8-26-12 - Who will you serve?

Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. ²And Joshua said to all the people, ⁴“Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.

¹⁵Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” ¹⁶Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; ¹⁷for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; ¹⁸and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.” 

Sometimes I am a bit jealous of those who lived in ancient times.  Now, I’m not jealous about the having to wander for forty years through the desert, or the lack of indoor plumbing, or air conditioning, or cars… or a host of other things. But I am a bit jealous that they got to see God’s miracle’s that we only get to read about.  I imagine it would be a lot easier for them to believe, since they had food suddenly appear form nowhere, and God defeated their much larger and stronger enemies, and cured them of snake’s venom with a brass snake.  Their whole lives have been centered on God’s activity in their lives, and in this moment before Joshua they pledge themselves to God’s service.  They acknowledge all that God has done for them and say that they will live in harmony with God’s will and serve God out of thanksgiving for all that God has done for them.

            And are not we called to act in the same way?  After all, God has done so much for us in our lives.  He has given us the gift of Baptism, in which we are claimed as children of God and we are filled with the Holy Spirit and through which each of us is united as one large family.  God gives us communion, where Christ is truly present, and we are filled with Christ each week as we gather here and we are reminded of the sacrifice that God has made for us..  God created this whole world around us, for us to enjoy, and God created each and every one of us for each other as well, out of love for us.  And God died upon that cross in order to save us all from ourselves, from our consistent choice to embrace Sin, instead of the Gospel, by our gossiping, our divisiveness, and our love and trust of money and our country over God.  Even though we continually turn our backs on God, God remains faithful and loving, and cares for us, even after we die.

            Each day we are granted a miracle.  Each day, when God decides to love us, sinners that we are, we are granted a miracle.  Each time that we are reminded of our Baptisms, we are reminded of a miracle.  Each time we come up and eat the bread and the wine, we are participating in a miracle.  We don’t have to live in ancient times in order to see God’s activity, for we see it every single day of our lives, in the love of our family and our friends, in the growth of each tree and flower, we see God’s activity and miracles.

            So when we are confronted with these miracles, with the love and affection from God, with the gifts that God has given us, including but not limited to Eternal life, how can we do anything other than praise God?  When we are given so much for free and see the almighty power of God, how can we help but do anything except Praise Him and want to Serve Him?

            One consistent theme that I hear throughout a wide variety of congregations is that people wonder if God is testing them, if God is seeing if they are good enough, as if God makes us jump through hoops in order to be loved or cared about.  However, I think its’ not that God tests us, that God puts us through the ringer to find out how well we will do, but instead God gives us opportunities.  Opportunities to grow and to thrive, or opportunities to spread the good news of God. 

            Sometimes, they may look like a test to our eyes though, or they may look like a set back.  For instance, when one starts the process to go into seminary and become a pastor, they first have to go through what is called Candidacy.  This is done by each synod and one has to go through a psychological exam, write essays, and interview with an individual pastor as well as with a committee made up of the Bishop, pastors, and laity.  It is not exactly the most calming way to begin things.  Now when I first applied, I breezed through the psych exam, somehow, and I did well on my essay, and with individual interview.  Now, I am from Pittsburgh, and Southwest PA and West Virginia work together on candidacy, so I had to drive down to Morgantown.  On the way there, about 15 minutes from my parents house, my car broke down.  I should have just went home.  But no, instead I called my family, they brought me another car, and I made it down there, just in time to start my interview.  And I strutted right on in there.  Now does anyone here now what the name “Sean” means?  It means “Gift from God” and I walked into that room fully believing that my name rang true, that I was THE Gift from God to the Church, and that no matter what, I would get through that interview, I would be on my way to seminary, and I was fine, because I was God’s gift.  Well guess what?  That committee, they saw my ego and they saw my entitlement issues, and they told me something that I never believed that I would ever hear from them.  “No.”  I was crushed.  I was going to have to wait another year to apply again and go through the process again.  I went into the sanctuary of the church I was in and I wept, and the assistant to the bishop and another pastor came over and comforted me, but in that moment I felt tested and that I had failed.  But the reality was that God had given me an opportunity to grow.  Over the next year I worked with a spiritual director to get my relationship with God in line and understand that I am not God’s sole gift to the world, nor am I entitled to anything, but that even though I falsely set myself as higher than others, I am still loved by God.  The next year I came back a new man, with a broken ego and a contrite heart, and I was ready to serve.  And I thank God every day for that committee that had the strength and the understanding to say no to me.  Even though it was not what I wanted, it was what I needed.

            It is not always through such hard times though that God gives us opportunities.  I remember just a few years ago at seminary I was feeling really down on myself.  I had been pining over the wrong women for quite some time and I had finally become resolved that I would not date anyone at all for the remainder of the school year.  I was going to focus on myself and my studies, so that I could be the best pastor possible.  The day that I decided was the same day as the Luther Bowl, which is the day that seminaries from all over the country, including the Lutheran Seminaries in Chicago, Columbus, and Columbia SC, come to Gettysburg for a flag football tournament.  Now I can’t tell you about any of the games that happened that day, but I can tell you that I met a girl that night.  A really amazing, quirky, cute girl who was there rooting for Southern Seminary and who shared some mutual friends with me.  And something told me to just relax, don’t try too much, and to just get to know that girl.  When she left early from the bonfire that night I was very sad, but the first thing I did when I got back to my room was get onto facebook and find her and friend her.  That December she visited Gettysburg again and we began dating.  A little over a year after that, I was on my knee proposing to her at Little Round Top and on July 15^th of last year she became my wife.  I had thought that I was done with women for quite a while, that I needed to buckle down into books in order to learn and to be the best pastor I could be.  But you know what?  While books and classes are vitally important, pastors also need to be compassionate and loving and they need support in their lives, and Amy has helped me to be more patient, to show greater compassion and love, and has been the rock that I have needed.  And right now I’m sure she is very embarrassed, but God has given us a great opportunity to grow together and to rejoice in the gifts that He has given us.

            And I’m sure that God has given each of you opportunities as well in your lives to grow and to serve Him.  Would anyone like to share one?.....

(Members talked about their spouses and fathers)

You see?  In our lives God has given us a great many things.  God has blessed each of our lives in ways that are beyond the imagination.  Just like those ancient Israelites, we are shown the amazing mercy and power and compassion of our God and how God has changed our lives and gives us identity and purpose and we are asked the question, “Whom shall you serve?”  “Will you serve God, or will you serve others gods such as Fame, wealth, self and country?”  Well?  Who will you serve?    

8-19-2012 - Music = Treasure from God

¹⁵Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, ¹⁶making the most of the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, ²⁰giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

            Martin Luther once said that “Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world”It is amazing what music can do to us.  It is said that music can sooth the savage beast… and it can definitely help to cool us down.  It can make us want to dance or sing, it can help us to celebrate, to cry, or to exemplify our love for another person.  It can tell us how another person is feeling.  For instance, if you hear me singing “If I had a hammer” you know I’m probably having a bad day and it may be best to avoid me for a little bit.  If however I am singing a hymn, I’m probably very happy and it would be a good time to ask me for a favor. 

            Also, music can help us learn.  After all, how did many of us learn our alphabet?  Was it not through song?  “ABCDEFG… etc…”  And our faith is taught to us in much the same way as a child.  “Jesus loves me this I know, for the bible tells me so. ..” “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world.”  We first know that God loves us through songs, and not only that God loves us but that God loves EVERYBODY, no matter where they come from.  And we learn the importance of our scriptures through song, since it’s the Bible that tells us about God’s love for us.  We also learn of our importance and our mission through songs as a child too.  “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine, this little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine, this little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.”  We told that we shine, that we carry the light of God, and that it is through us that God’s light shines throughout the world, and that we should not hide that light under a bushel, nor let Satan blow it out, with the cares of the world and self-importance.

            Music plays a vital role in our formation as Christians, more so than many other ways of learning.  For instance, sermons.  They play an important role in the church, as it is a time for the spoken word of God to come through.  Yet, by a show of hands, who can tell me what the sermon was about last week?  What about the week before that?  And before that?  So within just a few weeks, it is lost us what a sermon was directly about, unless it is something that we talk about and repeat to others and ourselves.  Now, the message may still be there inside you and help to form your faith, but I also know that if I were to start singing a hymn, you could probably join right in with me.  That is the power of music.  It’s helps us to understand that God loves all the children of the world and has grace, even for us wretches.

            And that is why we sing together, and when we sing we can feel empowered as well.  When we sing together, we are filled with the Spirit, and when we are filled with the Spirit we may feel like we are filled with spirits instead, because we lose the fear that we might have and instead focus on the present and the joy of music.  We are united as a community when we sing.  Our voices meld together to form one joyous sound that is an offering to God and a testament of our faith. 

            In fact, I’m tired of talking about the many benefits of singing together, so lets sing together instead.  Now I’m going to need a volunteer…. What is your favorite hymn?  Ok, let’s sing it….

(This turned out to be Amazing grace…)

See?  When we sing together, we give thanks to our God and we rejoice and celebrate.  So be not afraid of singing off key, but instead just celebrate in the goodness of God, and may we learn together about the love and mercy of God through our music each day of our lives.  Amen.

8-12-12 Confirmation - Are you building up or breaking down?

Ephesians 4:25 - 5:2

²⁵So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. ²⁶Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷and do not make room for the devil. ²⁸Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. ²⁹Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. ³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption.³¹Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, ³²and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

5Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, ²and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

            Today marks a very special day.  Today, Ashley Orr affirms her baptism, and takes on the responsibility of the promises that her parents made for her at her baptism.  What promises?  The promises to live among God’s faithful people, to hear God’s word and share in his supper, to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed, to serve all people, following the example of our Lord Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.  These are promises that are serious, for they are a promise to God and to our community.  But they are not promises that we make fully under our own power.

            For one, when we affirm our baptisms and make these promises, we say that we will, with the help of God.  God helps us to proclaim the good news of God and to serve all people, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.  It is the power of God within us that guides us and we are given that power because of God’s love for us.  Without it, we are but sinners, acting against the will of God at each turn with evil talk of bitterness, wrath, anger, and slander.   When we lose our focus on God in our lives, and we lose focus on the promises that we make, the covenant that we have with God, we begin to fall into that trap of Sin, which tells us to gossip and speak ill of one another and of those that don’t fit within our own little cliques.  This evil talk, which turns our brothers and sisters in Christ into objects of mockery or our enemies, has no place in our lives, as the writer to Ephesus tells us.  Instead we are called to speak in a way that builds one another up, to help heal wounds and to give grace to those who hear us.

            Being a Christian is not just about personal belief, which is why our promises at confirmation are not just “I promise to believe that Jesus is my personal Lord and Savior” or “I promise to believe whatever Pastor tells me.”  Instead, being a Christian, and the Christian faith, is all about community.  It is about how we treat one another, how we treat those that are poor and oppressed, how we treat oppressors, and how we treat our enemies.  And in all of these circumstances, and in all of these, groups, we are called to act with love and compassion, instead of with hate and slander. 

            And it can be hard to act with love.  After all, who doesn’t want the new, juicy piece of gossip?  I was amazed at how many people cared that Kristen Stewart cheated on Robert Pattinson.  Maybe it was because it crushed the imaginary world of those who think Twilight is real, or maybe its because we love to see famous people fail, reveling in other people’s pain.  But seriously, it was all over every website I went to.  Kristen’s apology, did they separate, whose car is in the parking lot, who cares?  Nothing about the whole situation, especially the public’s call for more details, was acting in Christian love that builds up instead of tears down.  And if it isn’t them, it’s the break up with Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, or who didn’t pass a drug test, or the neighbor’s dog is too loud, or did you hear that so-in-so told so-in-so that what’s his name did blankety-blank with what’s-her-face.  And one doesn’t need to watch movies like Saved and Easy A and so many others to know the dangers of gossip and ill will.  Yet we fall prey to gossip and clique forming, because it helps us cope with the world, to talk about other people’s problems and to think of ourselves as better than someone else.

            But that is why we live in community as Christians, to combat against those forces of evil that work within us, to remind each other that those are destructive ways of living.  We live in a community that acts in love, helping one another to live more Christian lives, lives that are filled with compassion and grace.  As a community we help one another to rejoice in the Holy Spirit, which is God Himself present within every single one of us, instead of grieving that Spirit and mourning how God changes our lives. We are able to rejoice as a community of faith, and to share the wonderful experience of God in our lives.

            How we act as community helps to form the lives of one another as Christians.  How we act towards one another, how we show God’s love, helps to form the lives of each person here, whether they be a child or a youth or an adult.  Each person here touches the lives of each other person in this room.  It may be through kind words and hope and graciousness, leading to a closer relationship to God through being a part of the community.  Or it could be through indifference in hypocrisy, which can lead people to wonder “what is the point of being a Christian if its no different from the rest of the world.” 

            So when Ashley makes her promises to God and to us, let them remind you of your promises as well.  Are you living among God’s faithful people?  Are you hearing God’s word and sharing in his supper?  Are you proclaiming the good news of God in Christ through word and deed?  Are you serving all people, following the example of our Lord Jesus?  And are you Striving for justice and peace in all the earth?  If we are honest with ourselves, then we will probably see that we are not fully living out these promises.  However we can do better, and we can do this because we have one another.  We have one another to be the light of God, that shows us the glory of God and the joy of living by His will.  We have each other, this great blessing, to help us see God’s love in our lives, in the times that we give each other a shoulder to cry on, an arm to hold onto, and a greeting of peace.  And we have our Lord and God, present with us in worship when we eat the bread and the wine, and He fills our very bodies with himself, out of a desire to be with us and to help us to see His compassion for us.

            So let us rejoice!  Let us rejoice with Ashley as she affirms her Baptism, as she takes upon herself the promises of her baptism and becomes a full member of our community.  Let us rejoice in the gift that we have of each other, who help one another to live out the good news of God.  And let us rejoice that God is with us, every single day through our baptisms and communion.

Amen.         

           

8-5-2012 - We are just like Captain America and Bees....

Exodus 16:2-15

²The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. ³The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” ⁴Then the Lordsaid to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. ⁵On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.” ⁶So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, ⁷and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaining against the Lord. For what are we, that you complain against us?” ⁸And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, because the Lord has heard the complaining that you utter against him—what are we? Your complaining is not against us but” against the Lord. ⁹Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’“ ¹⁰And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. ¹¹The Lord spoke to Moses and said, ¹²“I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’“

¹³In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. ¹⁴When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. ¹⁵When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.

__________________________________________________________

            One of the few advantages of Amy being out of town is that I get to watch movies that she has no interest at all in watching.  Which means that it is Marvel Marathon time at the Myers house.  One of the movies I’ve gotten to watch is Captain America, The First Avenger.  Now, the Captain has been reinvented quite a few times since his creation in the 1950s, but part of the story is always the same.  He starts off as a skinny guy with health issues, of which nothing is really expected.  At one point Colonel Philips says to the doctor who will turn Steven Rogers into Captain America, “When you brought a ninety-pound asthmatic onto my army base, I let it slide. I thought "What the hell, maybe he'd be useful to you like a gerbil." Never thought you'd pick him.”  Nothing at all is expected of Steve, and yet he goes on to save hundreds of lives, beat all the bad guys, and be the best soldier of all time. 

            And as we are out her in this field, and we can see the wonders of Gods creation, the trees and the blooming flowers, we sit back and we think to ourselves at times “How is this all possible?”  And one of the reasons that it is possible is the bee.  Yes, it is small, and yes we don’t particularly like them, especially those who are allergic, but we still need them because they create beauty and help to create our food.  For flowers and fruits to thrive, they need to get pollinated.  And who does this?  The simple little bee, so often overlooked or feared.

            The Israelites in our reading from today have some of the same concerns.  They don’t have a very high opinion of God in our reading, saying that they would be better off dying in Egypt where they at least had food, instead of being led by God all through out the desert to starve.  Now, God may not be the skinny weakling that Steve Rogers was.  Afterall, God had just wiped out the Pharaoh’s army and done a whole bunch of plagues on Egypt.  And yet, They don’t see God as much, and they start complaining about food, which God gives them, in the form of manna, which literally means “What is it?”  That is the reaction that the Israelite’s have, “What is it?”  Once again, seeing something small and thinking “could this possibly be what was sent to us?  This is the best that it gets?”  It was this flaky substance that was left behind from the dew.  Not really bread as we think of it, in loaves or roll shaped, but just flakes on the ground.  I can just imagine them standing there, going “What is this?  Is this all that we get?  Just some flakes on the ground to eat?  Every Day?  Can’t God do better than this?”   And yet, with these flakes God fed a nation for years as they went through the desert.  Out of little and the seemingly insignificant, God does amazing things.

            I’m sure that there are people who think the same of our congregation, or would if they knew anything about it.  What is Jerusalem, but a small congregation on the wrong side of the tracks, away from everything going on, in Columbiana, a place that is not all that well known and is just barely past the population of a city.  People can easily treat us as the Israelite’s did Manna and the Colonel treated Rogers – “What is this?  Is this all that was sent?”  And yet, we have the capacity to do wonderful things.  What are we?  We are a group that gives over a hundred quilts to the needy a year!  What are we?  We are a people who pray for others, all around the world.  What are we?  We are a community that feeds the hungry, as we have our food drive for the way station.  Who are we?  We are the children of God Himself, with whom God is present and who are so loved that He sent His Son to die for us and to be our bread, our nourishment, our Manna.

            Just as the Israelites were fed each and every day on their pilgrimage, so are we as we wander in our pilgrimage in life.  We are fed with God, who each day renews us through our Baptisms and who is present in our bread and wine, filling us with the bread that nourishes our very beings.  We may be small now, but we are beloved and we are filled with the Spirit, and we are capable of marvelous things.  Each and everyone of us is called, each and every one of us has a purpose in our lives that is given to us by God Himself and the skill and the gifts that are needed to do them. 

            So live a live that is worthy of your calling.  Let the world see the power that is within you, the hero that each of you is capable of being.  Whether it be though teaching, or building, or crafts, or being an awesome parent, may your calling be visible to the world, let the let of Christ shine within you.  In this way, instead of people asking “What is that?” in reference to us, let them ask “What is this, and where can I get some?  How can I be a part of this and have this in my life?”  May we all be living examples of the Good News of God, proclaiming His mercy and love to all people.

Amen. 

7-29-12 - Look at all that God does through little, ol' us!

7-29-12

Jerusalem

6After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. ²A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. ³Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. ⁴Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. ⁵When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” ⁶He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. ⁷Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” ⁸One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ⁹“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” ¹⁰Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. ¹¹Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. ¹²When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” ¹³So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. ¹⁴When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”

¹⁵When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself. ¹⁶When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, ¹⁷got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. ¹⁸The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. ¹⁹When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. ²⁰But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” ²¹Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

It is amazing how God can do so much with so little.  Here are thousands of people, and all they have to eat is five loaves of bread and 2 fish to eat, and yet they fill 12 whole baskets with all the leftovers.  I don’t care how big those loaves of bread were, or if the fish were actually whales, there is no human way that all those people were fed and all those leftovers were left.  And yet there are the twelve baskets, filled with food, and none are left hungry at all.

            Out of so little, something great was able to happen and there was plenty more to go around.  It can sometimes feel as what we give and what skills we are given can be far less than what is necessary.  There are times that we can feel inadequate or that we can begin to focus on fear of not having enough instead of looking at the abundance that we are given by God.  Yet we are given assurance by God that even the smallest of gifts, no matter how futile they might seem, are worked through God to do amazing things.

            Through just some bread and fish, Jesus is able to feed 5,000 people.  And through our hard work and our offerings, we are able to help feed the community and our world.      Our offerings here go to feed those who are here in this community, through gifts to United Social Action and the Way Station, as well as to help those who come to the congregation for help with food or rent money.  It goes to the larger church, which helps to start new congregations both here and in other countries, as well as fight against malaria, hunger and thirst, as well as helping children get schooling and advocacy for the poor and oppressed  both in the US and abroad.  

            In April of 2011, tornadoes ripped through Alabama, destroying the homes of many people.  When that happened, ELCA Disaster Relief came to help.  They helped people rebuild their homes, often being the first ones to get the homes built and people moved back in.  With your help, the homeless are given a home. 

            In Cambodia, there is a village called Preah Khae, where everyone had to walk miles in order to get water.  Think about that for a minute.  Who here has to walk miles to get water?  And think about the weight of water.  A single gallon of water weighs over 8 pounds. The average 10 minute shower takes 25 gallons of water, with means that if someone tried to carry that water home for a shower, and just that shower, it would be 200 pounds of water.  This of course would be completely unreasonable to walk miles for, so instead these families would have to suffice with just a few gallons a day, walking hours in order to get it all home.  Water that would have to be used to bath, if they dared waste it on themselves, to drink, to give to animals, to wash their clothes… not nearly enough to do all that we need water to do for us.  But with your gifts, with your offering, ELCA World Hunger was able to create an irrigation canal to the village, so that the people could get water in their homes.  Something that we take for granted every day, yet they find to be a miracle and literally a life saver.  They are now able to drink all that they need, and to grow crops that they used to have to buy and could barely afford.  And it didn’t even cost much, just two hundred and fifty dollars brought safe water to a village full of people.

            Then here in our Synod, in Euclid, our Synod supported a Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School, which helps children learn how to read and to express themselves through the arts, to open their minds to the possibility that they can do amazing things.  With the support of all the congregations in our Synod, we were able to educate children and to give them hope, at a time when the world can seem hopeless for those who are poor.

            I know that this can all sound like a bad infomercial at times.  And I also know that anytime a pastor talks about money, one can easily see it as the pastor asking for the money to get paid with.  But you know what?  What we do with our resources really does matter and the ministry of the church, whether it be Jerusalem, or at the synod level, or the church-wide level, all of the ministry matters.  It matters because with each thing that we do and with each dollar that we give, God does amazing things that changes lives.

            It can be easy to say no to God.  We all have.  When I was in college, I had almost nothing to do with the church.  I was too busy being a college student.  My time could be better used being with my friends and my money better used on beer or video games, or so I thought.  And what did that get me?  There are only 3 people I still even really talk to anymore and my money went down the drain, only giving me a bad morning after.  Each of us can always find an excuse to not give of our time and our resources.  Whether it be sports, or naptime, or desire to go out more, or get something new for ourselves, or something else, we can always have an excuse ready for why we don’t give of our time and resources.

              But then we have to ask ourselves, why is it that God is such a lower priority than all these other things?  Why is it that God loses to sports and to nights out and to our own pleasures?  I have had many a pastor tell me that one can easily see where one’s priorities lie if they look at someone’s checkbook or account summary.  They don’t have to see anything else to know what a person cares about, because that is the thing that they will spend the most on.  The same goes for looking at someone’s calendar.  What is it that we spend our time on?

            In the moment, it can all look so small.  What does it matter if I don’t get up and go to church?  Well, if you don’t come, then you lose out because you don’t get to be a part of this wonderful community that we have here at Jerusalem, and the love and support that comes with it.  And we miss out too, because each person here is valuable, each person here, whether you are a member or a visitor, whether you are a child, a youth, middle aged, or well seasoned, each person here enlivens this community and is a blessing from God.  And so what if I don’t give much, if I spend my money on what makes me happy instead?  How much does my offering matter anyway, compared to such a big budget.  Well, then you miss out on being a part of the ministry of God, which brings hope to the hopeless, homes to the homeless, food and water to the hungry and thirsty, and clothes to the naked.  And we miss out as a community, because we lose the ability to give more to those who suffer.

            We can fall into the trap of believing that what we have is too little, that we can’t do much good.  Yet what we do as a church changes lives, here in Columbiana, through our region, and through the world.  And that is the good news of God.  That each and everyone one of us matters and each and every one of us is capable of amazing things through the power of God.  God works wonders through the smallest of things, with even some pieces of bread and two fish, so God can definitely do wonders with us.  Let us rejoice in the wonder of God and let us be glad to be a part of God’s mighty acts. 

Amen.  

7-22-12 - Better than Cheers!

¹¹So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision” —a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands— ¹²remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

¹⁴For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. ¹⁵He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. ¹⁷So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; ¹⁸for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, ²⁰built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. ²¹In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; ²²in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

            .  Perhaps one of the best examples of people living out our Ephesians readings happened this past week. This past week there were 35,000 ELCA Lutheran youth and adults down in New Orleans.  35,000 youth who “didn’t belong” or “weren’t from around there” but yet they were welcomed.  The community opened their arms to them and are excited to have them, fully knowing that they were coming to make changes.  And why were they so welcomed?  Because when the youth go there, they are going there to truly live out their lives as Christians.  They go to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed and to treat the people that they meet, no matter if it’s the mayor or the strangest homeless man on the street, as complete equals and to help out as much as they humanly can.  Knowing that they most likely will never see anyone that they meet there ever again, they go and be the most positive force possible in the community, because they are living as examples of today’s reading from Ephesians, which states that we are in citizens with the saints, and that we are all, ALL, members of the household of God. 

They had a once in a lifetime experience to gather together, from all over this country, across the divides of congregations and synods and economic and status levels, they came together to be the body of Christ, to be a part of his household and to welcome all people to see their place in it as well.  Not only the youth a testament to the fullness of the household of God, but so are the speakers.  Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber spoke at the assembly, and she is not one that looks like your typical Lutheran pastor, with her wide assortment of tattoos that put mine to shame, blue streaked hair.  And there were people who protested her speaking at the youth convention.  Why?  Because she is a recovering addict, and they feared that she should be a negative influence on the youth.  And is she a negative influence?  Absolutely not!  Instead she is a shining example of the love of God, who brings in all people and who embraces all into the household of God and gives strength to those who are in need that they may fight against the those things that are damaging His children. 

  “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.”  We are built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, he who ate and drank with sinners and traitors, who hung out with prostitutes and spoke up for adulteresses, and who hung on the cross, dying dishonorably between two thieves.  We often want church to be like Cheers, where “everybody knows your name” and everyone is long time friends…. But guess what?    We are called not only our friends and our family, those whose names that we know and who know ours, but we are called to embrace the stranger and the alien, aka non-Americans to us, for they are citizens with the saints and members of our household.  Just as Christ ate with sinners, which by the way includes all of us here today, we are called to welcome all those who are strange to us, all those that we don’t understand, all those that we might think don’t fit in. 

Christ is our foundation, our rock, and he can be seen as firm and unmoving just like a rock.  How often is it that we hear someone say that somebody else is acting against the will of God with their lifestyle?  Maybe because they are living with their boyfriend or girlfriend before they get married, or because they have a boyfriend or girlfriend of the same gender, or because they have committed a crime or because we just don’t like them.  So of course Jesus is this rock that is going to crush them for some sin that some commentator or that WE have judged them on.  Or so we may like to imagine at times, but instead God offers forgiveness, God gives compassion to those we may not want to show compassion to. 

For many of the Jews, who were the first Christians since, after all, Jesus was a Jew and we are dealing with the God of the Jews, they wanted to say that only Jews, who had a special relationship with God, could be truly Christians.  Of course, this is forgetting the whole “God created the entire world and all people and while yes, God loves Israel and set it as an example and a light to all people, God is still in the business of loving the whole world” argument, but it is natural for people to assume that they are special and get to make the rules for God.  And part of being a Jew meant that men had to be circumcised, no questions asked, no if ands or buts.  As I’m sure every man here can understand, and probably most of the women at least begin to understand, the Gentiles, aka non-Jews, who heard this were not very keen to the idea of having a knife anywhere near their privates and did not feel it was necessary to do it anyway.  After all, they had been baptized, they had heard the teachings of Jesus and they wanted to follow Him.  Why should their foreskin matter that much?

Now to us, this might seem obvious, because the problem that they had back then is not a problem now.  The Jews vs. Gentile fight has been over for generations upon generations, we welcome all people into our congregations!  Or do we?  Do we not also set limits on who is acceptable and who is not in our country and in our congregations?  Our political culture almost forces us to continually take sides instead of finding peace and compromise.  It tell us that there are always enemies, instead of people with differing ideas, who must be defeated, and we buy into it, instead of seeing each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Who here hasn’t at least once considered other denominations and congregations as competition instead of fellow brothers and sisters in the body of Christ?  Who here hasn’t judged a single person and thought that they could not worship with them on a Sunday morning?  And when I say the word “Synod,” who here cringes a little bit, seeing the synod as some hierarchy or bureaucracy that sucks up money from congregations, instead of the resource and unifying regional force that it truly is?  Far too often we become stuck, we become stuck with traditions that we refuse to change, even to accommodate someone new who joins us.  We become stuck because we don’t want to trust other people or we get fixated on winning or we just want to be left alone instead of working alongside the larger family of God.

And I know that I have a tendency to fall at times.   I know that I judge our fellow denominations at times, as if I fully understand the mind and will of God.  I know that I can be inflexible at times with my thoughts and how I want things to be.  Yet I have hope, because I know that we are all family and that we have the opportunity to grow together and to keep one another accountable.  So when I become inflexible or I act in an unwelcoming way, I hope that you will help me by correcting me, and reminding me that sometimes sarcasm is not the best way to get a point across or to remind me that sometimes the Holy Spirit is active in ideas that are not my own or that even may be opposite of mine.  And I also hope and pray that we may all help one another to do the same, so that instead of being stuck separately, we may pull each other out of the muck and the mire so that we may grow together. 

We may not be Cheers, but you know what?  That’s ok, because we are better than Cheers!  When we are truly the citizens with the saints and truly the children of our God, it doesn’t matter what your name is or whose family you are a part of or what your life is like or how long you have lived here.  When we act as the children of God and with Christ as our foundation, we act like those youth who went to New Orleans and claim that all people, no matter what, are our brothers and our sisters and they are all welcome here as a member of our family, no questions asked.  So let us go out and meet our family and welcome them home and may we rejoice in the peace that God provides.

Amen