mercy, His grace and forgiveness. We are our own worse enemy. We, by our logical and earthly perspective, in a way become a vehicle for evil to escape. We allow that which is pure to be contaminated by our own pursuit to quantify, categorize and control events, people and things around us so we can understand. Yet, in our essence there is purity and only when we shed ourselves of the logic, the teaching and the earthly perspective can we feel that which God has created.
It is pure. It is simple and it is Love. Love forgives all, love soothes pain and love is the basis for growth. When spiritual growth comes from love it can never be taken away. It will be with you always and it is something that you will share.
Christ is whole when we share His love with one another. He is risen when we extend our hand in support of someone in need. He is merciful and ever present with those who have opened their hearts and minds to what has been given to them. We are all called to seek the freedom that has been placed in all of us, the freedom to love. We are called to be His children.
However, in our humanness we have built shields to protect us from the fallen world around us. But in those shields we often hide ourselves from God’s will and desire for us to serve in this world. Yet, there is no shield that we can build to save ourselves. Thankfully, there is no shield that we can raise to keep Him from loving us. But it is by His grace alone, that we are to be saved from our sins and from our own mortal shame.
He will guide us, if we only have the courage to follow that which He has placed deep in our hearts, His love. For some, this comes easy to understand, yet for others, it is a difficult reality to accept and then it may even be harder to embrace and to follow. But still, it is very basic and very simple, He is among us and He is in us. How much easier can it be? By our nature, we are suspect of that which we don’t understand. But it is as simple as a newborn’s cry and it is as pure as a new mother’s tear. If only we can remember this and keep it alive in our hearts each and every day so that we may experience His hand in everything that we do. What a blessing we will have. Amen.
It is pure. It is simple and it is Love. Love forgives all, love soothes pain and love is the basis for growth. When spiritual growth comes from love it can never be taken away. It will be with you always and it is something that you will share.
Christ is whole when we share His love with one another. He is risen when we extend our hand in support of someone in need. He is merciful and ever present with those who have opened their hearts and minds to what has been given to them. We are all called to seek the freedom that has been placed in all of us, the freedom to love. We are called to be His children.
However, in our humanness we have built shields to protect us from the fallen world around us. But in those shields we often hide ourselves from God’s will and desire for us to serve in this world. Yet, there is no shield that we can build to save ourselves. Thankfully, there is no shield that we can raise to keep Him from loving us. But it is by His grace alone, that we are to be saved from our sins and from our own mortal shame.
He will guide us, if we only have the courage to follow that which He has placed deep in our hearts, His love. For some, this comes easy to understand, yet for others, it is a difficult reality to accept and then it may even be harder to embrace and to follow. But still, it is very basic and very simple, He is among us and He is in us. How much easier can it be? By our nature, we are suspect of that which we don’t understand. But it is as simple as a newborn’s cry and it is as pure as a new mother’s tear. If only we can remember this and keep it alive in our hearts each and every day so that we may experience His hand in everything that we do. What a blessing we will have. Amen.
A magical moment
A magical moment. That is what it is like when you experience the presence of Christ in you as you come face to face with another person who is in need of His love. It really isn’t magic but is in fact the spark of the Holy Spirit working in you and at that moment in time and at that exact point in space where you touch and hold that person’s hand you feel and have within you the Love of Christ. It is by your touch that you bring His life forward as a gift. A gift of comfort, a gift of safety, and a gift of freedom, that can only come from God himself. By that touch the hand that you extend is not yours but Christ’s. You are chosen. You are the one who brings His face to the world and to guide others unto the pathway of His grace, His mercy and His forgiveness. If not for you, then who else? You have been called, you have been given the strength of the Spirit, you have been shown the glory of His presence in that which you do. Have faith and have confidence that He is right beside you now, just as you have always known and as He always will be. This is just the beginning. There is more that He has in store for you. Be patient, be strong, and be confident in all that you are doing. God is with you. God is with us and God will shine his light for us to follow in His will and in His time.
Where to begin
Where to begin? How about, why am I here? That seems simple enough. But the fact is I don’t know why I am here, only that I am, and that I am beginning to understand that it is my role, my function, my time to be present and to speak about the things that God has put forth in my mind, in my heart and in my voice. I have no justification for why He chose for me to say these things. Certainly, I have not lived the purified life of one who you would regard as someone to follow and or to imitate. I have tried for many years to find validation for my thoughts on spiritual matters and I have yet to find the answer. I am not a biblical scholar nor am I a trained and educated minister. By all earthly measurement, I have no qualifications at all to be speaking to you or anyone through this document about the things that I write. What I am beginning to understand, is that God is working in me, through the Holy Spirit, to compel me to action on some level for what he has equipped me to do for Him. I am starting to see that it is the Spirit that gives what God designates for each of us to have and then places it in front of us to act on or to use in our lives. Who am I and why am I here? Is it even a question that I can answer? The reality is that I don’t know. I have fear that my materialistic and humanistic perspective is providing me with ambition of self determination and promises of achieving something that I am not designated to attain. If I respond on what it is I feel, how do I know that it is God’s calling for me? Perhaps the truth is that no human can ever know what God actually wants and is doing inside of him. Perhaps the best you can do as a person is to simply UNDERSTAND. How foolish is it to think, I or any of us really can lay claim to God’s desire for his individual creations. The best we can do is to open the shells that we have acquired throurgh the preparation of worldly institutions and self proclaimed teachers and simply listen, UNDERSTAND and respond to what God has placed in each of us. His desire for what we are to do, our talent, our uniqueness, that which makes us different and allows for the greater whole to grow and to survive. We prevent ourselves to be who we truly are. We give in to either societal definitions or suppress our own value because we are not worthy to be who God has design and created us to be. We must work to discover the joy, freedom and the love that abounds when we open ourselves to be people of God’s calling. Acting through the true power of the Holy Spirit and guided by the Love of Christ in our hearts, we must work to break the boundaries that prevent us from being what we are created to be. A child of God.
God's will be done
Everything that happens, happens for a reason. This has been said by many people to many people as a way to console or as an easy way to find acceptance to that which we have done or that which we could not control.
God is with us. He is with us as we do His will and He is with us when we make mistakes. He has granted us free will and He knows that we are capable and but also likely to fail in meeting His desires for our actions in this world. God also has a sense of humor about Him. He is amused by our belief, that we can control our destiny.
Our destiny is in His hands not ours. It is not for us to control but for us to openly obey His will and direction for our lives. God has created us in His image. He has given us a purity of spirit that we must continue to discover. The world around us is troublesome and it is hard at work attempting to pull us from Him. We can not allow ourselves to be caught up in the turmoil and the derisive actions of those who believe that they have control over the destiny of people. We are His and because we are His, no one, no nation and no other entity can take us from Him. He is and will be forever with us. We are His. We only need to let go of ourselves and to trust His will, to discover the grace and peace that He desires for all to experience. When we open our hearts and open our minds in prayer, He will guide us.
He has also given us free will so that we can experience the world around us through His eyes. When we use the tools of His creation, the talents and the abilities that He has blessed us with, we will then feel His presence. The gift of free will is given to us so that we can contrast and compare a world that is at one with Him versus a world that is alone and devoid of His presence. He has done this so that we can understand who we are and that which we are to be. Through this comparison, we can see the blessing of His work in us and in those He has chosen. As we look for theses examples we will see that His mercy and His love shines like a sun itself. The emotional and physical experience of His presence in the world strikes us with a clear understanding of who we are and how we are to conduct our lives. Without this comparison, we would not be able to fully grasp the magnitude of His glory and accept the gift of His forgiveness.
God chooses those He wants to be the examples of His presence. He guides those that He selects to be His messengers and to carry out His will. The glory comes when we learn that we are all chosen. What we don’t know yet is how He plans to use us or when we are to be called upon to do His work.
God is with us. He is with us as we do His will and He is with us when we make mistakes. He has granted us free will and He knows that we are capable and but also likely to fail in meeting His desires for our actions in this world. God also has a sense of humor about Him. He is amused by our belief, that we can control our destiny.
Our destiny is in His hands not ours. It is not for us to control but for us to openly obey His will and direction for our lives. God has created us in His image. He has given us a purity of spirit that we must continue to discover. The world around us is troublesome and it is hard at work attempting to pull us from Him. We can not allow ourselves to be caught up in the turmoil and the derisive actions of those who believe that they have control over the destiny of people. We are His and because we are His, no one, no nation and no other entity can take us from Him. He is and will be forever with us. We are His. We only need to let go of ourselves and to trust His will, to discover the grace and peace that He desires for all to experience. When we open our hearts and open our minds in prayer, He will guide us.
He has also given us free will so that we can experience the world around us through His eyes. When we use the tools of His creation, the talents and the abilities that He has blessed us with, we will then feel His presence. The gift of free will is given to us so that we can contrast and compare a world that is at one with Him versus a world that is alone and devoid of His presence. He has done this so that we can understand who we are and that which we are to be. Through this comparison, we can see the blessing of His work in us and in those He has chosen. As we look for theses examples we will see that His mercy and His love shines like a sun itself. The emotional and physical experience of His presence in the world strikes us with a clear understanding of who we are and how we are to conduct our lives. Without this comparison, we would not be able to fully grasp the magnitude of His glory and accept the gift of His forgiveness.
God chooses those He wants to be the examples of His presence. He guides those that He selects to be His messengers and to carry out His will. The glory comes when we learn that we are all chosen. What we don’t know yet is how He plans to use us or when we are to be called upon to do His work.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Sermon April 20 2008
Peace, mercy and grace be with you this evening/morning.
As you may already know, Pastor Jane had a family emergency to attend to this week. The loss of her Aunt Hilda in Pennsylvania required her to alter her schedule so she could travel and prepare to lead the funeral service held on Friday. As a truly dedicated servant of our Lord this week, she hurriedly planned and coordinated the arrangements so that she could return to us in time to lead worship and preside over communion. As we gather tonight/today let us be united with her and support her through this difficult time. With the events of the week unfolding Pastor Jane asked if I would be interested in preparing and delivering the sermon for this weekend. And with that, I am honored and blessed to be with you tonight/today.
In preparing me to prepare a sermon, Pastor Jane said to remember that it is by Christ’s crucifixion and His resurrection that we are able to gather in worship. And that through His sacrifice and His subsequent victory over death that we are, who we are. All we have and all that we will have, all of who we are in body, mind and spirit and all that we are to become, has and will be given to us through Christ Jesus.
In the Gospel text for this week, Jesus makes this clear for us, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”
As faithful people of God, we know that Christ has risen and that He provides us with the certainty of eternal life with Him.
We also, should remind ourselves, to not wait upon that time, but to seek Him now and every day. In this Gospel we are offered an opportunity to examine our relationship with the Risen Lord.
Jesus offers a direct challenge to all of us in this passage, to open our eyes and see Him, to open our ears and listen to Him, to open our hearts and feel His love and to open our minds and believe in Him.
A challenge for us to assess our relationship with Christ risen and to assess God’s will for us in our community. As He says to Phillip, “Have I been with you all this time, Phillip, and you still do not know me? Can you picture the bewildered look on Philips face at that point? I can’t help to think that as the moments passed and Phillip looked deeper into the eyes of Jesus he began to see with his eyes and feel in his heart, that he was in the company of God.
Today, would we know Jesus if we were to encounter Him? By that matter have we already seen but not recognize Him? Take a moment and look around in this chapel/sanctuary, do you see Him? Do you feel His presence? I want for you to allow me to walk down a path with you over the next few moments, close your eyes right now.
Take a few deep breaths and relax. Now I would like for you to picture the names and faces of those in this congregation who are currently in need of God’s presence in their life.
Those who are grieving a loss, those who are suffering from illness, those who are experiencing financial difficulty and those who feel the pain of loneliness.
Allow yourself to see as many as you can, and let the faces run through your mind one after the other, pausing to recognize their particular need. Can you see them? As you see each person can you feel them touching your heart?
Now, keeping your eyes closed a little longer think of the people and the ministries that serve those who are in need, here at Bethlehem. Focus on those who make gifts of themselves to help touch the lives of those in need.
As you may already know, Pastor Jane had a family emergency to attend to this week. The loss of her Aunt Hilda in Pennsylvania required her to alter her schedule so she could travel and prepare to lead the funeral service held on Friday. As a truly dedicated servant of our Lord this week, she hurriedly planned and coordinated the arrangements so that she could return to us in time to lead worship and preside over communion. As we gather tonight/today let us be united with her and support her through this difficult time. With the events of the week unfolding Pastor Jane asked if I would be interested in preparing and delivering the sermon for this weekend. And with that, I am honored and blessed to be with you tonight/today.
In preparing me to prepare a sermon, Pastor Jane said to remember that it is by Christ’s crucifixion and His resurrection that we are able to gather in worship. And that through His sacrifice and His subsequent victory over death that we are, who we are. All we have and all that we will have, all of who we are in body, mind and spirit and all that we are to become, has and will be given to us through Christ Jesus.
In the Gospel text for this week, Jesus makes this clear for us, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”
As faithful people of God, we know that Christ has risen and that He provides us with the certainty of eternal life with Him.
We also, should remind ourselves, to not wait upon that time, but to seek Him now and every day. In this Gospel we are offered an opportunity to examine our relationship with the Risen Lord.
Jesus offers a direct challenge to all of us in this passage, to open our eyes and see Him, to open our ears and listen to Him, to open our hearts and feel His love and to open our minds and believe in Him.
A challenge for us to assess our relationship with Christ risen and to assess God’s will for us in our community. As He says to Phillip, “Have I been with you all this time, Phillip, and you still do not know me? Can you picture the bewildered look on Philips face at that point? I can’t help to think that as the moments passed and Phillip looked deeper into the eyes of Jesus he began to see with his eyes and feel in his heart, that he was in the company of God.
Today, would we know Jesus if we were to encounter Him? By that matter have we already seen but not recognize Him? Take a moment and look around in this chapel/sanctuary, do you see Him? Do you feel His presence? I want for you to allow me to walk down a path with you over the next few moments, close your eyes right now.
Take a few deep breaths and relax. Now I would like for you to picture the names and faces of those in this congregation who are currently in need of God’s presence in their life.
Those who are grieving a loss, those who are suffering from illness, those who are experiencing financial difficulty and those who feel the pain of loneliness.
Allow yourself to see as many as you can, and let the faces run through your mind one after the other, pausing to recognize their particular need. Can you see them? As you see each person can you feel them touching your heart?
Now, keeping your eyes closed a little longer think of the people and the ministries that serve those who are in need, here at Bethlehem. Focus on those who make gifts of themselves to help touch the lives of those in need.
Picture the names and the faces of those who make and deliver meals to those who cannot prepare meals for themselves, picture the people who continually pray and the care they offer by lifting these people up to the Father in prayer for healing and help.
Think about the individuals who find time in their busy schedules to make visits in homes, care facilities and hospitals.
Picture those who serve as Stephen Ministers offering their time to meet and care for those who need Christian love and support.
Think about and picture those who provide support at the drop of a hat to any one of us who is in need.
Can you see them? Now, please open your eyes, and I invite you to look around again. Do you see some of the same faces that we just mentioned?
Do see people among you who care deeply for the people of this community?
And now, do you see Jesus in this room?
Can you feel His presence with us?
I pray that you can, because, He is in this room and He has made His presence known to us through the gift of this gathering.
Our challenge in this Gospel doesn’t stop there however; Jesus gives us instruction for our lives. In verse 12 He states “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and in fact will do greater works than these…”
Can this be true? Greater works than Jesus? How is it possible? Yet, it is possible, because Jesus makes it possible.
He says, “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
Jesus makes it possible by entering into us and giving us the power of the Holy Spirit and the authority of the Father to do His will. At some time in our life, we all have been asked this question, If you were given three wishes and the opportunity to have them granted, what would your wishes be? And I suspect some of the answers that we have all given or have heard from others would sound like these; I would end world hunger, or I would pay off all my debts, or I would find a cure for cancer. Right, we have all been there, haven’t we? But in order for those wishes to be granted, we would first need to respond and act on that opportunity.
If we were given that chance, would we act? My guess is that we all would. I don’t know how you would use your wishes or why you selected those choices that you made but I am certain that you in fact would use those wishes.
In a similar way Jesus is offering us an opportunity, to use the gift of His sacrifice and His love so that we will do great things for His church and for His people. All that is needed, is for us to trust in our faith and believe that He is the Son of Man and one with the Father. He tells us directly that “If in my name you ask for anything, I will do it.”Like with the granting of wishes are we willing to act on the challenge that is presented to us by Jesus?
Are we confident in our faith and seek the Lord to be present in our lives so that we can do his will?
If we know and believe that Jesus is one with the Father and that through Him and by our belief and faith in Him, we can do great things, then we should actively seek Him in all that we do.
In order for that to happen, we need to work to recognize and work to remove those things that hinder and block us from entering into a deeper relationship with Him.
We should look expectantly to find Him present with us each and every day that we live.
We should look for Him in all that is around us and when we find Him, take time to enjoy the grace of His love, the mercy of His forgiveness, the power of His presence and to seek His guidance and His desire for how we are to conduct our lives in His world.
If we seek we will find, if we ask we will be answered, if we act we will solve and if we love we will be loved.
Jesus tells us that we will be granted the power and given the strength when we follow Him and serve. Are we prepared to do God’s will and to serve Him? I want to show a brief video that I am certain is an answer to prayer (run video)
The meek shall inherit the earth. And how is that possible? Because God will reach down and choose an unexpected servant and give them dominion over their environment and circumstances. Just like He did with J-Mac, on that day.
There is no doubt in my mind that what took place that day was an answer to prayer.
There is no doubt in mind that God was present in the gymnasium.
There is no doubt that this was just a small sample of His power and maybe most importantly a gift, the gift of His presence for all who witnessed this event.
And for those who were seeking Jesus that day, they found Him.
Christ is alive in each of us. We are challenged to allow Him to fill us with His glory and to faithfully abide in His love and to gracefully share that love with all we meet.
We are challenged to let the beauty of His face shine through us by our actions and by our Faith.
And now let the grace and understanding that comes from Christ Jesus shine upon and give you peace.
Amen.
Think about the individuals who find time in their busy schedules to make visits in homes, care facilities and hospitals.
Picture those who serve as Stephen Ministers offering their time to meet and care for those who need Christian love and support.
Think about and picture those who provide support at the drop of a hat to any one of us who is in need.
Can you see them? Now, please open your eyes, and I invite you to look around again. Do you see some of the same faces that we just mentioned?
Do see people among you who care deeply for the people of this community?
And now, do you see Jesus in this room?
Can you feel His presence with us?
I pray that you can, because, He is in this room and He has made His presence known to us through the gift of this gathering.
Our challenge in this Gospel doesn’t stop there however; Jesus gives us instruction for our lives. In verse 12 He states “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and in fact will do greater works than these…”
Can this be true? Greater works than Jesus? How is it possible? Yet, it is possible, because Jesus makes it possible.
He says, “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
Jesus makes it possible by entering into us and giving us the power of the Holy Spirit and the authority of the Father to do His will. At some time in our life, we all have been asked this question, If you were given three wishes and the opportunity to have them granted, what would your wishes be? And I suspect some of the answers that we have all given or have heard from others would sound like these; I would end world hunger, or I would pay off all my debts, or I would find a cure for cancer. Right, we have all been there, haven’t we? But in order for those wishes to be granted, we would first need to respond and act on that opportunity.
If we were given that chance, would we act? My guess is that we all would. I don’t know how you would use your wishes or why you selected those choices that you made but I am certain that you in fact would use those wishes.
In a similar way Jesus is offering us an opportunity, to use the gift of His sacrifice and His love so that we will do great things for His church and for His people. All that is needed, is for us to trust in our faith and believe that He is the Son of Man and one with the Father. He tells us directly that “If in my name you ask for anything, I will do it.”Like with the granting of wishes are we willing to act on the challenge that is presented to us by Jesus?
Are we confident in our faith and seek the Lord to be present in our lives so that we can do his will?
If we know and believe that Jesus is one with the Father and that through Him and by our belief and faith in Him, we can do great things, then we should actively seek Him in all that we do.
In order for that to happen, we need to work to recognize and work to remove those things that hinder and block us from entering into a deeper relationship with Him.
We should look expectantly to find Him present with us each and every day that we live.
We should look for Him in all that is around us and when we find Him, take time to enjoy the grace of His love, the mercy of His forgiveness, the power of His presence and to seek His guidance and His desire for how we are to conduct our lives in His world.
If we seek we will find, if we ask we will be answered, if we act we will solve and if we love we will be loved.
Jesus tells us that we will be granted the power and given the strength when we follow Him and serve. Are we prepared to do God’s will and to serve Him? I want to show a brief video that I am certain is an answer to prayer (run video)
The meek shall inherit the earth. And how is that possible? Because God will reach down and choose an unexpected servant and give them dominion over their environment and circumstances. Just like He did with J-Mac, on that day.
There is no doubt in my mind that what took place that day was an answer to prayer.
There is no doubt in mind that God was present in the gymnasium.
There is no doubt that this was just a small sample of His power and maybe most importantly a gift, the gift of His presence for all who witnessed this event.
And for those who were seeking Jesus that day, they found Him.
Christ is alive in each of us. We are challenged to allow Him to fill us with His glory and to faithfully abide in His love and to gracefully share that love with all we meet.
We are challenged to let the beauty of His face shine through us by our actions and by our Faith.
And now let the grace and understanding that comes from Christ Jesus shine upon and give you peace.
Amen.
Sermon November 10 2008
Grace Mercy and Peace given to you from God our Father. Amen
I am thankful to be back in front of you this evening/morning. As some of you may be aware, I have been going through a process of discernment to learn for what service God is calling me forward. It has been a long and fruitful discussion with our Lord, Pastor Jane, Dawn and other family and friends to date. By the looks of things, these discussions will continue and that there appears to be more for me to understand about my life, my faith and my commitment to the community of Christ.
In preparation for this sermon, I was compelled to speak to the Gospel reading for today, the parable of the lamps and the bridesmaid. I struggled at first or for that matter, the second and third times around when reading this lesson. At first look, it was all too easy for me as the reader to focus on the lack of compassion from the five with plenty of oil and the fact that they were not sharing with those who did not have enough. This seemed to go against most all of what we think about when we consider Jesus’ life and teachings and our help and care for those who are in need. Sharing the bounty of our labor with those who struggle or do not have proper provisions is the usual par for the course in such teachings.
So then, why did the 5 wise not share their oil? After all, the other 5 (the foolish) were merely caught up in the excitement of the moment and made a quick assumption that the bridegroom would arrive shortly. Was the lack of compassion some harsh judgment or cruel way to define themselves as better than the others and more deserving? After all they had their oil and they would be able have light to see the bridegroom and the bridegroom would be able to see them. This seems to be supported later in the parable when the foolish 5 were shut out of the feast altogether and not allowed to take part in the banquet. I read this over and over again and I kept thinking, I must be missing?
As I continued to review the Gospel lesson, another thought crowded thinking and covered my mind’s eye, the phrase “and then the door was shut”. I thought to myself, that’s it, it’s all over? The event arrived and festivities would take place without them. They have missed the feast. And to make matters worse for them they were shunned again as they shouted “Lord, lord, open to us”, and he replied “Truly I tell you, I do not know you”. My first reaction was wow, it is it, it really is over for the other five? This was very troubling for me. I asked myself, is there no forgiveness for them? No second opportunity?
So, at first glance that statement of being shut out seemed to overpower and loom heavy on me as the reader. One slip, and in a moment of excitement, you rush forward but don’t think to bring an ample supply of oil, and then, it is over. How were they to know just how much oil would be needed? Or, how long would they be waiting for the bridegroom to arrive and what compelled the other 5 to grab hold and take more oil for their lamps? But then for the 5 foolish the wait was too long and all of their oil was consumed, and all is lost. So you can see where I struggled with this verse.
As I continued in prayer and study about the content and context of this verse a different understanding began to emerge in my thoughts, God was telling me to look deeper into this scripture and by deeper, to not just scan the surface and expect to find inner meaning of this parable. He was also telling me to not lose site of the forest while looking at the tress. As I sat back, I began to look at the printed words and tried to be open for a different perspective. As I read and listened for guidance, I felt God begin to pull my thoughts away from the specific words and the specific phrases and as He did, I began to see this scripture differently, the phrases began to take on new meanings for me.
It is with this new perspective that I want to talk with you today. As my mind drifted back, I began to question the significance of the oil. What kind of oil is this and why was it so important? After all in darkness surely any light, even the dimmest light will brighten an area well enough to see more then shadows. So, why was the light of 5 lamps not sufficient for all ten to be seen by the bridegroom? There must be something else at play in this parable.
5 wise but not 5 who share, this quit a different angle than most of the stories that Jesus relates to His disciples. How did they know how much oil would be needed? The story doesn’t really say for sure how much oil they carried or if the 5 wise each carried an equal amount. Did the wise really have some insight as to how much oil would be needed? It seems unlikely, with the limited facts available. I needed to move beyond the oil and as I did I began to resolve that the oil may not really be oil, but rather symbolic something other than fuel for their lamps. A likely interpretation is that the oil represents their faith and faith that the bridegroom, representing Jesus, will see them and know them when he arrives again. I am certain many of you had already drawn yourself in that direction or to that conclusion. This is a common position for most commentaries on this verse in scripture.
So, if this is true, that the oil represents faith, then certainly it is understandable to see that the 5 wise could not simply give away their oil, for faith does not come from others but from within our own hearts and our souls. So we need to excuse the 5 wise for not sharing their oil, because they had no option, it simply was impossible. In fact it would be wrong for us to compare the wise and foolish and make any distinction that one is better off than the other. As easy as it is to say one group should have been prepared, it is also easy to say the other should have been open about their faith and have helped to prepare a path for the other. In either case, judgment is not ours but in the hands of God.
The focus of this scripture therefore does not rest in either the 5 wise or with the 5 foolish but instead on God’s mercy and His desire to have us draw close to Him. In what first presented itself to me as a strong, powerful message of preparation, obedience and a stern warning to be alert or risk being left out, slowly but distinctively became a prayer of love, a prayer of hope a prayer of optimism and an invitation to welcome Christ into my life, so that He can welcome me into His feast.
Jesus is inviting us to open our hearts and our minds to Him. As the 5 foolish shouted “open to us” and the lord replied “I do not know you”. Then the question that came to my attention was, how would the Lord know who I am? Have I invited Him into my life?
How do we get to know one another? We converse, we share fellowship, we share experiences, we allow ourselves to be vulnerable, we allow ourselves to be loved, we share our time and talents and we may even share the fruits of our labor. In short, we spend time with one another. So, how do we get to know Jesus? Or for that matter, how does Jesus get to know us? Have we invited Him into our inner circle of friendships, do we spend time in conversation, listening and talking to Him, about our lives, our needs and our weaknesses?
The statement “I don’t know you” is not a harsh reprimand but an invitation, an invitation that can be easily answered, an invitation that when accepted, will make available to us in the Feast that is Christ Jesus. To help me understand the importance of this message I had to let go of the notion that the only time that I would see Jesus would be at the time of His second coming, and that would take place sometime in the future. I needed to listen to His call and understand that there is way a to see Him and to be with Him. I needed seek and find Christ and His continual presence in my life each and every day. I needed to get to know Him and I needed and still need to, reveal my true self to Him, so that He will be able to say, I know you.
We are all invited to the feast of the Lord, and that feast is here, right here in this room. Today, as we gather for worship we are guests that have accepted His invitation to be present at His feast. When we commune together we are invited to be seated at His table and to share in His life, His body, His blood and His spirit. So, in this scripture are we to believe that the 5 foolish are to be cast out forever? Is this really the lesson that Jesus wants us to learn from this parable? Or is He telling us not to just look to the future and wait in anticipation for the feast to come, but rather is He inviting us to participate in that feast today.
There is a funny thing about words on paper is that without sufficient adjectives to describe the emotion, the body movement and the volume used to speak a phrase and or quote, the meaning is then left to interpretation. Let’s try an experiment with the term “I don’t know you”. This phrase if said like this “I DON’T KNOW YOU” gives you the listener what kind of insight to my intent? Angry and rejecting right? But when said like this “I don’t know you” implies what? Maybe, I am looking for clarification, maybe if you tell me more about yourself, I will have confidence that I may be able to have trust in you. We don’t know for sure which was the tone the Lord used in this parable and but it is easy to assume that it was the former rather than the latter tone. But for me, as I continued to work on this verse, the message was coming through to me as an invitation, an opening of an opportunity to allow Jesus to see and know me. I saw a compassionate Lord, who was looking down at an unfortunate few and giving them an understanding of how they can prepare for reconciliation and redemption.
Jesus, is looking to know us. He is asking that we get to know Him today and not in some time in the future, the time is now. Jesus is saying to His disciples in this parable, I am here and with you now. Let’s get to know one another starting today. There is no reason to wait, get to know me while I am with you so that I will be able to say, that I know you when the time arrives.
The time is Now, right here and right now.
Jesus is not in some distant location, slowly making His way forward on a journey to find us. He is not a stranger waiting for us to bump into Him or someone we seek, only in a time of our own desperation. He lovingly longs for us to hear His call in this parable and join Him in the joy of His Grace and to join Him, in the peace that is His forgiveness. Invite Jesus into your heart, prepare a place for Him and seek to find Him in all that you do. Spend time with Him and learn how He is calling you to service.
Feel His power, His presence and His love, through the examples that He brings forward to you each day and in your interactions with others in this world. As you will see when you invite Him into your life, He will make Himself known to you. It may or may not be obvious to you at first but surely, when you prayerfully seek Him with an open heart, you will find Him. I believe that Jesus is telling us not to anticipate but to participate. Participate in His feast this day and every day.
To seek and find Jesus alive in our life today and every day that we are on Earth is truly living a life of preparation, for when you invite and allow Jesus to stand next to you, the gates of heaven will be open for you on that last and final day. Amen
I am thankful to be back in front of you this evening/morning. As some of you may be aware, I have been going through a process of discernment to learn for what service God is calling me forward. It has been a long and fruitful discussion with our Lord, Pastor Jane, Dawn and other family and friends to date. By the looks of things, these discussions will continue and that there appears to be more for me to understand about my life, my faith and my commitment to the community of Christ.
In preparation for this sermon, I was compelled to speak to the Gospel reading for today, the parable of the lamps and the bridesmaid. I struggled at first or for that matter, the second and third times around when reading this lesson. At first look, it was all too easy for me as the reader to focus on the lack of compassion from the five with plenty of oil and the fact that they were not sharing with those who did not have enough. This seemed to go against most all of what we think about when we consider Jesus’ life and teachings and our help and care for those who are in need. Sharing the bounty of our labor with those who struggle or do not have proper provisions is the usual par for the course in such teachings.
So then, why did the 5 wise not share their oil? After all, the other 5 (the foolish) were merely caught up in the excitement of the moment and made a quick assumption that the bridegroom would arrive shortly. Was the lack of compassion some harsh judgment or cruel way to define themselves as better than the others and more deserving? After all they had their oil and they would be able have light to see the bridegroom and the bridegroom would be able to see them. This seems to be supported later in the parable when the foolish 5 were shut out of the feast altogether and not allowed to take part in the banquet. I read this over and over again and I kept thinking, I must be missing?
As I continued to review the Gospel lesson, another thought crowded thinking and covered my mind’s eye, the phrase “and then the door was shut”. I thought to myself, that’s it, it’s all over? The event arrived and festivities would take place without them. They have missed the feast. And to make matters worse for them they were shunned again as they shouted “Lord, lord, open to us”, and he replied “Truly I tell you, I do not know you”. My first reaction was wow, it is it, it really is over for the other five? This was very troubling for me. I asked myself, is there no forgiveness for them? No second opportunity?
So, at first glance that statement of being shut out seemed to overpower and loom heavy on me as the reader. One slip, and in a moment of excitement, you rush forward but don’t think to bring an ample supply of oil, and then, it is over. How were they to know just how much oil would be needed? Or, how long would they be waiting for the bridegroom to arrive and what compelled the other 5 to grab hold and take more oil for their lamps? But then for the 5 foolish the wait was too long and all of their oil was consumed, and all is lost. So you can see where I struggled with this verse.
As I continued in prayer and study about the content and context of this verse a different understanding began to emerge in my thoughts, God was telling me to look deeper into this scripture and by deeper, to not just scan the surface and expect to find inner meaning of this parable. He was also telling me to not lose site of the forest while looking at the tress. As I sat back, I began to look at the printed words and tried to be open for a different perspective. As I read and listened for guidance, I felt God begin to pull my thoughts away from the specific words and the specific phrases and as He did, I began to see this scripture differently, the phrases began to take on new meanings for me.
It is with this new perspective that I want to talk with you today. As my mind drifted back, I began to question the significance of the oil. What kind of oil is this and why was it so important? After all in darkness surely any light, even the dimmest light will brighten an area well enough to see more then shadows. So, why was the light of 5 lamps not sufficient for all ten to be seen by the bridegroom? There must be something else at play in this parable.
5 wise but not 5 who share, this quit a different angle than most of the stories that Jesus relates to His disciples. How did they know how much oil would be needed? The story doesn’t really say for sure how much oil they carried or if the 5 wise each carried an equal amount. Did the wise really have some insight as to how much oil would be needed? It seems unlikely, with the limited facts available. I needed to move beyond the oil and as I did I began to resolve that the oil may not really be oil, but rather symbolic something other than fuel for their lamps. A likely interpretation is that the oil represents their faith and faith that the bridegroom, representing Jesus, will see them and know them when he arrives again. I am certain many of you had already drawn yourself in that direction or to that conclusion. This is a common position for most commentaries on this verse in scripture.
So, if this is true, that the oil represents faith, then certainly it is understandable to see that the 5 wise could not simply give away their oil, for faith does not come from others but from within our own hearts and our souls. So we need to excuse the 5 wise for not sharing their oil, because they had no option, it simply was impossible. In fact it would be wrong for us to compare the wise and foolish and make any distinction that one is better off than the other. As easy as it is to say one group should have been prepared, it is also easy to say the other should have been open about their faith and have helped to prepare a path for the other. In either case, judgment is not ours but in the hands of God.
The focus of this scripture therefore does not rest in either the 5 wise or with the 5 foolish but instead on God’s mercy and His desire to have us draw close to Him. In what first presented itself to me as a strong, powerful message of preparation, obedience and a stern warning to be alert or risk being left out, slowly but distinctively became a prayer of love, a prayer of hope a prayer of optimism and an invitation to welcome Christ into my life, so that He can welcome me into His feast.
Jesus is inviting us to open our hearts and our minds to Him. As the 5 foolish shouted “open to us” and the lord replied “I do not know you”. Then the question that came to my attention was, how would the Lord know who I am? Have I invited Him into my life?
How do we get to know one another? We converse, we share fellowship, we share experiences, we allow ourselves to be vulnerable, we allow ourselves to be loved, we share our time and talents and we may even share the fruits of our labor. In short, we spend time with one another. So, how do we get to know Jesus? Or for that matter, how does Jesus get to know us? Have we invited Him into our inner circle of friendships, do we spend time in conversation, listening and talking to Him, about our lives, our needs and our weaknesses?
The statement “I don’t know you” is not a harsh reprimand but an invitation, an invitation that can be easily answered, an invitation that when accepted, will make available to us in the Feast that is Christ Jesus. To help me understand the importance of this message I had to let go of the notion that the only time that I would see Jesus would be at the time of His second coming, and that would take place sometime in the future. I needed to listen to His call and understand that there is way a to see Him and to be with Him. I needed seek and find Christ and His continual presence in my life each and every day. I needed to get to know Him and I needed and still need to, reveal my true self to Him, so that He will be able to say, I know you.
We are all invited to the feast of the Lord, and that feast is here, right here in this room. Today, as we gather for worship we are guests that have accepted His invitation to be present at His feast. When we commune together we are invited to be seated at His table and to share in His life, His body, His blood and His spirit. So, in this scripture are we to believe that the 5 foolish are to be cast out forever? Is this really the lesson that Jesus wants us to learn from this parable? Or is He telling us not to just look to the future and wait in anticipation for the feast to come, but rather is He inviting us to participate in that feast today.
There is a funny thing about words on paper is that without sufficient adjectives to describe the emotion, the body movement and the volume used to speak a phrase and or quote, the meaning is then left to interpretation. Let’s try an experiment with the term “I don’t know you”. This phrase if said like this “I DON’T KNOW YOU” gives you the listener what kind of insight to my intent? Angry and rejecting right? But when said like this “I don’t know you” implies what? Maybe, I am looking for clarification, maybe if you tell me more about yourself, I will have confidence that I may be able to have trust in you. We don’t know for sure which was the tone the Lord used in this parable and but it is easy to assume that it was the former rather than the latter tone. But for me, as I continued to work on this verse, the message was coming through to me as an invitation, an opening of an opportunity to allow Jesus to see and know me. I saw a compassionate Lord, who was looking down at an unfortunate few and giving them an understanding of how they can prepare for reconciliation and redemption.
Jesus, is looking to know us. He is asking that we get to know Him today and not in some time in the future, the time is now. Jesus is saying to His disciples in this parable, I am here and with you now. Let’s get to know one another starting today. There is no reason to wait, get to know me while I am with you so that I will be able to say, that I know you when the time arrives.
The time is Now, right here and right now.
Jesus is not in some distant location, slowly making His way forward on a journey to find us. He is not a stranger waiting for us to bump into Him or someone we seek, only in a time of our own desperation. He lovingly longs for us to hear His call in this parable and join Him in the joy of His Grace and to join Him, in the peace that is His forgiveness. Invite Jesus into your heart, prepare a place for Him and seek to find Him in all that you do. Spend time with Him and learn how He is calling you to service.
Feel His power, His presence and His love, through the examples that He brings forward to you each day and in your interactions with others in this world. As you will see when you invite Him into your life, He will make Himself known to you. It may or may not be obvious to you at first but surely, when you prayerfully seek Him with an open heart, you will find Him. I believe that Jesus is telling us not to anticipate but to participate. Participate in His feast this day and every day.
To seek and find Jesus alive in our life today and every day that we are on Earth is truly living a life of preparation, for when you invite and allow Jesus to stand next to you, the gates of heaven will be open for you on that last and final day. Amen
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